Friends

Two great things happened during the Galveston Art Walk. First, some friends and a daughter came with us and we all hung out together. It's always wonderful to have the support of great friends. The second is that when we parked, the first thing I noticed was that we were in front of Nic Noblique's studio! Nic Noblique and I met when we did a show together at Earth Gallery last August. We hit it off immediately. Great guy. He's got a really exciting big wonderful show coming up in September. It could potentially change his life. I'm thrilled for him! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Look here for details as the date draws near.

Green Myth

When people asked me what I did yesterday, I replied that I painted. Nothing unusual in that; people have come to expect that reply from me. What I further explained was that it was nothing so wonderful as a painting on canvas....I painted four bathroom walls.

Several weeks ago, I was finally disgusted enough to rip the wallpaper off the walls in the bathroom. Because of high moisture in such a tiny space (we live in an old house with original baths,) mold had been thriving under and behind the wallpaper for some time. Gross. Over the course of several days I tried cleaning/ killing the mold on the wall. First I tried Tilex. Didn't work. Then I tried ammonia. Didn't work. Then I tried baking soda. Didn't work. Finally, the bathroom walls got scrubbed with toilet bowl cleaner. Success!

All this time I had been testing paint color samples, too. Deciding on Pratt and Lambert's Green Myth (#18-6) took almost as long as it did to clean the walls. It just so happens that Green Myth is the perfect split complimentary color, according to the color wheel, for our house.

Notice the arrows on the color wheel. Ming Red is the color of our dining room. Our living room is Iced Celadon; the top arrow points to the color that it mostly resembles. The new bathroom (and soon to be kitchen color) is the other split complimentary to Ming Red. It's called Green Myth, and isn't as deep a yellow-green as the arrow is pointing to, but isn't quite as light as the next shade closer to the center of the wheel.

That's what I painted yesterday. A bathroom.

Tonight we're driving to Galveston for Art Walk.

Paint By Numbers

What kind of sermon illustration will I be? Yesterday, a pastor from the Vietnamese Baptist Church came over to tour the studio and do an interview as part of a sermon on creativity and the arts. He brought a fella along to videotape our interview as well. It was a first for me. Super nice guys; they made me feel completely at ease; hopefully whatever I ended up saying will be well edited. The pastor sent the questions in advance. Even still, I felt ill-prepared.

The main facet to his questions had to do with the difference between painting by numbers and the type of art I create; and the difference between painting and just taking a photo. Looking back, I still am not quite sure how to answer either question. It must have something to do with my personality type that I was trying to think of the question behind the question. What did he want to prove? That painting by numbers is a valid form of art? That painting is more creative than photography...or vice verse? In my feeble explanations, I neglected to say that when I paint (I've said this here many times,) I focus on the big picture. What's curious about that, is that as I leave out *unimportant* details, I draw attention to, if I do it well, one thing, which in turn becomes the focus, or detail.

Perhaps the question is, how does one incorporate an artistic focal point in one's life and be fully engaged and intentional in how one lives creatively? I hesitate to use the word intentional. It's become such a buzz word, especially in Christian circles. Shouldn't we all live life on purpose? Even painting by numbers can be done intentionally. At least some sort of creating is getting done. Like my grandmother used to say, "I'm going to do something, even if it's wrong." Not to be cavalier, of course, but do something! Painting by numbers is still painting.

To completely change the subject and explain the photos, last night a small crowd of neighbors all came over for cake and cupcakes. I love our neighborhood. In truth, we were celebrating friendship, but it also just so happened to be Jenni's birthday...an extra bonus!

Welcoming Tidbits

If you are here because of the Houston Chronicle artbeat blog article, welcome.

After much ado, as of yesterday, I've finally gotten all the bits in place for the mosaic. They aren't actually set and grouted, but are placed where they need to be....according to me. One of my favorite vases (and prop for still lifes) met an untimely demise, and is now a beautiful bit of sky. (See vase in Magnolia painting.)

Also, I've gathered and coordinated enough bits of copper, saw blades, and plumbing parts for eight more clocks. These are time and labor intensive to make. The plan is to start a clock making assembly line and work on all eight at the same time.

So far, the commission (which must remain a secret) is really taking shape. I ran out of Holbein silver white paint, though, so had to stop and order some from Amazon online. There is no Holbein silver white paint available at all in a 30 mile radius of the greater Houston area. One would think that in a city as diverse and cosmopolitan as Houston, that someone somewhere would have a 110ml (3.7 fl oz) tube of Holbein silver white oil paint. If it's here, I couldn't find it.

The Amazing Reese has been working on frames for the paintings that will be in Simply Art Gallery in Galveston. A year ago when someone bought something and wanted it framed in one of Reese's gallery frames, we "borrowed" a frame from our daughter Joy's painting. In addition to everything else, he finally replaced that one for Joy, too.

It's been a busy week.

Art Walk

Through August 1st, I'll have some paintings in Simply Art Gallery in Galveston. The next big event for the gallery is Art Walk on May 24th. Art Walk is a time when gallery spaces in Galveston coordinate to keep their doors open and host a progressive open house art party of sorts. In the spirit of goodwill and comradeship, they encourage visits between all of the other galleries in the area. A day at the beach, a walk on the Strand, and sipping wine while viewing (and buying) beautiful art....who could ask for anything more?

Some Lemon

When life fives you lemons, make lemonade? Our life has been chock full of lemons lately. It's like the universe has a trebuchet aimed at us and keeps filling it with Texas sized lemons (like this one.) We got yet another piece of disappointing news today. It's so disheartening. Will it ever end?

That's a dinner plate y'all. It grew on one of our neighbors trees.

And yes, I'm making lemonade.

For Work and Pleasure

Yesterday was spent painting Little Joe; something I have planned since March. That's actually not a bad turn-around for me. Some paintings (or ideas for paintings) have been in the works for years.

A patron has recently commissioned me to paint something precious for them. Because my time has been divided between pursuits, some art related/some not, I felt a bit rusty. One of the biggest reasons for me to paint Little Joe now was to get the eye of the tiger back.

This is exactly my vision for this painting. Now to work on the commission....