30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 11

  "Queen Margaret" - mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas, 16" x 20" x 2".  Ready to hang.

This week is all about getting ready for a trip to Charlotte at the end of the month.  Five days, three workshops and 1400 miles.  When I think about it, I am overwhelmed.  But I have a strategy for breaking it down into bite-sized pieces, and an attitude of treating it like the AMAZING RACE OF ARTING!  Complete with long road trip, rushing from one destination to the next, hauling gear, overcoming obstacles and unexpected prizes along the way, this race is one I love to win.  And sometimes there is even the opportunity to eat strange food - at Block and Grinder last trip, the wild game burger of the day was kangaroo.  I chose the steak instead.

With this trip, I am trying two exciting new things: collaborative teaching with a fabulous bookbinder, and a shortened workshop at a groovy new venue in Indian Trail.  As fearless as I am, (well, not fearless enough for kangaroo, apparently) I also get nervous and pre-stress about anything I haven't done before.  And yet it is these artistic stretches that inspire me, energize my art and make me leap out of bed in the morning.  

This new piece, "Queen Margaret", is the sample for the shortened workshop.  I didn't expect Margaret to be a challenge, as I love painting puff-haired queens.  As with all these girls, Margaret had a mind of her own, and wanted to look a certain way.  Sometimes these paintings are like wrestling an alligator.  She and I sorted it out in the end, much to my relief.  So here she is, the boss of me right now, and the self-proclaimed queen of the studio. :)

​September 30 at Ciel Gallery  "It's Good to Be Queen" 10 am - 2 pm sign up here
October 1 and/or Oct 2 at Ciel Gallery  "Tangled and Bound"  10 am - 2 pm Saturday and/or 1pm-5 pm Sunday sign up here
October 1 at Painting the Park "Guest Artist Jen Jovan Walls" 7 pm - 9 pm sign up here