As one chapter closes, another one opens

Last Tuesday I gave a presentation on blogging to the East Bay Artists Guild. It was in regards to how artists and photographers can utilize this method of marketing over just having a website with static pages. Especially now that blogs in general are undergoing a transformation from just being journals to being a blend of website pages and journals.

The presentation was to be only ninety minutes, but with a wonderful and engaging audience it ended up being three hours, even then I could have continued for much longer and as you can see by the photographs, I was enjoying myself.

 

August 17, Pleasant Hill Community Center

On another bright note is that the last four months of cardiac rehab has come to an end, as I attended my last class, yet I am still not out of the woods. Though I have my 20-24 hours per week back, there is plenty to catch up around the house, while also maintaining an aerobics program so not to lose what I have gained. In the meantime we are also in the process to see if the insurance will pay for another four weeks of cardiac rehab but that may take a while. Never the less, for the next couple of months I plan to set aside time for visiting blogs and commenting, maybe even writing a post now and then.

Overcoming an HTML hurdle

To some of you it may seem that I have abandoned my effort by not posting, but nothing could be further from the truth. First off, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude for all the comments that I have received at The Artist Within Us and here at Four Seasons in a Life. It is also important to me to acknowledge the many new individuals who have added either of my blogs. I thank you kindly for having done so.

For several months it has been my wish to return the compliment to everyone who is a follower and something I have not done because there was a plan to create a more user-friendly system for all the resources and blog roll links I knew there would be over the following years. First I needed to figure out how to create a three-widget-column blog that is also is an extension of Four Seasons in a Life, while maintaining my current blog though it needed to be transferred.

This major hurdle was finally overcome last night and I managed to transfer the entire blog roll, but there is still more to be accomplished over the next several weeks. The plan is to also move all the resource links from both of my blogs to the Directory, including adding the remainder of those whose compliment of following me I have not returned.

A major criteria was also to separate and categorize the blog links so that a visitor could quickly locate their particular interest and as you have a look at the Directory, let me know if you feel I should relocate your blog’s link.

With the creation of the Directory as a separate blog now behind me, I fell that I can begin to focus on the stories in development for future posts.

The reason for my absence

Two weeks ago I received a phone call from a friend I have know for the last twenty-eight years, asking if I could help and this would require traveling to southern California. Before our conversation concluded I knew what my answer would be, but I would need to first discuss this with the family. The following day I learned a little more for my purpose and we each reassured one another. I started packing clothing for a week, pulling a couple of books to read in the evening, along with my notebooks.

As the days progressed and we were reaching the end of last week, it became clear it would require staying a little longer then first agreed, but just passed midnight and the start of Thursday, I arrived home.

I have no regrets, though I never did get to read any of my books, visit LACMA, I did spend nine hours at The Getty, being overwhelmed by more than 250 large prints of the late Irving Penn, along with several other special exhibits. Over the next several weeks I will write about these exhibits and share photographs of the Getty’s architecture, including the pleasures discovered in an envelope sent to me from one of my followers in Colorado.

Having been out of my element and routine, it will take a couple of days to regain my footing so I can catch up on all the posts I have missed, considering I had mostly no Internet, let alone the evening news from New York to know what was going on else where.

Before closing I would like to welcome my latest followers, Caterina Giglio, La Dolce Vita; Kim Hambric, Merlin’s Musings; Anna Mavromatis, My Ephemera; Ange, Words on Wood; Victoria Pittman, by the same name; and our mystery person, a Londoner ex-patriot 'forever' living in Western U.S, Hot Toast and Jam.

Please have a look at the sidebar under Special Exhibits of the month, where you will find a link to the Getty and the Irving Penn exhibit and a little further down my recommendation for the blog of the month, artist Deb Schmit’s and her exceptional paintings.

General Update

My not posting as often should not be considered that I am losing interest in either of my blogs or for lack of something to say. Rather I have been preoccupied as to the direction my art is taking me, along with another reevaluation of both my blogs.

Since blogging these past five months, I have come across numerous incredible creative artists and their amazing artwork. This has had a profound impact and influence as how I view my own solitary art but also the roll of my blogs and the purpose they are to serve.

When I started painting in 2000, I had two views; and two directions I wanted to go, traditional and abstract. After attending several college courses in 2008 and a contemporary art history class in the spring of 2009, my creative perspective was shaken up and since then, it has been in a continuous state of transition. During this evolutionary period, it appears I am languishing motionless, adrift without wind to move me ahead, when in fact this period is being spent reflecting inward about my current state and my art.

Progress on the distressed canvases has been slow. One, the largest of the set, 20 x 20” (50.80 x 50.80 cm) finally saw movement with the addition of two beer ads. When I originally came across the German beer ad from Spaten and the American Ale from Budweiser, I thought I would have some fun. The idea was to cover over the Spaten glass of beer and then rip off portion of the American Ale, revealing the Spaten underneath. Now that this has been accomplished, the collage can be considered finished, though deep down I feel one element is still needed to truly consider this painting finished and ready for my signature.

Untitled

Newsprint on canvas, 20 x 20” (50.80 x 50.80 cm)

Stage 4, layer eight

Untitled

Newsprint on canvas, 20 x 20” (50.80 x 50.80 cm)

Stage 5, layer nine

Close-up of the beer ads

Stage 5, layer eight and nine

On the other hand the smallest of the canvases, 12 x 12” (30.48 x 30.48 cm) has seen progress that is fraught with mixed emotions. I see the drawing being successful, I also see technical failure, and now I come to a crossroad, having to decide if I let it go or make the corrections.

Untitled — in progress, 12 x 12” (30.48 x 30.48 cm)

Stage 6, watercolour pencil over graphite pencil drawing

I view failure as success if one learns from the error. What I am referring to is the illustration of the acorn squash, which should have had a white under painting in order to cover the newsprint from showing through and influencing the illustration and its spectrum of colours. As I keep finding it a visual distraction and the fact that the colours appear not pure, I must now decide if I shall go ahead and carefully cover up the drawing and redo all the pencil and watercolour work.

On a more positive note, it was ten days or so I started two small canvases, both 8x8 inches (20.32 x 20.32 cm) and instead of going for a distressed background, I opted for a typographical composition. As for the next step or layer, well that to is like being the ancient mariner adrift on a still ocean with an albatross for company.

Untitled — in progress, 8 x 8” (20.32 x 20.32 cm)

Stage 1, 4-5 layers of newsprint

Untitled — in progress, 8 x 8” (20.32 x 20.32 cm)

Stage 1, 4-5 layers of newsprint

In less than one week it is time to celebrate the day that brings friends and families together, around a table decked with decorations and packed with wonderful dishes, while at its center is a roasted bird, a turkey.

There were well made plans in the works, that in a few days I would go on my last photographic expedition for the year and accompanying me would be Bruce and his son Kevin, both of whom I had not seen in almost a year. I would share with them my previous explorations by returning to two of my favorite finds, discoveries made after taking my daughter back to Santa Cruz, then traveling the long way back home along the Pacific coast on the Cabrillo Highway, Highway One. However the day we choose was simple too close to the American holiday Thanksgiving Day and after some contemplation, we decided to postpone the trip for another day.

Until my next post I wish you my dear reader and fellow follower all the very best,

Egmont