End of June Check-in
Happy summer! It’s been almost three weeks since my last update and a lot has happened. I went on a trip to Lake Tahoe last week, and it was a great time to take a proper vacation from work. Before my trip, I painted my first mural during Viva Calle San Jose; it was a great time painting live and talking to the other muralists and artists who were painting during the event. And then when I came back from Lake Tahoe, I painted my first Utility Box mural on the corner of 11th and Reed Street in San Jose. With the help of some friends, we finished painting the utility box in one day, and I’m really happy with how it came out! I’ll be posting YouTube videos of the process of both murals soon. With these murals complete, I’m back in the studio working on a couple of projects
What I’m working on:
I’m still working on the fifth seashell painting in the ‘Ocean Arrangements’ series of paintings. I’m working on the detailed parts of the coral and seashells, so it’s all really coming together nicely. I probably won’t finish this painting by the end of the month, like I had thought, and I’m working towards finishing it by the end of July.
I’ve started my largest oil painting to date with a detailed ocean wave painting on a 36”x48” canvas. I ordered some larger paint brushes to help me work on this painting because I realized that the brushes I currently have are too small to effectively paint on this canvas. It’ll be a change for me to work with 1 inch to 3 inch paint brushes, but I’m looking forward to learning some new painting techniques.
I’ve started a new abstract watercolor series on a few medium-sized WaterMedia boards. This idea came out of the 100 day project watercolor sketches I made during the challenge. I wanted to create a series of larger scale abstract watercolor paintings, so I’m looking forward to seeing how these turn out.
Outings
I had a small opening reception for my paintings that are exhibiting at the Sunnyvale Senior Center last Friday. I generally prefer smaller opening receptions because it gives me the chance to have proper conversations with my friends and visitors about my artwork.
In the middle of July, I’ll be traveling to Seattle for the first time. I’m tagging along my partner’s work trip, so I’m looking forward to catching up with some friends who live in the city and visiting the museums and galleries there. If anyone has Seattle recommendations, let me know!
That’s my update for now. I’ve been volunteering a lot of my time as Vice Chair for genARTS, so my vacation in Lake Tahoe was a nice way to take a break and refocus my energies on painting. I’m hoping to spend more time in the studio creating and painting. I had a few new ideas for painting series that I want to get to, but I know that I should finish my current paintings before starting even more new ones.
