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!
