The right tool for the job

Under the category of "I wish someone had told me this, but no one did, so I'm telling you": When wrapping and/or shipping artwork, use BROWN CELLOPHANE TAPE to secure the bubble wrap around the painting. It holds the bubble wrap firmly in place, but peels off easily so you can reuse the bubble wrap. Masking tape, clear cellophane tape, and certainly duct tape stick so stickily to the bubble wrap that they only rip it up when you try to remove them. This is what professional art movers use.

Article on professors' retirement

Here's an article I wrote for The New Bedford Standard-Times on the retirement of two painting professors from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, which appeared in the paper on June 25.

Bill Elliott, one of the retirees interviewed for the article, was my adviser when I was a graduate student at the university from 1995-97. I have always felt that it was because of him that I got where I am today, as it was his agreeing to work with me that allowed me to attend graduate school. I remember when I first received the letter saying I had been accepted to the school, and I called him up to arrange a meeting. I was nervous: it was a big step to go from full-time secretary in Boston to full-time painting student in New Bedford. But when Bill picked up the phone and I heard that warm, rumbling voice on the other end of the line, I heaved a huge sigh of relief and knew I was doing the right thing. As my adviser, he was unfailingly encouraging and trustworthy, just a pleasure to chat with. It was a nurturing start to my career as a professional painter.

Pictured is the building at 1213 Purchase Street, where graduate fine art studios were located when I attended. The school has since moved to the renovated Star Store building at 715 Purchase Street.

Looming large

Still a few finishing touches to go, but I've mostly completed the first in a group of 56" high by 50" wide paintings. As I've mentioned in earlier blog posts, I've felt an undeniable urge lately to expand the size of my canvases, the result of increased confidence as an artist and the desire to say what I mean more clearly and boldly. I also feel as though the bigger scale will avail opportunities for display in more serious exhibition spaces. We'll see ... meanwhile, off to an exciting start!



ETA: It's interesting to note, for any of you color theorists, that the yellow-white inside the bottom row of loops and along the top of the canvas is THE SAME COLOR. I don't know yet if it's the lighting setup or an optical illusion created by the colors nearby, but they appear to be very different. The one at the top looks almost like an orangey-cream, and the one inside the loops looks like pure white.

Trek to Chelsea

Had a wonderful visit to Manhattan yesterday with three artist friends. After the bus deposited us near Madison Square Garden, we treked over to Chelsea to visit galleries, and our walk included a number of blocks over the newly completed section of the High Line. Such a lovely view of nature in the city, with fine views of the surrounding buildings made possible by the elevated location of the pathway. (Below, a photo of us on our walk, taken by my fellow traveler Laraine Armenti.)



Both Laraine (on her blog, here) and another of our companions, Jeanne Williamson (on her blog, here) have detailed our journey, Laraine with photographs and Jeanne with a complete listing of the galleries and shows we visited.

All in all a fun and stimulating adventure! As I wrote in the blog entry on my last trip to NYC, I now return to my studio inspired by the artwork I saw on display as well as the general energy of that vibrant city. Can't wait to get back to the series of large canvases I started last week. I even dreamed of some new painting ideas during the bus ride home!

Wonderful news

The Boston Public Library has purchased three of my works on paper! Details here.

Morning has broken

A peaceful morning begins in my studio. The sun is gently rising over the open, green backyard. The birds are stirring, but not much else. I've just applied the first layers on a new canvas.



I'm starting a new series on larger-than-usual canvases; the one on my table is 56" high x 40" wide. I usually work on smaller surfaces, like 40" x 30", but I realize that size is too restrictive for me right now. With that realization, even the 56x40 seems small! In fact, I've applied for a grant that would cover the purchase of 72" x 60" canvases. We'll see what comes!

But right now, there is just ... right now. Me, this painting, and a new day.

Wrapping up, moving on

I’m very pleased: the proposal for a four-person show that I submitted to a local non-profit exhibition space has been accepted, and we have been offered a slot this fall. It is a lovely space, and I know our work together there is going to look GREAT.

As this opportunity has come through, I am wrapping up a number of exhibit and grant applications that include my latest “Autumn” series, pictured in the last blog entry.

I’m completing the final steps: printing out the application letters and artist statements that I have worked so hard on, and printing out images of the paintings I have worked so hard on. It occurs to me now that the labor has been finished; now there’s only one more ingredient that’s needed in the process, and that’s for the decision-makers to like my work.

And that is the one thing that you can’t MAKE happen. You can paint the best paintings you know how (in my opinion, this means the most honestly reflective of your experience and what you mean to say). You can have the work photographed as well as possible. You can write about the work as succinctly as possible. You can follow the application guidelines as carefully as possible. But at some point, you have to let your efforts go, send them out into the world, and allow the process to continue in someone else’s hands.

It’s a relief, in a way, to know that you’ve done all you can, and the rest is up to … whatever you want to call it: God, Fate, or good old-fashioned Luck.

We’ll have to wait and see! As for now I’ll be turning my attention to the new blank canvases waiting for me in the studio. I have a summer full of painting planned, and I’m very excited about that too.