Mid-May Check-in
Hi everyone! I hope everyone’s May is going well. It’s been an exciting time in my studio and art business. I’m writing this check-in in between meetings, so it’s probably going to be a quick one!
What I’m working on:
I think I’m at the finishing touches of the fourth seashell painting in the collection of ‘Ocean Arrangements’ paintings. I’m looking back at my previous updates and I’ve just realized that I’m painting these pieces faster as I have more under my belt. And to be fair, this fourth painting is less complicated than the first three. I have one more painting that I have prepped to round out this collection. I may come back to this collection, but I think that five paintings is a nice number for now. Because I have been very focused on this collection of paintings, I’ve been coming up with a bunch of new ideas for other series of paintings that I want to get started on.
I’ve been selected to paint a mural in San Jose. I’ll be painting a pair of utility boxes, which the City of San Jose has fondly called ‘Art Boxes’. My sketch of the mural has been approved, so the next step is getting my supplies: I need to purchase exterior house paint, paint brushes, drop cloths, among other supplies that I don’t usually use inside my studio. I’m planning to paint my mural in the beginning of June, across a few days, during the morning hours to hopefully avoid the summer heat and sun. This will be the first mural that I’ve designed, so I’m really looking forward to painting it!
I’m really behind in the #100dayproject, but I am committing to catching up and completing 100 watercolor paintings/sketches. Even though it’s been hard to keep to this habit for 100 days in a row, this has been a great opportunity to paint with watercolors again and experiment with some new projects. The last day of the project is May 27th, so we’re in the home stretch.
Finally, the thing that has taken up the majority of my energy the last two weeks: Silicon Valley Open Studios. I had a great time showing my work in Los Altos and San Jose in back to back weekends. I met so many people who enjoyed my artwork, and I had a great time speaking to people about my background in becoming an artist and my artistic practice. Meeting and talking to people about my work is one of my favorite parts of creating artwork and being an artist, so I’m really glad that I was able to spend two weekends doing that.
Outings
Last Friday, I went out plein air painting with my former co-worker turned full-time artist friend around Mori Point outside of San Francisco. It was a great time catching up and painting together. We both paint in oils, but we have two very different styles, so it was cool to see how our paintings turned out side by side. She also created a YouTube video of our experience, and you can watch it here!
And then both of my weekends have been occupied by Open Studios, which I also consider an outting. This was a really rewarding experience and I’m looking forward to more opportunities where I can share my art with people.
I think that’s all for now. I have family visiting in the middle of next week, and I’m going to be using that time to rest and take a break from painting and business work. I have a couple of deadlines for art calls, residencies, and grants coming up at the end of May, so I’m hoping to also finish that work before my family visits, so I can truly take a much needed break! Thanks for reading and following along!
