July 7, 2024
Good morning everyone! I’m back with another Studio Notes, and it’s another long one. So pull this up when you have a few minutes, maybe settle down with a cup of coffee, and let’s get into it.
I’ll share what’s been going on lately in and out of the studio, with the overarching theme of getting ready to leave for Juneau! I’ll then talk about something I’m noticing in my paintings lately, and kind of talk through what I think it is and the importance of how I incorporate details into my paintings. I’ll then share my thoughts on what it’s like finishing a series, as I’ve finished two these last couple weeks. And finally, the list of what I’ve been listening to and reading in the Studio! I hope you enjoy!
This Monday was the start of a new quarter of 2024. With that, I always take a hard look at my goals for the year, and see what needs to be adjusted.
I am quite proud of what I’ve accomplished this year. A big goal for me was to start selling my art on my own website, and I’ve accomplished that! Along with painting a lot, consistently, to have art to actually list for sale. I designed my whole website this year, and while it isn’t perfect, I love it and it gets the job done.
Now, for this next quarter’s goals, we have some good ones. The biggest is I want to start selling my art in person! I’ve been applying this week to a handful of art fairs—both locally here in Spokane and also one in Juneau! For all of these you have to be accepted, so I’m waiting to hear back with my fingers crossed.
For an art-related goal, I am so excited to announce that I am taking a step back from large canvases and moving into a sketchbook. I’ve felt the itch for a while, but I know that when I am in Alaska, it’s just not as accessible to me to paint on a large scale. I really want to improve my plein-air skills, as it is definitely a weak spot. I am really excited to start working smaller scale, on work that isn’t as big of a pressure to get as good as possible because I spent a lot of money on the canvas. It’s been a while since I took a step back and worked on developing my skills, rather than “performing” on a finished piece.
I also have some more travel plans, although I’ll let you know more about that when we get closer to the date.
Another reason to get going to Juneau—the weather is getting hot here in Spokane. We haven’t hit over 100 degrees, but it’s been close, and we’re supposed to in the next few days. Although my studio is very well-insulated against the heat, it still reaches in there on very hot days. I feel less inclined to be moving around, playing around with paint, making bold strokes. It’s still been working, just not ideal. I’m ready to escape the heat!
This is officially our last week in Spokane! We are heading up to Juneau very soon, and I cannot be more excited. I am taking a break from working on whale-watching boats this year, and just being able to enjoy life and spend time out at our cabin with my family. My mom and I are flying up first, along with Leroy our dog!
I need to get packing, and at the forefront of my mind are, of course, art supplies! I want to have a simple yet effective traveling art kit, that I can just pick up to go make art at the drop of a pin. I also need to buy a fresh sketchbook. And, while my art will primarily be in my sketchbook, I am going to bring some of my basic painting supplies. I have a couple ideas in mind in which I’ll need them.
When the next Studio Notes comes out, I’ll be back in Juneau!
Switching gears a bit to talk about something that’s been on my mind this last week. In my Thunder Mountain painting that I showed you guys in the last Notes, I have since made the switch over to oils. Yet, intuitively, I worked very loosely on the details. I blended the highlights and shadows together. While it still took a lot of time, at the end of this session, when I took a step back and looked at it, what I found really surprised me. It almost looked as though someone else had painted it! It had a very loose, painterly style. I was in love. I’ve made a few tweaks, tightened up a few things here and there, but I am keeping the loose nature in the final painting.
Ever since this studio session, I’ve felt a draw to incorporate that looseness into my other painting-in-progress, This Land’s Heartbreak. When I was working on the trees on the land in the background, I kept this looseness, and it worked very very well. It faded into the background, while still having the definition to look like trees. It felt more like you were seeing a scene with your eyes, instead of just painting an image, if that makes sense?
Which leads me to my thoughts on organic vs. inorganic details. I don’t know if someone else has coined the term, but in my eyes organic details come about, well, organically. They’re the top of a tree created by the texture of a brush, or waves blended together with oils. It’s clouds shaped by a palette knife full of paint. It comes about seemingly with little effort, even though organic details can be just as much effort.
Inorganic details, on the other hand, are applied with a small detail brush. Small, precise movements: snow on the top of a mountain, shadows between the peaks, an eagle flying overhead. Inorganic details are very time-consuming, and are part of what adds to the realism of a painting. However, if you work closely too much, inorganic details can make a painting feel stiff and, well, inorganic.
Now that I’ve defined what this is I’ve been doing, I’ve developed a kind of strategy. With the Thunder Mountain painting, I’ve decided to keep its organic nature with little-to-no inorganic details. I think that is its best form. While, on the other hand, This Land’s Heartbreak has a balance between the two. I’m not including a picture in its current state in this email, as I’m waiting for a grand reveal once I’m sure it’s done. (I’m 95% sure it’s done, but I need to be 100%) So, I think I want to work intuitively between organic and inorganic details, and while I’m heading into the final stages of a painting, make an intentional decision: here I want to keep it loose, but here I really want to stand out so I’ll go in with the inorganic details.
In these last two weeks I’ve finished up two series—my mini-series of the three Scandinavian paintings, and the big series I’ve been working on since January! A hint: it’s based on Southeast Alaska. I’m very close to being completely done with this series—basically just waiting for the final layers of oil paint to dry on my last couple paintings. There are 8 paintings in this series, as of right now. I have a feeling I’ll be adding to it in the future.
I am very excited to start selling work from this series! The debut piece, if you will, is actually “Calm Waters”, a painting I’ve already started selling prints of. And it is one of my best-selling prints so far! So, if you’re a lover of Southeast Alaska, marine life, or glaciers, then keep an eye out the next couple days!
Finishing a series is bittersweet. There’s something so accomplishing and satisfying about having it all done, and the openness to starting something new. But at the same time, I’ve been working on this series for so long, it’s occupied space in my brain and my studio, I’m sad to let it go.
And even though this first group of paintings in the series is done, there are still a few ideas I have that I didn’t get to in time. So I imagine I’ll be revisiting this series in the future. So overall bittersweet, even though it does feel very good to finally get it done!
Alright, here’s what I’m enjoying recently in the studio! I’m not sure if anyone’s interested, but if anything, it’ll be fun for me to look back on it the future.
The Great American Bar Scene - Zach Bryan’s new album!!
Hamilton - I always love listening to the soundtrack around the Fourth of July
Art Juice Podcast as always!
The Creative Act: A Way of Being - I’m almost done with my first read through!
Alright, I think that’s about all that’s been happening in the studio the last two weeks! Thank you so much for reading this far, I know it’s a lot! I assume the next few Studio Notes will be shorter, as I won’t be working in a studio. But I’ll still keep them up!
If you have any thoughts on what I’ve said in here, please reach out to me! I’d love to discuss anything and everything regarding the creative process.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a creative, wonderful rest of your Sunday!
-Anna
