.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}
   Welcome to my blog! I'll be posting thoughts about art, photos, happenings, and other things that strike me--and hopefully my readers--as interesting. And please visit my website by clicking the link to the right--thanks!

   Also please check out my second blog, The Painting Archives to see older (pre-2004) paintings for sale.


Tuesday, March 27, 2007
  a website note
It came to my attention today that the links on the contact page of my main website (for joining the mailing list and for contacting me by email) have not been working. I just fixed them, but in case anyone reading this has tried to contact me that way in the last (who knows?) few months or so--please give it another shot, and I'm sorry if I appeared to ignore anyone!This same problem exists with other links to my email such as from my sales site--I'll be working on those too. I have no idea why this has happened...
 
Monday, March 26, 2007
  new painting

Here's another recently finished painting, its working title is Glen, for a place near Madison WI called Parfrey's Glen. The mossy greens and visual texture of this painting evoke that particular spot for me. The painting is 30" high by 72" long.
 
Thursday, March 22, 2007
  intense busyness
My normal to-do list consists of:
things I know I'll do anyway (buy groceries)
things I ignore for months, dutifully transferring them from one list to the next (make eye dr. app't!!!!)
(and) some larger goals to chip away at (work on website.)

But there are times, like now, when it's not just a list but a day-by-day (or even hour-by-hour) agenda of urgent tasks. Yes, for today (a.m.) that includes update blog. How interesting, since I haven't much to say except that I'm intensely busy following my to-do list.

Well, I can explain a bit. The main reason for this busyness, is that we're leaving a week from today for Colorado and NM. The trip is partly for pleasure (skiing in CO with my husband's brother and family--cross-country for me, downhill for them) and partly for business (delivering paintings to my new gallery in Santa Fe.) Of course, that will definitely be a pleasure as well!
 
Sunday, March 18, 2007
  new paintings


Verticals #3 and #4 were finished yesterday. (see Feb. 17th post for Verticals #1 and #2) They are 73" and 72"high, respectively, and 12"wide.

I struggled quite a bit with these two (see last post.) At some point (rather far along) I realized that I was using complementary colors (reds and greens) in such subtle doses that they canceled out to gray when viewed from a distance. In the end I punched the colors up a bit and increased the range of values to give the paintings the kind of presence I wanted for them.

I already have another in this series begun...it's very similar of course to my Column Series (which is still ongoing) but these paintings are a little bit shorter and are done on deep cradled Ampersand panels (as opposed to the narrow cradles used in the Column Series) so that to me anyway, they have a more compact feeling.
 
Thursday, March 15, 2007
  what's done is... not
Yesterday I worked all day and into the evening on a painting that I thought was "done" the last time I really looked at it--making subtle shifts in color, adding texture and areas of contrast...then thinking "no, not right"...on and on, back and forth, adding, subtracting.

With pressure on to produce a lot of new work (new gallery commitments, old gallery commitments, upcoming shows) I've had this nagging worry that I could lose my self-critical edge. That in the interest of getting things done, I could easily slip into some kind of "crank 'em out" mode and not even realize I was doing it.

Well yesterday, grueling as it was, reassured me--as long as I can still fuss all day with one painting that was probably "fine" to begin with, I'm still my own harshest critic.

PS: I'm not posting a photo of the blasted thing...it still isn't done.
 
Sunday, March 11, 2007
  new painting

Here is the latest, 44"x24," as yet untitled. I plan to take it up to my gallery in Minneapolis, Circa Gallery, this week.

The top panel evolved slowly, and there were many points along the way when I thought it was finished. It's a rare thing that I liked it at almost every stage--most of my panels go through at least one desperate, awkward phase. Still, when I put it together with other panels for contrast, it always seemed to need another layer of color or texture, until it reached this finished point. The dark panel has hints of metallic lines and shapes showing through which are hard to see in the photo. You can click on the photo for a larger version (but don't forget to use the "back" button or you'll close the blog window.)

It's been another very busy painting week, including the weekend--I must admit I haven't had much of a life outside the studio.
 
Thursday, March 08, 2007
  Genevieve Hamlin
Recently, on a whim, I googled the name of an artist who made a powerful impression on me when I was a young girl--Genevieve Hamlin, whom I learned from my web search was quite a well-known sculptor in her day, a member of the Philadelphia Ten group of artists. She was a friend of my grandmother's, and I was taken to visit at her country home when we lived in upstate New York in the mid-60s. It was my first encounter with someone living a truly art-centered life.

My memories of that day are of an old woman (she'd have been about 70 then--certainly ancient to a 12 year old) with a brisk, no-nonsense demeanor, who seemed somehow at least as energetic as my much younger parents. She showed me around her barn-like studio (which probably was a barn, though I don't exactly recall) full of stone sculptures, let me ride her horse around the corral and play with her dogs, and critiqued with impressive seriousness several pen and ink drawings I'd brought to show her. This visit opened an exciting possibility to me, that someone could really be an artist, in the sense of having that as the central fact of daily life--that you could live to be old surrounded by your art, and your horses and dogs in beautiful surroundings. After I met her, I could--and did--clearly imagine myself leading Miss Hamlin's life, or something a lot like it.

I talked to my 82-year old mother recently about all this...she has only a hazy memory of that visit, and had no idea that it had meant so much to me. Now as a busy working artist myself, I realize how generous Ms. Hamlin was that day with her time and attention, and my mom and I both lamented that I had not written her a note of thanks while she was still alive. But perhaps it's only been clear to me as I've entered my own mature life how strong a vision she presented to me that day. In any case, for me there are two lessons that come out of this memory--say thanks when you can, and be good and generous to young artists.
 
Sunday, March 04, 2007
  new painting

I just got this painting back from being bolted together at the wood shop and tinkered with it a bit more this morning. As yet untitled, it is 40"x36." There's a lot more texture and nuance than you can see in this photo. Once the driveway is cleared a bit more of snow I can go back to taking photos outside against the garage, which really works better.

I'm still pushing myself to work many hours in the studio, with deadlines and other commitments hovering ahead. I do get a little burned out, and just plain tired...but overall there seem to be reserves of creative energy that I didn't know I had.

New studio toys help...a couple of days ago I loaded up a cart in the hardware store with an assortment of squeegees, scrapers and putty knives. Cheap thrills!
 

       www.rebeccacrowell.com




     September 2005 /      October 2005 /      November 2005 /      December 2005 /      January 2006 /      February 2006 /      March 2006 /      April 2006 /      May 2006 /      June 2006 /      July 2006 /      August 2006 /      September 2006 /      October 2006 /      November 2006 /      December 2006 /      January 2007 /      February 2007 /      March 2007 /      April 2007 /      May 2007 /      June 2007 /      July 2007 /      August 2007 /      September 2007 /      October 2007 /      November 2007 /      December 2007 /      January 2008 /      February 2008 /      March 2008 /      April 2008 /      May 2008 /      June 2008 /      July 2008 /      August 2008 /      September 2008 /      October 2008 /      November 2008 /      December 2008 /      January 2009 /      February 2009 /      March 2009 /      April 2009 /      May 2009 /      June 2009 /      July 2009 /      August 2009 /      September 2009 /      October 2009 /      November 2009 /      December 2009 /      January 2010 /      February 2010 /      March 2010 /      April 2010 /      May 2010 /      June 2010 /      July 2010 /      August 2010 /      September 2010 /      October 2010 /      November 2010 /      December 2010 /      January 2011 /      February 2011 /      March 2011 /      April 2011 /      May 2011 /      June 2011 /      July 2011 /      August 2011 /      September 2011 /      October 2011 /      November 2011 /      December 2011 /      January 2012 /      February 2012 /      March 2012 /      April 2012 /      May 2012 /      June 2012 /      July 2012 /      August 2012 /      September 2012 /      October 2012 /      November 2012 /      December 2012 /      January 2013 /      February 2013 /      March 2013 /      April 2013 /      May 2013 /      June 2013 /      July 2013 /      August 2013 /      September 2013 /      October 2013 /      November 2013 /      December 2013 /      January 2014 /      February 2014 /      March 2014 /      April 2014 /      May 2014 /      June 2014 /      July 2014 /      August 2014 /      September 2014 /      October 2014 /      November 2014 /      December 2014 /      January 2015 /      February 2015 /      March 2015 /      April 2015 /      May 2015 /      June 2015 /      July 2015 /      August 2015 /      September 2015 /      October 2015 /      November 2015 /      December 2015 /      January 2016 /      February 2016 /      March 2016 /      April 2016 /      June 2016 /      July 2016 /      August 2016 /      September 2016 /      October 2016 /      November 2016 /      December 2016 /      January 2017 /      February 2017 /      March 2017 /      May 2017 /      June 2017 /      July 2017 /      August 2017 /      September 2017 /      October 2017 /      November 2017 /      December 2017 /      January 2018 /      March 2018 /      April 2018 /      May 2018 /      June 2018 /      August 2018 /      September 2018 /      October 2018 /      November 2018 /      December 2018 /      February 2019 /      April 2019 /      May 2019 /      June 2019 /      July 2019 /      August 2019 /      September 2019 /      October 2019 /      December 2019 /      January 2020 /      March 2020 /      April 2020 /      May 2020 /      June 2020 /      August 2020 /      October 2020 /      January 2021 /      March 2021 /      May 2021 /      September 2021 /

       Rebecca Crowell