Beginning of June Check-in
Even though it hasn’t been a full two weeks since my last check-in, it’s been a whirlwind of activity in and out of the studio. Yesterday, I did a live painting at Local Color’s Roll Up Activity Hub during Viva Calle in San Jose. I had a lot of fun painting outdoors, and a lot of people seemed to really like the design I created. I managed to only sunburn the lower half of my right arm after painting under the sun for 5+ hours, so I’d call it an overall success!
What I’ve been working on:
I’ve come to a point where I feel comfortable about how my painting for my group exhibition at the New Museum Los Gatos looks. I have a title for the painting, which is usually one of the last steps of a painting, so I think I can call it finished. I’ve also started writing up some sort of narrative about the inspiration for and process of creating this piece; the museum wants me to write a blog post for them about the artwork, so that will probably be its final form.
I’m taking a scheduled pause in the commissioned painting as it’s out for its first review with the client. I like to schedule two review points in the commission process to make sure the client is aligned with the artistic vision, since it’s an investment on both of our parts and I want to make sure I’m creating something that fits them.
Since I’ve reached a stopping point or pause in the two main paintings that I’ve been focused on this past month, I’ve had some time to return to the Olympic painting I started a couple of months ago. I’ve made a decent amount of progress. I hope to get close to finishing this painting before I leave for my trip to China this weekend because I have a couple of upcoming projects that I’m excited about…
What’s upcoming:
I was accepted into a juried show at the Sanchez Art Center (the same gallery that my painting Nestle was accepted into for their Left Coast Annual Show). The show is called 50|50 where artists create 50 works of art in 50 days! It’s the 17th year the gallery is hosting this annual show where artists create 50 small works (6" x 6") over the course of 50 days. Each artist chooses a theme for all 50 pieces, and my theme was Transitional Horizons: Moments Between Day, Night, and Self. The concept is that I’ll paint 50 coastal sunrise/sunset paintings, much like the mini series of paintings that I started earlier this year. The first day of the 50 day period begins Monday, June 23 and ends Monday, Aug 11, 2025, so this is a major project that I’ll be starting upon my return from China for the next few months.
Additionally, I was asked by Local Color to participate in the 31 Skulls annual fundraiser. I am one of 31 local artists who were asked to design and paint a ceramic skull that the non-profit auctions in a fundraiser to support the organization. I picked up my skull the same day I picked up my 5’x5’ canvas that I prepped for their Roll Up event. I already have design ideas and hope to make significant progress before my trip. The auction is held in October around Halloween (hence skulls), but I need to finish the sculpture by August 1.
So I have two big projects confirmed and a couple of potential projects in the works that aren’t confirmed that may be coming up this year. It really feels like things are picking up where I have consistent work outside of the paintings and collections I personally come up with. I’m really excited to see how I continue to progress with my art. I can feel my painting skills improving; it doesn’t take me as long to complete my paintings and each new painting looks better than the last one. I’ve also learned new skills in designing artwork digitally in Procreate for both commissions and bigger outdoor pieces. It’s also really interesting to see the new opportunities that come my way. I applied to the Sanchez Art Center’s 50|50 show in 2023 and the Left Coast Annual Show in 2024 and didn’t get into either, but I’ve gotten into both of them this year. Which may be a product of having different jurors for the shows each year, but I also think that my painting and sense of creative direction has improved.
I’m looking forward to my trip to China. I’ll be spending two weeks there. I hope to rest, spend time with family, eat a lot of food, and be a general tourist. I’m looking forward to feeling refreshed upon my return, so until then, I hope you have a great rest of your June. Thanks for reading!
End of May Check-in
We’re in the third check-in of the month, and it feels like a lot has happened yet again since my last update. Before the holiday weekend, I had my last weekend of Open Studios at my studio space in Alameda Artworks and it went very well. We had over 500 people visit the studios over the weekend. I had the chance to catch up with people who have visited the studio previously during Second Saturdays or who had seen my work in other places. I also met so many new art appreciators. It was a lively weekend and across the two weekends of Open Studios, 13 paintings found their forever homes. It felt very validating to hear and see how my artwork was resonating with other people. I also received a lot of inspiration for new paintings and projects that I want to work on, which I’ll hopefully be able to get to soon.
Now that Open Studios is over and my studio is back in its normal messy form, I’m working on a couple of projects that I need to wrap up by the middle of June. I’m traveling to Beijing, China during the last two weeks of June, so I need to put things in order before my trip.
What I’ve been working on:
Live painting design
I’ve been splitting my studio time between the painting for my group exhibition at the New Museum Los Gatos and the commissioned painting. I’m feeling quite good about the progress I’ve been making and I think that I’ll be able to get them where I need them to be by June 14th, before I leave for my trip. Part of me wishes that I didn’t procrastinate so much on my group exhibition piece, since I’ve been planning with the other artists in the group show and the museum for this exhibition since last year, but I came up with the inspiration for this painting only last month. I guess that’s how it works sometimes, and now we’re working up to the deadline.
I’m also preparing for a live painting event that I will be participating in on Sunday, June 8th. I’ll be working with a local arts non-profit, called Local Color, and will be live painting a 5’x5’ canvas during a monthly event called Viva Calle, where the roads are closed off for bikers and pedestrians with live music and activities. I have a design sketched out, and I plan on sketching and painting a portion of the painting before the event since I’ll have less than five hours to actually paint during the event.
I’m also currently taking a figure drawing class that meets once a week. We’ve covered human anatomy, muscle groups, and quick, expressive figure drawings so far. It’s been a good experience because it’s a different kind of instruction that I’ve received before and I’m feeling more confident with figure drawing.
Finally, I’ve been applying to a variety of public art and gallery opportunities for the summer and fall in the hopes that work keeps coming. It’s always a balance on working on projects for now and making sure I’ll be a part of opportunities in the future.
That’s all that I’ve been working on since my last updates. Preparing for Open Studios took a lot of energy, so I’m appreciating the quiet focus time I’ve had in the studio. Hopefully I’ll have one more update before I leave for my trip, and maybe I’ll finish painting the exhibition painting early. I’m also looking forward to not working towards a deadline for specific paintings and exploring some new painting ideas that I have. I seem to often find myself in a situation where I have new ideas for paintings and projects while I’m already busy with work that’s on a deadline, but I think it’s a good problem to have. There will never be an end to the things that I want to paint and create; I’ll never be bored! That’s all for now. I hope you all had a lovely Memorial Day weekend and I look forward to the next check-in.
Middle of May Check-in
Happy mid-May! It’s been a productive month so far with my first weekend of Open Studios in the books and another one coming up in a few days. I had a pretty successful Open Studios last weekend: I met a lot of new people interested in art and sold a few paintings. I’ve also done the setup process for my outdoor booth enough times now that it’s very quick and easy for me to get ready for outdoor events. I’m looking forward to this weekend’s Open Studios because it’s at my own studio and I’m hopeful it’ll go well.
What I’ve been working on:
I didn’t end up finishing the five sunset paintings that were in progress at the time of my last check-in. I realized that I didn’t have enough time to let them dry, let alone finish them, before open studios, so those paintings are on pause for now.
I’ve been spending most of my studio time focused on my painting for my group exhibition at the New Museum Los Gatos. I did decide to start on a brand new painting instead of fighting the one that wasn’t working for me. It’s been a little under two weeks since working on the painting, and although I spent the majority of the two weeks worried that the painting wasn’t going to work out, it’s finally at a spot where I feel quite confident in the direction it’s going.
I’ve also been working on the commissioned painting, and I have the foundation set. I’m just starting on the details of the painting and feel good about the overall process.
Overall, I’m a little tired but extremely motivated. I’ve been spending long days in the studio, especially this week while the weather has been cool. Summer can get a little tough in the studio because the space doesn’t have central air conditioning and the building can get quite warm by the afternoon in the summer months. The benefit is that my paintings do dry quicker in the warmer weather.
That’s my update for now. It’s short, but at least it means that I’m focused. I hope you all are doing well, and thank you for your support!
Beginning of May Check-in
I’m a little delinquent on my biweekly check-in schedule, partially due to lack of motivation and partially due to not making time for my computer work. May is Silicon Valley Open Studios month, and I am participating in two weekends (May 10&11 and May 17&18) again this year. I spent five days in the studio last week trying to wrap up paintings in time to show during open studios and will probably spend five days a week in the studio this week and the upcoming weeks to make sure I stay on top of everything.
What I’ve been working on:
Olympic National Park Painting
Oceanscape for Museum Group Exhibition
I’m in the break period of the small sunrise sunset paintings. I’m in the middle of working on five paintings (I’ve completed a total of seven paintings already), but they need time to dry before I continue working on them to work on the details. The overall composition is in place, but when I keep trying to adjust the painting while the entire thing is covered in wet paint, it tends to get muddy with the colors melding together in a way I don’t want. At this rate, I’m hoping to have a few more of the paintings finished in time for the last weekend of Open Studios (May 17 & 18).
I decided to start another large painting (4’x5’) based on a photo taken during one of the hikes I took in Olympic National Park last year. I feel like it has a really strong composition and foundation. I started the painting not realizing the number of deadlines I have coming up, so I have to put it on pause, but I’m really looking forward to getting back to it and putting in the details.
Regarding upcoming deadlines, my group exhibition at the New Museum Los Gatos is coming up with an opening on July 11th. I know that today is the first day of May and July is two months away, but I’m working on a new painting to show in the exhibit and I have to take into account the time it takes for paint to dry (at least 2 weeks), varnish, and delivering the artwork ahead of the opening. I started my first large painting (4’x5), I think late last year, of an oceanscape and decided I wanted this painting to be a part of the exhibition. I’ve been working on it exclusively this week, but I came to a point of complete frustration with this specific painting and have to rethink what I’m going to do. It may be easier to completely start the painting over from scratch rather than try to fix it. I’m taking a break from painting today, because I need to give myself some space to think about a different way to approach the problem.
On top of all of this, I’ve also started a new commissioned painting (commissions are still open for a fall delivery BTW). I’m also excited to work on this painting once I overcome my exhibition painting, because it’s a really sentimental landscape. I’ve done a few sketches so I feel really ready to paint, and I’ll probably start putting down the base layers after Open Studios.
I know in my last post I shared that I’ve been feeling tired and overwhelmed and yet here I am with a bunch of competing deadlines and projects. Since my last post, I feel less tired, but probably the same amount of overwhelmed. However, I feel quite a bit more positive. I think I’ve done a better job of prioritizing what work I want to do, accepting that I can’t do everything at once. I’m also working on not feeling guilty about the work that I choose not to do or don’t make the time to do.
Over the last 2-3 weeks I have spent time practicing compositional studies via sketches in my studio and plein air painting of my friend’s lemon tree. I realize that the compositional sketches don’t take more than an hour, and they’re a great way for me to warm up. I also went to my friend’s house twice to practice plein air painting, putting into practice the skills I’m learning from the compositional sketches. Again, these don’t take that much time, and it’s a good way for me to get out of my studio into fresh air.
As I mentioned, things come in phases, and I’m trying to hold onto the positive feelings and motivation that I have right now. I definitely did have an exasperating and frustrating afternoon yesterday once I realized my ocean painting wasn’t working, but I have to move on and move forward. By my next update, I’ll have done at least one weekend of Open Studios, and hopefully I’ll have made progress on all of my projects. Thanks for all of your support and motivation!
Mid-April Check-in
The weather has finally dried and warmed up here in California. We’ve had quite a cool and rainy March, so I’m happy to have the warmer weather around. I’ve felt a bit scattered the last two weeks that I’m attributing to settling into my studio space and working to re-establish a routine in the studio after traveling. I’m working on building in more breaks in my week; I’m finding that going into the studio five days a week is untenable if I want to keep up with applications. Plus breaks are nice. So we’re figuring out how to manage that right now.
What I’ve been working on:
I’m continuously adjusting my Yosemite painting, working on the background and foreground to build a better sense of depth in the painting. I think we’re almost there, and I’ll eventually call it done.
I went back to a number of smaller paintings that I started as part of a series of sunrise and sunset paintings that I had started back in January. If I’m keeping track correctly, I had finished 3 earlier in the year, and I just finished 4 more paintings. I started 3 more. The goal is to have 12 paintings in this collection. I think I had gotten frustrated with the 4 paintings and needed some time for the paint to dry to put in the final details. I need to remember to give myself some space when working on the smaller pieces because they can quickly become overworked.
As part of a compositional exercise, I painted an oyster still life painting. I need to figure out what I’m doing with the background as well as tweak a few things about the darkest point and lightest points in the painting, but I’m happy with how the exercise went overall!
Outings
This past Friday, I attended the opening reception for the Left Coast Annual Juried Show at the Sanchez Art Center, where my piece Nestle was accepted. I had a nice time meeting the other artists whose work were accepted into the show and had a chance to speak with the juror. I feel like I always learn a lot from seeing the dfiferent types of artwork that gets selected in a show, realizing that the process is really subjective and highly depends on who is jurying. It’s not an easy job, and I’m always grateful when my pieces are selected!
Those are my updates for now. Being candid, I do feel a little tired and overwhelmed with all that I want to do. I’ve been trying to set realistic expectations for what I want to accomplish. All that I want to do with my art is set by myself. Right now, I’ve been torn between practicing and improving my skills through drawing and composition exercise (which entails reading through various art workbooks, studying famous painters in art history books, and attending figure drawing sessions); working on the various collections of paintings I’ve had the ideas for for a while; and applying to various opportunities to have my work seen. And painting these collections is also in a sense practice in improving my skills. I’ve constantly struggled with wanting to do too much at once, and I’m feeling the tiredness that comes from it right now. But I know that it all comes in phases, and I’d rather have too many ideas than none at all, so it’s a good problem to have in the end. If you have any recommendations on how to better prioritize all that you want to do and how to take breaks, let me know! Until next time, thanks for following along and reading.
End of March Check-in
Hello everyone, happy end of March! To me, the end of March signals the official end to winter. I’m looking forward to the warmer weather and flowers blooming, even though it’s been quite rainy and chilly here in the Bay Area. I’ve just returned from a week-long road trip to Sequoia and Death Valley National parks with a friend. It was an interesting trip as we went from snow covered mountains with giant sequoias to 90-100 degree weather in a desert in a matter of days. I really enjoyed my visit, and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to turn some of my reference photos into new paintings.
What I’ve been working on:
I’ve officially fully moved into my new studio space. The move was just down the hall from my previous studio space, so I spent this past month slowly moving my things over. It’s still quite a bit messy. I haven’t fully figured out how I’m going to arrange and store my things, but it’ll get there. If anything, I’ll have to make sure the studio is presentable by April’s Second Saturday event at my studio.
Before my trip, I worked on my Yosemite painting. I made changes to the clouds and fog in the painting, which has helped add much more depth to it. I’m looking forward to wrapping this painting up and calling it done for good.
I plan on painting more paintings inspired by my trips to National Parks. I’m going to look through my new photos from Sequioa and Death Valley to create a few more sketches.
Before my trip, I had a studio visit from the NUMU curator who is working with us on our Ebb and Flow show. She was impressed with the collaborative sample artwork we created, and she’s looking forward to seeing the finished collaborative piece and the individual artworks we’re going to show to complement the collaborative piece. I took a break from the piece I was working on for this show, so I have to turn back to it after I finish the Yosemite painting.
Outings
This past Saturday, I went on a self-directed gallery tour in SF with an artist mentor and another artist friend. I’m part of a mentorship program hosted by the Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art where I was partnered with a fellow landscape oil painter. She took us around to galleries in the city, and it was a great way to get to know her better as well as find out where the galleries in SF are.
Yesterday, I dropped off one of my Ocean Arrangement paintings, Nestle, at the Sanchez Art Center for their Left Coast Annual Juried Show. I think I forgot to mention in my previous posts that the artwork was accepted to be a part of the show. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because it’s my first official gallery show! It was nice meeting the people who run the Art Center and associated studios, and I’m looking forward to the show’s opening reception on April 11th
And those are my updates. I feel a little behind and stressed since I’ve been away for a week, but I think I’ll figure out a rhythm with my new studio and painting this week. I have also fallen behind on my applications, so I’ll have to also find time to finish and submit those before the deadlines! I hope you all are doing well, thanks for reading.
Middle of March Check-in
It’s been a busy two weeks since my last check-in! I forgot to mention in my last update, but I’m in the process of moving studios! I’m moving down the hall into a larger space with more storage area that opened up, and it’s been a process of painting the new studios walls and moving all of my things. I’ll be fully moved in by the end of the month, and meanwhile I’ve still been painting.
What I’ve been working on:
I tried something new by working on these line drawings of coffee plants, which was partially inspired by my time listening to my friend Rayos talk about his mixed media art practice for his Guest Artist presentation with the Art Docents of Los Gatos. I initially wanted to collage a line drawing of coffee plants, using these colorfully printed coffee bags I’ve been collecting, but I got really invested in the line drawing. And when I tried collaging around the drawing, it felt too busy. Plus I really disliked the process of cutting and collaging, which was useful to learn. So I’m keeping the line drawings as they are for the finished product. It was nice to create something as an experiment and to make just for myself.
I think I’m deciding that Morning Swim is finished. It’s at a point where there are little details that I want to keep touching up, but I also just want to move on from the painting because I’m not sure how much each little adjustment is going to affect the overall painting. All I need to do now is photograph the painting so I can submit it and a few others to a juried show that has a deadline coming up next week.
I started reworking the painting of Tunnel View in Yosemite that I “finished” last January. It had been hanging on my walls in my old apartment before I moved, and I just moved it into my studio earlier this year. I always felt like it needed more work, but since it was always sitting at home, I never took the time to work on it. I’ve been more inspired to work on paintings of views from the National Parks that I’ve visited over the past few years, and I thought that reworking this one would be a good start. I started sketching out a few more compositions of other National Parks, so I have quite a few ideas. So this may be the next collection of big paintings. (And I know that I’m still in the middle of creating small works [6”x6”] of coastal sunrises and sunsets, but I’m learning to just go with what is inspiring me in the moment because I know I can always go back to previous concepts/ideas.)
I finally varnished most of the paintings in the Ocean Arrangements collection (I forgot to varnish the biggest one because I put it away). I’m really excited to show them in my new studio because I have the wall space for all of them to be displayed at once. I think they’re going to look really good together.
I’ve also been applying to a bunch of art calls and other art opportunities. It feels like all of the deadlines for art shows and residencies fall on the same few weeks in late March and early April, so I’ve been spending a decent amount of time working on my computer.
Outings
Last weekend, I visited my friend Christina Kent’s opening reception for her solo show in Studio Gallery SF. It was really inspiring to see all of the work she’s prepared over the last year for the solo show (20+ works!). She created a range of small and very large paintings that had me thinking about working in an even larger format. I think her largest painting was 48 x 72 inches! So I’ve been thinking about this more for a series of National Park paintings.
I also spent two more full days at elementary schools supporting the Guest Artist program of the Art Docents of Los Gatos. It’s always really great to see children be inspired to make artwork and I’m really glad that I was able to help support the program!
Those are my big updates for now. I’ll be traveling to Sequoia and Death Valley National Parks at the end of the week and into next week with a friend. I’m looking forward to visiting both parks; it’ll be my first time visiting Sequoia and my second time to Death Valley, but my friend hasn’t been to either. I always look forward to my nature/hiking trips, because they give me time and space to relax and come up with new painting ideas. So I will be working hard this week to wrap up a bunch of loose ends so I can fully enjoy my trip! I hope all is well with you. And as always, thanks for following along!
Beginning of March Check-in
I’m back from my trip home to Pennsylvania, and I feel refreshed. I think I hit a bit of a lull at the end of last month, recovering from a cold and feeling done with the dreary winter weather. Since my return to the Bay, the weather’s been warmer and the days are distinctly longer, so spring feels right around the corner and it’s reinvigorating. I also had the chance to meet with my former art professor when I visited Swarthmore; we had a really encouraging conversation, and he shared some artists, like Catherine Murphy and Winslow Homer, who I should look at to help me with my paintings. So I checked out a bunch of library books that will help me move forward with developing my painting technique and skills, and I feel re-inspired by my paintings.
What I’ve been working on:
I finished my part of the large collaborative piece for the summer group show just in time before my trip to Pennsylvania. I didn’t love pushing through my cold to get the work done, but sometimes things just need to get done. Moving forward, I hope to feel more positive about the work that I’m doing for this group show, because overall, I’m very excited that I was invited to be a part of a group show at a museum. I think sometimes, in the moment, the work can feel burdensome when I lose sight of enjoying the process and instead only focus on the outcomes.
I need to get back to painting Morning Swim. I want to submit this painting to a juried show that has an upcoming deadline. After spending almost two weeks of time away from the painting, I feel more confident about my ability to fix the value problem in the painting, and finishing it on time doesn’t seem as daunting as it did before my trip.
This past weekend, I installed a four piece commissioned work of orchids in their forever home. I started this commission back in 2023, and there was a lot of back and forth and waiting time as the client was undergoing home renovations at the same time. We finally were able to schedule a time we were both free for the install, and they absolutely love how the pieces came out. They had this specific corner for the pieces in mind when they initially commissioned the painting, and it was a great feeling to see their vision come to life! Seeing the look of joy on the client’s face reminded me why commissioned pieces are so rewarding.
I’m starting to practice still life and figure drawing. I feel like I need to go back to the basics and develop those skills a little more, because I think it’ll make me more confident in my compositions and painting. I’m going to dedicate more studio time to practicing and developing skills, so I’m limiting my painting focus to one or two paintings at a time.
Outings
Part of my visit to Pennslyvania including supporting my friend and fellow Swarthmore alum, Meredith Leich, on her show Arborlight at Swarthmore. I met Meredith during the Cuttyhunk Island residency, where she is co-director. I learned a lot about producing a show of a temporary art installation. Meredith works with light projections of line drawings she films in stop-motion, and Arborlight focuses on the lives of trees. We also talked shop about our arts practices and how we can continue to improve and grow as artists, which is part of the motivation behind me wanting to spend more time focusing and practicing drawing. I’ve shied away from figure and portrait drawing, mostly because it’s a skill I haven’t ever worked on or practiced, but I think it’s time for new thinking and growth for me. I didn’t like feeling so stuck at the end of last month, so trying out something new feels exciting.
Upon returning to the Bay Area, I spent two full days at elementary schools supporting the Art Docents of Los Gatos, a non-profit org I volunteer at, with their Guest Artist visits. A local mixed media artist, Rayos Magos, gave presentations at the schools, talking to elementary schools about what it means to be an artist and introducing them to a variety of different types of art. After hearing him repeat his presentation 15 times, it really stuck with me the importance of trying out different styles of art and mediums to help you grow as an artist. It falls in line with my takeaways from my visit back to Pennsylvania, so it feels really ingrained in my thinking right now.
Those are all my updates for this week. I feel like I made a couple of breakthroughs. I didn’t realize how demotivated I felt before my trip back home, so I’m glad that I was able to take a week to step away from my regular day to day to reflect. Plus it helps that it’s warmer, sunnier, and the days are longer, so I feel quite a bit more positive. I hope you are doing well and staying healthy. Thanks for following along!
Mid-February Check-in
Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I’m recovering from a cold I caught this week, so this weekend has been set aside for rest. I’ve had a busy few weeks and a lot coming up in the rest of the month, so I want to be well-rested and healthy. I’m flying to Pennsylvania next week to visit family and support a fellow Swarthmore alum in her installation art piece that she’s presenting on the 24th and 25th. I’m looking forward to the trip, but there are a few things that I need to wrap up before I leave.
What I’ve been working on
I started working on the large collaborative piece for my summer group show. Our timeline was shifted because one of the artists is moving to Switzerland in early spring, so she needs to finish her portion of her piece before she moves. Since I paint the first layer of the artwork, setting the color palette and movement of the piece, I need to finish my part before the end of the month. I’ve got a decent start, but I will be spending the next few days before I leave for Pennsylvania solely working on this painting.
I’ve continued to make progress on Morning Swim. The values of the painting aren’t quite right, so I plan on continuing to work on it when I return from my trip from Pennsylvania.
I also started a larger version of this study of a morning sunrise in Port Angeles that I saw during my trip to Olympic National Park last year. I’ve only worked on the first layer, blocking out the shapes and setting the dark tones. It’ll have to take a back seat for a while, but it’s another painting that I’m looking forward to working on.
Outings
Last week, I attended the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation’s fundraising gala, which was a nice celebration for all the work the public hospital does for the community and to showcase the Hearts in San Francisco artworks. I was able to meet the other artists who painted a heart for the fundraiser as well as the hospital doctors and staff and the various supporters of the hospital. It was a fun event and made my artwork feel very meaningful because I was able to see the ways the fundraiser supported the patients of the hospital. It’s one of the wonderful ways to see the positive impact art can have.
I helped organize another professional development event with genARTS this past week. We held an artist statement and resume writing workshop to support emerging artists working towards a career in the arts. We are holding two more workshops before the summer, so I’ve dedicated a lot of my time volunteering with this organization doing administration work to ensure all the events run as smoothly as possible. Volunteering with this organization has made me feel more connected to my local arts community, but I am thinking more about re-prioritizing creating art since I feel like I haven’t been able to spend as much time in the studio as I want to.
Those are the major updates from the last two weeks. I continue to learn about myself and the kind of work I enjoy. During this recovery time, I’ve been reflecting on what I enjoy most about working for myself and being an artist. I really value quiet time working alone and setting my own timelines, while also meeting people to talk about art. This has helped me better refine the opportunities I pursue and what type of work I focus on, with the goal that I enjoy how I spend most of my days. I’m going to try to keep this in mind as I continue to move throughout the year and as my workload fluctuates.
Thanks for following along my updates; your support is meaningful and really helps motivate me!
End of January Check-in
Hello! Happy last day of January! The better part of the last week and a half has been consumed by moving, which I forgot to mention in my last update. I just moved down the road, but I had forgotten how much work and time moving takes. We’re on the tail end of it and finally settling into our new place, and I’ve been able to get back to the studio to work on my paintings. I’m a little behind on administrative and computer work, but I’m hoping to get back on track in the next few days.
What I’ve been working on:
I’ve made significant progress on the painting from my time at the Cuttyhunk Artist Residency, which I’ve decided to title Morning Swim. Painting water is always challenging, but I feel like taking a break to move helped me see the painting with different eyes when I came back to it.
For my upcoming group show in the summer, the two other artists and I met to see how our test collaborative piece came out. We shared feedback with each other on what was working and what wasn’t, so now we’re ready to work on the actual collaborative piece that will be featured in the show. We cut out a unique shape for the artwork, and I’m responsible for the first layer of the artwork, so I’ll be starting that next week.
One of my goals this year is to have my own solo show. It’s a really big stretch goal because there are a lot of factors outside of my control for this to be able to happen. I have found a community art space in San Jose that seems like they’d be able to provide the space for a solo show, and I’m working on a proposal to send them. Since it’s a community space vs. a gallery or museum, I’d be responsible for putting together the entire show, planning programming, and getting the word out. It feels daunting, but the first step is sending out a proposal to see what they say!
Outings
genARTS, the volunteer organization that I’m a co-chair of, had its Creative Career Panel at Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) this past Wednesday. I’ve been working hard with the rest of the organization to plan this Career Panel over the last few months, and it was great to see so many people come out to learn more about how to make a career in the arts. This Career Panel is the first event of a four event programming series that I helped win grant funding from the City of San Jose’s Office of Cultural Affairs. The next event will be a workshop for artist statement and artist resume/CV writing held on February 12th. It’s been a lot of work, but I’ve been learning a lot about event planning and working with various arts organizations in San Jose through this process.
So there are a lot of activities on my end, and I’m reminding myself that it’s okay to be busy but not overwhelmed. The beginning of the year has a lot of planning and future thinking involved, but I’m starting to transition into being more present in what is happening right now. I’ll be sending out my public facing newsletter soon (which you can sign up for here) with updates on new available paintings as well as commission sign ups. Thanks for following along in the behind the scenes of my artist life; I appreciate all of you!
Mid-January Check-in
The beginning of the year has already been quite busy and eventful. I did get to spend a restful holiday taking a break from work and spent a lot of time with friends and family, and now things are in full swing. I’ve just come back from a family long weekend vacation in Las Vegas, and am preparing to move apartments. Art wise, I’ve applied to a few opportunities to show my work and some residencies. Additionally, I’ve been spending quality time in the studio painting working on a couple of different projects, so it feels like a time of expansion.
What I’ve been working on:
I am ~done~ painting the six paintings in the Ocean Arrangement series I started in December 2023. They’re all signed, and I’ve painted all of the edges, which I think adds to a finished look. Once all the paintings are dry, I’ll varnish them, wire hang them, and then the series will be officially complete!
I started a new series of sunrise and sunset paintings on smaller canvases. I’m hoping to paint around 12 paintings in this collection; I just varnished two paintings and five others are in various states of progress.
I started a new painting from my time at the Cuttyhunk Artist Residency. The reference photo was taken by one of my fellow residents during one of their morning swims at sunrise. It’s a lovely wave painting with sailboats and Martha’s vineyard in the background. It’s been a pretty challenging painting for me, so I’ve been taking breaks from it to paint my smaller sunrise/sunset paintings.
Now that it’s 2025, I have to really focus on finishing the large 3’x4’ wave painting that I started last year. I’ve taken a bit of a break from the painting because it’s been a bit challenging to get the motion and light of the waves right. The group show that I hope to have this painting in will open in June/July, so I have some time!
Outings
I had a chance to see my SF General Hospital Foundation Heart artwork in person at the Ferry Building in SF for its official unveiling with all 22 hearts. It was really nice to hear how the fundraising from the Hearts in SF project helps the SF General Hospital and the communities and people the hospital serves. I also learned that my heart has been already auctioned off, so it’s already been making a difference!
And that’s my update for this week. I’m working on quite a number of different paintings, but it hasn’t been too overwhelming because there aren’t any pressing deadlines. I feel like I’m in a moment where I have a lot of different ideas and paintings I want to start, so I’m just taking advantage of that energy. I think soon, once I have more time not interrupted with travel and moving, I’ll start to focus on one or two paintings at a time to make more significant progress on one project instead of bouncing around different ideas. And I’ll know that I can always come back to projects that I’ve already started. I hope you all have had a great start to the year! As always, thank you for following along!
2025 Art Career Goal Setting
Happy New Year everyone! I’m starting 2025 refreshed and excited to share what I want to accomplish in 2025. I spent time reflecting on what I wanted my days and months to look like while continuing to grow my art business. I’ve settled on these four goals:
Paint 60 paintings
Paint outdoors more often
Apply to 30 art calls
Participate in 3-5 in person events
Last year, I finished 47 paintings, so I think 60 paintings is a good number to strive for. I also started to paint outdoors more often last year, and I want to continue that practice by setting intentions to bring my paints outdoors. I have a personal resolution to travel more and take more weekend trips to places in California. I’ve now lived in this state for over four years but I feel like there’s so much more to see and explore. Weekend trips will give me the chance to travel to places that are still within driving distance from home that are further away. And the best way to record the memories will be painting those places!
I found that applying to art calls were really beneficial in getting my artwork in new places and opened up a lot of new opportunities. I’ve increased my goal from 10 art calls to 30 art calls in 2025. Even though I applied to 44 art calls last year, I wasn’t highly selective of the opportunities that I applied to. I think quantity over quality worked for me last year because it gave me the chance to explore what kinds of opportunities are out there while also getting used to the sting of rejection and learning what I was a better fit for (I was accepted into 10 of the art calls I applied to!). This year, I’m going to be a bit more discerning in determining which art calls are a better fit for me and my artwork, which is why my goal is a little lower than the number of art calls I applied to last year.
My last goal is to participate in 3-5 in person events this year. Sharing my artwork with people is my favorite thing about being an artist, and I felt like the number of events I participated in last year was a good amount for me. So I’m keeping this goal the same as last year and look forward to being able to share my artwork at my studio and other events!
One last intention I had while setting my goals for this year is that I want to leave some space for unexpected opportunities and experiences that come my way. Last year showed me that there are plenty of things that come my way that I didn’t plan for in my goal setting. It turns out, when you apply to so many opportunities, you do get accepted into some of them, so I should leave some space open for me to actually be able to enjoy the experiences. Last year I was able to spend a week at my first artist residency that has continued to provide me with inspiration months later. But I also remember feeling quite stressed about the timing because I had planned a couple of long trips with friends and family during the same time period along with a couple of studio visits for an upcoming exhibition. So I want to remind myself that it’s good to have empty days on the calendar to leave room for the unexpected.
So I hope you have had some time to reflect on your past year and have made your own resolutions and goals with me. Here’s to a new year and I’m looking forward to sharing with you all that comes! Thanks for supporting me on my journey!
2024 End of Year Review
I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season with friends, family, and loved ones. Since the end of the year is in a few days, I wanted to share a review of my year and follow up with how I did with the goals I had set in January. I think that it’s important to reflect back on how the year went because it provides a greater time scale that allows me to fully realize what I’ve been able to accomplish. Even the (mostly) biweekly schedule of checking in helps reveal what I’m putting my time towards, but the shorter time scales make it hard to see progress. I often find myself feeling that I’m accomplishing very little day by day, but once I change my perspective, it’s easier to see how the work accumulates. So to start out, I’ll take a look at my 2024 goals.
Goals
Paint 60 paintings. I ended up completing 47 paintings this year (not including the 100 daily watercolor paintings I made as part of the #100daychallenge). I’m quite proud of myself for being able to complete so many paintings in the year, and I think 60 paintings a year is a good number to strive for each year.
Release 3 collections. I only officially released one collection this year, during the first half of the year. I’ve moved away from releasing a number of thematically similar paintings at a time because I’ve learned that I like to bounce around from different concepts for my paintings. When I move around from different types of paintings, it ends up taking a while to build a cohesive collection. The “Ocean Arrangements” series is a perfect example of this because it’s taken me a whole year to finish the six paintings that make up the series. By letting go of releasing collections, I’ve alleviated the stress I was putting on myself to work in a way that wasn’t natural for me. But it was initially a good way of thinking for me to be inspired and work on my painting skills.
Apply to 10 art calls/opportunities. I overachieved on this goal and applied to 44 art calls this year, varying from museum and gallery group shows, grants, residencies, fellowships, public art projects, commissions, and other art related opportunities. I was accepted by 9 of them, and I’m so grateful for the opportunities applying to these art calls has opened up.
Participate in 3-5 in person events. I ended up showing my artwork in person over five distinct type of events across multiple weekends:
* Two weekends of Silicon Valley Open Studios
* Live painting demonstration at Filoli Historic Gardens
* Live mural painting demonstration
* San Francisco Open Studios
* I opened up my studio at Alameda Artworks for four “Second Saturdays” events.
I’ve really enjoyed participating in various events because it’s the best way for me to meet other artists and art enthusiasts to talk about what inspires them. It’s been a great way to build community and it helps motivate me to keep creating in times where I feel stuck or directionless. Creating artwork is a solitary endeavor, and I think that being able to work in solitude is a key factor in being an artist, but it’s always helpful to have a creative community around you to introduce you to new ideas that continue to fuel the creativity.Post 2 YouTube videos a month. I was very consistent with creating YouTube videos for the first half of the year and then I completely fell off the wagon. I ended up with 13 videos, exactly one more than half of my goal, but stopped creating videos starting the second half of July. Part of my failure stemmed from missing the second video in July, and once July passed, my summer became busy with commissions and travel that I let go of the goal. I think I’m going to take a pause on YouTube for now because I want to focus on other things, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t go back to it in the future!
When setting my goals at the beginning of the year, I clearly had intention for where I wanted my art career to go, but I think I did a decent job of giving myself space for other things to happen naturally because I couldn’t predict all of the things that would happen this year. So here are some specific, non-goal related accomplishments that I wanted to share and celebrate:
I found a studio space outside of my home at Alameda Artworks. This really enabled me to create a dedicated space for my work and has given me a really supportive creative network.
I painted my first public artwork of a utility box mural as a commission for the City of San Jose.
I co-curated my first museum show.
I painted a commission for my alma mater, Swarthmore College, for their 2025 Calendar.
I attended my first artist residency at the Cuttyhunk Island Residency
I painted another piece of public art on a heart sculpture for the annual San Francisco General Hospital Foundation Heart in San Francisco fundraiser.
I’m having some beginning thoughts on goals for next year. One of them includes doing less things for the first time. This year has been a year of many firsts: first mural, first time showing my artwork in Silicon Valley Open Studios, first live painting demonstrations, and more. It’s been a great way to learn, but I’ve felt exhausted figuring out how to do things for the first time. By definition, I probably won’t be doing many things for the first time next year, since I’ll be trying to do a lot of the things I did this year again next year, but I’ll also probably try fewer new things. I have a better sense of what I enjoy doing, so I think I can be better focused. I also will hold onto the value of leaving space for serendipitous opportunities.
So I think it’s a wrap on 2024! I look forward to continuing to share my goals and updates in the new year. Thanks for being with me on my journey!
Beginning of December Check-in
Hi everyone! I’m coming back from a restful weekend along the coast of Point Reyes and have been reflecting on what I’ve worked on and accomplished this year. So I think my next check-in will be some sort of year end review on the artwork I’ve created, the projects I worked on, how I did in terms of the goals I set at the beginning of the year, and how I felt the year went overall. But for today, I’m going to share my normal update of what I’ve been working on.
What I’m working on:
I think I’m finished with my last close-up seashell painting. I haven’t titled half of the paintings in this series, so that’s probably something I should think about as I wrap up the series.
I started working on an ocean wave painting that I started much earlier in the year. I think I may have started it in the summer. It’s the largest painting I’ve worked to date, 3’x4’, with a new subject, so it’s been a bit challenging. I think that this painting is going to be part of the group exhibit that I’ve been invited to do with two other artist friends at The New Museum Los Gatos that will be showing starting next June. The three of us decided to create a collaborative piece for the exhibit, and we’re currently working on a test piece to try out some ideas. It’s been a really interesting process so far, and I’m learning a lot about their creative processes from this project.
My current work set up is that I work really large in the studio and then work small at home. My Cuttyhunk Island oyster pond painting has inspired me to work on some smaller pieces that focus on the interesting things that clouds do during sunrises and sunsets. They’re like little studies that have been a lot of fun to work on.
I’m doing a pretty good job of working on a smaller number of things at the same time. I feel like I’m painting more than I have been able to in November because I feel less overwhelmed and focused. I do have a number of various art calls and applications to work on before the end of the year for opportunities in 2025, so I’ll have to set aside more computer work time this week. I also have my final event of the year this weekend as my studio is hosting a holiday fair on Saturday. I’ve been glad to have an event once a month at my studio because it forces me to keep my studio space clean and tidy, and I like being able to share my artwork with the people who come by.
That’s all for now for my update. I hope you and your families are doing well and keeping warm this winter!
End of November Check-in
It’s hard to believe that it’ll be December in a little over a week. I’m slowly getting back into the rhythm of going into the studio regularly, but it’s still been a bit challenging. I’m not sure if it’s the cold weather or the short days, but I’ve been working from home a lot recently.
What I’m working on:
I am pretty much finished with my painting of the Cuttyhunk Island oyster ponds. I think this painting has been a signal to transition my focus of my paintings from minute details to broader landscapes and dynamic skies. It inspired me to look through all of the photos on my phone and collect the ones of skies with interesting clouds, colors, and shapes. I’m planning on painting a collection of smaller framed works that focus on dynamic shapes and colors based on the sky, so hopefully more will come soon on this project!
I’m making progress on my last close-up seashell painting. I need to work on the highlights and shadows, but overall, I think it’s pretty much there!
Since I’ve been working from home a lot, I painted another abstract watercolor painting on one of the two remaining aqua board panels I had ordered for the project. It’s a nice way to think about color and work on something different from the oil paintings I typically do. I was able to finish the painting this week, so I just have to varnish and frame it.
Overall, I’m trying to work on fewer projects at a time. I’ve been reading Slow Productivity by Cal Newport and the first principle is “Do fewer things”. So I’m trying to put that into practice by actively working on fewer projects. I have a lot of ideas and unfinished things I want to work on, but I’m trying to remind myself that I can get to the other projects once I finish the ones that I’ve decided to work on now. Focusing on fewer things has alleviated some mental and logistical burden that I usually feel when I’m trying to accomplish too many things at once.
One more thing that I wanted to share this week is that I can officially share my commissioned painting for Swarthmore College’s 2025 calendar. I was commissioned this painting over the summer, and last week the calendars have been officially mailed out. It’s really exciting to see my artwork in print and to know that so many people will be able to see my work. It was also really neat to see a couple of my alum friends’ artworks featured in the calendar. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to create a painting for my school’s calendar and share a meaningful place to me through art.
Beginning of November Check-in
In the last two weeks, I've begun to settle back into my regular schedule of going into the studio to paint. With all of my time out of the studio, I’ve had some difficulty finding motivation to paint again and being able to stay focused for long periods of time, so I started a new painting with little expectations and it’s helped me find my rhythm again.
What I’m working on:
I finished painting my Heart Sculpture for the SF General Hospital Foundation’s 2025 Hearts in San Francisco Project and it’s been picked up and out of my studio! You can see the finished sculpture here: https://www.margaretluoart.com/portfolio/public-artwork I’m excited to see where they put my heart in the city!
The new painting I started is of the oyster ponds on Cuttyhunk Island. I decided to make time for this painting and it’s already almost complete. I have a couple of final details and touch-ups to add, but it’s turning out really nicely.
Now that I’m feeling a bit better about painting, I’m going to work on the last painting of the series of close-up seashell paintings. I’m still hoping to finish this collection by the end of the year!
I’m in a museum group show at NUMU next year with two of my artist friends, and we’re in the inspiration collection and testing phase of a collaborative artwork. One of our inspiration gathering projects is to take polaroid photos of things that inspire us. It’s been a fun exercise and we’re testing out a miniature version of our collaborative artwork!
I also updated my website, which was long overdue. If you want to check it out, you can here: https://www.margaretluoart.com/ Let me know what you think and definitely let me know if there are any glaring issues!
Outings
Last Friday I visited my friend Yuting Wang’s opening reception for an exhibition she put together at her studio’s exhibiting space. Yuting is a watercolor figure painter, but in her exhibition she included some installation artwork that she’s been working on this year. It was really inspiring to see the different aspects of her creative practice while also learning how she organized and put together this show. It can be quite hard to find places to exhibit and present your work, so it was great to see how Yuting created an opportunity for herself to show her new artwork in an exhibit that she curated with antoher artist. It gave me some inspiration and motivation to think about ways I can exhibit my artwork, so I’ve been brainstorming how I will release my collection of close-up seashell paintings when the collection is complete. So hopefully more to come about this!
I went on a really long hike this past weekend in a county park that had a trail with redwoods to take in the fall weather and to also take polaroid photos for my group show. The picture turned out great and the woods are adding a different perspective of inspiration for the show. I’ve taken photos during my trips of the ocean and tides and of the desert, so I feel like I’m getting a large range of visuals that will hopefully help us create something interesting!
That’s all for now! With the cooler weather and shorter days, I do feel like I’m slowing down a bit for the year. My studio is having an open studios event this weekend, so I’ll be spending tomorrow cleaning up my studio. Overall, I’m enjoying the slower pace and trying to rest a bit more. I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for following along!
End of October Check-in
It’s been two months since my last update, so this check-in is long overdue. I’m back home in the Bay Area and trying to settle into a regular schedule after two months of on and off traveling, with the SF Open Studios event thrown in between. I’ll share some highlights from the last two months.
I started out with a slightly longer than a week-long artist residency on Cuttyhunk Island during the first week of September. I was really inspired by my time at the residency by talking to the other residents, the residency staff, and taking in the last days of summer on the island. I created a small number of plein air paintings with water-soluble oil paints, a new medium for me. I also took hundreds of photos of the island, beaches, oyster ponds, and sunsets, so I have a couple of paintings that I want to start working on once I get back into the studio.
Right after my residency, I traveled to Olympic National Park for a 10 day trip with friends. We did a lot of hiking and catching up. We hiked through forests, up on mountain ridges, and to beaches. Even though we did a lot of physical activity on this trip, the trip felt very restful.
The weekend after my return from Olympic National Park, I participated in Weekend 2 of San Francisco’s Open Studios. Honestly, I felt pretty tired before the weekend even started from all of my traveling, so I didn’t feel very enthusiastic about driving up to the city and participating in the event. I think I made the most of the energy levels that I had, but I think this may be my last year participating in the San Francisco Open Studio event. Now that I have a studio space in San Jose, I think it makes more sense to conserve my energy by keeping my studio visits local to my studio space.
Shortly after Open Studios, I traveled to Sedona, AZ with some family for a little less than a week. It was a big contrast weather wise, coming from cool, fall weather in Olympic National Park in Washington to a desert with a heat wave with 90-100 degree weather in Arizona. We visited both the Petrified Forest National Park and the Grand Canyon during our trip. All of the landscapes we saw from Phoenix to Sedona to each of the National Parks were so unique, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to take another trip back to Sedona in the future.
And then to wrap up all my travel, less than a week after my trip to Sedona, I traveled to the east coast for a wedding and to see family. It was good to spend time with family and enjoy a week of unseasonably warm weather for fall on the east coast.
I don’t have any other travel plans for the rest of the year, and I’m looking forward to spending quality time in the studio to work on a bunch of ideas I got over the last two months. Since I’ve been gone for a while, I also have to reorient myself on what I was working on before I left, because I know that I’m in the middle of a couple of projects.
What I’m working on:
I was awarded a commission from the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation to paint a Heart Sculpture for their 2024 Hearts in San Francisco Project. I was able to start painting the sculpture after my Sedona trip, but I need to wrap it up in the next few weeks. I’ve been sharing a few updates on my Instagram stories, and it’s coming along well.
I’m still not finished with my close-up seashell paintings, so I want to wrap up this collection before the end of the year. I’ll get back to working on these paintings once I finish painting my Heart Sculpture, and then hopefully I’ll be able to share all the paintings before the end of the year.
Now that we’ve entered fall, I want to get out to do some more plein air painting with the cloudy weather on the coast. I’ve prepared a number of panels for plein air painting, so now I just need to find the time to get out there and paint.
I also have a specific scene of Cuttyhunk Island that I want to paint in the studio. I was able to paint a small plein air version of the painting, and I want to see it on a larger scale. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to start that painting, but it’s on the back of my mind. Hopefully, by writing it here, it’ll encourage me to find time to work on it.
I think that’s it for my long overdue update. Today’s my first day back home, so I’ve been trying to organize myself and get myself into the right mindset to get back into the studio. I haven’t been able to paint much over the past month, so it feels a bit daunting to get back into the studio, but the deadline for the Hearts of San Francisco project is a good motivator. I’ll be back in the studio tomorrow and will hopefully have a lot of good quiet time in there to work. I hope you all are staying safe and doing well. Thanks for following along and reading through until the end!
End of August Check-in
It’s already the end of the month, and my two months of travel are quickly approaching. I’ve been trying to wrap up a couple of paintings in the studio before I leave for my residency and then Olympic National Park shortly after. Then I’ll hopefully have things in order for when I return at the end of September for SF Open Studios. I’ll be showing my work at Miro Studios on September 28th and 29th. And then right after that, I’ll be traveling to Sedona with my family and then visiting the East Coast during the first half of October. So I’m about to kick off two months of travel very soon!
What I’m working on:
I finished my commissioned Swarthmore Calendar painting and it’s currently with my photographer. I’ll be sending over a digital copy of the painting soon!
I’m rotating between three of the seashell paintings in the ‘Ocean Arrangements’ series. I feel like I’m almost done with the collection. I put all the paintings next to each other and I’m touching up a few of the paintings while I finish the sixth painting to make sure they all fit with each other. I feel like I’ve fully explored this subject for now and I’m ready to work on a different kind of painting or series. I’m not sure when I’ll officially release the collection of paintings, but I’m working to make that happen this year!
I finished the fourth abstract watercolor painting last week. I haven’t started another one because I wanted to focus on my oil paintings, so I probably will only have the four paintings ready for SF Open Studios. I spent some time researching how to finish and seal the watercolor paintings, because the process is a bit different with a water-based medium compared to oil paintings. I tested a couple of things I found researching how to varnish watercolor paintings on a couple of watercolor paintings on paper I did for The 100 Day Project that worked well. I’m just waiting for a couple of cooler weather days because the process does require me to spray some UV varnish, which I do outdoors and the temperature does affect the drying process.
I’m also preparing some thrifted frames for a few plein air paintings I did this month. I’ve been testing out different types of framing for some panels I painted during plein air sessions. I’ve had to sand down the thrifted frames because they’re in different states of repair and have tested out finishing them with oil or staining. I’m hoping to have a few of these framed paintings ready for SF Open Studios. I also am bringing both panels and oil painting paper with me to my artist residency, and it’s nice to know that I have the possibility of framing my paintings from my residency when I come back.
I think that’s all that I’ve been working on for now. I haven’t prioritized creating videos for my YouTube channel, even though I have a lot of videos that I want to create and share. I’m scheduling some time this week to focus on that, so hopefully I’ll have more videos up on my channel coming soon. I’ve also procrastinated a bit on a couple of applications for other artist opportunities, so I’ve set aside some time for that this week as well, since many of the deadlines are while I’m at my residency. I want to finish that work before I leave, so I can focus all my time and energy being present at the residency.
That’s all for now! Thanks for following along. If you have any recommendations for Olympic National Park or Sedona, please let me know!
Beginning of August Check-in
I have a reminder set on my phone to write up my bi-weekly check-in, and for the last few months, I’ve always been surprised when the reminder pops up on my phone because I don’t realize that two weeks have passed. I’ve been saying this a lot recently, but it’s been a busy time in the studio. I’m hoping to slow down a bit in August and really focus on painting before I do a bunch of travel in September and October. My artist residency at Cuttyhunk Island starts at the beginning of September and is a little over a week long. And then I’m off to Olympic National Park in Washington for 10 days, and I’m back at the end of September for SF Open Studios. So I’m hoping to not do too much in August beyond painting in the studio and preparing for Open Studios and my residency.
What I’m working on:
My primary focus in the studio has been my Swarthmore Calendar Commission. It’s due in the middle of September, but since I’m traveling, I’ll be submitting the final digital file of the painting by the end of this month. This means that I have to finish the painting quite soon in order for it to dry so I can get it professionally photographed before the end of this month.
I started a sixth seashell painting in the ‘Ocean Arrangements’ series as part of my live painting demonstration at the Filoli Historic Gardens Art Walk two weekends ago. I haven’t worked on it since my live painting demo since I’ve been focusing on the Swarthmore Calendar commission. Similarly, the fifth seashell painting in the ‘Ocean Arrangements’ has been on hold. I’m hoping that I can show the first four paintings in this series during SF Open Studios at the end of September. I still have to sign and varnish those paintings, so they’re not ‘officially’ complete yet, but they’re almost there.
I’m working on a fourth abstract watercolor painting, with a slightly different color palette. This one is a little larger, 18”x24”. I’m also hoping to have six abstract watercolor paintings, total, complete for display at SF Open Studios. I ordered some frames for these watercolor paintings, so I’m excited to put them all together.
Outings
Last Friday, I participated in South First Fridays in San Jose in a couple of different ways:
I did manage to paint a bottle for LocalColor’s 99 Bottle Exhibition and the opening reception for the show was on Friday. I didn’t have a chance to actually visit the opening reception, but I was excited to see the new gallery space LocalColor secured when I dropped off my bottle.
I was asked to be the featured First Fridays artist at SoFA market, a food hall on 1st Street in San Jose, so I framed all of my available fine art giclee prints and now they’re on display at SoFA market. They should be up there for over a month and all available for purchase, so you should check them out if you’re in the area.
I spent my actual time during South First Fridays tabling with genARTS and connecting with the artists who were visiting the various museums and arts events for South First Fridays. I had a good time catching up with my artist friends and also helping with a workshop we were hosting.
That’s all that I’ve been working on for now. I don’t have as much in person events coming up this month beyond hosting a very casual open studio for Second Saturdays on the Alameda this upcoming Saturday. I’m really looking forward to uninterrupted and quiet studio time. Hopefully, by the next update, I’ll have worked on some more paintings. That’s all for now!
End of July Check-in
Hello everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. Things have been busy, so I’m just going to get right into the update.
What I’m working on:
I’m almost done with the fifth seashell painting in the ‘Ocean Arrangements’ series, but I had to put it aside this week to prioritize a couple of other things. I’m doing a live painting demonstration at the Filoli Art Walk on Saturday this weekend. I thought it would be best to work on a new painting, so I’m starting a sixth seashell painting. I have a couple of compositions picked out when I was first planning the series, so I sketch one of them out on canvas. I thought it’d be more interesting to see the beginning steps of the painting process during the live demo so the audience can see more of a change in the three hours that I have for the demonstration.
I completed three 16”x20” abstract watercolor paintings and started working on another version of these paintings on a larger panel. It’s still been quite hot in California, so I’ve been spending my mornings in the studio and then my afternoons at home. At home, I’m continuing to work on these watercolor paintings.
I’m part of a project called the “99 Bottles” which is a community art project organized by LocalColor, a San Jose based arts non-profit. I’m painting a bottle that will be featured in LocalColor’s new gallery space. I’ve only just found a bottle to paint on and have been brainstorming ideas. I’ll have to get working on it though, because it’s due at the end of the month.
I’m also working on the Swarthmore Calendar Commissioned painting. This is what I’ve been spending most of my studio time working on to make sure I hit the draft and final deadlines of the project.
Outings:
I just got back from a 5 day trip in Seattle last Thursday. In Seattle, I visited the aquarium, Seattle Art Museum, Chihuly Garden and Glass museum, Bellevue Botanical Gardens, and the Belluvue Art Museum. I spent a lot of time looking at artwork and sketching outdoors and had a great time!
The opening reception for genARTS’s 4th annual Experimental Exhbition: Boundaries at NUMU. It was a very well attended reception and I had a great time talking to all the exhibiting artists that were able to come. It was really fun seeing people come to the exhibition that I co-curated and hearing what people thought of the collection of works as well as the layout. I’ll be giving a couple of tours for the exhbiiton in the coming months, so the work isn’t completely over, but it has been a really rewarding experience so far.
I think that’s all for now. I feel like I have a lot to do before the end of the month with the art demonstration and draft of my commission due. I’m hoping that August will be a little less busy and I’ll be able to spend more time in the studio just painting. Thanks for following along, and I hope all of your summers are going well!