A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PAINTER

BEFORE I PAINT

I spend time painting, of course. But I also spend a lot of time getting ready to paint. I sit behind my computer, researching paint and materials to get inspired. I watch other artists' painting videos. I run out to buy that perfect shade of viridian oil paint, or a new fat brush. I go for a walk, looking for wildflowers to photograph. I run to Trader Joe's for some fresh cut flowers.

 I CAN RARELY JUST START PAINTING

I browse through my photographs -- shots of plants and flowers from my walks and things I've found interesting. I spend time arranging fresh flowers in my collection of pots and vases. I take the bouquets out in the sun and photograph them from different angles, watching for interesting shapes and shadows. I sit back and ponder, then fuss over the arrangements some more.

Sometimes I set up gorgeous artificial flowers and greens. I realize I don't have the right ones, and off to the store I go again.

ACTUALLY PAINTING

And then, at some magical point, I catch my stride. Ahh, I'm painting. I can't really tell you what happens at this point, so I just go with it. In my last newsletter I took you through the steps of my process, but there are no real words to describe the head space or state of mind I'm in when I'm actually doing it. I just know that all the time it took to get to this point is so worth it. I stay up way too late.

The hard part is tearing myself away. Once I get to this point, I don't want to stop. In fact, I can't stop if I don't love what I see on the canvas -- and that sometimes happens. (Artists who always love what they do are rare!) If I'm at an ugly stage, I simply cannot leave the painting, even if it's 2 am and I am dead tired, though I try not to let this happen! But the fact is that I must paint through the ugly. Going to bed with a canvas that I don't feel good about is not an option; I simply would not be able to sleep.

 COAXING THE PAINTING ALONG

I think this ugly stage is what must have tormented the early impressionists so much. At least it torments me. I have learned to work through it, though, and I've been painting long enough to have patience with myself as I coax and nurture the painting along until it opens up and gives me joy. 

Ugly happens -- there are times when I am very frustrated with myself and my painting. But joy happens too! And when I feel good about a painting, I can finally leave it for awhile -- exhausted and feeling like I've wrestled the beast, but exuberant! For me, there is no better feeling than being able to see the energy in a painting, energy that I put there. It's like heaven to me, and I can feel my heart lift up.

My acrylic paintings get a coat of varnish soon after they are finished, usually within a few days to a few weeks, depending on if they are going to a gallery or being sold. I let the oil paintings dry as long as I can before adding the varnish coat, which is done on saw horses outside on my patio because of the fumes. I like to varnish to protect the painting and to even out any differences on the surface.

ORGANIZING, CATALOGING, AND MARKETING, OH MY!

In the beginning, when I first started painting five years ago, I figured I was done at this point. I put the finished painting aside and began again with a new one. Sometimes, if someone came to my house and saw my paintings, I sold one. But mostly they just piled up until they overtook my living room and it got difficult to see the TV. I had no idea how many paintings I had, what sizes they were, or how to price them.

Now I have archiving software where I organize and catalog my work. Before varnishing, I photograph every piece and enter it into my database. Each piece gets an inventory number and information like price, title, media, sizing, date of creation, location, etc. is entered. Now that I've created over 130 paintings and sold over 40% of them, it's getting pretty important to keep track.

 THIS IS WHAT I WAS BORN TO DO

I admit, "a day in the life" of this painter is pretty erratic. Sometimes the urge is great, and I just have to stop whatever I'm doing and pick up a paint brush. And sometimes I've painted so much that my marketing has taken a hit, and I need to dig in and catch back up. And a few times -- this is a good problem! -- I've gotten low on my inventory of paintings, so I've had to slow down on marketing and paint more to build up my supply of really good stuff to share with the world.

Mostly, I'm pretty psyched all the time. I think this may just be the best "job" in the universe. At least it seems, to me, to be what I was born to do.

I LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK

I hope this article has been helpful to you. My goal is to bring you closer to experiencing art in any way I can -- and now you know what I do all day!

I love your comments and feedback about my work or the content of my articles, and, as always, I sure do appreciate you taking the time to look at my work, and to forward it to other art lovers.