I have been yearning to paint ever since I came face to face with the artwork of Linda Kemp.  Do you remember this painting?

Forgive me if my fingers stick to the keyboard - I am gluing backing on some paintings that I will be dropping off at our local art gallery for the South Peace Art Society Members Christmas Exhibition.  I have three pieces to enter and it's been a while since I've been on the ball enough to participate in the members' shows.  Usually I have a painting finished but no framing for the piece, and in fact two of these paintings have been waiting to have their framing finished for at least a year.

I am struggling with decisions where framing is concerned.  If I want to sell art online, it ships much better unframed, but if I want to exhibit art, it must be framed, and framed well.  Art presents much better when framed - my mom always says she doesn't even like to look at my paintings until they are at least matted.  She can't get a vision for the completed piece when it is still taped to my painting board!
I have to call myself a bit of a framing snob.  Long ago are the days when a Walmart frame was considered appropriate for my paintings.  Take a look at your average picture frame and you will see what I mean - joints that do not sit flush together; thin, cardboard-y mats; cheap looking wood or plastic painted to look like wood; narrow, insubstantial frames that can't support double matting or foam core backing.  And don't even get me started on those stupid zigzag hangers!  Frame shop frames are expensive because they are the real thing.

I have dabbled in ordering frames online, and haven't been satisfied with that experiment.  There is no substitute for choosing a frame and mat by placing it against your painting to get an idea of the finished result, for being able to handle a chunk of framing and see the weight, the finish, the texture.  And I've tried the coupon route at Michaels and wasn't thrilled with my 40% off frames either.  The selection just isn't there.

There is truly something special about seeing art beautifully framed for the first time.  The right mat and frame can have a dramatic effect.  Suddenly a painting goes from "guess it's done" to "work of art."

While I do cut my own mats for smaller paintings, I have done my best to learn the art of matting and framing and to achieve a professional result.  I know now that a sharp blade is crucial, and to be safe I might as well put a new blade in my cutter for every framing session.  I know that a fraction of an inch in measuring error will make a double mat go from elegant to eye-catchingly askew.  And to keep some compressed air nearby to get the dust out from between glass and mat!

Sometimes I do wish I had pursued an art medium that was a little cheaper to frame though!  Oil and acrylic painters can just hang a canvas and call it done.  Is that fair?

I got to try a new technique and since there was no bar set for my mastery of the technique, I was more than thrilled when the painting turned out.

I had started with the idea of a perched bird, tree branches and leaves made from old book pages and some kind of text.  When I decided upon "Soar" as my theme, I had to repaint my bird in flight.  Rather than the stiff silhouette that I had originally planned, I love the lightness and transparency of my bird figure - guess that's my inner watercolourist coming through.

Rather than painting the text, I used a photocopy transfer technique to apply the wording.  I was hoping for a distressed look so I was just fine with the imperfections when not all the text transferred.  I did have to touch up a few letters to make it legible.

I already have ideas for my next project - I can see this style of art as a series of small, square canvases.  On the agenda for this week is my 2009 Christmas ornament - I am running out of time!

Success can be a dangerous thing.  I just finished a fun little read (I am voracious fiction reader in my spare time) called Summer School by Domenica Derosa and one of the characters was a novelist who hadn't produced any work since his bestseller.  I can relate.  

I'm going to be speaking at an artists' retreat this month on web sites for artists. I do a bit of web design - it's a nice income when I can find the time - and so over the next couple of weeks I will need to organize my thoughts as I prepare to share what I've learned. I thought that one good way to do that would be to write a series of how-to posts here on the blog, sharing what I've learned, artists I have learned from, links to sites that have helped me and given me direction.

First of all, what would you have wanted to hear when you first started out, marketing your art on the internet? I've had a web site since 2002, and my memories are a little faded when it comes to those early days.

Since I don't have a lot of time to take on new web design clients, I am going to be emphasizing the do-it-yourself angle - I'd prefer to take on a supporting role helping a client set up a blog, for example, rather than building a site which they can't afford and won't know how to promote. I'll for sure be pointing them toward Empty Easel - I've learned a lot about art marketing on the world wide web from the articles on that site. What sites do you love for learning about selling art online?

I posted today about my new studio over on my other blog. Check it out!

I'm home from our vacation, and fighting a flu - think all the travel wore me down. I did want to share the completed clematis watercolor painting. I used a fine tip pigment pen to add definition to flowers and some of the foliage and it was fun to see the flowers take on more defined shape. I'm pretty sure these are Jackmanii clematis.

I've come home resolved to prioritize a bit better. My children are growing up so swiftly - my two girls are in school this fall. I am a home educator, so I won't be waving goodbye as they board a school bus, and the demand on my time will be increased rather than lessened. I'm setting goals to make their time as small ones a blessing for me, rather than a chore. I'm hoping that if I ditch the many little time wasters I have been enjoying online I will be able to both enjoy time doing fun stuff with my kids and painting more. I loved having time to paint while on holiday and I do need that creative outlet. Time management is definitely my greatest battle.

One thing I am excited about and hoping to make time to do is take a personalized online painting class from a BC artist I admire, Karen Martin Sampson. She's offering six week classes and they sound very flexible - tailored to meet the student's needs. Take a look! She's suggested that I work on composition, and she's right - planning a painting, making thumbnails, etc. always frightens me somehow.

I'm thinking that non-artists must wonder what artists are talking about when we strive for looseness in painting. I'm right in thinking this isn't just a watercolorist's goal, aren't I?

What's that saying about holding precious things loosely? I'm sure there's a lifestyle quote along those lines...anyhow, just like that single friend of mine who never gets a date because she tries too hard, in art when you choke up on the brush and paint with gritted teeth, aiming for perfection, you squash creativity and kill a painting.

I'm not knocking realism in painting - I love realistic detail. But the best realism is painted with a gentle hand, and frequently isn't truly realistic - when you get up close you realize that your eye has been fooled into filling in detail that is only suggested by the artist's brush.

Loosening up frees creativity. When I find I am painting too "tight" it is because I have become a slave to something - the reference photo, the "rules" of watercolor, the attempt to paint like someone I admire instead of following my own path, even the desire to make a painting important - sale-worthy or competition-ready. All of these things choke out freedom and spontaneity.

A few tricks I have found that encourage me to greater looseness in my work:

1. Trying a new technique, medium or surface. This week's exercise in yupo has captivated me and I am freshly excited by what I can do.
2. Studying two (or more) very different artists. Observing artists who paint loosely in watercolour, artists who paint chunky textured abstracts and artists who have thrown out the rules and are using their medium in a new way makes me want to throw caution to the wind and try seeing and painting in a new way too.
3. Freeing myself not to care about the end result. Repeat after me: "This is just a sketch." When I take the pressure off of having a perfect painting outcome, I can experiment and accumulate skills and knowledge for the next big painting - or maybe my sketch will turn into my next painting sale - what matters is letting go.

I'm on vacation right now, our usual Saskatchewan getaway visiting family. My in-laws have a lovely yard, and the thing about Saskatchewan is, there's horizon in every direction! I've made time to paint, and am painting with the goal of looseness, fun little paintings that don't obligate me to masterpiece.


I went on a gallery tour in downtown Saskatoon last week. It's always inspiring and breathtaking to see work by other artists, and the galleries all featured Saskatchewan and Canadian artists. I actually got butterflies in my stomach at some of the incredible art. Jim Brager had a watercolour exhibit at Pacif'ic Gallery (the photos on the site don't do his work justice) and I loved the style of Rolf Krohn and Steven Lamb. The Darrell Bell gallery had some little prairie watercolours by Terry Lindsay, though what really captured my eye was a tetratych by Jane Harrington. Rouge Gallery's art was much more contemporary in style and my little watercolours would be out of place there but I was drawn to so much of the art on display - BIG canvases and texture everywhere. I especially loved the birches painted in almost 3D layers by Maya Eventov. I did eventually find Art Placement down a back alley in the city and while the gallery space is tiny, it did hold the most expensive painting I've seen yet - a $32,000 painting by Catherine Perehudoff. I keep feeling like I may have read that price tag wrong - but you never know - art prices are a wildly swinging pendulum, aren't they?

I'd like to do more painting this year - vacation is a good time to take mental stock of one's home life and goals - and I have been so busy with my graphic design business and writing that art has taken a second place. One change that would help me would be to improve my current studio space. Scrapbooking has kind of taken over every other surface and when I paint I am gingerly balancing painting board and palette, and when I moisten my paper and palette with my mister bottle, my office papers get a spritz as well. Looking forward to my dedicated studio being completed and available for use. My husband has blueprinted me in above our in-progress garage and I will likely move in before the walls are even up. I need to be painting more consistently before I can plan my next marketing move - whether seeking gallery representation or mounting an exhibit locally.