Monday, October 31, 2011

William F. Reese Artist

I read a book by the artist WM. F. Reese. The book is a practical guide for the artist. I mention this because I get stuck for ideas sometimes.
Reading books from my personal library gets me unstuck.
I reccomend the book by Bill Reese very highly.
This artist is no longer with us. His wisdom and art is.
See the book if you can.

Euromaxx On TV

There's an arts program on television titled Euromaxx. This program is excellent, it always has an segment on the visiual arts. I mention this , because of the lack of programs on the visual arts in the USA. NPR has launched a new music show this month.The Denver NPR station does not do
enough visual arts segments that features the working artists in this city and
state.
I think people would like to hear interviews with visual artists and their lives in local areas. The art life is interesting and the journeyman artist
has a lot to say. Interviews via radio could be informative and entertaining.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Art Mags Won't Talk Money?

I read a number of art publications on a regular basis. I notice that there is a lot of data on how to paint rocks, trees, etc.
I notice that there is very little nuts and bolts information on the business
part of being an artist. There is one magazine that show artists in there studios, some of which are as big as my house. I wonder how these artists can afford this kind of workspace. I know that one has to sell a lot of art
to have some kind of artlife.
I wish that art magazines would ask artists about money.
The dicussion would be informative and helpful in my opinion.
No money, no artlife.

Big Snow Survivor

Well the big snow here in Denver is over, Whew!!!!
My car battery decided to die. It was about time, past its sell by date any way.
Glad I have the dough to buy another. Tree branches broken all over the place, I happy to report , I didn't have to deal with that.
Making art and life stuff aint easy.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Painting On the Porch

Today I painted on my front porch. I am making color notes for a larger
painting. The cerulean blue and yellow leaves is quite a challenge paint.
I'll do a couple more inthe coming days.

Monday, October 24, 2011

In The Park

Painted in the park today, temp was 79 degrees.
I have been working in the studio for the majority of the the year.
I heard on the radio that our great fall weather is going to break to low temps this week. I figured I 'd better get out and see if I still had my
plein air skills. I got two small works done. It was great to be able to leave my home studio to work.
The park is not far from my house, about 15 minutes.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The New Yorker Artstar Story

In the New Yorker magazine October 3,2011, I read astory about artist Jacob
Kassay. The story told of his work being snapped up by eager buyers.
Some of this young artist's work are bringing big bucks.
I wonder how long this artist's career will last? Financial success is good as long as the artist is smart about the business of being an artist.
I feel it ain't how much money the artist is paid, it's about how much the artist gets to keep.
It takes regular dough to have an art life.

I Phone Madness

I saw on the news last evening the number of Iphones that were sold.
The count was in the millions. I thought people didn't have any money.
The news story said otherwise. I guess this means some people have some money to spend on istuff but not art.

The Art Spirit

I have a book titled the The Art Spirit by Robert Henri.
I have had this small paperback fro years,it has great advice and is a good
reference book. Robert Henri's writing is what tweets are like to day.
I just wanted to mention the book.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Staying In Touch

I find that picking up the phone and calling people that I have not talked to in awhile, is a good idea. I get an idea about the art world in general through my conversations. I do this with artists that I know , mainly people who are journeymen artists like myself. I get data on sales and artlife in general. Information matters and it's good to stay in touch by phone.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Ai Wei Wei

I have been following the career of the artist Ai Wei Wei. The BBC did an
interview with him a couple days ago. Being an artist in China ain't a lot of fun. The censors are always watching. I am glad I am not in China as an
artist.

Painting Fall

I am doing my best to capture the fall season. The colors are spectacular.
I am mainly working to paint my immpression of fall, rather than be literal.
I try to do this every fall season. It's big fun to paint on my front porch.
I can hunker down behind a blind that I have for privacy and paint away.
I am working in acrylic. I do have a series of oil paintings that I am working on in my upstairs studio.
The weather is so nice at this time, I have to work outside as long as I can.

Monday, October 10, 2011

A walk in the Park

I took awalk in the park today, I was looking for ideas to continue working on my fall series. I tend to work according to the season. If it's winter , I make a series of winter pictures, summmer, spring and fall pictures get my attention. The fall light is dazzeling to me, the color is also.
I came back to my home studio and paintd a small acrylic watercolor.
I am trying to do more transparent acrylics. It's a challenge.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Art Magazines

I visit a book store in Denver called the Tattered Cover. I go to look at the art magazines.I look a them and often come away thinking, there's a lot of art being made all the time. Art magazines can show one what's being done
artwise in the land. There's some thing for every taste, from the sublime to the most baffeling. I used to buy art publications on a regular basis.
Now I just peruse them in bookstores. One can be overwhelmed so much information . I 'll just stick to my own personal library and limit my
looking at art magazines.

Doubt

I have doubt about my work, often I get concerned about how well made
the work is. I will fret about some paintings,because of color and composition. The strange thing is,once I show the works , the very ones
I had doubt about are ofte tne very ones that people will buy.

Fall Paintings

I am working on a series of fall acrylic watercolor paintings.
The color in the fall is always so visual. I have a couple of 6x9 inch
works that I have completed,I put the works in a place so I can see them
anew. So far so good. I will do several more soon.