2017 - Progress on Becoming an Artist

On Facebook, the art supply company, Grumbacher tossed out a question about the year’s accomplishments in art.

I decided not to respond and closed my laptop… except the question nagged me. I showered and went about my day, with this nudge inside, asking myself, what have I accomplished not just in art, but in becoming an artist. 

The process began in earnest in July of 2014. By then, I had a vision of what I wanted, simply to stand at an easel and to paint outside. I’d learned that act was called, “plein air” and that plein air was a real thing with a long history. I bought an easel, paints, brushes, paper and a vat of sunscreen. I took a weekend workshop at Lill Street and a week-long workshop at Madeline Island and learned I needed to learn how to draw, let alone distribute paint so that it was recognizable. Classes, sketching, and painting, as much painting as possible, ensued.

 A fifteen-inch pile of water color paintings, a couple filled drawing pads, several sketch books and bins, shelves and wires hung with canvas boards filled with oil paintings are evidence of a continued pursuit of art since then. Yet, I still need to draw better and I still need to distribute the paint better. My inspiration to find some success is my former neighbor (by a mile or so,) Michael Jordan, "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." 

Fast forward to 2017. My drawing has improved, but I don’t trust myself with the game winning line. My painting has improved but I’m still missing shots, but at this point, a lyric from Hamilton comes to mind, “I’m not throwing away my shot.” I continue to learn, ask for criticism and paint some more. In 2017, I completed (life changing) Painting Fundamentals 101 and 102 with Popovich and Krajecki through the Palette and Chisel, a 7-week perspective class with Krajecki thete too, a class taught br phenomenal artist, Steve Puttrich at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and a figure painting class with Ken Menami at the Evanston Art Center, and managed to have critiques by five other respected artists through the Plein Air Painters of Chicago. (Fred Polito, Don Yang, Errol Jacobdon, William Schneider, Nancy King Mertz.)

My easel accompanied me to paint plein air nearly every week April thru Oct and, I never went a week not "arting." I painted in two countries, three States, many states of mind and in two mediums. I painted over earlier paintings because they stopped being precious and I needed the canvas. I spent more money on paint and supplies than clothes, and found paint smears in more places than dust.

Firsts included: a plein air competition, a large format painting, a sale to stranger and one (almost two) off my easel, and, a paid commission (won't do that again.)

I bought a studio easel, took over a bedroom as a studio and stopped saying studio, as if it had quotes around it.

I participated in four shows; one juried. Two paintings were selected as year-long public works, two others are hanging in another town’s historical museum. An art critic reviewing one of the shows mentioned one of my paintings in a kind way. This year my Christmas list pretty much listed colors of paint. Gratefully, I received some. I continue to miss the majority of shots, but, I've hit a couple, for a change.  And, this year, the thought of painting as a hobby, never entered my mind. It's become my way of life.