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.
