Thursday, September 29, 2011

An Unintentional Hiatus

It has been a little while since my post. I was hoping to follow up with an entertaining one full of Q&A's for you all, though seeing that the article did not garner any questions, that ambition will have to wait for another time ...

An intentional hiatus .... a lesson I learned from this past winter and early spring. Three months which consumed the most time away from the studio that I ever experienced. During those months of not being in the studio, let alone not touching a paint brush, I allowed myself to become consumed with resentment and self pity. I knew my attitude was not good, so, I did my very best to ditch that mind-set and said to myself 'An intentional hiatus can be a good thing!' and I was instantly at peace.

When I returned to the studio in June, the palette was caked with hard dry paint and had a decent layer of dust on it. The studio received ample attention of a good thorough cleaning. There was energy bursting in the studio, blank panels jumped on the easel for their turn and off the easel to make room for the next one. I was a happy painting fiend! The following 6 weeks procured 12 new finished/framed Binoculars paintings, all varying in sizes and delivered to galleries - some of the Binoculars now happily reside in their new homes!

In contrast, efforts in the studio this week have been sporadic though very productive ..... and the next coming weeks will mostly likely be in the same manner ... I have been called away from the studio again to help with a job, that will help in turn bring food to the table among other things.

Though this time around ... things will be very different, I will keep my palette dust free!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Studio Exposed!

The Studio is now exposed!!


It's not everyday one gets to have the opportunity
for a little press coverage, especially an entire article!

I'm so pleased to share with you all the article 
Carrie Jacobson, editor of the Montville Patch,
so kindly wrote about me, my art and the studio.

I would like to thank Carrie once more
for the wonderful opportunity of exposing
my art and studio to the World!

Please feel free to pepper me with any questions you may have
about me, my art, the studio and whatever else you're curious about, 
by posting in the comment section (you'll need to be a follower)
and I will collect and sort through your questions by
following up with a Q&A blog post with
your questions and commentary.

Thank you all for your wonderful patronage!!

Cheers, ~ Polly ~

Friday, September 16, 2011

Ideas, Plans, and What's To Come!!

After a couple of weeks of not painting consistently at the easel, partial thanks goes to Tropical Storm Irene and the mess it left behind, and to the non-exsistent supply of mdo (medium density overlay) board. I'm ready to get back in the studio again!!

Now that Irene's mess is all tidy-up and the mdo board supply has been replinshed and is on standby (in the studio right now!) anixously waiting to be used! The ideas for new works, new binoculars, are queuing up fast and already jockeying for position to be the first on the easel! There is a fervor of ideas building up and I love it!

The master plan is to be a painting fiend (well, not exactly - let's be realistic now) and create another 'batch' of Binoculars! Going back a bit to earlier this year, at the time of it's creation Binoculars #140 was the largest bino yet (bino for short) measuring up to 10" x 60". I had been itching to go larger with the binos and I pleased to hear during the course of this past Summer that it's size was well received by many. In this set of new panels there are 4 10" x 60" panels. These will be reserved for 'major' pieces.

Another news of interest on the horizon, which I'm very excited about - is back in the Summer, the Editor of the Montville Patch, Carrie Jacobson, offered to do an article on me after a brief courtship of emailings. And between all that while reading her stories on the Patch, I was pleasently surprised to discover that Carrie was an artist as well and that she would be tending to her own booth at the Mystic Outdoor Arts Festival this summer. So, I made the effort to meet Carrie at her booth and at once I could sense her zest for life and her artistic spirit which resonates through her new found passion of palette knife painting. She keeps a blog The Accidental Artist on her artistic Life and you can see her works for sale.

After our delightful first meeting in the flesh, we managed to coordinate a time (just days before Irene showed up) to have the interview at the studio, which was super fun and no spoilers from me, you'll just have to wait to read the article yourself! And speaking of which, I recently learned that Carrie plans on publishing the story next week on Sept 20th ... oh so exciting!

On that happy note ... please stay tuned for what's to come!!

Cheers, ~ Polly ~

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Hello and Welcome and Thank you!

Hello and Welcome to my studio blog!!

It thrills me to my bones that you have taken the time out of your day to stop by and check out my little studio blog, it means the World to me! I do realise that there is not much here of interest or excitement at the moment, though there are exciting things on the horizon to be seen and discovered ... please see my (rather) lengthy list below of things waiting to be blogged, to be talked and discussed and to simply happen!

Here is where I hope to share with you the adventures from the studio and Life itself; plein-air painting trips, working in the studio, the binoculars series, shows, openings, galleries, thoughts and ideas about paintings, new paintings - old paintings, meeting other artists, sharing the work and lives of another artists, dead or alive (one of my favourite things to do), the Artist's Spirit Foundation, the evolution of the studio blog, books, random thoughts, beautiful places of interests, websites of interest, hot and exciting art happening, the importance of supporting your local art community, discuss the art community, what it's like to be an artist during this zeitgeist, and perhaps some reflections and offerings on Life itself.

So, as this Artistic Life happens and moves forward, I plan on making the most it by sharing it all with you as best as I can, so I hope you stick around for what's to come!

Once again, thank you all for visiting the studio blog and for your continued interest and patronage in my work!

And a special thanks goes to those who have become followers of my blog, thank you indeed!!!

Cheers and Best Regards,

~ Polly ~

Friday, September 9, 2011

Breakfast Organic Goodness!

You start with ...

Flax Seed

Wheat Germ


Garnola (of your choice)


Stonyfield French Vanilla Yogart!


Thrawed frozen organic Strawberries!


Mix and stir together for some yummy goodness!

Eat and Enjoy the splendor of Nature's Provisions!


.
.
.

And then the next thing you know ...

It's All gone in a flash!
.
.
.
.


For good reason!!

It's Breakfast Organic Goodness!
....................................................

Breakfast Organic Goodness!
1 Tbs Flax Seed.
1 Tbs Wheat Germ.
3 Tbs Garnola.
3 Tbs Yogart.
6 Frozen (thawed) Strawberries.
Mix, Eat and Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A View from Avery Point.

Binoculars #132. View from Avery Point (Day Sailor).
8" x 48". oil on mdo board. 2010. Copyright. 
On display at the Sylvan Gallery 

Avery Point, is located at the mouth of the Thames River on the eastern side of Groton CT (which also home to the UConn Avery Point campus), has been a great source of inspiration for my 'Binoculars' series for many years. The view from Avery Point is spectacular and offers loads of inspirational sources; Long Island and Fisher's Island Sound(s), the eastern end of Long Island, Fisher's Island, five lighthouses; New London Harbor Lighthouse, New London Ledge LightLittle Gull Island LighthouseRace Rock Lighthouse (my personal favourite) and last, but not least North Dumpling Lighthouse, all of which can be seen from varying points along Avery Point's coastline, and many other little islands and reefs peppered along the Sound(s).  

What makes Avery Point ideal for the 'Binoculars' series, is not only the wonderful backdrop of the Sounds, islands and lighthouses, but the great diversity of vessels which can be seen passing through or in and around the mouth of the Thames River; everything from tankers to tug n' tows, from cruise ships to tall ships, from New London ferries to Block Island ferries, from wooden schooners to classic yachts, from trawlers to power-boats, from skipjacks to sunfish and from jet-skies to 'yakers' aka kayakers ... all of which makes for challenging and great compositional work.

I would be remiss, if I did not mention that the wildlife at Avery Point also offers terrific inspiration; the seagulls, egrets, osprey and cormorants lend themselves for that added compositional interest and element of fun!! 

Binoculars #145. View from Avery Point (Sunset Cruise).
10" x 45". oil on mdo board. 2011. Copyright.
On display at the Cate Charles Gallery 

Cate Charles Gallery.
147 Water St.
Stonington, CT. 06378
860.245.5213.

Sylvan Gallery.
121 West Main St.
Clinton. CT. 06413.
860.669.7278.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Winds have changed ...

As they so often do ... we learn to adjust our sails to keep moving forward and enjoy the journey! 

Having launched this little blog of mine just days before hurricane Irene showed up, threw everything off course. No power for 4 days and no cable for a week, gave me time to reflect on how much I've become dependent on the use of the internet and at the same it gave me a chance to enjoy the real pleasures of Life, coffee brewed over a campsite burner, walks around the neighbourhood and down to the river, and falling asleep by candle light.

So, here I am, once again back to normal state of affairs; brewing coffee in the kitchen instead of outside, hot showers instead of cold and the entertainment of the internet instead of the old fashioned and creative ways.  I am now entertaining myself by learning and tending to the blogging process, among other things! 

Like the wind ... things may change around here ... but remember it is the journey that counts moreso than the destination ... perhaps we'll discover new islands full of wonder along the way ... so please stay on board!

Cheers!