I Haven't Painted for TWO Months!

Having just read Patti Smith’s touching memoir, “Just Kids,” about her early years with Robert Mapplethorpe in the 1960s and 1970s, I was interested to see that even artists as committed as they were (enduring poverty and hunger to make art) sometimes doubt the point and value of what they are doing. They also struggled with the tension between painting for yourself and for the joy of creating versus painting for your viewers. And apparently viewers are essential. If no one sees it, is it art? Is enjoying doing it sufficient justification for all the time and money one spends on it? Is enjoying doing it sufficient justification for the loss of other experiences one passes up? Or something more worthwhile one could be doing?

And I guess all artists hope to create something original and breathtaking, something that makes a positive difference in the world. Is that too grandiose? Is cheering up one person enough of a positive difference? Maybe cheering up oneself by painting is enough. I do know that when I am prevented from painting for a month or two by life events, I get quite crabby.

People versus Landscapes

After a review of all the paintings I have sold, I noticed that the majority were landscapes, florals, or animals. Paintings with people in them did not sell very well. Recently I signed up for a photography site and put up 3 landscape photos and 2 people ones. The 3 landscapes immediately got several likes, while the people ones got none. I am not sure what this means.

Do people in general prefer landscapes to humans? Or is it me -- my paintings and photos of landscapes are better than those of people? In either case, why?

2012 in Review

Life has overwhelmed art for me recently, so I will pause to note what I accomplished in 2012. My friend Carrol Wolf and I had a two person show, "Two Broads with Brushes," at the Corner Gallery for the month of September, and I sold 17 paintings over the year. Two paintings were accepted into National Watercolor Society shows, and I won two honorable mentions, a first place, and a best of show in art league shows. The workshop on negative painting that I taught for Watercolor West and the City of Brea Art Gallery seems to have been a great success. So, a pretty good year!

"Fecundity" juried into
NWS 2012 Donor Exhibition.

"At Last" juried into
NWS 2012 Member Exhibition.

"Aunts at a Picnic"
First Place in Mixed Media
HBAL March 2012 Meeting, Ron Journeay, judge.

My photographer husband, Dan Kee, also did a review of his excellent year, and it can be seen by clicking here.

Here's to more creativity in 2013!