The adventures of Artistic Balance

Close to Home exhibit at Piermont Flywheel

So where did I leave off with the adventures of Artistic Balance.  Oh yeah... I remember.  I started this blog for two reasons.  the first was to show off the work I was doing.  The second was to have a place to talk about the work life balance of an artist with a full time corporate job.  In the 6 or so years I have had this blog I have grown in so many ways as an artist and a person.  I'm now convinced growing up is a process we do our entire lives.  I have had much success in these six years and have found the biggest struggle has been having enough time and energy to do everything I want to do and do it well.  I finally came to the decision this year, with my lovely Wenderina's help to pursue my art full time!  I am cutting back at my job to a per diem roll of two days a week.  That helps us pay the bills but gives me time to purse Artistic Balance as a business.  June 1st is when this took effect.  Since June 1st I have had a booth at a street fair, taught a nature photography workshop (with the excellent photographer and teacher Mike Malandra), opened my third solo show at the Piermont Flywheel Gallery. and signed the lease on an 800 ft studio  / gallery space I am opening this summer with Mike Malandra and the very talented photographer Julie Scholz.  The solo show is called close to home.  I have posted about that in recent posts.  The Studio / Gallery (we really need to figure out a name) will be a work space during the week where we can work, do shoots, teach classes and workshops and on weekends be converted to a gallery.  It is a very exciting time for me.  I will continue to use this blog for my photos as well as weekly updates about the things I learn about starting my own small art business for those that care about such things or are considering taking the same giant leap of faith I am taking.  I could not do this with out my amazing wife Wendy, our loving and supportive parents and our friends who are encouraging me on.  I am really excited to be starting the gallery with Mike and Julie.  They are both incredible artists but also and more importantly great people.  Wish me luck on this new, crazy adventure I am on!

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

P.S. Thinking of my friend Dave King today.  He would have been cheering wildly and sending all sorts of greetings from England in that wonderful understated way he had.  I miss exchanging comments with you daily sir.

CS

Journeys - Setup Day 1

Ah the promise of blank gallery walls!  All of the B&W and Metal prints are at the gallery.  Tomorrow I will bring 8 20x40 canvases and play with the layout for a while until I am happy with how it all looks.  Then I will start hanging the photos.  It will take most of Tuesday night and Wednesday night to get the show hung.  I Can't wait for the start of the show on Thursday.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

New Gallery on the Website

I have added a another new gallery to the website.... It is of my photos of birds and butterflies. Click here to go to the new gallery.

My prints for the 12th annual St. Catherine of Bologna Art Show were dropped off today. The show is next weekend in Ringwood, NJ. It is a great show of local photography, painting, sculptor and poetry. if you are in the area you should plan to stop by. Hopefully I'll see you there as I plan to be there for part of all three days. I have to say the work I saw being delivered today look outstanding! I can't wait to see the show next weekend.

Finally... I have not had any time to paint in several months. Work, photography and a few other things have conspired against me to keep me out of the studio. I am heading in there now to fire up the space heater and work on a small watercolor. I hope to have something to post on Monday.

Keep Makin' Art!

Carl

Crazy Life

Wow the holidays are busy and hectic. I had hoped to take portraits of my great nephews and get some painting in while I was off for thanksgiving. It just did not happen that way. When I did try to paint I felt rushed and only got mad at myself.

When I feel this way it is best to take a deep breath and relax. I can carve out some art time when I can.

I can't wait to get back to oil classes and really want to focus my efforts this coming year. I made a to do list for my art going into 2010. I will repost them soon and take a look at where I have been successful and where I have fallen down.

How are you doing with your 2010 goals?

Keep makin' Art!

Carl

Nothing to write today

Life has been crazy, but nothing new on the art / photography front this week. I will set aside some creative time on Sunday and post about that.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Weekend

I have done it again..... Arrggh! I have posted a weeks worth of posts over the weekend and have nothing to post today.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Seeing new things in old places

While I was out photographing Mountain Laurel on Saturday I noticed the rocks around me... As if for the first time. I have hiked these trails and walked these roads most of my life, but only recently noticed the wonderful colors in some of the rocks in the park. At least I had not noticed the ones that did not have a stream running over them.

Lesson for the day. Even when you are on familiar terrain and have a specific subject in mind to photograph or paint. Keep your eyes and your mind open to what is around you.

Keep Makin' Art!

Carl

The earth did not swallow me whole...

Hello Fellow Artists and Friends-

The earth did not swallow me whole. It only seemed that way this week. Those of you who follow this blog know I normally post while on vacation and all sorts of things. For me to go a whole week without posting new work or at least something is a bit of an oddity. Work was very busy for the past couple of weeks and we had a family funeral last weekend. Blogging just seemed to be at the bottom of my priority list. Never fear I'll be back in the studio Sunday morning and will have something to share with you all. I think first up is the still life of three apples I photographed last week. Then on to a more detailed treatment of the iris I sketched too.

It is funny I depend so much on my art to keep me balanced (hence the title of this blog) I have been able to handle a lot of added stress and strain in the last few months because of my art activities. The St. Catherine of Bologna show came at just the right time. Even though I cut art out this week to take some of the stuff off of my plate.... I realized I felt off all week and it was the lack of creativity. I forget sometimes how much that carries me through the other stuff. Does that happen to you? I am thankful everyday that I have a loving wife (and best friend), in Wenderina that fully supports my art activities. It may be years before I do this as my full time vocation. It may never actually be my full time gig, but it is essential to who I am and allows me to be the person I was meant to be.

It is warm here this weekend and the skies are a clear blue. Soon my spring photography will kick in as well. I have applied to be in several big photo shows and am waiting to hear back on my entries. I'll post here as soon as I know. I think the still life watercolor of the lemon and silver bowl I did last month also need to be entered in an upcoming show.

Keep Makin Art (it will make you feel better I swear)

Carl

Big News!

I have big news I have been hoping to be able to share with you all for a little while now. I will provide all the details as the time gets closer, but wanted to let you know that starting in March 2010 a gallery on Cape Cod will be displaying and selling my Cape Cod photographs. I am very excited and feel like this is the next step in my creative journey.

Thank you to all who read, support and comment on my work. I could not have made this leap with your help and the unwavering support of my wonderful wife Wenderina.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

What a week

This was one of those weeks where work won over art. Everyday I had a meeting after work. either with my boss or with vendors doing work for us in new locations. I was dragging by Friday night. Hence no posts since Thanksgiving weekend. Shame on me.

I have however started going thru the images from my workshop in October and found a bunch more to work on. Here is a preview. I have to get caught up on my personal life today and run errands, but tomorrow is studio time. We are supposed to get a light snow tonight so I will be out with my camera tomorrow morning and then I hope to jump into the studio and work on a drawing I have planned. I'll post what I work on tomorrow night. Have a great weekend.

Keep Makin' Art!

CS