It’s been a while since the last update. Fact of the matter is there’s really been only one significant update item, and I’ve pretty much just keep getting distracted away from mentioning it.
Work on “View From the Stone Doorway” was completed. WooHoo to that. I hope the Muses are pleased since they are the ones who compelled me to paint it when it was just a pristinely gessoed canvas. It’s 51 x 40 cm (20 x 16 in) on stretched canvas. I still have to finish it (isolation coats + varnish) and then I’ll get a good photo of it and upload it to the store (which, come to think of it, I need to do that last bit with the rose painting as well).
The finishing has been awaiting the clearing of my prep & finish space as it currently has some canvases being gessoed occupying the space at present.
This is fortunate as this is the time of the year when I’m most pressed with household duties that pull me away from committing art. Early spring demands a lot of attention and it generally my least creatively active time of the year. At present, I don’t even have a subject ready for then next piece. As I’ve mentioned around social media, I continue (as always) to do studies, but none of them have as of yet grabbed me by the throat and demanded they be imaged in paint.
In the works are women’s sports subjects, some rocketry, and a landscape or two. I do have a test canvas that I need to slap some paint on with abandon to see the results. I also have another canvas I need to prep that’s an unconventional size (21 x 17) due to a frame I received being miss-sized (the seller told me I could keep it). And I have a stack of Ampersand boards (my favorite supports) just begging for random acts of art.
I continue to think about how best to use the various media I have available to me to connect with all y’all. While I now once again have the equipment necessary to resume making videos, an honest assessment (trying to avoid a repeat of the grand tripod collapse of 2018) says that I simply don’t have the room to consistently do videos safely. I’ve even had trouble trying to finish up the Vulgar Cursive series because of the mandate that I not put a tripod on the dining room or kitchen tables. I tried to convey the importance of communication by the modern artist, but, alas, my pleas failed to hold sway.
This has led me to consider two related avenues: vlogging and podcasting. Both have some aspects that entice me, but I do worry about having enough interesting content that doesn’t take too much time away from creating art to develop. I very much want to talk about creative writing, my views on art, and more. The podcast is more attractive as the mics are almost always set-up anyway. Then there’s the issue of what platform to host the podcast on. But, like I said, I don’t want to commit to it unless I feel I can consistently produce content for it.
In the past few months I have undertaken a personal hobby I’ve wanted to pursue for a while. I’ve been practicing playing the recorder. As a side benefit, I’ve been really annoying all the dogs in the neighborhood because of it. Oh, the barking makes for delicious accompaniment.
I started playing the guitar when I was around twelve (yes, they’d invented guitars by then). Up until a few years ago, when I tapered back from it for no specific reason, I played just about everyday for 40+ years. When I was in high school, I started learning how to play the flute. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but when I moved back to NM almost 30 years ago, I lost track of it. Even if I found it, I don’t think I’d want to spend the hundreds of dollars it would take to get it refurbished back to good playing condition.
So, while I might not be someone who compulsively listens to music, I’ve always found some bliss in playing an instrument. Since I’ve always loved the flute, but not its expense, I bought a soprano recorder several years ago. The fingerings are similar, so I figured it would shorten the learning curve. It wasn’t until this year that I decided to give it a good honest go. I’ve subsequently also bought a larger, alto recorder so I can practice on something a bit less shrill. I’m also contemplating a tenor recorder so I can return to the flute-like note-to-fingering correspondence I’m more accustomed to (the alto recorder uses the same fingering but starting at F instead of C).
Like I said, other than a ton of yard work stuff, contractor arrangements, automobile chores, taxes, and other sundry tasks that take way more time than I’d like, there hasn’t been a lot to fill an update. When things start to return to a less hectic state in a few weeks, I hope to get back to a more predictable schedule.
