As I sit here writing today’s post, I’m scrolling through my file of painting images in I-photo, trying to determine which one I should write about. No one individual painting stands out, maybe in part because the one I really want to write about this morning is the one I’m working on right now, but it’s not yet ready to show you.
Instead, I stopped on this image. It’s from the working studio gallery I had from 2014-2016, I think right before I was ready to move out, given the pile of things on that table. It was located next to the Chapoquoit Grill restaurant in West Falmouth, MA. Some of you may remember it.
This photograph caught my eye in part because of the collection of paintings on the walls. Some remain in my collection, unsold. Some have been reworked into entirely new paintings. And some sold, though honestly, I don’t always remember to whom, or when.
I think the photograph also caught my eye because I miss having a working studio open to the public. I’m a bit nostalgic for the days when I had one, actually, several. The home I moved to a year ago, while graciously large as a home, is not suitable for having an open studio. Though I have a working space here, there are occupancy restrictions on using it overtly as a ‘business.’ So, I continue to paint, but I’ve begun to dream of having a more public space again sometime soon. Not sure where. Not sure when. And not simply for the purpose of selling the art, though obviously that’s a good thing, but because what I really miss is the human interaction I had around the paintings when I had an open studio. I loved meeting new people, never quite sure who was going to walk in the door, or where our conversation would go. Talking with them about the various paintings, hearing their comments, watching their reactions. Even, one night I remember, handing the brush over to a young child, and just saying, “play - it’s ok - you can’t ruin the painting.” And sometimes, I learned of their creative dreams.
I also remember once upon a time having the problem of ‘not enough inventory’ as a hurdle to be overcome to be taken seriously as a selling artist, or to have a working gallery of my own. Now, I sit in the opposite place, with over, oh, I don’t know, several hundred paintings on my website. Now, granted, a bunch of them are the mini’s - ornaments I created for holiday 2020 and continue to create. That year, I sold nearly 200 of these little minis.
But this isn’t a post about the minis. Or about a studio. In fact, if I were to write about the one I want to write about, the one I can’t show you yet because it’s not done yet, it would be about a rather large painting, measuring 24”x 48” (2’x4.’) I’m trying to get it ready to enter in a juried show titled RED at the Cotuit Center for the Arts. The deadline is next Monday, one week from today, and it’s an oil painting, so it will need several days to dry, which means I only really have today, tomorrow, and Wednesday to finish it.
Yes, if you read my blog post last Thursday about Process over Product, I give you full permission to laugh at me. I am right now fully in product mode. It happens sometimes.
Here is a sneak peak, only about an hour into the process. The face is definitely not yet done (oh so harsh looking here.) The words on the staircase simply a working title I wrote on the canvas for inspiration. If it all goes well, I will post the final painting and talk more about it next week.
Please be kind. Showing a painting this early into it is a bit like showing a photo of a haircut 10 minutes in - you might have a general idea of where it is headed, but definitely not the full picture, or in this case, the full painting.
As always, thank you for reading.
Love to each one of you.
Mimi
Oh, and here’s another photo, from the other gallery I had, back in 2010. We had some pretty fun parties there, didn’t we?
Fun to read, and I spy some people I recognize in the photo of one of the fun events you hosted there!