daily paint, November 28th, 2007

Howdy!

So, I've been a'workin hard today! Yes, I am serious. It's been a cold WINDY day in Spencer,
Iowa, but I cranked up my happy little ceramic heater and spent the entire day in the studio. It's the mannequin project:) ---kind of scary if you don't think about them being mannequins, huh?:)
Later, Cooper

daily paint, November 26th, 2007

Happy Monday to you!

So this is regroup day: back to some semblance of painting; turkey casserole for dinner:); and life drawing group back on schedule. This morning I took care of the first, #2 and 3 are yet to come today.

So with the article I just wrote about daily paint versus daily painting practice, http://coopkja.blogspot.com/2007/11/sideways-look-at-daily-paint.html still looming in the background I might have discovered yet another facet that I omitted from the article:) Is it the acomplishment of 'a painting a day', practice every day, or getting back into motion after a holiday?!

At any rate, a few items were needed at the grocery store this morning. I ran over there before going to the studio, and speeding past the produce counter, I spied a pear with a quirky stem, which is pear language for "paint me". So a quick pear study, 'One Pear, Blue Bowl", 15 x 15 inches, acrylic painting on heavy gessoed paper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cooper

daily paint and promised posts

Howdy,

Yep, even though there will be eighteen people here for dinner tomorrow, I painted this morning. I have a pear still life called 'Another Blue Chair' that's been bugging me, even though it has been out in the world some and supposedly completed:) This morning it got some more paint heaped on. Results yet to be determined.

I did get the 'Rave On' pieces in front of the camera>

Ok, time to cook!

Later, Cooper

daily paint over run by turkey, November 20th, 2007

Howdy!

Yes, I'm here now. I am sorry to inform you, there was no (none,nadda, zippo,zeroid) daily paint slung about today at my studio.

However, the house is squeaky clean. The meal is planned, and the groceries are purchased; enough to keep 18 (count'em eighteen) people happy, I hope:)

Regarding studio work however, it was a bit of polish off the last little bits kind of day. Two figurative paintings and one still life got their varnish today. Another figurative piece got it's wire attached. And we found the camera! Tomorrow I will do a final photo for you of the two pieces I have been working on to send to the 'Rave On' invitational at the Clear Lake (Iowa) Arts Center.

Right now I will upload yesterday's daily paint. It' s a canvas that I had worked on before and knew it needed more:) So here's more: 'Straight On', acrylic painting on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

Later, Cooper

ps. Here's a link to 'Straight On' when I first tried to convince myself that it was done:)

http://www.karencooperpaintings.com/blog/1799

daily paint, November 16th, 2007

Howdy,

So I am going to play lazy this time. But yes, daily paint fulfilled. I painted all day and now the moon is shining in the office window. Time to go make some food! Oh, and about that daily paint, look here: http://www.karencooperpaintings.com/blog/1884

Later, Cooper

painting title: Good Times, November 16th, 2007

Howdy!

It's a crisp fall day we are having in Spencer, Iowa. Thanksgiving is six days off and the family is coming to our house this year! We'll cook next week!

This week is finish-up-some-paintings week. I have been working toward sending some jpgs of paintings to the Clear Lake [Iowa] Art Center for possible inclusion in their invitational exhibit 'Rave On'. The rider on the old Schwinn needs to make progress today.

First I wanted to stop by and upload one that I think is done: 'Good Times' It's an acrylic painting on a gallery wrapped canvas, 30 x 30 inches. Thanks for looking! Here's an early one look at the same painting: http://coopkja.blogspot.com/2007/11/daily-paint-november-10th-2007-shaky.html

Later, Cooper

daily paint, November 15th, 2007

Hello and happy Thursday to you!

Wow, we have bright sunshine in Spencer, Iowa today! The angle of the sun is now such that when it's shining, sitting in the office is an enlightening experience. I grabbed a big old canvas and plopped it in the middle window---the sunshine still gets in [Ollie is appreciative] and yet I can still see the computer screen:)

Today I have added a few tidbits from the Arts On Grand press release for the 'Gathering of the Wreaths'.

Arts on Grand invites you to the first “Gathering of the Wreaths” December 1 through December 8. This fundraising event is the brainchild of Holly McClain and will provide an opportunity for artists to create “one of a kind” wreaths to be sold in a silent auction.
The “Gathering of Wreaths” begins on December 1, at 4 p.m. with a Holiday Tea sponsored by Shaky Tree Coffee and featuring a Christmas Recital by Niki Conover.

The Silent auction of wreaths ends on December 8, 2007. Proceeds from “The Gathering of Wreaths” will support the arts community at Arts on Grand, by providing new classes in the New Year.
Tickets for the tea and the luncheon are on sale at Arts on Grand, Northwest Federal Savings Bank, Del’s Garden Center and Jacobsen Income Tax Service. Please call 712 262 4307 for further information.

With all that noted, I started playing with an idea for a wreath, and got carried away. Soooooooooo---daily paint, 15 x15 inches, acrylic on heavy gessoed paper, let's call it Wreath On A Yellow Door. I am painting a canvas that will probably resemble this for the AOG event. Yeah, sheesh, the first one was just supposed to be me collecting my thoughts on the subject.

Later, Cooper

daily paint slinging, November 14th, 2007, A.R.T.

Hello everybody!

First I tried taking it off the easel, that didn't work, because while it was on the floor I saw a place where it needed one more line of red. Then I tried washing out my brushes, yeah, one of them got used again right away. I said, "okay, we'll sign it, then I have to be done". And to top that I put a wire on the back and hung it on the wall in the solarium, which is, of course, brilliant sunlight that showed me where I needed just a touc h of white. Maybe that's all it took, I haven't put any paint on it since about 12:30 this afternoon:) We are speaking of the canvas of the two women seated on vintage 50's chairs, sipping their cokes. Tomorrow I will photo it for you, I'm scared that if I get too close to it yet today that I might put more paint on it!

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the Schwinn rider. I had fun with it! Oh, and I googled for wreath-on-door images. By the 26th I need to have a canvas to Arts On Grand for a winter fund raiser--[see Holly, I am working on it!] :) It would probably be more successful, and easier to hang a wreath on my door and set my easel on the sidewalk and get to work, but we are having northwest Iowa weather issues of late. It was a very grey day, and the wind was blowing so hard it blew Ollie's stainless steel doggie dish clear across the patio. Pleine aire would be painful.

One more note of note: I was at an A.R..T. [northwest Iowa artisans road trip] meeting tonight, mostly business, but also we will be having a group exhibit at Arts On Grand in Spencer.

show opens: December 10th
reception/meet the artists: December 14th @ 5:30 pm
show concludes: January 5th
http://www.apencer-ia.com/aog/

Whew, this entry needs some color. How about an upload of the Schwinn biker canvas? Finished isn't everything, you know!



Later, Cooper

ps. I plan on her shoes being the same color in the end:)

daily paint, November 13th. 2007

Howdy!

Wow, it's 10:00 pm and I just realized I have been painting on this thing all day. I think I have been looking at it too long, because I don't thing it's changed that much from this morning. It's got to lose some of the yellow, arrgh. My tired eyeballs are telling me that we interject a bunch of white and maybe a tad of violet from the lower left, that ought to turn their patio from "where the heck did this yellow come from" to a "lovely sunsplashed concrete" [double arrgh]

Good night all.

Later, Cooper

daily paint, November 12th, 2007

Happy Monday to you!

And no holiday time off at this location! The morning was spent in the studio (yea!) I pushed the canvas, of the two seated figures in the 50's style lawn chairs, just a a little more retro, I think. I still have a few hours I can work with it today, but wanted to upload this stage now, as I need to head to life drawing studio a bit early tonight.

Our life drawing group meets on Monday nights, but we had to cancel last week. Two of our group had their lives totally rearranged, with major health issues. If you have room on your prayer list, add Doug, and his wife Carolyn, and Avis, and her daughter Theresa.

Thanks, Cooper

daily paint, November 10th, 2007, Shaky Tree Coffee night

Hello and happy Saturday to you!

Spencer is home to a coffee house called Shaky Tree Coffee, that just so happens to have a stage in one corner of the room, which is perfect for open mic night. However last night marked the one year anniversary for Shaky Tree and to celebrate they hosted Kent Fishburn, a singer-guitarist who grew up in Spencer and came back to share his music with us last night. And the pumpkin spice latte was pretty dang good too:)!

This morning was a non-painting morning, BUT Ollie smells fresh and clean, and slightly scented of 'freesia' shampoo. We call that a successful morning here.

This afternoon did involve some paint slinging. Progress has continued on the canvas with the two women seated on the 50's vintage lawn chairs. Here's a view for you. And thanks for stopping by!

Later, Cooper

November 9th, 2007, Sanford Gallery Photos

Greetings!

I seem to have omitted from this page, photos of the current event. The Sanford Gallery in Cherokee, Iowa has my paintings for a solo exhibit for the month of November:). So my life, or at least my head is going in circles, as that has been duly noted on the blog attached to my website, but seemingly not here. To make ammends, I have a few photos of said exhibit to upload at this time. As you'll note, it's a grouping of figurative works, many from the ongoing 'reader series'. Thanks for looking!

Cooper

A sideways look at 'daily paint'

Hello,

Oh, oh, it’s opinion day. And here it comes!

Daily painting—have you googled that lately? I did just a minute ago, and google gives you 32 pages of 10 listings each, 320 daily painting references. Yahoo does it even better. Maybe they are just a bit repetitive? 100 pages of 10 each, 1000 daily painters!

For all you inquiring minds that want to know, and even those of you who don’t: daily painting refers to the practice of ‘a painting a day’. That means start it in the morning, finish it before beddy-bye. Actually if you are a purist, you finish it far enough in advance of that golden hour, that you’ve got time to photo it and upload it onto your blog.

Is it good news or bad? I’ve read the online epistle of the original daily painters, and have a lot of appreciation for Duane and crew. They seized something that was good for them, and went for it. But what about the copycats roaming the streets now? One quick google trip finds you daily painter sites with membership fees, commission rates, rules and regulations enough to try even the most patient of souls. What is their motive?

The vast majority of work listed on daily painter sites has some notable similarities.
(1) size---most daily painters restrict themselves to less than 12 inches.
(2) simplicity of subject matter

At this point let’s interject that the Cooper blog DOES have some entries titled “daily paint”. I’ve chatted with other daily painters regarding the question how do you finish one EVERY bloomin’ day? Their answers always lead back to the aforementioned items, size and simplicity.

So now it’s time to cut to the chase and ask the question I’ve been dying to get an answer for. Does the compelling nature of that ‘must upload a painting to my blog yet today’ cut into the quality and progression of an artist’s work? Does that same mantra cause us to ‘paint something-anything-no time to think’ just to stay in the game?

I will be the first to insist that daily painting is essential for getting you where you need to go, but is it the completion of a painting every day or the practice of painting every day?

And will the Cooper blog have future posts of ‘daily paint’? It seems most likely. If there’s a big idea cooking on the easel, you might get it in stages. And if I am gone for a day or too, that just means I’m contemplating the next paint layer. Daily painting, in the name of practice, I’m hanging in there.

Thanks for listening, Cooper

November 7th, 2007, art show news, Thieves Market

Okay, second morning in a row of 25 degree temperatures. Must be time to buy that ticket to Bisbee! (yes, that's an insider joke)

But I have another show to prepare for, so must keep nose to the grindstone. Grindstone, hmphf, I love this work and we all know it! But I really do have a show to prepare for and here are the details:

Thieves Market, held annually the first weekend in December, is sponsored by the Fine Arts Council at the University of Iowa. This year's dates are December 1st and 2nd. Typically it's a nice mix of fine art and fine craft, with artists from every upper midwestern state represented. The location for Thieves Market is the University Of Iowa Memorial Union, on campus, in Iowa City, Iowa. Hours are 10:00am thru 5:00pm each day. I will be exhibiting my paintings at this year's Thieves Market, including the newest pieces from my 'readers series'.

If you are in town, do stop by. If you don't live in Iowa City, I highly recommend Thieves Market as a great little road trip! Overnight accommodations are easy and excellent---The Iowa House Hotel (319 335-3513) is a large, extremely comfortable facility attached to the Union. [No winter coats necessary:)]

Okay, to the easel I go! Have a lovely day!
Cooper

ps. thought you might like to see what's on the easel>>>>>>

art fair, jet lag, daily paint

Good morning!

Today makes me glad that yesterday I finally brought in the rest of the plants targeted for wintering over. 25 degrees at 7:00 a.m. and it felt like it! I found a pair of gloves before Ollie and I did our 'route' this morning!

Jet Lag/Art Fair Lag
I am beginning to think that there is a disease among artists who exhibit at art fairs, kind of like jet lag. I have yet to fly to a show, so we can't officially call it jet lag, but Monday after a show, there's some sort of lagging going on! I exhibited my paintings at Two Rivers Art Market in Des Moines this past weekend. That's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Spencer, which is pretty mild as far as art fair travel goes. My theory is that it's the combination of activities involved. First we labor to get the vehicle loaded, drive like crazy to get there on time, agonize over decisions regarding the perfect setup and how to spotlight the newest paintings, and then we wait. At the perfect show, that first purchase happens right away and takes the edge off, but all you painters out there know that normally only happens to jewelers! Patience must be our badge. At any rate, the end of the show comes and packing it in begins. No matter how many paintings you sell, the remaining refuse to cooperate and fit back into the alotted space. Why is that? --probably the first visible symptom of art fair/jet lag. And then the drive home: it can be 100 miles or it can be 500 miles and it still requires the same amount of coffee---the second visible symptom of art fair/jet lag? Is there a cure? I have one more event on the schedule for this year, Thieves Market in Iowa City, the first weekend in December, and I will contemplate a cure as I drive there!

So there's my excuse for not too much paint brush action yesterday. But let me explain what painting did happen. I painted a still life quite a while ago, and there's always been something about it that bothered me. Yes, it was signed, but did you know it's possible to paint over signatures? :) Maybe it was the aforementioned syndrome that caused me to look at this painting differently, but I think I figured out the problem and even more amazing, I think I fixed the problem. We'll upload that image and let you decide!

Have a lovely day! Cooper

daily paint---not my brush:), red and yellow trees

Good morning,

I have been dropping comments about the red and yellow trees outside my offfice window. A Nevada visitor to my journal said they get yellow trees, but never red. Well, today, you all get red! The one photo has a bit of sunlight catching my camera lens, making it look hazy. Trust me, we have no haze today. It is drop-dead-gorgeous-crystal clear atmosphere setting amidst these trees. I just thought the sun effect shooting in from the side made for an interesting extra. So enjoy northwest Iowa today, I am:)

Later, Cooper