open doors

I have got a cold this week, and along with the lack of physical energy my spirits have been flagging a bit.  But this morning I am determined to feel better.  The damn cold has just got to run its course, so I'm going over what I've accomplished in the last couple of weeks.  A blog post morning will do me good.

Last week I varnished all the 12x12 paintings.  We have had an unusually warm autumn and I was able to do this outdoors, in mid-October!  Sweet.  

I like the backyard with its fallen leaves, laundry on the line, gardening buckets and paintings.  A more domestic scene than I would've cared for a few years ago, but which suits me now.

I liked how the late afternoon light picked up the textures.

These paintings are now all signed and inventoried, and today I will put on the hanging wires.  Then they will be ready to go out!

I also have been working on a quilt for a friend.  She's just had a baby, and this started out as a baby quilt...  but then it took on a life of its own, and grew much bigger!  There it is pinned to the studio wall behind my working table:  

I haven't made a quilt in some years, and it was fun to haul out all the laces and pretty things.

I was hoping to finish it this week, but that didn't happen.  This quilt may wind up being a xmas present.

This week I put together 5 projects for teaching art classes in the schools.  For each project I do a concept/discussion outline, materials list, and step-by-step process outline.  It's a lot of work, but I know that once the ideas are developed they can be used for more than one class, so I'm setting up for the future here. I hope.  :)

As I do all the writing I am also making each project in my studio to work out the physics of the thing, so that it can be a successful project on both a conceptual and a practical level.

Here are some papier-mache bowls I made:

It's fun to make things outside my usual practice, and I really like how these bowls turned out.  Perhaps some of the processes I'm exploring here will find their way into future studio work...

Yesterday, after much writing and school-project-prototype-making and despite my cold and low energy, I finally was able to work on my own paintings again!  Just a couple of glazes on a few of the little oil paintings, but what a good feeling.

At one point I was hoping all the little oil paintings might be finished by the end of November, but now I think not.  These need a fair bit of work yet, and the oil takes time to dry, and I'd rather not rush things.

And the fence paintings endure.  This will be their fourth winter on the fence.  Here, lit by the porch light at night:

I'm really hoping I can find a good balance between teaching and my studio practice.  It feels like a good time to open some new doors.