Who Knows Where The Time Goes

Now that I've planted that Judy Collins song in your head, here's the latest Baxteriological news:

I've been busy with "office" type stuff, working on some web sites for clients, learning new software (Adobe is abandoning their great web development product GoLive, so I get to learn Dreamweaver now), and doing some long-range planning for my art career. I've been learning how much thought and planning goes into being a painter, and how much attention is required on the business side... Someday I hope to work out a balance between the creative and business sides.

I've also added my mom to the tribute site to my parents, something I've been meaning to do for three years now. Designers know that working on your own projects is the hardest... no exception here. But it feels good to have them both remembered and out there for all to see. There's a link to it on the bottom of my home page if you want to visit later.

In the meantime I was able to get some easel time in, and the results are on my new works page. "Contemplating Spring," (above) and "Desiree" (right) are the latest creations.

I was contacted a few months ago by a designer friend who expressed an interest in some of my painting-a-day pictures, and wanted more. So I've been working on that for the last couple of months, and will post images once the commission is fulfilled.

At the end of April I took part in the "Paint Snow Hill" plein air painting event run by Bishop's Stock Fine Arts and Fine Crafts gallery in (you guessed it) Snow Hill, MD. It was a fantastic time of reconnecting with painting friends from all over the eastern shore, and getting out in the fabulous weather to paint "en plein air." The best part was having a couple of painters challenge a group of us to meet at a waterfront site and "grab" a sunset. 10 painters were there, starting at 6:45 pm, frantically trying to capture the setting sun on canvas... we had a blast, laughing and joking about how crazy we were to try this, and then admiring the work that came out of the session-some really great stuff. Paintings from the weekend event are on display through May at Bishop's Stock, including three of mine ("Taylor's Landing," above left, "The Gold Nugget," above right, "A Perfect Ending," below left).

Upcoming events include the Riverbend Plein Air Paint Out event on June 7, and I'll be jurying the Rehoboth Beach Plein Air Paint Out on the weekend of June 20 (reception and awards ceremony on Sunday, June 22).

Meanwhile, I've become addicted to a site a friend of mine on the "left coast" has set up, called "Dave the Painting Guy." David R. Darrow is a wonderful guy, a fabulous painter, and a techno-weenie, and has set up a video camera in his studio to broadcast while he paints. There is a chat window next to the video display, so you can "talk" to him while he works. His computer is right by his easel, and he monitors the chat and the broadcast, responding to your comments and questions. He's a great guy, with a wonderful quirky sense of humor. It's a delight to hear him talk about what he's doing, giving away lots of sound advice on the process of painting and how he goes about it. Since he's four hours behind us easterners, you can generally see him during the evening hours. Check out his site at http://davethepaintingguy.com/.

"LIVE" Art & Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

For the past five months it's been "Showtime!" for art museums in the Washington DC area. The National Gallery of Art held two blockbuster shows–"the first comprehensive survey of Edward Hopper's career to be seen in American museums outside New York in more than 25 years," and a show of "the most comprehensive survey of Turner's work ever presented in the United States." The Phillips Collection held a major show of Impressionists by the Sea, and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art had a major exhibition of the work of Asher B. Durand.

Still smarting from missing the show "Frederick Remington: The Color of Night" back in 2003, I now know to make an extra effort to see important shows as they come up. So I've spent the last several Sundays in galleries, feasting my eyes on the magnificent and rare art being shown. And it reminded me of something a music appreciation professor I had in art school once said: "The difference between hearing live music and listening to a recording is the same difference between frozen orange juice and fresh-squeezed." Same for reproductions and "live" art.

Looking at reproductions in a book or online, you cannot begin to appreciate the subtleties and nuances you see when face to face with a real canvas. The size alone can be an enormous factor in how you experience the work: daunting when large, wondrous and intimate when small (I still remember being awed by the diminutive sizes of some of the Van Goghs in a National Gallery exhibition years ago-paintings I had thought to be much, much larger). As good as color reproduction is these days, it doesn't even come close to an original, even with the best of printing methods. The vibrancy of color, the subtleties of application, rarely come out in reproductions of any kind. The thinness of the paint in a shadow area... the thick physicality of the built-up paint in the light areas... the shock of a pure red daub of paint against a sea of gray... Blues are bluer, yellows scream at you, and reds are electric when seen in real life (gee... this sounds like a laundry detergent commercial!). All these things get lost when a painting gets photographed and then reproduced. I have learned that if I buy a catalog of a show, I need to look at the reproductions as soon after the show as possible, so I can remember how far off the prints are from the original. And that way, be able to have some continued appreciation for just how great the original painting really was.

So the next time you get a chance to see "live" art, make an effort to go see it. Even if you've seen the paintings a thousand times in books, online or in magazines, go see the real thing. I guarantee it'll be a whole new experience.

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Over the years, as I'd drive through central and western Pennsylvania I'd see ads painted on the sides of barns saying, "Treat Yourself to the Best–Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco!" I don't advocate the use of chewing tobacco, but I DO recommend "Treating Yourself to the Best" and seeing "live" art when you can.

Lots of Changes for 2008!

WHOA!!!! What happened to the Blog?!

Yes, it's been retitled, redesigned, and reformatted, all due to several changes taking place in the Baxteriological art world.

First, I'm redesigning my web site (launch date of mid-January), which prompted a blog redesign as well. The new and improved web site will include new work, and a new and improved interface that'll be easier on the eyes and thats designed to show the art to better advantage. It'll also be a lot easier to maintain, so that means it'll be more current than it has been.

Second, I realized the Daily/Weekly Painter format was not a natural fit for me. Of necessity, those paintings are very small, and while it was fun to try (and I'm sure I'll do more occasionally), I naturally paint larger. And I found the time spent on the smaller paintings was keeping me away from more meaningful (and larger) work... So I'm refocusing my work, and changing the format of the blog to posting updates on what's going on in the studio, thoughts on art, and postings of my latest work. With a change of format, I obviously had to change the title. Thanks to an old college friend, Kirk "Preach" Stevenson, for the playful version of my middle name.

A big part of refocusing my work will be that after three years of concentrating on plein air landscape painting, I've decided to get back to my figurative roots and do more "people" paintings. I'll still paint "en plein air," but you'll see a greater concentration on figure and studio work. I hope you'll enjoy the new direction.

Thanks for being patient as all this got sorted out! I'm looking forward to the new year, new work, and renewed contact with all who've kept up with this blog.

More on the Setback

I can't believe it's been this long! The loss of my digital camera has kept me from posting, but so have several other very time-consuming jobs (one of which was updating my website with new art-check it out at www.ToddBaxterDawson.com).

I'm still researching cameras, but also found an alternative to shooting work-using my scanner. Though I'll have to wait for the paintings to dry first! So I hope to get a few more up soon, but it may not be a full three a week...

I'm also working towards getting some work in competitions, which requires a lot of time at the easel working on larger works. Still, I hope to squeak in some little guys over the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, I felt like the title of my blog was misleading, so I changed it from "Daily Painting" to "Weekly Painting", which more accurately describes what I'm doing here. And it saves my having to explain myself when people ask why I'm not posting more. :-)

Thanks for checking in, and I hope to have more pictures for you to look at soon.

Temporary Setback

Due to the unexpected loss of my digital camera, I will be unable to post for awhile. As soon as I get a replacement, I'll resume posting.

In the meantime, check out the other fine painters listed in the right hand column. These are the very best of the best (in my humble opinion), and well worth looking at.

Three Tomatillos

Veggie week continues with these cute little tomatillos. I'd never seen one before, but when I did I thought they were very cool-smooth green fruit bursting out of their wrinkly skins... I tried to keep this one a bit more painterly, hoping to keep it quick and fresh.
$100

Red Onion #2

Another onion. Here the outer skin flaked off to reveal the purple red onion beneath. The oranges and ochres of the skin contrasted so much with the deep purples under the skin-and the dried out stem all added up to an exciting painting.

$100