Process versus Perfection

Last month I acquired a new space in the downtown Pickford Dreamspace Studios. So far, I have been spinning my wheels on all of the ideas I have for creating my own room. The aim will be for a public space to meet with people, be open during art walk, and display my paintings alongside mural work and decorative painting.

My original goal was to start work on the space the Monday after my Mother's Day art show up in Birch Bay (one piece sold, not bad!). 10 days have passed and I don't see much progress. The room itself has been primed, I have decided to paint the trim to match the wood work. For now, we are leaving the primer as the wall color, because I need to focus on some other things. The advantage of this is that it is neutral, and the colors in my paintings will stand out.

I found one set of track lighting at the restore for the display wall, but will need to figure out a light source for the opposing wall. The existing light is a hideous fluorescent, which I hope to unscrew. There is a second track at the restore, but it is missing the can lights to slide in. I may go get it anyway, and hope I can find some lights for it at the hardware store.

The floor is a stained carpeting. I bought some big pieces of particle board, and will be painting a funky wood grain on them. Perhaps the answer is to allow myself the time to focus on this one step. Once this is complete, and in, I can then look at furnishings and moving my paintings in.

I am hoping to paint a mural on the opposing wall. I also would like a sitting area and small bookshelf, along with a painting station. It's a lot! The mural wall can be rotated, or I can even make backdrops to hang. I hope to market these as art pieces in themselves, and also to theatres and photographers.

All of these decisions are swimming right now. I have to just take it one step at a time. I am struggling balancing all of these goals with going to work at night doing something completely different. Changing gears every day is frustrating and exhausting. I often wonder if I am missing something, some detail or strategy, that others have figured out, that would make this all a lot easier. I am really looking forward to meeting other people in the coming months, and see if all of my visions have a place here.

It is so scary to think that all of the work may lead to nothing, that I am nursing a dead litter. Having said that out loud though, it also isn't the end of the world if it doesn't pan out. It just will be really disappointing, and I really don't want to change careers. I want this to work really, really bad. Below are some pictures of the beginnings/ before. I will document any progress :)

Sign

I completed a pretty straightforward sign over the last week. My neighbor, Kurt Schoenberg, who runs a tool repair business from his home, hired me to basically reproduce his business card on to a larger 3X1' sign. If you are ever in need of his services, his website is here: http://www.ineeditnowtoolservice.com/.

The logo is an exact recreation. The most difficult part of this, besides the transfer process, was really matching the original colors. But I managed it :)

Sundance

I spent the remainder of April completing a commission for my cousin Linda out in CT. She wanted her lab, Sundance, immortalized in a painting. Her letter included a paragraph of lovely descriptives of Sundance, including his kohl outlined eyes, his creamy puppy soft fur. What a doll.

While painting him, I felt all of this love her family has. It was as though painting his fur, I was actually scratching behind his ears and snuggling up to him. The little black spots at the base of his whiskers were very important, the wet nose, the complacent eyes.

The background includes their very traditional New England porch, complete with white columns and a brick porch. Winter's ice skates adorn the deep navy blue door (my personal favorite color of the moment. I can't find enough ways to incorporate it!), along with a Christmas wreath. Sundance was a sport, with his deep red scarf.

I thank you Linda for sending me this project. It was truly a reminder of why I love art, why it it so important to give a voice to the things we love by showing their true colors.