m. p i l g r i m (art)

 I used to try to grow tomatoes. However, they require attention and care, something that falls by the wayside when you're trying to grow a business. Luckily, I married a gardener. He took over the whole tomato growing enterprise this year and I was flush with them. I had tomatoes every day. It was heaven. This is the last tomato from this year's crop.  It popped out late in the season and I picked it this morning and quartered it.   I had some misgivings about painting tomatoes on an orange plate, but it turned out to be a fun exercise.  

 I admit to a tiny bit of hero worship to this guy . His tiny paintings of the mundane, ordinary things in life  are a wonder to behold.  He had a daily habit of painting a small painting and his rendering are amazing. The daily painting movement is designed to do this, to increase skill in rendering and painting. There are other movements as well, such as daily drawing, etc.  As a science-y type person, I have also wondered, if I painted a little painting from start to finish every single day, would *I* get better? I've had people comment things such as, "well as least you have your mother's talent." It's worth noting that actually, I received very little instruction from my mother. In fact, she discouraged me from a career in art, for practical reasons.  Anders Ericcson says that it is deliberate practice that results in expertise, not innate ability. ( You can read more about him here. ) And thus begins the experiment.   So here is: day 1. I d...

 Plein air painting has a lot in common with backpacking and painting.  In the beginning, you pack way too much stuff.  After hauling it around and struggling you finally sit down on your kitchen floor, unpack your gear, and start tossing things aside, "I don't need this--at least not enough to mess with it or carry it any distance. Still, I've been intrigued with developing this type of painting. I happen to live in one of the most visually and structurally interesting and pleasing areas in the US: New Mexico. Within a day's drive there is desert, mesas, rivers, forests, mountains.  I have a history of long-distance trail-running so being in the wilderness doesn't scare me.  I signed up for a plein air workshop through the New Mexico Art League. We have gone to three different locations so far. The first location was Placetas, New Mexico. I didn't really feel like I had a good view of the Mtn, and I wasn't inspired by the dotted houses on the hillside near...

 It behooves me to mention that I no longer have a studio.  I have a house, in which I paint. This past summer we spent a week in San Francisco in a friend's small apartment. When I got home I was thinking about space, and how one lives in their space.  My "studio" was a small extra bedroom that was darkly lit, and I was forever fiddling with the lights to get them bright enough in there.  Plus, it's also the room where I do Teletherapy, meaning I don't want all my easels and paints and related painting accoutrement in the background.  So finally I decided, enough. I'm a grownup, with a house. I rarely entertain, so why am I hanging on to that living room? We don't even have a TV in there.  I have a couple of Adeptus solid-wood flat pack carts, and one has a drop-leaf end . This is my tabouret. The other card holds drawing supplies and drawing pads.  They're both on wheels.   So here is the result: I presented it to my husband when he came ho...