A New Month and a New Challenge

The last time I tried to do a Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge, it was back in January, and I didn't quite make it. Ended up completing about half. I was disappointed in myself for not finishing the challenge, so when I saw another one for September, I decided to jump right in. And then, I started thinking: maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself. Even working small, painting one piece a day is a lot of work. I've taken on other daily challenges: a photograph a day, a poem a day -- and failed miserably. I'm good for about a week, maybe two, and then I get distracted, or bored, and move on to something else. Maybe it's the long term commitment that scares me, although thirty days is hardly long term. I'm one of those folks who usually works better with a deadline. So why do I fail at these one-a-day challenges?  Beats me, but I have decided that, this time, I'm really going to do it.  YEAH!

BUT....there are some days when I should just stay out of the studio, and today was one of those days.  I decided to paint a seagull from a photo I took when I was back in New York.  Talk about trying to fit a square peg in a round hole! Or should I say, a rectangle in a square.  You'd think, with all my artistic experience, that space and placement wouldn't be a big deal for me any longer. Wrong!  I really am spatially challenged.  So there I was, trying to squeeze this oblong seagull into a perfect square.  I started over at least three times, and each time, ended up making the gull larger until I cut off its tail feathers and half of its beak. I considered giving up, which would place me one day behind already.  So I forged on, determined to complete Day Two of the Thirty Day Challenge because I'm not a quitter!  The result:  not one of my better pieces, but it's done.  And when I realized it wasn't going to fit on the square canvas, I decided to focus on color and lighting instead.  I was a little more successful with that.

So what have I learned?  Well, I'm still spatially challenged.  But, I completed the daily painting.  Two days down, 28 more to go. Stay tuned....

And here's Day One's painting:

30 in 30 - Day #2 (for me, that is)

This is Day #2 for me in the 30/30 challenge.  This is a small painting, 4 x 5, in acrylics.  I've got another painting on the easel right now--I am hoping to catch up with the rest of the group, who are on Day #6.  But even if I don't catch up, I'll still try to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.  It's a great way to loosen up and zero in on the important details.  This one is available on my website, www.stephanieallison.com. 

Birds

I love cardinals. We have a lot of them hanging out in our yard.  Last year, a pair of them built a nest in the lilac tree right outside the porch window.  The nest was hidden from the outside, but I could clearly see the nest and, eventually, the babies, from inside.  I tried to photograph them, but Mama would get upset every time she saw me coming near the window, and since I didn't want to cause problems for the babies, I decided to leave them alone.  And then one day I peeked through the window:  the birds were gone, the nest abandoned.  Ah well...such is life.  So today's photo is of a mini-painting I did a few weeks ago.

And the poem for today: 

The red-tailed hawk dives from his perch

a kamikaze pilot on a mission.

I can't see his prey--only the rustle of weeds

near the pond's edge.  High in the oak

a group of sparrows huddle

their shoulders hunched against the rain

like bystanders who watch an assault and do

nothing. 

And now it's off to bed....

                                        



A Pair of Earrings and an Owl





Copper-colored wire flower
earrings

It's too hot to work outside today (and besides that, I don't feel like it), so I decided to get creative.  I'm getting some small pieces ready for a couple of shows coming up in August--will post more specific info when I have it.  Here are the earrings I made today.  I am still working on consistency with the wire wrapping and twisting, and I'm also teaching myself how to tie Celtic knots--which I plan to incorporate into my jewelry soon.  I'm excited about this new venture, and full of ideas. Look for the opening of my Etsy store soon!

Owl
2 x 3 acrylics

Here is the mini-painting I am working on--it's nearly finished.  I have several larger pieces in various stages of completion. I'm hoping to finish those soon.  Just not enough time for all these creative endeavors!  

I also need to get some sample pet portraits finished--I'll be doing a fundraiser  in September for Lifebridge for Animals and would like to have some new work to display.  Soooo.....back to the easel!

Feathers Fly, and TGIF

I admit it:  I need one of those "I brake for anything" bumper stickers. In my haste to get home this afternoon (because it's Friday, and the start of a 3 day weekend) there is one less cardinal winging its merry way through Oldham County. Anxious to get home for the start of my long-anticipated holiday weekend, I drove a tad bit faster than usual. I saw the bird lift off from the ground and try its best to get airborne--and though I slowed down, hoping the little guy would make it, my left front bumper caught him, and in the rearview mirror I saw a flurry of red feathers.  And I felt guilty--so much so, that farther down the road, as I came around a sharp curve, I braked for a lone vulture snacking on the dead racoon I'd seen earlier this morning.  He barely glanced at me, ungrateful buzzard.  Maybe there's a poem in there somewhere....I'll post it for sure if I ever write it.

Since I'm home relaxing and thoroughly enjoying the start of my 3 day weekend, I spent an hour or so reading through writers' blogs, and found some good advice posted by Laurie Hulse Anderson.  Most of it can be applied to painters, too, actually.

1.    Learn to live frugally and don’t get into debt.
2.    Write what you want, not what you think “the market” wants.
3.    Turn off the television.
4.    Don’t major in Creative Writing in college. Chances are it will drain the life out of your creativity.
5.    Never, ever criticize yourself during a first draft.
6.    Have the courage to revise your work.
7.    Read every night before you go to sleep.
8.    Do not pressure yourself by saying "I have to get this published by the time I am 20 (or 30, or 40, or
       80, etc.)
9.    Write the story in your heart.
10.  Pay attention to William Faulkner’s wise words. He said “Don’t be ‘a writer.’ Be writing.”