(all of these photos are views from my yard this winter.)
My front porch in the summer. Can't wait. :)
Despite my personal pledge to blog more often, I have found myself distracted by art more than ever before. I spend every waking minute madly working, testing, trying new things, basically toiling away at work that has resulted in very few finished pieces in the last few months. In the past, I would have been panicked, dismayed even, by my lack of productive results. But for some reason, this year brings a different set of goals for me. I used to paint with the goal to finish something each day, to feel like I accomplished something. I thought that if I finished a painting, regardless of the quality or topic, I would feel complete. For some reason, this year my mind has made a complete 180. I no longer need to finish something every day. In fact, I have many dozens of unfinished "somethings" all ongoing right now, whether it be in glass, oil, or ink. I don't like the feeling of it, but I push it to the back of my mind telling myself that it doesn't matter; all of those unfinished works in my pile of tears are Lessons. No mistakes, just lessons. I've learned something from every single piece. It's hard for me to believe that I have worked for so many hours every day and have so little to show that is concrete; i.e, ready to sell. But I know that every minute I have spent working matters, and will show for itself in time. I think I am finally learning the art of patience and perhaps discipline. Soon, I will post my January and February pile of unfinished tears. Some I will likely finish, some I will not and they go into the "burn pile". For now, I am still toiling away, trying to find a solution for some, or giving some the final nod of goodbye. Despite the harshness of this winter, I have found that it is a sanctuary of sorts for me. I have had no choice but to hole up in my studio and bundle up in multiple layers much like I did in my youth when I lived in Vermont and New Hampshire. I remember so many early mornings of getting dressed under the covers because our heat was a wood burning stove that we didn't waste time or resources starting in the morning before school. I remember riding the sled down the mountain, standing it upright in the snow pile to pick up on the way home for the next mornings ride. I remember the long trudge up the hill on days like this, knowing that the fire would have to be started, and the house would be cold until it was "stoked". I remember the bus rides, and the smell of sap in March when the sugaring started. I long for the days that were so simple. The power was out for a few hours today. Not because of the weather, but because of a young careless driver who hit the pole in front of our house on a snowy day. The quiet in the house was deafening, but I felt at peace. It made me realize why I get agitated when there is so much noise and activity. Often I thought it was me and over sensitivity. Perhaps it's not just me. The snow piles that are piled over 10 feet high covering my studio window give me comfort in a strange way. Perhaps this is part of why I am in a good place right now, in the midst of all this snow and disengagement. It's as if I've come home.
My studio is clean and organized and I am slowly moving all my "piles" of art supplies from all over the house back into the studio......just in time for -11 degree temps tomorrow....sigh. I've been very slow at getting back into painting, mostly due to the cold, but also because all of the reference photos I had gathered for the January challenge are on my computer that has fried it's power supply twice this month. (I think due to the car that hit the light pole earlier this month that is now propped up and lashed with another light pole, waiting for spring to dig a hole.) It's now in the hands of the Geek Squad and I'll be up and running in no time, (with a back up of my hard drive), but it just seems as if painting this month is not going to come willingly. Thankfully, I still have glass to play with, and I've been obsessed with finding just the right technique in glass that actually looks like a painting. After weeks of experiments with enamels, glass, and a combination of both, I think I may have found it. There have been lots of failures, most are in fractured piles right now, but a few close successes. I've been working from images of paintings I've already done so if these seem familiar, you know why ;)
Here is another fused glass "painting" from one I've painted in oil before. This is one for the pile of tears because of the huge air bubbles, or it would have been destined for one more firing to do the detail work, but I think I've solved that problem for future works.
Here is an abstract with some bits and pieces of failed experiments
and here is an oil painting I did the other day to get back in the swing of things. I painted this before at Dreama's workshop and it came easy for me then, but not so much now without practice. I will keep plugging along though. The weather is supposed to continue to be record cold so the kiln will likely be humming and if it gets warm enough, I will be painting again soon!
Still no sign of the big brown truck with my painting supplies, although the postal service delivered today so that's a good sign. Here are my latest glass pieces for the challenge #6,7, &8 (the last one I did before the end of the year, Bonus!) I will be listing them all for sale on my Daily Paintworks page.
I have been working on a larger piece that is ready for it's final firing once I decide what color glass to back it with. This is enamel and fused glass
Well, I knew I would be a bit behind sharing my start to this year's 30 in 30 challenge, but I certainly didn't think I'd be almost a week into the New Year before my first post. Good thing I planned ahead in creating some artwork in the last week or two before the end of the year, as past experience has shown that it's best to get a few paintings done before the challenge even begins!
I've had lots of year end activities and visitors (still have kiddos home, and was very excited and surprised that my middle son Jared was able to come home from the Navy for a week after the New Year!)
The weather has not cooperated much in terms of getting back going with oil painting yet, mostly due to the supplies I ordered in late December being delayed by the recent storms, and now the bitter cold. Expected delivery date was moved up to Jan 6, but since the temperature is going to be -17 with piles of snow that is drifting into huge piles, I won't hold my breath. Besides, since my studio is in the barn (even though heated), temps that low make it difficult to paint. I am expecting to be painting by the end of the week though as I have many commissions and promises to keep! If you are one of them, stay tuned!
In the meantime, my temporary studio has been in the basement, which is great for keeping up with the laundry ;) and I've been working on glass painting and experimenting with techniques I began playing with over 6 years ago. I have used enamel with glass fusing since I first started fusing, but this past summer was introduced to some different techniques by a jeweler who uses enamel on her silver jewelery. I haven't had any time since the crush of the summer shows and then the gallery that was opened through December, but I am excited to try to use my painting skills with my glass skills. I'm sure my initial attempts will be "interesting" but what I love about the 30 in 30 challenge is the ability to just experiment and share and get feedback from others.
I've been experimenting with my favorite subject matter, Birch Trees, using a combination of powdered glass as well as enamel, among other things. When I went to Portland last May, I had the privelage of going to the Oregon coast and visiting a town that had lots of impressive galleries. One of them had artwork by a regional glass artist whose work I admired and I am just now getting around to really exploring her work. I hope to visit sometime soon for a workshop as her techniques are very fascinating and complex. In the coming weeks I hope to explore some of these techniques in between oil painting. The great thing about being both an oil painter and glass artist is that I have something to keep me occupied while impatiently waiting for the kiln to cool! Stay tuned for day 6 and 7 as the glass is in the kiln as I type!
Wow what a year. 30 paintings in 30 days in January FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW!, Portland, Oregon for an adventure of a lifetime in May, a whirlwind of art shows all summer long, a priceless gift given to a worthy family on Veterans Day,
So many of my fans and followers supported this goal, and once I hit the ground running, I haven't had the time to properly thank you all. I hope in the coming year, I can make that up to you. For now, trust that I haven't forgotten your support, and I am sharing a letter I wrote to the artists that first signed up and believed that the gallery would be a success. There's something to be said for faith, and all of the artists had it. I hope we did not let them down. (Note: what we asked of the artists was money up front, not commission. We needed to pay the rent and utilities to secure our building. This is not an easy thing for artists who live painting to painting, trying to support a family, so every penny that came in was so appreciated. It spoke volumes to the fact that they believed in it's success, so failure was not an option to me.) There was snow and flood, but we overcame :)
Needless to say, I burned the midnight oil, lost a lot of weight, and aged a bit. But I wouldn't trade a second of it for the world. :) I love you all!
Dear
FiYA Artists,
I
would like to thank you so much for your support, faith, and help during the
past 3 months. There are too many to
thank, but from opening week there were artists who just seemed to know what to
do without asking and I will be forever grateful. From the artist that brought
cupcakes, to the ones that came in to demo,
to those that drove 8 hours to paint in the window,
and local art friends who painted in the other window while the other artists mingled and sold their wares......
and there were others who watched the shop while I made the last minute dash to the stores to shop, I will not forget your kindness.
Then there were memories of loved ones past..... Miss you Scott
It wasn’t always easy, but it was a tremendous experience and learning lesson. I am not sure what 2 artists with no business experience and 8 kids between them thought they were doing starting up a venture such as FiYA with little more than a month’s notice, but it turned out to be far more amazing than anyone imagined, thanks mostly to the artists that believed that a small Midwest city like Findlay, Ohio deserved an art experience the likes of which are seen in the big cities. Customer after customer would come in and rave about the artwork, and comment on how Findlay really needed something like this. One customer, who came in no less than 6 times over the past two months, making purchases every time, visited me on the last day. Her final words as she walked out the door (with more artwork in hand ) were “Thank you for doing this, you gave me hope” I’m still not quite sure what she meant by that entirely, but everybody needs a little hope, right Margie?
I learned a lot about the retail end of art sales over the course of the past few months and it was very interesting to see what people were interested in, what made them hesitate when making a purchase, and more importantly what it took to close a sale. I am not a salesperson, and as I customer, I also do not like a pushy sales clerk. However, on Christmas Eve, a gentleman came in, took a few steps in with interest, and then almost immediately started back out the door. A friend of mine who was helping with the last minute shoppers that day, called out to him: “Wait, don’t leave!” He stopped and turned around, and she engaged him in a conversation about our Christmas Eve special that day. He clearly felt out of place among the higher priced items, but the special was a free pendant ($12 value) with $10 purchase, an offer hard to refuse. After learning he had a wife and 5 year old daughter, his choice was narrowed down after only 45 minutes of thoughtful shopping. He even left with some soap and a nail file as well. As he paid, he could barely contain his pleasure at his purchases, saying his wife and daughter were so hard to buy for, and he was happy to give them something different. This is a story I heard over and over during the past 2 months and I wish you all could hear what I did about your work. I have many more stories to tell of good times with the customers and hope to share them on the FiYa page in the months ahead. Stay tuned J
Some of you may want to know if the Gallery was a success. How much did the store make, who sold the most, what sold the best. Those are questions I hesitate to answer for many reasons. The biggest reason is that you cannot put a monetary value on how your art impacted each and every customer that came in. It was absorbed, admired, gazed at, wished for, and filed away for future purchases. I cannot measure for you the enormous success that the gallery was in my mind, perhaps financially for many artists, but mostly the impression your art made upon our customers. For some of you, the momentum of the gallery inspired you to pursue your work with even more excitement and inspiration. In my scale of measurement, I was blown away by the success of the the gallery, and it could not have happened without a single one of the artists that participated, because every one of you encouraged me along the way and gave me a reason to keep going when the going got tough. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
(However, for those of you gifted with both sides of the brain engaged and would like to know specific numbers, monthly or biweekly sales breakdowns, and the boring stuff, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to share that with you. )
Do I have any regrets? Yes. The biggest regret (my fault…. this is one of those “hindsight is 20/20” things) is that many of you did not get to experience the reactions of people when they came into the gallery. It was of amazement and endless questions and compliments, joy, laughter, hugs. So many of the customers wished they were shopping for themselves and not others. Next year, it will be so important that the artists get into the store to experience the customers and a typical gallery day, because it was the day to day stories and interactions with the customers that mattered so much more than the sale.
Anyway, I have much more to share, but checks to put in the mail! Thank you so much for believing in this dream, I will never forget it.
Hugs,
Kristen.the artist that brought
cupcakes, to the ones that came in to demo, to those that drove 8 hours to paint in the
window:
Headed to Michigan this week to do an Inks and Drinks class in Michigan with fellow artist Laurie Mueller. Stay tuned for some great pics, Inks and Drinks is always a good time! Hopefully, Laurie will make this a regular event in her home town. I also have the privilege of being the artist of the month at the community house so I'll be showing my work there until it's time to put it in the FiYa Studios Pop up Gallery for November and December. Ever have a feeling like you're on a treadmill that's going too fast and can't get off? Yep, that's me! If you are interested in an Inks and Drinks class and are local to the Findlay Ohio area, you can sign up on the website
If you haven't already checked up my latest shenanigans with glass artist Kelly Alge, we are taking on a big venture and could use your help, check it out and share if you don't mind!
ok, here's the big news! My friend Kelly and I have been working hard on a plan/project to open a "Pop" up co-op art gallery for the months of November and December in our hometown. We have organized a kickstarter to try to offset some of the start up fees and we would be eternally grateful if you take a few minutes to check it out and pass on to friends. Here's the link to our project.
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