Ants-in-Your-Pants-Goals

S.

I am, without a doubt, a goal-oriented person.  I am a list-maker who derives great pleasure from being organized.  The end of each studio session is dedicated to actually naming the goals for the next, unless more time is needed for contemplation of a given work. 

That being said, travelling presents a problem for a person like me.  It is simply not possible to drag along armloads of art supplies.  And so I have devised a solution that keeps me content at the same time I am able to visit without too much offense.  The latest venture was a visit for a week in North Carolina.  Three very small watercolors were made on a deck providing afternoon sun.  But my favorite activity is to make small drawings from life while the family is gathered around, in discussion, or in front of TV.  Nothing posed.  Just several drawings begun at once and keeping an eye out for the model to resume a particular pose.  This trip I ended up with two small drawings that pleased me.  This one took a couple of hours, but I was content to pick away. Kept my attention up.  Feels good to produce something worthwhile. 

And.....keeps the ants out of my pants...temporarily.

The Beach

is a place of ultimate relaxation for most...where schedules, compulsions and vanities melt away.  Such a vacation was ours to be had this year.  And, in the small square of condos where we stayed, I viewed at least three people taking up brushes, paints and sketchpads in search of the creativity that such freedom provides.  And, while making art is my profession, I don't aim my sites all that high at the beach.  Sand is everywhere, making its way into paint wells and brushes and eyes.  The light is all-too-pervasive, offering little in the way of contrast.  Values are skewed....when extreme light becomes the norm.  And the subject matter becomes a bit too sweet.

But what the beach does provide is the sense of playful painting, of painting without consequences.  I usually bring only a watercolor block and some pan colors, all in a small format.

These are my more successful results from this year's bunch.  There were others...not so successful.

But who cares?  I am on vacation.

Rusty Bucket

Rusty Bucket (at Carolina Beach)   watercolor   6.75 x 5

For me, painting is a solitary endeavor.  Many, many decisions to be made...even in the simplest of subject matter.  Making art, even sketching, while vacationing is an "iffy" activity.  It attracts attention from companions, and, in a way, separates you from them, which is not really a good thing.  Many folks assume that "painting at the beach" is something to aspire to.  Au contraire, pour moi.  The light is way too assuming, the subjects a bit trite.  And, truly, for me, the marrow is painting what you know, what you feel, in your everyday life...not in the idolatry of an exotic, while beautiful, location.  And yet the artistic soul revels in creation, and yearns for the moments to doodle both the pencil and the brush.  This small rusty bucket was perched on the picnic table at our Carolina condo.  An hour full of complete joy!  And...all the while...a storm brewing, the waves thrashing.  All of that became the memory encompassed in this rusty bucket.  A supremely sensual experience!

The painter must be solitary...For if you are alone you are completely yourself, but if you are accompanied by a single companion you are half yourself.

                                                                                                  Leonardo da Vinci