A Studio Detour

Chatham
9x12 Water Soluble Oils on Stretched Canvas
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2014-15

Caught up in so many other "details" of everyday life & other such distractions, I have to force myself to go up the stairs & visit my own studio. 

Realizing that I still haven't done any new pieces (Grrrr!!!), I thought it'd be nice to bring you along on the visit.

When hubby & I designed the house layout, we had his 3 young girls staying with us regularly. We opted to make it a 4 bedroom house. And, in the process, we wound up having an enclosed loft area on the 2nd floor. After the girls moved on into adulthood, we also found that we have 2 oversized spare rooms upstairs.

Somehow, I've managed to fill almost 2/3rds of the entire upper floor with art materials & work areas. 

The loft holds a work table used for mat & paper cutting, an old artist table with a computer & paint supplies for glass painting. In between are rolling carts & Yaffe squares full of supplies & goodies.

The framed picture on the one rolling cart is a print hubby made for me for one Christmas that showcases our original logo design for Bronson Hill Arts! He is my best fan & supporter.

There are 2 large windows that look out over our backyard. This is the best spot for the drafting/painting table. Again, the table is surrounded by carts & tables. If I want to keep something on the tilted table, I attach some rubber feet to the bottom & that generally works. I've been using a small cosmetics holder for tubes of watercolor paints with the sticky feet keeping it nice and steady!

I've got several fluorescent lamps around the area which helps to give me better lighting at night for working & for quick photos.

My favorite part is the easel area, though. I have a large wooden easel on one side & a small metal easel. In between is an old desktop computer table that is great for storing oil paints, brushes, water buckets, & as a working area with its "keyboard" pull-out. 

The next room over is for storage & photographing paintings. After 4+ years of doing this, I'm still struggling with taking a good photograph of a painting. But, I think we're gaining on it! This set up seems to be working better than any other I've tried to date.

So, now that I've taken a solid look at all the fun to be had in these rooms, I have to force myself to enjoy it!

Hope you have a ton of fun, too, this week!

Bird Squares Part II

It's been a few weeks of typical day-to-day busyness. As such there has not been much in the way of art production of late.

But here are the next steps in developing the Bird Squares:

Each square was traced and "sized" for the canvas-

Next, charcoal was applied to the back of the tracing-

Lastly, the image is traced directly to the canvasses-

Simple as an elementary school exercise, but effective in order to comfortably design such a small composition!

With some luck, I hope to have the chance to take them to the next level some time this week!

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This past week, I was fortunate enough to be able to contribute to a new blog, Paper, Paint, Pencils & Pens, hosted by Lynn Cohen. Check it out some time; it's a very diverse, themed collection of artwork, across the boards! 

There are quite a  lot of fun challenges and showcases out in Blogger Land. And there is a lot of work that goes into so many of them. Thank you to all of our wonderful hosts!

Falls in Motion

 

 As mentioned in the last blog, I'm looking forward to sharing progress on different art pieces.

This one is an 11x14 water soluble oil painting of a local waterfall (we are awash in them in this part of the world!).

I was browsing channels recently and came upon some "how-to-paint" shows. There were some brush designs and techniques that I found of interest. I've tried to apply several of them in this piece.

Which, by the way, is still "Untitled Fall"...

I'll be keeping everyone posted!



Organizing to Do



Step 1: The Sketch
Where to Next?

A fellow creative soul, as well as a dear friend, and I managed to exchange a couple of emails that somewhat constituted a conversation.  With our equally crazy schedules, it has become a rarity, indeed.

In her part of the initial conversation, she was able to take a break from her thriving craft business. Instead of pushing ahead with marketing tedium, she was taking the available time to reorganize her art studio and areas.

While in several ways this may seem as if it is procrastination, I can appreciate the need to regroup. It may not seem to be working towards a successful art business, the need to step back and look at your surroundings. But, it is actually crucial at times.

Often, it seems that when we just roll with the tide of life, we flounder, unable find a focus. When we stop, look and evaluate the direction of the tide, we can remind ourselves of where it is exactly we meant to go in the first place.

I’ve found myself doing a tremendous amount of reevaluating where I want to go with my art, and with Mike’s photography. In the rush to get our name out to the local circuit of craft outlets and art groups, I found myself  being approached to do things that were, honestly, not what I enjoyed doing.  It was not what I wanted Bronson Hill Arts to become.

I enjoyed trying new crafts and mediums, techniques and designs. But I  feel  as though  I have been sidetracked in developing the type of artwork for which  I am passionate.

So, yes, here’s to “procrastinating” enough to redirect and refocus.

It’s not only a necessity: it’s a wonderful thing to give one’s self.

Step 2: Watercolor Colorization 

 

Back to Basics

Hand In Pencil by Pencil in Hand
©2013 BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

 

Lately, it seems that we may be catching up with the list of summer projects. The house is rearranged to the point of being usable. Vacations are almost done for the season. Gardens are as finished as they will be for the year. Kids are set on their career/college paths. We’re finding some time to spend with friends and family again.

One of the things I just haven’t been able to motivate to work at, though, is getting back to the studio. It sits up those stairs, all clean and organized. Materials overflow: canvases, paints, brushes, pencils, frames and framing supplies.

I want to do artwork, I need to do artwork. It makes me feel good, it pleases my senses & my soul.

Part of the issue is that I haven’t found an inspired block of time to dive into the process. Ideas are overflowing, design execution ready to be applied. But that 3-4 hour span of uninterrupted creation never seems to happen simply because, darn it! something else pulls me away.

I’ve been trying to start the practice of a doing a “little” something regularly. Okay, I’ve done it once. But, that counts as “starting”, right?

The first (yes, there will be more) is this sketch of my own hand. It was just a quick exercise in the basics.

And, that seems like a great place to start, doesn’t it?