Beginning of August Check-in
I have a reminder set on my phone to write up my bi-weekly check-in, and for the last few months, I’ve always been surprised when the reminder pops up on my phone because I don’t realize that two weeks have passed. I’ve been saying this a lot recently, but it’s been a busy time in the studio. I’m hoping to slow down a bit in August and really focus on painting before I do a bunch of travel in September and October. My artist residency at Cuttyhunk Island starts at the beginning of September and is a little over a week long. And then I’m off to Olympic National Park in Washington for 10 days, and I’m back at the end of September for SF Open Studios. So I’m hoping to not do too much in August beyond painting in the studio and preparing for Open Studios and my residency.
What I’m working on:
My primary focus in the studio has been my Swarthmore Calendar Commission. It’s due in the middle of September, but since I’m traveling, I’ll be submitting the final digital file of the painting by the end of this month. This means that I have to finish the painting quite soon in order for it to dry so I can get it professionally photographed before the end of this month.
I started a sixth seashell painting in the ‘Ocean Arrangements’ series as part of my live painting demonstration at the Filoli Historic Gardens Art Walk two weekends ago. I haven’t worked on it since my live painting demo since I’ve been focusing on the Swarthmore Calendar commission. Similarly, the fifth seashell painting in the ‘Ocean Arrangements’ has been on hold. I’m hoping that I can show the first four paintings in this series during SF Open Studios at the end of September. I still have to sign and varnish those paintings, so they’re not ‘officially’ complete yet, but they’re almost there.
I’m working on a fourth abstract watercolor painting, with a slightly different color palette. This one is a little larger, 18”x24”. I’m also hoping to have six abstract watercolor paintings, total, complete for display at SF Open Studios. I ordered some frames for these watercolor paintings, so I’m excited to put them all together.
Outings
Last Friday, I participated in South First Fridays in San Jose in a couple of different ways:
I did manage to paint a bottle for LocalColor’s 99 Bottle Exhibition and the opening reception for the show was on Friday. I didn’t have a chance to actually visit the opening reception, but I was excited to see the new gallery space LocalColor secured when I dropped off my bottle.
I was asked to be the featured First Fridays artist at SoFA market, a food hall on 1st Street in San Jose, so I framed all of my available fine art giclee prints and now they’re on display at SoFA market. They should be up there for over a month and all available for purchase, so you should check them out if you’re in the area.
I spent my actual time during South First Fridays tabling with genARTS and connecting with the artists who were visiting the various museums and arts events for South First Fridays. I had a good time catching up with my artist friends and also helping with a workshop we were hosting.
That’s all that I’ve been working on for now. I don’t have as much in person events coming up this month beyond hosting a very casual open studio for Second Saturdays on the Alameda this upcoming Saturday. I’m really looking forward to uninterrupted and quiet studio time. Hopefully, by the next update, I’ll have worked on some more paintings. That’s all for now!
