by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
Oh my sweetums, today I put on my big girl pants.
But because I have no photos of that adventure and because this is an ART blog, I’m a gonna pause here for a picture break.
Yep, that’s a leaf. They’re starting to fall now and it’s beginning to feel like autumn around here. Which leads us nicely to the adventure involving big girl pants.
And a big box home improvement store.
But first another picture break.
This is an apple from one of my trees. She was delicious. Perfect with a little almond butter and cinnamon. More proof that autumn is on my mind.
Okay, so back to my adventure–sans photos, you’ll have to trust that it really happened. Autumn is a crazy busy time for moi. Two shows already scheduled and two more I’ll be jurying for soon enough. I decided it was time to invest in some decent display panels.
But those suckers are expensive.
I searched online and found any number of directions for making them, most of which looked, umm–let’s face it–homemade. I finally found some plans in an ebook that looked good so I ordered them. Then I lined up a friend to help with the construction and headed off to buy the materials.
I really wanted to shop local but nobody here had the stuff I needed so I hopped in the truck and drove down the hill to the big box home improvement store.
I spent an hour or more pushing a cart that was as large and unwieldy as a boxcar, winding my way through various levels of Dante’s inner rings in search of polystyrene insulation board. Metal conduit. Indoor/outdoor carpet. I was desperate for help because I didn’t know where anything was…or what anything was. And when I did find things I had to do math–math!!! because the directions were for making only one panel and I’m making five this time around. But it’s not like I had to multiply by 5. Oh no, we’re talking inches and feet and double digits. Oh nooooooooo!
This is what I learned:
- When pushing a large cart (pushing is not the right word, it’s not nearly physical enough. Find the word that means throwing your whole body into it) they can see you coming–they being anyone who works in the store. This gives them plenty of time to hide.
- When asking for the locations of different items, understand that there’s a good possibility the sales staff don’t know and will do anything to send you as far from their area as possible. Save yourself some time and just go in the opposite direction. And then come back because maybe they were right. All while pushing this huge sucker of a cart, blindly playing bump-a-cart with other shoppers and running over small dogs.
- Really, who in their right mind brings Chihuahuas to the hardware store? Ah, but that plush coat shepherd, the one that reminded me of Shadow–I would’ve taken her in a heartbeat.
- Multiplying by 12 isn’t as difficult as it was in 4th grade, as long as pen and paper are handy.
- If someone isn’t old enough to shave, they’re not the person to ask for help. Especially with math.
- The ladie’s room is on the far right wall in this store, not the far back wall like it is in the other one. And next time don’t try holding it so long, especially when pushing the Queen Mary. Which is a ship, not a boxcar but still an accurate description of the cart, especially when it’s fully loaded, you can’t see over the top and you’ve got to pee like a mother.
- 4 x 8 foot sheets of anything–especially one inch foam panels–are all you need to make a pickup truck airborne at highway speeds. Do strap those suckers in tight. Even if it takes pulling over and fixing things more than once.
- Driving home on a mountain highway constantly looking in the rearview mirror to check the cargo is stressful, reason enough to stop for a bag of corn chips on the way home.
Corn chips? OMG, I forgot all about them!!! Time to close up here and take a chip break before the construction tomorrow. If things go as planned I should have some photos of some finished display panels next week. And maybe more art. Oh yes, more art. Got shows comin’ up.
Until then, remember–
As always, I’d love you to share your thoughts in the comments below. You can talk about most anything except, umm… never mind. Just tell me your thoughts, experiences, existential angst about big box hardware stores and/or art. Or German Shepherds. Or what you had for dinner last night. I always like to hear about food.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Digital Art, Inspired by |
Last night I couldn’t sleep. My bad. She-who-has-been-eating-clean ate crap, lots of it. I won’t bore you with the details except to say that salty sweet popcorn was involved. And olives. And gluten free pizza. And watermelon. I know, in hindsight heavy on the ewwwww WHAT was I thinking???? factor. Enough so that when I climbed into bed my body said, “Mwaha-ha-ha, you’ve GOT to be kidding!” Then it ramped up everything internal that it could. Let’s have a bit o’ racy heart, shall we? And a rumbly tum. And maybe a bit of indigestion because those olives would rather be sitting up.
So I sat up. And since Mr. Spouse was out of town I turned on the light and grabbed the iPad. And since my legs were in front of me I decided what the hell, might as well photograph them. Because I’m easily amused at 2 AM and what’s not to like about bare nekked thighs?
So I photographed my legs, my bare nekked thighs and came to the realization I’d better art those suckers up because what if those olives were bad and I died and my kids went through the ipad and found those photos??? OMG, I would die of embarrassment if I wasn’t dead already. Or even worse–if they found them when I was alive–they would be merciless.
Little shits darlins’.
I played with the photos in a couple of apps before importing them into Procreate where I played with them some more. Looking at those images dispassionately, studying them with an artist eye, I could sense a landscape waiting to happen. 
And then another. 
And BTW, that’s not a blob of Cheeto fat living under my skin. I believe it’s my knee. Yes, we’ll call it my knee.
I thought I’d be super-artist and have an actual painting to show you by tonight, based on one of these studies. Uh-huh, right…. Three hours of sleep was not conducive to a productive day. Go figure.
Now I’m off to take more photos. Think I’ll focus on my feet tonight. This is already becoming a series in my mind, Bodyscapes. But I have a question–should I identify the parts or keep some mystery in the finished pieces? If you have an opinion let me know in the comments below.
And remember this my sweetums, always–
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Digital Art, Process |
Yeah yeah, I know–it’s not Tuesday for a good many of you but it is Tuesday somewhere in the world. Like down under thataway. And Tutorial Tuesday has such a clever ring to it I might decide to make it a regular feature…at least for this week.
So, with no further ado, I bring you this week’s tutorial. Drumroll please…ta da!!! A behind the scenes look at digital painting, how a I created Women in Red # 5 on the iPad.
And my very first adventure with iMovie.
I apologize in advance for the fuzzy text. Apparently it’s an iMovie thing, something I only discovered after redoing this three times, the answer discovered after a midnight search of the interwebs. And yes, the formatting cut off her head–damn you iMovie (shaking fist at sky). Did I mention the dog ate my homework too? What the hell, I’ve been playing with this sucker all day, now it’s late and I’m going to bed.
You get whatcha get…
And in case you don’t remember this Woman in Red and would like to see her with her head–
Women in Red # 5
G’night my sweetums. As I’ve been telling the poor dear (sans her head) up above, I shall remind you as well:
We all are. That’s why I know you’ll talk to me in the comments below. Because it’s been a loooong day and I could use some lovin’ from my besties.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Blogging, Process |
Heads up, y’all. I’m giving away some art. But you’ve got to indulge me and read the post first.
Fair enough? Okay, then start reading.
Once upon a time I had this blog (yes, THIS blog) and I wrote a post every single day for something like a year. Every day. Whack me upside the head, I did little else. I wrote about art and the family and food and all sorts of crap good stuff.
And then life got in the way. Art. Web design (how many new looks has Arty Life had recently?) Eventually I started slacking off. Three days a week. Then two. Then one. And then…(drumroll please) three weeks rolled by without ANY posts or any excuse. The site wasn’t down, the internet connection was up–I just was doing other stuff.
I was PAINTING. Like a madwoman, a woman possessed. Mornings before work. Evenings after work. Taking vacay days just to hang out in the studio and slap paint around.
And then I painted over everything I did. More. Than. Once. I was ‘sperimentin’, going through a heckuva lot o’paint. It was all part of the learning process as I took a class with Pauline Agnew, SEE. FEEL. PAINT. Great class, great teacher and tons of challenging content. I’m not sure whether it was Pauline, the energy of the other students or the self imposed challenge to push myself but I became damn near manic.
A good creative shake-up, something every artist needs once in awhile.
I ended up with a few finished pieces, several works in progress, a whole bunch of ideas sketched out on the ipad and new life given to some old canvases. But most of all, I ended up with a passion for contemporary landscapes.
I’ll give you a sneak peek at one. Just one. The rest I’m going to dole out in future posts.
Autumn: Lake Harriet, acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches
2014 Susan Lobb Porter
This is taken from a photo I took last autumn at a little oasis in the Nevada desert. If you’re familiar with my work you’ll know that I’ve painted a lot of abstracts with a landscape feel. But I haven’t taken an actual for-real landscape and abstracted it. Much to my surprise I found out it’s entirely different.
And a whole lot harder. But I’m getting there.
And now about that arty giveaway I mentioned up above…it’s something I first read about here, via Michele Bergh’s blog. She found out about it from someone else who found out about it from someone else who found out about it from someone else. Get the picture? Here’s how it works, paraphrased from Michele (who got her info from Deborah Weber):
I promise to send a small work of art to the first five people who comment on this post and say, “YES, I want in”. You must in turn pay it forward to the first five people who comment on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, a facebook post will do. The rules are simple: it has to be your work, made by you, and the recipient must receive it before 2014 ends. It can be anything art based: a drawing/painting/photograph/knitted item or however else you express yourself creatively.
I’m going to add print to the list because maybe I’ll send a print. Or jewelry. Or something.
This will be fun! I can’t wait to send my little gifts out. Remember, if you want in you have to say so in the comments below. First five who say, “Me! Me! Pick Meeeeeeee! Pretty please!!!” will get a little something from moi.
And in case you haven’t told yourself this today—
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Process, Work in Progress |
Woot! Had some quality PLAY time in the studio today. A landscape was calling my name.
Or maybe it was calling me names, I dunno. I had my R&B list playing and this is what happened.
work in progress Susan Lobb Porter
Not a bad painting I guess. But not terribly exciting either. Ho-hum. Yawn. BTW, I think the photo is a bit heavy with the yellow. Can’t say for sure because once I got this far I decided the R&B was too…safe for the mood I was in. Which was (drum roll) a badass paintin’ mood.
AKA, a GREAT mood. Seriously, there is NOTHING better that a badass painting mood. Nothing. And if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time (and I sincerely hope you have) you’ll know that a great painting mood (GPM) calls for high octane rock. Da Boss. Loud.
And adventure. All GPMs call for risk taking. So while Da Boss was blasting working class angst and the speakers were positively vibrating with passion, I took the tube of white and squeezed it directly in the middle of the sky. And then I took my hands, one of which is pictured above, and smooshed that paint all over with my fingers.
Note to self: Next time wear gloves. Or barrier cream.
There was No. Going. Back. And I didn’t want to, I was having waaaaaay too much fun.
Valley View, acrylic on canvas. 24 x 24 inches.
2014 Susan Lobb Porter
This is where it stands now. It’s a completely different painting, one that I personally find to be more interesting. Is it done? Maybe. Everything in the studio is fair game. Nothing is ever considered done–or safe–until it belongs to someone else. So there’s a chance you’ll see this one again…with more improvements.
So what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
And meanwhile, remember this:
As always–
