In the past few weeks I have moved on to painting other things. And sometimes things get knocked around.
Last week I was searching around in my “Secondary Covid Pantry.” Once the pandemic hit, (like everyone else) I did a mad dash to stock up on basic groceries and not having room for a regular, spacious food pantry, I cleaned out and stocked up this weird bottom cabinet beside my fridge and filled it up with staples like sugar and rice. Recently when I opened the door, and you guessed it- bam- rice everywhere.
Now moms everywhere know this frustration. You KNOW you did not leave the bag of rice open after last using it, so which child was it?
Yup… a mess. And picking up rice takes a while. Time I don’t really want to burn up during the day. It is a waste of good, creative time. And if there is one thing I hate wasting, it is time.
Especially when it comes to painting.
But pastels get thrown around, brushes need cleaned and floors need mopped. If you are like me, you have sketches everywhere and a few cups of old tea sitting around. Yuk! who has time to clean that all up? Well, apparently I do. I mean, it is all part of being an artist. Some days ya paint. Some days are spent cleaning up the paint.
It is part of life and just plain part of being an artist. There are days when all I do is clean up messes that, in this case, I have made, not my kids. Or there are days where I try a new technique that just doesn’t work so I find I have burned up time and energy into something that doesn’t translate into ART. Bummer. Did I mention I hate wasting time?
But in between paintings I do like to take some time to tidy up. Place things back to where I can find them easily again later and just feel good about my studio space. Ahhhh… ready to make a mess again. It’s all part of the process.
So back to painting. But first I have to take out the garbage…
I have to laugh about your Spilled Rice blog – especially because I spilled a bunch of rice, and…. it was from the case that I keep my pastels in!! A poetic symmetry, I think š
ha! I can relate!
okay … why waste that rice ? Coat one of your canvases with primer and throw the rice in while still wet …for even MORE texture . This is for your OIL paintings of course . It seems to be the trend with some facebook & award winning artists now . The more uneven base texture , the better.
SO … I just textured 4 canvas panels of various sizes. I may hate it , or ….
Because I tend to Not Paint Thick….. but I’ll give it a whirl.
ha! I just ate it…..š
And you can use all that rice to clean pastel!
true!
Thank you. Means Iām normal too.
yup! and extraordinary too.
I once heard an artist say that he likes to do something in his studio every day, even if it’s cleaning up or rearranging things because it’s the connectivity to the work space. I have found this to be true. If I am away from working too long a momentum is lost. However, I also relate to the frustration of wasted energy. We can all relate to that I think. I have been slowed down recently due to hip arthritis. This have also made me more clumsy and to feel like a different person. That said, painting is a great focus for me while I await surgery.
I am sending good vibes your way for healing. I can relate to setbacks to painting along the way. Are care of yourself and know you will be back at it again!
Oā so good to know Iām not flying solo when it comes to this mix of daily pressing and sometimes distracting Homefront-Studio tugs on precious time not to be frittered away w/o a care. Thanks Christine!
Also major Congrats on your successful commissioned portrait of a lovely family unit. Nice work and generous share of info on prep-process-completion. Most appreciated.
thanks! no- you are not alone!
Nice one. The opening line got me hooked right from the start. You’re becoming quite a writer, Christine (insert smiley face here).
yay! thanks!
I would paint that.
do it!