One of my favorite places

Yesterday I got to tag along with my husband and go up to Helena (he had to go for work).
My main priority was to go to the Archie Bray Center Clay shop and look for tools for encaustic painting. Many clay tools work well for scraping and shaping wax as the are metal and can be cleaned with heat.

I also stopped in at Aizada Imports, as the owner Paula had seen my greeting cards and was interest in carrying some in her shop. She imports wonderful woolen and felted good from women in Krygyzstan, I need to go back when I have some time and peruse her lovely shop. I may need a pair of slippers at the least. 

Back to the Bray-I wandered the grounds and Galleries in addition to the clay shop. I did find some great new tools, as well as some duplicates to add to my class supplies.

Happily it was not too smokey and not windy. I attempted to capture a bit of light on some of the pieces. Just quick snaps with my point and shoot on auto-need to step up my game in the photo department.

There is so much history here and all the untold (to me) stories that the art all around holds. It is truly magical for any creative person to experience. 

Stay tuned for studio tour part 2, I will be working on it in the next few weeks, in between keeping busy painting for some upcoming shows. More info later on that too!

studio tour, part one

It's been almost a year since I moved my studio to our house. We had hoped to find a place with an out building that would be my studio, but that was not to happen. I still have some dreams-depending on building codes...we did end up with a nice large yard.

My studio is really great and it is well removed from the rest of the house, which decreases the interruptions that having a studio in your home can cause. It is great just to walk down the stairs and be there. I find I often can make use of a small bit of time, instead of a 15-20 minute commute to a studio. Most of the time I relish the solitude of my studio and feel I produce best when alone. I've got two rooms that connect with an open doorway, they both face our backyard at ground level with large windows. The windows face north and maybe a little west, so usually the light is soft and indirect. Bliss!

I didn't straighten up and took these pictures in the midst of a small working frenzy. This is my encaustic studio, it's hard to get a good feel for it without a proper lens for interior pictures. The dimensions are roughly 12' x 14'. It is the smaller of my two rooms, but I chose it for encaustics due to it having a door to the outside, so it has really good ventilation in the warmer months. I find I am able to have 3 encaustic students for classes, it seems to work well with space and equipment needs.

modified drafting table

work space

cart of all things encaustic

storage, storage

my usual work space, end of a painting day

rhythms of the studio

First attempt at plain air hay bales

I have been attempting to set studio schedules and focus on making art really happen on a more consistent basis. In doing this, I am realizing that summer is not the time to buckle down and paint in the studio. Besides the distractions of summer hiking, camping and floating, and the never ending yard and garden upkeep-summer is time to focus on plain air. As I write my new art goals and structure my studio time, I am finding I need to have a different time plan for each season.

Summer's focus on getting out and plain air painting will carry over into fall, anticipating the golden hues of that season. Winter will be class time and using photos and observations from the summer and fall in the studio. I am still developing my strategy for Spring/Fall times.

First draft, getting to know the hay bales, second hay bale painting

Great subject, right in town

It helps having a friend to make sure I get out. Once you are committed, then you stick with the plan I find. I went out myself, but it was chilly that day, and it was easy to stop and go home. At least I did get out.

Quick start on a stormy morning

A little rain shower action

The goal currently is to get out once a week whenever possible and paint. Also to challenge myself and paint out of my comfort zone. As if plain air itself and getting used to oil paints again isn't enough challenge! Trying new subjects-rainy skies, hay bales, water and trying to figure out how to portray the golden yellow of the lower surrounding mountains are on the list.

Getting started at Cherry Creek Ponds

Partway through painting

Today's attempt, partway finished. Some good things, some learning and motivation to study my favorite painting book, "Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting". And to finish today's post-just another amazing Montana Big Sky.

back to the blog

The plan is to pick this blog back up and run with it again. I realize writing about my art is a  helpful tool and plays in to making successful paintings. It's something related to the time spent in reflection on my painting and it's flow-I believe. After a false start last year getting this blog back up and going, I am committed to trying again.

It's Plein Air season again, I have a new friend and painting partner and we are making it happen!

We are constantly on the search for places to paint now. We have found a couple great places already. Above are pictures from our first outing. The Gallatin Valley has almost non-stop vistas, if you can just find a place to park and set up your easel.

untitled, 8" x 16"

After loosening up and getting re-aquainted with oil paints, I was pretty happy with my first plain air painting in a while.

Welcome back to my Art blog-here's to a successful resurrection and many more posts.