Zzzzzzzz

 I. Am. Tired.

After my crazy bout of picture selling I managed to sell one more painting, a few cards and have a Golden Gate commission to start in January, and maybe a commission to paint a few pieces of Glasgow. How did I suddenly get so busy!?

It makes me excited for 2014 but at the moment I need to pack to be ready to head 'home' for Christmas tomorrow and all I want to do is go to sleep, that'll serve me right for having a couple of large glasses of wine earlier this evening. I also haven't managed to do anything I was supposed to do in the run up to Christmas but as no one but me knows what those things are maybe it doesn't matter. It might be time to deserve a break.

Let me just load up my USB stick and I will sort the delayed pieces out over Christmas when I am battling a roast dinner food coma. If the next few posts have a selection of ahjkfdskgafhdnbzjcvxbksdlllllgijkhnlfjhcxbvhjlgnshxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz in them. Don't worry, it is just were I needed a rest mid flow. It is holiday time. So thank you for the support everyone, the comments, the likes, the purchases, the name drops, the everything! I wish you all the best of the season and a Merry Christmas. Have a glass of wine and a mince pie on me!

1,2 paintings to you, 3,4 I've sold some more!?

So things have been a little crazy. On Friday I mentioned I might try and paint a picture at the weekend. I did manage too, and it is a good one, but more about that later.

On Sunday, I unexpectedly sold a picture, to a buyer in France! Wahoo!

On Monday, I unexpectedly sold another painting! Wow, yippee!!

On Tuesday I sold three more!!! What!?

On Wednesday I sold one more. Seriously? Have I gone mad?

4 days later and 6 paintings sold. Just, wow. Wow, wow, wow. So this is what success feels like? All that slogging, self doubt, tiredness and endless late nights have been worth it, the dream is alive and maybe trying to do this was a good idea, what I am meant to do after-all and not just a wild fantasy. I don't know what to say...but I am super excited and definitely going to treat myself to a new coat - no more shabby chic for me!

Fog

I feel like I have hardly sat down to do a 'normal' painting for ages and I am starting to get itchy feet (itchy fingers?). It might be time to put aside a slot this weekend to get the paints out before I really start to go cold turkey. In fairness I did paint three things last month but I would like to try something different. Maybe.

It was quite foggy the other day, all day, and I just finished a book about ghosts and a Victorian Cemetery in Highgate. Victorians. Ghosts. Fog. I am feeling very Gothic. I would quite like this to come out in whatever I next paint but my usual choice of colours is likely to conflict with this idea. It will be interesting to see what I manage -if I manage- something this weekend.

Broken.

I am broken today, mostly because the teacher at zumba yesterday decided it would be fun if we did two dances involving squat thrusts back to back. 6 or so minutes of bottom crunching, knee bending, thigh bouncing later and I almost had tears in my eyes. The worst thing was I couldn't walk properly afterwards as my legs felt like stilts so I feel sorry for anyone witnessing my walk home....I hadn't filled my pants, merely hurt my legs/lower back. For shame. Speaking of broken, I broke my knee high furry boots this morning as I pulled the handle bit of the zip off, great, my magical colour changing watch has died as well because I need a new battery.  All of this is making me feel very artistically authentic - shoes held together with a paper clip, broken watch, coat with a hole in. Oh yes, I am at that 'pre' stage, pre fame and fortune and mid pauper. But you shouldn't feel sorry for me, I was well aware I should have bought a new coat instead of 15 blank canvasses, but I have slightly unusual priorities and I am sure my coat will hold together for the remainder of the winter, otherwise indoors is always nice.

Whilst on this tenuous broken thread, I watched a film called 'Broken' the other day. I have been wondering whether to include it on my 'list' as it wasn't exactly uplifting or necessarily artistically inspiring, but it was interesting, moving, had an unusual full circle feel and was well made. It is also still on my mind after about three or so days so I am sure that means something. So, if you would like a gritty/emotional film as only a British director can deliver and/or you need a few tears to run down your face you should give this film a watch, at least give the trailer a go before you decide.....

Paul Klee

So, as promised, a post about Paul Klee and the exhibition of his work currently running at the Tate Modern until the 9th of March 2014.

For starters it possibly would have been helpful to have entered into the exhibition with more knowledge than just the knowing that I once copied a Paul Klee painting when I was about 16. But then, sometimes it is interesting to view things with no preconceptions. 

I was first struck by how small all the paintings were and how painful they felt. I paint very expressively, using the colours and the imagery that literally fits me at the very second I am holding the paintbrush. It was very clear that all of Paul Klee's work was clearly thought through, everything was tight, deliberate, meticulous, painfully precise. If I am brutally honest it made me die a little inside. One thing I did find interesting was his colour palette, the colour combinations, and the abstract feelings he tried to portray using just shapes and colour contrasts. A lot of the combinations were complimentary, subtle and seemed just right. I was momentarily jealous that I can normally only deal in lurid, bright colours, strong juxtapositions and colour, colour, colour! The exhibition also seemed to jump around a bit between styles - sections of pure abstract shape and colour, to black line drawings of unusual looking people/fish/boats, pointillist landscapes - it was slightly difficult to follow but at least kept the interest up.

Clockwise from top left: Comedy, Eros, U struji sest pragova, Fire at Full Moon, The Goldfish 

Subsequently I have read a bit about Klee to see if my lack of enthusiasm was through lack of understanding. It wasn't; I would say me and Klee are on different artistic planets -  he wrote extensively about colour theory because it was something he felt incompetent about, it is something I find very natural. He also meticulously painted each item, slowly; I paint expressively and impatiently. His work is usually small, A4/A3 in size, which I find quite restrictive - bigger is better. He was also ridiculously prolific, once painting 1,200 items in a year (!) which may explain why the styles changed a lot, which I suppose is one thing we have in common.

Regardless of the fact that Klee's work doesn't 'float my boat', you can't deny the quality and the thoroughness of thought behind his work. He made me feel like my ideals aren't strong enough, my thought processes too woolly. So maybe that is why I died a little inside, looking at the rigour of a master. 

Mission Accomplished (nearly).

I have done considerably better than expected on my secret art mission as I now only have one item left to sort out. I never realised how much I liked sharing the result with my fans/followers on deviantArt and Facebook, in fact, currently, sharing it with anyone would do! As all 5 secrets are Christmas presents I have to satisfy myself with my own opinions and hope the intended recipient likes the end product. It is the thought that counts (apparently) so I suppose it doesn't really matter either way. No doubt I will share the results once Christmas has passed and the cat is out the bag as it were.

One thing I can share is an art exhibition I went to view on Friday at the Tate Modern about Paul Klee. I could write about it now, but I think I might try and tackle my last item and see if I can get it out of the way. Disappointingly I have just realised I have forgotten something and there are actually 2 things left to go.

Sigh.

Oh well, nothing like a little bit of pressure to help you sort things out. Check back in tomorrow for my spiel about Paul Klee, it might not be flattering....

Early Bird

I like the fact someone stumbled across my blog the other day by typing in "I salute you Frida Kahlo" into a search engine. Yes, me too!

So it is already Wednesday and I still haven't managed to get down and dirty (or messy at least) and do some painting. I have sorted out my accounts, my paperwork and stocked up with 4 shiny new Pentel Micro Correct pens. I only really needed 1, but I have realised I get stressed in case I run out mid painting so I decided 4 was a better number (it possibly would have been more but I cleared out the shops supply). I also bought 15 new blank canvasses the other day which I have somehow managed to hide around the flat so I don't feel like I am working in a warehouse. I really need to win the lottery so I can hire a studio.

I am good to go.

I have 5 secret projects to work on, 1 table to paint, about 90 cards to make, and I would like to paint one random thing for the sake of it, all before Christmas.

Excuse me, whilst I roll around on the floor laughing at the unlikeliness of that actually happening! The next few days are going to be busy, and my tendency to become nocturnal, likely to become reality. I am such an early bird I have often caught the worm because I haven't yet been to sleep......