Torn

Nicole has cancelled painting group indefinitely due to feeling torn between work and family obligations. She felt she wasn't spending enough time with her kids, which I completely understand. I am trying to work diligently for my show which will be on November 12, however, the work must be in on November 7.

I have changed gears a bit and decided after a meeting with Bryan Pease, who is the gallery director at Concrete Ocean, to concentrate on finishing these small studies of aloe plants that started after I saw Ben Pierces show. I don't think I will have time to finish the wallpaper piece- lets be realistic here... and I would love to do a few more pieces in this abstract grid/color series. It would seem I am all over the place, however, there is a method to my madness. After meeting with Bryan, I discovered that he wanted more pieces at a lower price point. I understand that gallery owners need to keep afloat, and I would like to sell more work as well at this juncture.

The contractor has started on our garage, and we have a foundation poured which is very good news. The timeline for its completion is around two months from when they started which puts us right around mid- December when our baby is due. I will have to pack and move my current studio out of the home, and put my things into storage after my Nov. 12 opening and move my son into the current studio room in order to make room for the baby. I'm actually getting close to wanting reprieve from painting/work in order to concentrate on the home a bit and get things ready for the new baby and Christmas. Shopping for the holiday will need to be done, the tree, etc. all before the arrival of our little deadline on December 15. It will be a whirlwind holiday this year.

The aloe pieces are coming along, and Alex has started working on the wood for their framing. In order for me to spend more time working on painting, he has offered to take over the framing aspect of the 'project'. I work on backgrounds, and then a study or two, then more backgrounds. The backgrounds will sometimes have several layers. The colors of individual pieces are intended to look harmonious together when viewed as a whole. Coming up with a color palette for these works together has been harder than I imagined it would be. The studies themselves are (of course) taking more time than I think they should which is usually the case. All of the aloe plants are done in black and white acrylic, and they are looking a bit like drawings/paintings/watercolor pieces. Generally speaking, I think they are getting better as I go, however, I have a couple that I plan on discarding.

My thoughts are that I need to conjure up a few more of these baby paintings, and call it a day. My fear is that none of them will sell and I will look bad at the show for not even selling lower priced work. My other fear is that the pieces together as a whole will look too busy or like a color rainbow. I've been meaning to tone down my work, not go up a notch in regard to color.

This said, I plug on the best way I know how, attempting to balance family, home, Halloween, pregnancy, marriage, and art... my husband my constant advocate in helping me to achieve my goals.