Unfinished Paintings

I've been thinking lately about why I like showing my paintings as works in progress. I think there are probably a lot of artists out there who never know their "in progress" pieces but, I've always taken pictures of the process. I think I hope the viewer will see the process as much as they see the work. I know personally, I've always loved watching people work because everyone is so different in their approach. Every painter holds their brush a certain way, every drawer holds their pen or pencil a certain way. Of course, as artists, we hardly ever like anyone looking over our shoulders. We get tense, unsettled and cannot concentrate the same. So, while I cannot invite everyone into my studio as I work (even if I could, I probably wouldn't. I like to work in solitude), I take pictures. Maybe it lets you into my world a little bit or maybe it helps you to understand the work behind the painting. Either way, I feel like the process is just as important to show as the final piece. In every stage of the process, artwork grows and changes. So why not share that growth with the viewer?

The image above is a painting I started yesterday.

Valentine

Hello again! I hope everyone had a very beautiful Valentine's Day. Tohny and I had the perfect day. We sat around, did nothing, played video games and watched tv shows. It was great! haha

Tohny made dinner (baked steak and garlic french friend, yummmm) and I made desert,

I love decorating cakes. Sometimes I think I should make a living at it, then I would be happy. lol

I'll leave you on the reason why my husband is absolutely wonderful

Finishing a Painting

Finishing a painting is such a great feeling. After working hard, fixing problems and spending loads of time with a painting, when its complete, you feel complete. It can be bittersweet at times. Especially for pieces that take a long time. When I spend a month or two with a painting, knowing and placing my brush on every intricate inch of it, it is hard to let it go and call it finished.

This painting is complete. The picture is pretty terrible since all I had was my cell phone but I will post a proper one soon. I've yet to figure out a title but I have a few in the works...

Apartment Therapy

Thank you so much to everyone who commented on the last post! Everyone is so kind and its great to hear after working so hard. I'll do some actual posts later but for now I wanted to share my entry on Apartment Therapy's website!

Food will have to wait!

I finally got the chance to take pictures of my apartment. Tohny and I have been working hard (him painting, me decorating) on getting it to look like a home and, as Tohny put it, not a place to stick our "crap." Haha. So here is the living/bedroom. We do have a one bedroom apartment but, because of my sewing/art things and Tohny's massive computer, we decided to use the bedroom as an office and bring the bed to the living room. Its worked out really great and now we feel like we have more room all the way around. So, enough with me talking, here are the goods:

We still have a few more things to do, like paint the ceiling, reupholster my chair and get a bed skirt. But I looooooove my apartment now! Next, the office!

Paint is good

I've been painting all day today. It feels so good to be painting and relaxed. I've been stressed out over my paintings for the last year. I think I took a turn where I was trying to please my professors and I ended up not doing work that was true to myself. I'm transitioning into faith based work now and it just feels so right. The paint flows easier, my work looks better (to me at least) and I feel like I'm being myself again. I'm finishing up one of the paintings from last semester (not faith based) and its almost done:

There's still a bit of shading work to be done and... I do think I should give her an eye!

I have some good food stuff to share as soon as I download the pictures off my camera. After my 7 hour cleaning spree, I've been baking and cooking non-stop. Cookies, almond chocolate chip banana bread, bacon wrapped chicken... And I'm sure I'm not done!

Morning

I'm terrible at waking up in the mornings. I don't sleep well at night and it always causes me to sleep in, which makes me late for everything. But, on the days where I manage to wake up early, I love it. I love the feel of morning and watching the sunrise. The stillness, quiet and calm. I woke up and rolled over and saw my old chair sitting there. It looked lonely in the morning light, almost like it has been neglected. And I suppose it has. I've been meaning to re-upholster it. Then, I rolled back over and saw the blue glow of my kitchen (the kitchen I spent 7 hours cleaning the night before). I wished in that moment that I could wake up in the morning easier. I want more moments like this in my life.

Bedroom

This is one half of our living/bedroom! Its about the only spot in our apartment that I have done... I still have all of my picture frames waiting for me to hang them up and organization that needs to happen. I also spent about 7 hours last night giving my kitchen a good cleaning. Sheesh, I'm tired. But, its all coming together and I'm super excited! So, here's a little bit of a comfy spot:
(Ignore the messy dresser and the bad cell phone picture!)

Re-do

We're in the process of cleaning up and re-doing our apartment. Paint and swapping rooms! I'll post pics when we're done!

I'm Messy- With a capital M

Its true. Ask my mom, she'll tell you. I've been in my studio for three days and I've managed to make it look like a tornado hit it. Granted, it wasn't spotless when I left for Christmas vacation...

See? I told you. Messy.

Blank canvas that is sitting and waiting for me to start painting on it.

A canvas frame that needs canvas and an unfinished painting. There's a lot more to show of my studio but all I have on me in my camera phone which doesn't take the best pictures in the world. But, I wanted to share where I am most of my life. Where I spend all of my free time and where I hide away from the world. Cozy, eh?