Mag 233 - Slipping off the Globe

Yell Sound, Shetland, 2014, by R.A.D. Stainforth Magpie Tales: Mag 233

Sailing Away

Slipping over the waves
Slipping
Off the edge.

Sliding off
Off the immortal
Sea
Into the unknown sea of souls.

Slipping
Off balance of gravity
Slipping off
Adrift in space.

J. Binford-Bell

August 2014

The Studio?

left west wall or largest wall

From the moment I bought my house I began sketching plans for my greenhouse and passive solar sun room. I chose the southeast side duplex as opposed to the northwest because it would have a better solar gain. First drawings had it only about 10 feet wide by about 15 feet long. And even when I drew up the final plans which said studio it was not intended for painting but mask making. It had grown from that ten feet to 16 and 21. And definitely more window than wall.

Windows being installed

 The passive solar gain and a place for all my light starved plants was top of my list on purpose of the studio. And during the construction I was so squeezed into the tiny bedroom upstairs that served  as my studio I could not wait to spread out. Even my computer which had occupied a corner of the living room had to move to my bedroom because of the construction dust and the cutting of the door between the existing building and the new addition.

The addition

 And once I kicked out the contractors for false invoicing the fur kids and I virtually moved into the new space so I could finish the sheet rock and trim out. The photograph below shows the largest area for hanging paintings. Mind you at this time I was not painting.

Most of the largest wall

One quarter of the largest wall

And then I stupidly put all the studio furniture below this space which makes hanging on this wall an acrobatic feat. The opening picture shows the other side of the door of this wall. I once had a computer desk under there which made hanging anything on that part of the wall impossible. Computer moved back to the living room.

Southeast wall above door

The other good place to hang work is the peak over the outside doors and windows. It requires a tall ladder. And as my Euphorbia have larger a bit of rearrange of plants. The love their greenhouse. And then there are the corners.

Favorite corner

 I love the space for paintings in this corner but then I have taken below it for storage because it was at one time behind the computer desk. I have decided this needs to be moved so I can totally utilize the wall space here and shown in the first picture.

Tallest Euphorbias used to live here

 But they had to move to make room for paintings. I have even painted specifically for this corner because of a collector telling me she had no place to hang more art. I didn't either.

To the left of the main door

The book shelf and the stand for the CD player have got to go. It takes up space that can be used for hanging pictures. And most of what is on these can move to the living room and shelves there I have cleared of books. And to the left of here would be a perfect place for some the print rack, etc.

I am painting larger canvases now and also into photography which gets relegated to panels.

Photography

 Overflow of paintings and photography is in the living room which I am thinking needs a rearrange so it can be a secondary showroom. With the apartment not rented on the other side I could always use it as another gallery. Anyone want to go in on a coop venture?

The studio was suppose to be a greenhouse and passive solar sun room. And it is. But it is also now a studio/gallery. I need to repurpose it officially.

Week 32 - 2014 in photographs

Day 218 - Monsoon Clouds

Here is enough. And thank goodness because I have not had the time to pack up and take a day trip out of the valley. One of my photographer buddies just went to Colorado in search of new things to record in pixels and I am here in the valley pointing my camera at the wonders of the monsoon clouds and foggy mornings after the rains with drops hanging on the fences and blades of grass.

Day 219 - Monsoon Morning

A wet May and abundant moisture in July has made the grasses tall and generously topped with seeds to increase the grasses next year. Not easy to photograph them because they are just a field of top heavy grass waving in the breeze but the ones below stood before a white bar door and multiplied themselves with shadows.

Day 220 - Brings tall grass

I love the blooms on the top of onions. They are so poised it seems. BTW they are also great eating; broken apart and scattered on a salad. These two below are heralds in my garden.

Day 221 - Onion blossoms

Mother always said to not play with my food. Photography and the dry computer dark room have made it all too easy to play with the vegetables in my garden. The broccoli was harvested this week but before it was I had to record my success and then celebrate it with color.

Day 222 - Do not play with your vegetables

I bought this bluebird house at a crafts fair and got it home to discover that to install it on a post means I have no access to the door in back to clean it out at end of season. So I just set it on an outdoor shelf overlooking my garden to decide how to put it up later. A year has passed and it is still on the shelf.

Day 223 - The Bird House

More playing around with my food. This time the red cabbage. It has been probably the most recording vegetable in my garden. Take a bow. I am even considering printing this large on canvas to display in my studio. Would be neat printed on metal as a kitchen decoration too.

Day 224 - I never listened

Week 31 - 2014 in Photographs

Day 211

I took a second look when this bronze lion caught my transitory attention. I was driving somewhere with my mind totally on something else. My first thought was, "who puts an African lion in a New Mexico mountain forest?" But I had to stop and take a picture. Love the forest around it. There is a starkness in black and white I also liked.

Day 212

I love this particular wildflower that grows in a wood near me. I love their fanciful twisting petals but had no idea what they were. When I posted this picture everyone wanted to know. It is a Helianthus giganteus Tall Wild Sunflower. Sometimes called a Giant Wild Sunflower. It seems to catch the light in small meadows among the tall pines or near the edge of a pond. The yellow stands out in the shadows.

Day 213

There are thousands of different thistles. I like the lilac or pink colored Bull Thistle captured above. None in my yard. I actually have to seek them out. I have an ugly white variety in my yard. And the Marsh thistle across the stream in the marsh naturally enough.

Day 214

I am obviously not the only one stalking the wildflowers. The Giant Wild Sunflower above seemed to be captured by aphids and ants. Or were the ants herding the aphids?

Day 215

And what is a week in monsoon season without clouds, and cloud photographs. Like in aspen season everyone with a camera is out looking for that one distinctive photograph not previously taken by someone one else with their smart phone. I must thank my supporting cast, the cattle, for the picture above. They so nicely lined the crest of the hill giving depth and scale to the huge cumulus clouds behind them.

And the towering layers of clouds above one of the tallest mountains in the neighborhood. The base of Angel Fire Ski area is 8,600 ft (2,621 m). And the peak is 10,677 (2,354 m). Since this photo shows just above the base and to the peak take the 2000 foot difference and figure out how tall that building thunderhead is.

Day 216

And with the clouds come the rain. Also have always looked for that definitive photograph of "When the skies opened up." I captured this one of my storage shed from inside my studio with the door open and the long lens on. One way to keep me and the camera dry but I was kidding myself about being safe from the lightning.

Day 217

And we are another week closer to fall and winter. But no doubt more wildflowers, clouds and hopefully rain to photograph in the next week.

Was the Exhibit Successful?

Meraki Exhibit at Gallery Main
Trinidad, Colorado

Roughly a year ago I was invited to be the solo artist at Gallery Main in Trinidad, Colorado for July 2014. That solo exhibition, Meraki, is now over. And the question I get constantly asked is, was it successful?

As a long time participant in art fairs it is a question I am used to being asked. Most artists that do fairs have this internal scale for this answer. And they always remind me of my father who was an Air Force pilot when asked about what was a good landing: Any landing you can walk away from is good. If the plane can be flown out of the airport it is an excellent landing. Every exhibit, show or fair, like every landing, is different. And every good artist, like every good pilot should learn something from every event.

Meraki was my first solo show and it felt a lot like my first solo landing when I was taking flight lessons. First and foremost is that word solo. When your flight instructor gets out of the plane and tells you to take it around for another take off and landing it is one of the most scary and the most ecstatic moments. Committing to a solo art exhibition was the same. This is not a 10 x 10 foot booth among 300 for the weekend, or a featured artist for one night in a gallery of ten artists. This is the whole gallery  for a month. And you have almost a year to obsess about it . . .er, prepare. BTW most flying instructors do not tell you in advance when you are going to be allowed to solo.

So back to that question of was it successful? I landed the plane. I filled the gallery and I think filled it quite well.

And if you go by the most frequently used yardstick for art fair participation I cleared my costs. But in several years of doing fairs I learned that is not always between set up and take down times. You learn to track sales after an event. Art receptions typically do not bear fruit until customers sober up, or so the line goes. If you have a low price point on what you are exhibiting people make impulse sales but that isn't true as the value goes up. And with paintings they often have to go home and consider where they want to hang it.

I learned with a solo show with a long lead up time thee are before sales to be considered especially in this day of social media marketing. Of course I was devoting myself to learning good marketing at the same time I was exploring new subjects, techniques and media in the studio. And what I posted to work in progress folders on Facebook sometimes sold. I would not have been doing the new paintings or marketing as much were there not a solo show to prepare for. And saying I was preparing for a solo show gave me street creds as it were. So between sales before and after it was a successful exhibit.

But there is more than money to measure success against. I learned an incredible amount about . . . well, almost everything really. Meraki was a creative miracle for me. Frequent readers will know I gave up painting for two years and had really just re-entered that creative process when the opportunity was offered. I had enough paintings for the show but I wanted to come up with a significant percentage of new works in a larger scale. And every new painting (I produced 13 for this show alone) taught me something new, or helped me rediscover myself in the paint medium. I learned to love painting again and have already begun two new paintings with two more on the back burner.

I also learned a lot about social media marketing. And I learned there is a lot more to learn. It works if you work it. And without a solo show I know I would not have worked it as much. What artist would not rather be painting?

And it was not just what I learned about myself and my work but what others learned too. Opportunities have arisen since I have been working on the solo show. I was included in the Taos and Beyond exhibit. I am the featured artist at a local business this coming weekend. I live in an area with some highly respected artists and I now feel I belong there. I learned a lot about me through this process too.

Week 30 - 2014 in Images

Day 204 - Waiting

The fullness of summer was upon us in this last week. And everywhere it was evident be it in the napping of cats in the windows or the last poppy blooming in the front yard.

Day 205 - Last Poppy of the summer

The poppies were a gift this summer. Seldom do they bloom as fully and for so long. Their large and delicate petals fall victim to the storms of summer. But while the monsoons came they fell gently until after the last blossom was spent.

Day 206 - In all their glory

And then came the hollyhocks planted in the lee of the studio and under an eave to keep the hail from shredding their beauty.

Day 207 - First Hollyhock

Each morning any cloud which lingered from the rains of yesterday began to gather and build into the deliverer of rain in the late afternoons.

Day 208 - Gathering Clouds

And the moist air after the months of drought was absorbed by every living thing.

Day 209 - Red Cabbage

And wildflowers which had not bloomed in such abundance for years turned the fields purple, and sometimes, it seemed, the very air.

Day 210 - The fence line

And so we near the last days of July.

Week 29 - 2014 in Images a day at a time

Day 197

The lush but brief mountain summer continues. And because of the gift of rain things are green. Because of the drought of past years every thing is rushing to reproduce in the short time allotted. Great news for nature and for the photographer.

Day 198

I first noticed this wild mountain rose growing through the sign post a couple years back. I figured it was a fluke but every year it works its way up higher through the square sign post. No good angle for a photograph without wires and signs but then that is what this is about - Life going on against the odds and man.

Day 199

The geese this year also did very well. Getting three of their four goslings to fledging stage. No doubt the wet spring and summer has also helped them.

Day 200

And my poppies, oft ignored, managed a wonderful display this year. At one time 17 of my salmon colored poppies were blooming at once. No mean feat because heavy rains can destroy the delicate flowers. Yesterday I took a picture of the last boom for the archives.

Day 201

And the birds have been everywhere this year. Good bugs and good seeds and good wild flowers. That does not keep the hummers from emptying the feeders daily. I have out three. And mornings there can be thirty waiting their turn. So hungry they hardly notice me and the camera.

Day 202

I have taken a lot of goose pictures this summer of my local pair and goslings. The one below is one of my favorites because Mom and Dad are paired up while the brood does their thing close by. All summer long they have swam or grazed in goose step as it were. One adult in back and one in front for protection of the three in line between them.

Day 203

Some time in August, toward the middle, the breeze will change direction and the air take on a hint of crispness. Fall will have arrived. A killing frost usually waits until September, hopefully toward the end, but migration will begin during that Indian Summer in between.