Back in the Studio: Week of March 6th

 

Painting #2 of 68

Ringo, Oil on Matboard, 5.25" x 5.25", 
©2011 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

completed 3/6/11

Ringo is my 3 1/2 year old exuberant pup that joins me every so often at the studio, on days he's been sufficiently exercised! Last Sunday I was under the weather and walked the dog to the studio to work on the commission at the bottom of the post. After a few hours of painting, I wanted to work on a small piece towards my goal of painting two works / week.

Ringo was in the studio and actually posed for me, well, between intermittent treat doling. He'd walk away, come back, look up at me, lie down, sit, leave, come back. This is the end result! It was a great painting exercise in speed and immediacy. I would have liked to resolve Ringo's paw, but once I completed his head, Ringo decided he was done, and therefore so was the painting.

Painting #3 of 68 

Sugar Bowl, Oil on Matboard, 5.25" x 5.25", 
©2011 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

completed 3/11/11

Sugar Bowl features the same bowl that's featured in the commission I'm working on below. It's vintage, glass, and reflective; all things I love. I didn't spend much time planning the composition, but I did intentionally place the bowl in the upper left. Many of my recent paintings place the focal point near the center, so I wanted to explore other structures.  
The main colors used in the painting are oriental yellow, cadmium yellow, viridian green, quinacridone magenta, and pthalo blue. The painting is completed on a primed archival matboard, the inner panel left from cutting a window mat. 
 

Current Commission (in progress as of 3/12/11), 
Oil on Stretched Linen,
18" x 30", ©2011 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

During the week, I've made quite a bit of progress on my current commission featuring the sugar bowl, a percolator, Hoosier cabinet, and a vintage Cosco kitchen stepstool. Check back in soon for this week's paintings.
 

Back in the Studio

Mini Perker, Oil on Matt Board, 5.25" x 5.25" ©2011 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

$95

I wax poetic to my students all the time about the importance of working outside of class, continuity of production, sketching, etc. But, do I always take my own advice? Unfortunately no. I'm no dummy. I know the importance of prioritizing my artwork, but running a business and being a mom make it challenging at best. Stuff comes up - people walk into the gallery, my son gets sick, I get sick, I'm busy teaching or marketing the business.

Each year since I've run a gallery I've produced somewhere around 25 pieces of original work. And, that's including commissions. Not complaining - commissions are great income and have historically been subjects that interest me or are very much related to my own area of focus: vintage appliances, aprons, and wedding cakes. But, it is truly hard to juggle work/life balance - sleeping, eating, getting my son to and from daycare, spending enough time at the studio. Something's always got to give, so unfortunately when I look at the finances, sometimes it's my artwork.

Ugggh. Enough! Starting this week, I've been in the studio for the first time since early January. I've had great enjoyment and growth in the past when I was disciplined to create a work a day, or at the very least set a clear goal for myself. Maybe by the sheer fact that I'm blogging about this, I will have someone other than myself to own up to. Here's mine for the rest of 2011 - create a minimum of two works a week (no restriction on size, medium, or time), giving me a total of 68 works (34 weeks left of 2011, x 2)! It's a lofty goal, but I think it is reasonable. I'm going to post a weekly blog post of each week's finished pieces. So check back at the end of next week and see what I've done - I need your support! In the interim, you can follow me daily on Facebook or Twitter.

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