daily paint, September 28th, 2007

Hello,

What a beautiful day, wow! The sun is shining, the leaves are just starting to color, AND not too many of them are laying on the sidewalk yet :) (otherwise known as a no-rake-necessary-day) We live on a street with way more than it's fair share of trees, so don't worry, our rakes will get a workout eventually.

Today's painting comes from a session with my painting friends at the Pearson Lakes Art Center. Most of the work on this one got done there, only a few finish-up details after I brought it home. We're going to call it 'Comfort Zone Sprawl'. It's an acrylic painting, 20 x 20 inches, on a gallery wrapped canvas. Thanks for looking!

Cooper

ps. available for your continual viewing pleasure on my website @

http://karencooperpaintings.com/

daily paint, September 25, 2007

Hello,

The sun is starting to peak through the clouds that carried over from last night's friendly little rain in northwest Iowa. It's not too shabby a day, I think.

I have a painting for you. "Must Be Reading Spring Came On Forever" is an acrylic painting on heavy gessoed paper. (and a good book it is too) Enjoy!

Later, Karen

daily paint, September 24, 2007, "Sleeping With Irises"

Hello,

So it's a drippy evening in Iowa. The thunder portion of the event has passed so Ollie isn't shaking anymore:)

I have a painting started at the art center studio and finished at home, to show you today. It's title is "Sleeping With Irises"


Later, Karen

daily paint, September 21, 2007

Hello again,

So, about that solo green bean, will you settle for three? Daily paint for today, September 21, 2007:

3 Beans, acrylic painting on heavy gessoed paper, 15 x 15 inches.

And yes, as a matter of fact, life has been pretty busy this week. It seemed like the right thing to do to focus in on something simple and uncluttered. It was fun---hope you enjoy looking at it!

Later, Karen



yes, yes, I know, I've already posted the roma tomato once before, but I couldn't resist putting it up next to the green beans---makes me feel kind of Italian :)

September 21, 2007

Good morning!

It's beginning to feel like fall in northwest Iowa. I rebelled and went out to the garden this morning to pick tomatoes, green beans, and summer squash. Yea for summer. What would a painting with one green bean (solo) look like? I'll need to consider that.

In the meantime, here's proof that I have not been sitting around doing nothing. The accompanying review is from "Home Turf Media, Around Des Moines". The review is written by M.R. Field who covered the Valley Junction Art Market in West Des Moines on September 16th. the entire article is available at http://www.hometurfmedia.com/.

"Karen Cooper took several design courses in college and her training in fashion and textile design shows in her paintings. She uses a limited palette of six colors and the result is an impression of cheerful light. She enjoys painting people but it is the draping of cloth and the flow of seams that really stand out. "

Have a great day!

Later, Cooper

daily paint, and bmx biking, September 15th, 2007

Hello everybody,

So we turned our furnace on this afternoon, feels like a pretty dumb thing to do on September 15th. I guess that's what happens when you live in the Iowa arctic belt.

We froze our derierres off at a bmx competition today, but when it's the first ever for the youngest born----so we were there. For you poor uneducated souls, bmx means biking. It was held at the Spirit Lake YMCA which has a brand new bike park. Said youngest born won both competitions for the high school aged bracket, best individual trick, and best street run, which is a misnomer I think because it's all done on ramps and half pipes and stuff like that, the street is just how you get your car to the parking lot :) Grand prize (s) ---gift certificates to the local bike shop, yeah, that would also be the place of his employ. When they find out Monday that he's the one that won, they're probably going to have to thump him :)

And also I have a painting for you. It's title is a stretch, but think upon it and it will make sense hopefully! At any rate, "Pie And Coffee" 20 x 24 inches, acrylic painting on canvas. I will get it to my website http://karencooperpaintings.com/ (paypal available there) as soon as possible. Thanks for looking!

Later, Cooper

daily paint, September 13, 2007

Howdy!

What I am uploading now is actually yesterday's work, mostly. A couple little splotches of blue had to go on yet this morning. So: here's a windy look at poppies.

Back to the easel I go. Later, Cooper

daily paint

Good morning!

Brrrrrr! from northwest Iowa. Where are those 90 degree days when you could really use one?

Ok, you'll notice I de-loaded the picture from the last post? I mentioned it wasn't signed and that left it open for slight adjustment? So slight adjustments are made and it is now signed so here is the latest upload. Also another bowl of ripe tomatoes, with a slight amateur photographer glare on the corner, darn, we'll see about a re-photo later. Here's what you get for now:

Have a great day!

Later, Cooper

ps. ok here comes a bit of confession: You'll note that I fixed the glare on the tomato painting? Well, while I was there, even though it was already signed, it occurred to me that it wanted to be just a little more blue....sheesh.

daily painting, September 5, 2007

Hello,

So today I upload what I've been working on all day, so fair to call it daily painting, right? No, I didn't work a miracle and get it all done in one day, in fact, it's not signed yet, which leaves mental room for a few adjustments. We'll see. At any rate, here it is: "Higher Education".

Cooper

Daily painting, September 3, 2007

Hello and happy Monday to you!

It's a great one in northwest Iowa, sunny, warm, a nice breeze and a holiday!

I have been painting bowls full of tomatoes, in fact, I have a large canvas with that subject matter on the easel right now. I plan to have it done in time to take it to the West End Art Festival this coming weekend, September 7th, 8th, and 9th. But this morning, after Ollie and I had finished our run and I was well into my pot of coffee, one single, solitary, all-by-itself kind of tomato said 'paint me' in a loud way. So here it is, "A Sideways Look At A Roma Tomato". Actually: to-may-to, to-mah-to? I think this one is a toMAHto.

Later, Cooper

Originals, or Prints---The Great Question

Hello Everyone,

Here we go again, a letter needs to be written, I might as well get it done.

I just read an editorial style article at the EmptyEasel site criticizing limited edition prints, saying their artist/publishers were being "a bit snooty and egotistical" and concluding "there's a prestige there". (Dare I continue?) Sure, why not.

I think the major downfall in the article theory happens right up front with the statement "First of all, why do limited prints even exist? ...the original idea was to make art buyers feel that they had put their money into some sort of investment..."

Ahem: any art buyer who is serious about investment buys ORIGINALS!

Let me be the first (or at least, the next) person to inform the writer of the "prints" article that a print is NOT ART, it is a COPY of art, a reproduction, or if you really want to get nasty, it's a fake!

I love when artists who sell prints use the story that they are making art affordable to the masses. Just before I started writing this I did a quick search under "daily painters". Yup, right there on my computer screen, up pop some pretty cool paintings, REAL paintings, ORIGINAL oils on canvas board paintings, ORIGINAL acrylic paintings on canvas, ORIGINAL pastels on paper, REAL drawings made by the real artist's hand (as in contrast to printed out in quantities by a machine) We all know how much of the artist's emotion comes through the print from that machine, eh?, but that's another story. So back to my quick search---I think we need a drum roll here---I found paintings starting at $29.95. I found one at $39.95, and I didn't spend all that much time searching. I found lots of original art at the 100 dollar mark.

When was the last time you went to a summer art festival? You know the kind with the white tents set up in a park, just about everywhere all summer long? There are paintings there too, original paintings, and some of those artists more advanced in their careers do charge more for those originals. BUT as I was exhibiting my paintings this July at Krasl Art Fair On The Bluff, I had the privilege to be right across the sidewalk from a younger artist, just starting out on her career. She had stunning abstracts done in oil, on canvas. She had several paintings at $80.

So "making art affordable to the masses" is not a valid reason for prints of any sort. Let's be brutally honest here, prints, limited or otherwise of any artist living in this day and time, are made so the artist can SELL MORE. It's about money, not the patron's money, it's about the artist's money.

With that said, I am fully cognizant that an artist has to make a living too. But let's ponder this thought: how many paintings (I'm talking real ones here) would we sell if there were suddenly no more reproductions?

The aforementioned author of the "prints" article concluded her thoughts with the statement "I want to keep my images affordable and available for as long as people want to buy them. And there's nothing wrong with that"

Maybe there is something wrong with that. There are lots of paintings, real art, out there waiting to be purchased, and they come with all sizes of price tags. There are tons of people out there waiting to purchase art and their checkbooks/debit cards come in all sizes too. Maybe we need to work a little harder at marketing our original art.

Enough said. Have a great day!

Cooper