So it’s been a little while since I’ve made a blog entry. I suppose I’ve been busy working paintings and other stuff. You know when life just happens and all that muck?

I’ve actually finished two pieces since I last posted. Remember that one that looked a little bit like a person? Well I just finished that one, but I don’t have a title for it yet, nor do I have a final picture for it either:

I’ve been calling it “Backpack” just as a working title. This is one of those where I have to think about the title. It may take me some time. Some titles come easy and other don’t, but most all of them are pretty important to me, even when they seem mundane. On some pieces, I want them to have straight forward, mundane titles that won’t distract from the work or give the viewer an idea that they have to think about some hidden meaning that’s not there. I don’t like to play with people’s minds like that. Ha. Other times I want more complex titles because there is more meaning behind the painting than meets the eye.  I guess it just depends.

For this particular series though, I don’t want to impose my meaning on the viewer. I already did that with the first couple pieces – naming them titles like “The House on Doggie Trail” and found that it was not a great idea to do that because people were not interpreting these pieces to be what they are to me, and that is perfectly fine with me. I want viewers to have their own experience. It’s sits with me better for them to be a bit more benign.

I finished this one, which is called 3 Mile Road. That doesn’t hurt anyone, I don’t think:

I still don’t know how I feel about either one of these above. One minute I like them, the next minute, I’m not so sure. Or I will like one and not the other, or vise versa. I’ve been staring at them for too long I think. I get this way sometimes.

At this point I am starting to like the one above and am still not so sure about the Backpack one. Maybe it will grow on me, or maybe I will tinker with it more. I’m not sure yet.

I started two more – this one is just a simple composition – it’s already entitled Foothill. Here’s how it began:

And here it is at the moment:

This is when I take these things into Photoshop and play with how I’m going to color them up (for the most part). It gives me a good template on where to go and what colors to start mixing up:

Then there’s this one I started too. I’m calling it Rockline:

This one will more or less wind up looking a little bit like this when I’m done painting it:

Lastly, I have a little sketch for a 12 x 12 inch panel (the above two are 10 x 10s by the way). Here’s the sketch from my little moleskin notebook:

Pretty simple, eh? That’s what I think I like about it.

So I did my Headlands interview last week and I really can’t say how it went. It was over Skype with the Director of Programs and the Residency Manager. I was nervous as all hell, but they didn’t seem to mind that. We talked a little bit about what I’ve been working on lately and what I would be doing if I got the residency. I could not read them though and have absolutely no idea if I impressed them or if they thought I was a big doofus. They gave me no inkling. I have to wait until mid-November when they announce who they have chosen and who they have not. It’s pretty much a 50/50 chance since they interview about 90 finalists and pick about half for a residency. Although, I feel like my chances are more like 30% since the interview didn’t go “excellent” or anything. Nothing stood out to me as something that would make me feel confident, to tell you the truth. For all I know, I bored them. I don’t know. Skype is so weird. I had never used it before. How do you look someone in the eye??

Anyway, we shall see. I have been rejected from so many residency programs now that I have to let it go and not get my hopes up. But I’m happy I made it as a finalist this time. That’s great! That’s farther than not being a finalist, right? Right.

I also applied for the Millay Colony, but I won’t find out about that one until after December. I’ve only applied to that one once before about 10 years ago. That one didn’t hurt so bad because a few weeks after that I got news that I was accepted to the Vermont Studio Center. That’s really the only residency of this type that I have ever done before. That was in 2004 and it really did change my life.

So lately I’ve been trying to compile my fall newsletter and it’s been slow-going. I’ve been busy yes, but I’ve also had a hard time writing lately. Something wacky is going on – I am good to go for the first 20 minutes or so, and then I become extremely fatigued. I mean wiped out tired. It’s really weird. Not sure what’s going on there. It’s not going on while I paint though. My therapist said maybe it was because I am using a different part of my brain for each of those tasks.

In this blog post, I wanted to write about my recent incredible experience being a guest artist teacher at Mayfield Senior School, but I have to wait until another day when I have more time to write, as it needs my undivided attentions to write it. Yes, it was that cool of an experience. I meant to write about it now, but I am going to have to save it for another time. I’m starting to fade!

And I also still have two more questions of my art plan left to answer. Neither one will be easy. None of them have been, but these two I am dreading.

So until next time when I’m awake…