A few evenings ago, I was in the mood to do up the studio and outside area for a First Friday walk.
This means, dragging in small work from home, setting up my panel walls, hanging things, printing up little cards with prices, and several other small tasks.
This is a good trick in a space that is roughly 9 x 11 feet!
Actually, the evening went fast… as several folks came by that I had nice conversations with and it was busy a lot of the time.
Someone who had been admiring my work for a long time, was thrilled he caught me at the studio finally. We had a connection to Iowa, and he was very kind to appreciate my color sensibility and could see the process involved. Two aspects of painting that are a major preoccupation of mine!
One person was curious why I labeled some paintings “works in progress” because to him some of them looked finished- he was curious to know why I didn’t think so.
Briefly, I tried to explain how I still needed to make small changes in color, or how far advanced or recessive some elements were, and how important even these small decisions were to me. So much of the time spent painting is actually painting or scraping things out, and working in a reductive mode.
I think it helps for people to realize that the work doesn’t stop when you have arrived at an image, all in one pass over the surface, but continues to ask for refinement on some terms.
But they are nearly resolved.
One painting- Brown Tangle (in the upper right) had been at home, and when I brought it in – thinking I would hang it to display the finished work- I realized- “heck, I need to open up some of those areas” so then it went back on the wall to be reworked.
Anyway, it was a pretty pleasant night.
Even though I price my work out of the studio very reasonably, I seldom sell anything locally, except for small items, and often to other artists, ironically – or to people who are visiting from out of the area. I know that feeling of being a bit looser with money when you are on a vacation!
Many local people who really appreciate what I do are just not accustomed to buying original works of art, and may not think they can afford it.