Julie T. Chapman - ArtBlog

Just a quickie post. Out of the blue, I received an email from Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, OK to be part of their 2010 “Masters of Influence” Invitational. The concept is that they (Lovetts) choose a Master (in 2010, it’s Frank Lloyd Wright) and the artists who are invited to the show create a piece that somehow incorporates that artist’s homage to the Master chosen, whether directly or indirectly.

The concept is wonderfully intriguing, and I wasted no time accepting, especially since I love FLW’s architecture, stained-glass windows, etc. Of course, now I’m hit with the stunning reality that I have to create something worthy of the invitation and FLW’s influence - not an entirely comfortable situation.

The 2009 MoI can be seen here.

After the encouraging response - from both artists and collectors - to recent Artzines featuring some WiP (Work in Progress) photos, I’ve been documenting more of my painting process. I had time off between Christmas and New Year’s, so I painted like a fiend (god it was great!). Herewith, one of the pieces I painted then, in progression:

Step 1: just the textured panel, with a wash on it

Step 2: about 20% of the painting laid in - some background, and the pickup rider mostly done

Step 3: about 60% of the piece done - pickup rider and his flashy palomino

The final piece: “Rough Work”, 24 x 18

Learnings:

• boy do I love red (duh), though it’s challenging as hell to paint something that evokes really BRIGHT red at the correct relative value scale to the rest of the piece
•  I’m having so much fun with texturing my panels beforehand it’s almost illegal
• taking these WiP photos is actually helping me do a better job with the final paintings - it forces me to take a step back, and seeing a little digital version on the back of my camera makes the flaws or compositional needs of the piece just JUMP out at me.
• The compositions I enjoy most are totally “in your face”
• I really do enjoy lots of entendres in my titles (there are a few in this one - interpretations invited

Some of you may have noticed that there’s been some wind whistling through the empty spaces here, that my posts to this blog have become rather more spaced out than they used to be - but you have all been kind enough not to point it out. What gives?

I’m no longer a full-time artist. This feels like a confession of failure, somehow.

The economic downturn has been hard on both my art business and the business my husband is in, so a few months ago I found high-tech employment. Yes, right here in Missoula, Montana! (although it is a California-based employer). High-tech jobs here are scarcer than white bison, so I’m grateful; the work I’m doing suits my strengths and experience, and I’m good at it, but it’s not the same as being home in my studio with my crazy agility shepherds, the smell of oil paint, and colors and brushes and equipment waiting for me.

Well, maybe my current experience in the dual-career arena can be useful to others. So let’s keep up the conversation, and hope that the economy begins to turn around for those of us in the discretionary-purchase business. In the meantime, I am back to working the 70-80 hour weeks (between my job and art) that I thought I’d left behind in California.

P.S. the benefits with my new employer are superb, something we haven’t experienced in YEARS. Let’s all hope that whatever health-care reform results from the mishmash now in front of Congress benefits the self-employed more than the pathetically nonexistent ‘health care’ I had before, and paid through the nose for the privilege of having, I might add.