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August 30, 2008
Some Great Art at Sale Prices!
I am a member of the Visual Arts Street Team on Etsy, and as a special promotion many of the members are participating in a special Labor Day sale! Happy Browsing. Here are a few of my favorites, and please be sure to visit my shop for 20% off all notecards and notecard sets through Monday only!
Posted by mwashburn at 02:03 PM | Comments (1)
August 28, 2008
More life drawing
Went to life drawing again last night, and was able to stay for the full 2 1/2 hour session this time. I was amazed at my ability to sit still and work on a single drawing for a whole hour. I still have some work to do, but got some good quick sketches and one longer gouache I was happy with. Again, having an excellent model really helps.
Posted by mwashburn at 03:49 PM | Comments (2)
August 23, 2008
Spreading the Word
I had the fantastic opportunity recently to be interviewed by Janyce, of Sojourn Quilts from Etsy, on her blog, What Shoes I Wear.
The interview revolves around both my artwork and the role of art-making in my own recovery from postpartum depression. The blog is dedicated to telling womens stories, often through their artwork, and Janyce is a fantastic writer, storyteller, and womens' advocate.
Posted by mwashburn at 06:55 PM | Comments (2)
August 22, 2008
Major Rant on Gender Stereotypes
OK, I've really had it. I know my child is going to be subjected to some people's concepts of gender and ability, gender and color, gender and appropriate playthings (she even came home the other day declaring that boys play Nascars, girls don't; until I pointed out that her beloved "Cheerios" matchbox car is, in fact, a Nascar car.) There's not a whole lot I can do about some of that, other than counter it at home with less gender-biased notions.
But, I was just browsing Amazon for "kids cameras" as I'd love to get a child-proof one for the Bug for Christmas. Why, oh why, are they all color coded and gendered? There are pink cameras "for girls" and blue cameras or cameras festooned with Pixar Cars or Pirates of the Carribean "for boys." IT'S A FUCKING CAMERA. If there is ANY gender-neutral pastime on the planet, it ought to be taking pictures. It's bad enough that it's nearly impossible to buy your child a bicycle that doesn't loudly and colorfully announce their gender (and therefore appropriate color scheme and level of decorative adornment) but I'd love to buy one goddamn thing that comes in colors other than blue and pink. I thought we'd moved beyond this. I thought girls could be anything they wanted, not just ballerinas or fairy princesses. I thought that, being a responsible parent and encouraging imaginative, creative, and open-ended play was enough. Well, apparently that has to be gendered too.
I really, really, really hate it. Obviously we all know that boys and girls are different, but do we really have to accentuate it to such an absurd degree at such a young age?
/rant.
Posted by mwashburn at 01:45 PM | Comments (1)
August 19, 2008
How I Managed to Make Flowers Ugly
Well, the first flower painting made me pretty happy.
But the second in the series has been such a struggle.
I don't want it to be just a pretty flower painting; I wanted something unsettling to show through, but I feel like it's not there. There are a couple of details I really like, just from a formal point of view:
Not sure where I'm going with this. But, I think it's time to just move on to the next one.
Posted by mwashburn at 05:06 PM | Comments (1)
August 18, 2008
And Now for some Completely Unoriginal Content
Coffee is officially good for you!
I'm saved, vindicated, thrilled, whatever.
Got my third juried show application off this morning, so now I can relax a little. The painting just plain didn't happen this past weekend, due to Unforseen Circumstances Beyond My Control and really really nice weather that made me think "hm. We won't have many more days like this. I should be outdoors."
Posted by mwashburn at 06:06 PM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2008
More Good News
So I'm 2 for 2. I've had work accepted to both the Fusion of the Arts juried show at the IUN Gallery and the Deconstruct|Construct juried show at Union Street Gallery.
And, I actually made it to life drawing last night. The model was fantastic. I had double-booked myself, so only stayed until 8pm which means I ended after the 20-minute poses, but it was still a really enjoyable 90 minutes.
Posted by mwashburn at 04:25 PM | Comments (1)
August 08, 2008
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
I had a little painting time yesterday, and while my work-in-progress in the flower series has seemingly taken steps backwards, frustrating me to no end:
(I apologize for the glare from the flash, but I wasn't about to get the tripod out this morning)
...I did have some success with a quickie I worked on in the same stretch. Although it is still pretty rough, there are two things that really pleased me about this little canvas. First, I nailed the color. Second, I was working quickly and using matte medium, and I really feel like I got an oil look/feel to the acrylics. Hooray for getting my mojo back!
Posted by mwashburn at 07:27 AM | Comments (0)
August 06, 2008
Slight Disappointment
Sorry for the lightness of my posting, but we were without power for about 42 hours. And then there's just the general business, which is partly what this post is about.
Since I've been being more art-y lately, I've been pining for some life drawing. I used to be friends with enough of the sorts of people who were up for anything that I could usually convince one of them to shed their clothes for my entirely artistic needs. These days I figure I have to rely more on the Paid Model situation for such situations. And I finally found open studio model drawing here in town. Well, on the outskirts.
The disappointment is that I got there tonight, for the first time, only to find that the class was canceled due to an ongoing workshop. But I did meet a member of the organization and get a little tour. The place is called the Art Barn, and there's a small organic farm on the premises, but the barn has been converted to artists' studio space. They hold various workshops and classes through the year, many of the traditional watercolor-type persuasion, but there's definitely some professional talent hanging around. There are also chickens wandering about freely, and it's just a beautiful area. Having the smell of oil paint hit my nostrils was like... well, you know that first whiff of coffee in the morning? It was that good.
So, next week, then. Drawing from the model always really helped train my eye and ramp up my drawing ability a bit, and I could use it now. Hopefully I'll have some results to post soon!
Posted by mwashburn at 07:27 PM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2008
Two Kinds of People
There are two kinds of people in this world. People who feel that the world owes them something, and people who feel they owe the world something. The latter are a lot more fun to be around.
Posted by mwashburn at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)