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Answer: anything you normally do not paint, using methods you do not normally use, and tubes of paints not normally on your palette.

Tucson pretty much shuts down in the summer, galleries are slower than ever, people are hanging on to their pennies, so why not "play"?

I am having fun doing just that.

In talking with other artist friends and family members, I am always surprised and strangely comforted to find that, like me, they have days of supreme confidence in their artistic abilities and days of wondering why they even bother, and, of course, many middling days in between. One of my wonderful daughters-in-law, Skaie Knox, whose voice is so powerful and beautiful it is astounding (go listen for yourself at www.bigbuglunch.com), said she agrees and feels it is because "We artists are an emotional bunch..Yes?!" Yes. Probably true.

However, I am guessing that our product, whether visual art or music, is so damned personal. We can't help but put a part of our soul into what we create, and it is hard to think that someone might stomp on our soul.

And, if an artist does not put any soul into his/her work, I wonder if it is really art at all.

Excited about a new painting I completed yesterday. It was fun to paint, and I think maybe that comes across to the viewer. Art should move you in some way, not just be an academic exercise. With this painting, I am hoping a person might be moved to happiness - always a good thing! Do you agree?

Aside from choosing a painting to match a theme, such as western for western, landscapes for landscapes, etc, etc, I think that choosing a painting subject to please a judge or to tempt buyers is often a bad idea and often artistically deadening. I spent two hours this morning combing through my photographic sources to decide upon what I should paint for an upcoming show. Not unusual, correct? It is a western themed show, and I looked though the images I thought would be appropriate and that I could find exciting to paint.

Here is the problem: I found several that fit all the criteria , but then an evil thought came into my brain: "They like cows and mules right now, better paint a cow. Horses are out." Or, "Roosters! That's the ticket! They always buy roosters."
Problem is, I don't feel like painting cows and roosters. So I won't!

Another of my favorite artists, Kim English, got me started thinking about this issue. In an art class of his that took place in Stratford, England, he took a photo of me leaning against a row of newspaper dispenser boxes (don't know what else to call them), each one a different color - red, yellow, white, even lavender. I said to him, "Good Heavens, Kim, who would want to buy a painting of a person sitting on a row of newspaper boxes?" Like the master artist he is, he said with a smile, "I don't choose subject matter so that someone will buy my painting . I try to paint the subject matter, whatever it is, so well that it pleases me. If someone wants to then buy it, that's great." Doesn't hurt that everything he paints is fabulous, of course.

I admit that I did not take notes when he said this, but I am pretty sure I got the gist of his statement correct. Now I have to remember to live up to its meaning.

No cows today.

Wow! A great many people accessed this blog yesterday, and the vote is in: Everyone who voted said they preferred the painting "Dumped", and many said they liked that painting very much. Very nice to hear.

For those who asked, "Dumped" took a bit longer to paint, but was done in a shorter amount of time than I would have taken before my Michelle Torrez class, which emphasized fast, gestural painting. I have discovered about myself that creative the fast, gestural sketch is pretty easy for me. Applying the paint as quickly is, apparently, still a developing skill. Always something to work on, isn't there?

Is "Belly Dancer" more pleasing? Or is "Dumped" more interesting to the eye? I would really like to know. If you don't like either of them, at least be kind!

Check the post below for the other painting - "Dumped"

Have been struggling with the idea of painting faster and looser versus not quite so fast but still looser than I have been painting. One of these paintings took me longer, but still not as long as before my latest art class in gestural painting. The other was done very quickly, looks OK ... maybe.

Tell me which one you think is a better painting. I would love the input.