a day of two halves...

This morning was glorious, a beautiful cobalt blue sky, warmish, good working conditions. A friend cut the grass between me and the fountain, and cleared away some of the mess that Pickle had made.

This evening (from 8pm onwards) we are having strong winds, squally showers, and the temperature has dropped. By Monday we should be very cold!

I was hoping for faster progress at work, but the morning started slowly. By afternoon things were moving at a better speed. If it is not too damp tomorrow I would like to put in another full day, then take Monday off as my holiday.

I had visitors to look at paintings, and I am hoping that they may purchase another (they have chosen one already). I am keen to start on the oil village-scape, but it has to wait a little longer. Watercolours... when will there be time?

Today I am grateful for clementine mandarines.

on the first day

...of the new year I woke, a guest in a comfortable home, and at 6.30am snuck downstairs to clean up after the dinner party of the night before. It was a fun thing to do, knowing that it would be appreciated.

Now when I wake, instead of rolling over and enjoying the lie-in, I will get up, check my emails, and then study for an hour.

2010. My new word is discipline. But I wont throw out the old word; my 2009 word was gratitude. I hope that I never lose that word... but one day I will happily discard discipline :-)

The last two days had seen conversation with friends from France, Italy, England, Belgium and Scotland. I love it when the conversations slide seamlessly between Italian, French and English.

Today I am grateful for a multi-national group of friends.

happy new decade...

I had many witty, profound and interesting things to say... but they disappeared into the New Year's Eve baking! Suffice only to say that the ultimate comfort food is condensed milk eaten from the tin with a teaspoon.

Everything I have tried to write today has come out ponderous and heavy. Delete, delete.

I went to work this morning, able to match paint colours in good daylight with no other lighting. The weather was good, sunny, not cold, and I didn't even turn the electricity on. The site was empty, all other workers on holiday for a week or ten days. I like working alone; I can sing knowing that nobody can hear. There's something pretty special about having such a huge building all to yourself.

Now it is time to transform myself... boots and painting gear must vanish, where is my magic wand? Party clothes required. Happy New Year!

Today I am grateful for distant friends who understand the space I am in.

around the corner

This morning I painted around the corner and up the other side. Work conditions were good today, not too cold, easy to move the scaffolding, and workmen to help shift the heavy furniture. I have adjusted the height of my platform as I managed to hit my head twice on the stone archway yesterday. I am enjoying seeing the progress, but still have the ceiling itself, and other bits and pieces, waiting for me. I have to admit though, I am getting anxious to get back to my other painting. Watercolours seem a long way away when I am up on the scaffolding.

Today I am grateful for Zacchi's obedience.
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alison stanfield's newsletter

reprinted with permission


THIS WEEK'S ACTION

Decide What Your Year Will Look Like

DECIDE that each day will be a good day and that you’ll be in a good mood. That’s right: You can decide.
DECIDE that you’ll sing, smile, laugh, and dance more often.
DECIDE to make this a rewarding year filled with things and people you love.
DECIDE to set boundaries around your studio time. The discipline of a studio practice is what makes you a professional.
DECIDE to try a different color, experiment with a new media, or open yourself to art that is different from your own.
DECIDE to be supportive of all artists in your community.

DECIDE to set boundaries around your personal time. You can’t be a vibrant artist if you don’t take care of yourself.
DECIDE to understand what is in the food you are eating and how it affects your well-being.
DECIDE to avoid things that upset your well-being.
DECIDE to exercise regularly.

DECIDE to set boundaries around your business time. If you seek to make a living from your art, you must take the planning, marketing, and promotion seriously. You must also pay attention to finances and other “less sexy” business matters like insurance.
DECIDE to use your contact list on a regular basis, whether it means picking up the phone, sending an email, or writing a personal note that needs a stamp to reach the recipient.
DECIDE to explore how social media—like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter—can help you network with potential buyers and collectors. There must be something to social media if everyone is using it!
DECIDE that you will learn more about the business “stuff” you’ve tried to ignore.

DECIDE to make the most of the time you have and to stop whining about the time you don’t have.
DECIDE to say No to those things that are not important to you or that get in the way of what you want to be.

DECIDE to take risks. You know that very few people ever reached their full potential without stepping out of their comfort zones.

FINAL WORD: Decide how you will show up in the New Year. Choose the decisions that resonate with you, write them down, and post them in a highly visible place. “I have decided that I will . . . “ At the same time, understand your motives for the decisions. Why did you make these decisions? There must be reasons for your choices. Decisions, goals, and motives are all part of the New Year Blast Off class. Join us beginning January 6! http://artbizcoach.com/classes/blastoff.html


© 2009 Alyson B. Stanfield. Alyson takes the mystery out of marketing your art and making more money as an artist. Visit http://www.ArtBizCoach.com to get articles just like this one delivered to your inbox.

on-line community

Part of my art practice is to blog... or perhaps I should say, to explore other artist's blogs. I am afraid that my blog doesn't really qualify as an artist's blog, except that it is my blog and I am an artist.

The new year resolutions blogs are inspiring. I am going to link to a few here, and add to this post later. And then, maybe, I'll share my resolutions when I make them.

Katherine Cartwright has painted some fabulous eggshell works that I wish I had painted myself. I am a fan on the strength of those works alone. Those works inspired a tiny video I made but have yet to share. Her post for the New Year has a wonderful collection of links to follow, acknowledging other artists who share their work, teaching and learning, on line.

Myrna Wacknov is a dedicated blogger and a generous teacher; her blog is well worth following whether you paint in the same manner or not. The same can be said for Mike Bailey, and his recent post, Breakthrough watercolour, while not specifically for the new year, has a wonderful summary of what goes into a painting.

Now breakfast, and then work calls me, computer time is over.

one of the things i love

...is being independent. Today I mastered moving the scaffolding, so progress was much faster. No waiting for other helpers who either get caught up in other things or completely forget that they are on their way down to help. (Angel Saturday, come back!)

This morning I noticed the lovely shadows on the wall, telling the story of the renovation, perhaps?
I am struggling a little to unite the lines from the wall under the curved vaulted ceiling with the verticals already painted; the original, more ornate design had a lot of leaves along some of the lines, and I suspect that in the junctions of leaves and straight lines there was quite a bit of slack taken up. I don't have that luxury, and I have a boss with a very good eye! Sometimes, however, four into two just doesn't go!
Click here for a "before" photo.

Today I am grateful for rapid progress and the feeling that the work can be completed on time.