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Art buddies forever! Me, Barb Edwards, and Roxane Pfister at our Sep 15th Garden Art Show and Sale.
We have known each other since before middle school in Idaho. We have travelled the road of college, family, and ART together. This year we all three turn 60. I say YEAH for the precious decade ahead and to friendships that last and last and last . . .
Posters and cards we sold at our Garden Art Show and Sale, Sep 15. Some still for sale!
Rox and I entered the marketing world of posters and cards at our Garden Art Show and Sale.
Garden Art Show and Sale, September 15, 2012.
The view, walking up the driveway to meander through the art show in the beautiful backyard.
- Left to right: Barb Edwards, Roger Motzkus, Glen Edwards, Jess Humphries.
- Under the canopy, waiting for the artists to chat: Anna and Susan Lofgren (left), Kay Collett and Jess Humphries (center), and my dear brother, DJ, (right).
- Happy art buyer, Carole Jensen, showing some of her purchases. Dear friend from our days in California.
In the ever changing economic landscape, I, an artist who still needs to pay the electric bill, am shifting my art life in the experiment of “staying alive” while joyfully and “boldly going where” I have not gone for a while. I am the proud teacher of 3 enthusiastic and determined students. One is a private lesson on Thursday mornings and the other two are taught jointly on Wednesday mornings. Although I am still doing the occasional illustration job, I have combined forces with my good friend and fellow artist, Roxane Pfister. We had the pleasure and work of presenting our art to friends and family on September 15, 2012 in a Garden Art Show and Sale. IT WAS LIKE A GREAT BIG HUG OF ENCOURAGEMENT as Rox and I contemplate going on the road with our art show. The event was held in the beautiful backyard of my parents, Jess and Verna Humphries, in the Holladay area of Salt Lake City. We learned some valuable lessons, like: NOT spending so much money on snail mailed invitations that weren’t as effective as we’d hoped, it takes time and a crew (mom, dad, brother, nephew, niece) to set up-so allow plenty of time, the initial expense of display easels and tablecloths is necessary for start up, and having a wide range of prices (including inexpensive posters and cards) is a good way to go. The weather was great (no wind to knock things around). We had a variety of “events”: silent auction, drawing for 2 free 6×8 oil paintings, artist chat (discover your PRIORITIES, establish a STRUCTURE, and NEVER give up-NEVER surrender), and my mom’s homemade wheat bread along with other light refreshments. The event, which lasted from 3 to 6pm, was a heartfelt sendoff on the art adventure road by those dear to us.
The fancy invitation. Yes, we are plucky and courageous.
Some of the outdoor paintings from the most excellent adventures.
Valley of Caves, along the Kolob Reservoir Road, May 29, 2012.
- Barracks Canyon, Mount Carmel, June 5, 2012.
- North side of Zion National Park, on a ledge a ways from Kolob Reservoir Road, June 29, 2012.
- Along that same Kolob Reservoir Road on the way to Zion National Park, July 3, 2012.
The Most Excellent Adventure Continued . . .
When the wind blows . . . at Bryce Canyon, holding onto everything with one hand and painting with the other.
- Then there are onlookers and curious questions on a public walkway. Brave artists go for the view rather than the natural tendency to hide.
- Taking your daughter along on a painting excursion to see the magnificent views you get to see. AND feeling the wind on the ledge.
- Of course there is that interval of painting (from 45 minutes to 3 hours) that requires some alternative activity to pass the time. Smart girl. She brought some reading material.
- Speaking of WIND. A common mishap in outdoor painting is having the wind grab your painting panel and throw it carelessly onto your palette and into your globs of paint. This time the paint hit the back of the panel. A near miss.
- Then there was the time we got lost. Thankfully we had cell phone reception and called someone who knew where we were and directed us out.
- Painting INSIDE a slot canyon . . . cold.
- Painting OUTSIDE a slot canyon . . . hot.
- And speaking of HOT. How do you cool down enough to paint? Here’s an idea.
- “Did a run-away horse come through here?” Really, you would never get that question in the studio. And suddenly you also have a piece of photo reference for horse and rider.
- If you have phone reception you are never away from the kids! “Where are you mom?”
The Most Excellent Adventure of Painting Outdoors
Often referred to as Plein Air painting, painting outdoors is always an adventure. The act of making art is, in and of itself, a piece of work: where to begin, which stroke next, what color, aargh-the model moved, etc. Painting outdoors intensifies the work load with heat, cold, wind, ants, gnats, mosquitoes, aargh-the light moved, etc. I was asked recently by a fellow artist, who paints exclusively in the studio, WHY I even want to paint outdoors. Two main reasons came to mind: 1. I love being out in the landscape. It’s a way to go camping for a moment (smell the trees, feel the wind, walk on dirt and rocks) without the work of setting up and taking down a full campsite, food preparation in the wild, and going to an uncomfortable bed dirty. 2. Seeing the landscape with my own eyes. There is dimension and color (especially in the shadows) that is lost in the translation from life to photos. I do use photos, of course, as reference to paint later in the studio. I am grateful for what is captured and disappointed with what is lost. Paintings I have done outdoors, or started outdoors, or had a small outdoor painting to refer to while taking it to a bigger size have color and energy that is not there sometimes when working solely from a photograph. Later, a third reason popped into my mind: 3. Why, the adventure, of course. Thought I’d share some of this year’s painting excursion moments with you all. Thank heavens for art buddies to paint with. Life is a rich experience.
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