September 2021

Pacific Palisades Park in Santa Monica (Instagram: @turbophotos)

Time feels like it’s flying. I’m not going to go so far as to say I miss the Covid days because I don’t, but I do miss a small sliver of the peace and quiet. There were mornings when I sat in the sunroom, windows open, cool breeze blowing, sipping coffee with kitties in my lap while we watched the squirrels. I haven’t done that in months. Maybe I can carve out some time over the next few weeks to do just that.

For now, I’ll type up a recap of a really fun month. We began with a big trip out West to Santa Monica/Los Angeles for the LSU-UCLA game. We stayed at Shutters on the Beach, which was ahhhmazing. 

Shutters on the Beach (Instagram: @turbophotos)

Loved the property, the location, the service, the pool, the restaurants, everything was perfect. We walked along the ocean, up to the Santa Monica pier, crossed over Ocean Avenue and had dinner at some of our favorite spots: El Mercado, Tar & Roses. We also walked over to Ocean Park and saw Richard Diebenkorn’s old studio. 

Scott at Diebenkorn’s old studio on Main St in Santa Monica

As artists, it’s impossible for us to be in this space and not think about Diebenkorn. His Ocean Park series is one of our favorites, a huge inspiration. I felt like I saw his paintings everywhere. Here’s an example:

   

His 1963 abstract on the right is not a painting of the Santa Monica street on the left, but it’s close enough for you to see what I mean.

We also visited the Steven Stern Gallery because we were interested in seeing some paintings by Henrietta Berk, who studied under Diebenkorn.

Steve walked us through his gallery and showed us some spectacular paintings. I was in awe of the Edgar Payne pieces on his walls. Damn that man could paint. The painting below is one of Payne’s plein air studies. Look at those brushstrokes. Good Lord. 

He also showed us a small painting by Payne that has some interesting information on the back:

  

You might have to click on it to see it clearly, but the price is $20 or you can bundle and save if you buy 3 for $55. I tried to talk Steve into honoring the prices Payne set :) Ha! 

We visited one of my favorite museums, The Broad (pronounced like “road” or “toad”). I had hoped to see some John Currin paintings, but they were not on view. Boo. But we were treated to lots and lots of Basquiat, and that suits me just fine.

Basquiat at The Broad (Instagram: @turbophotos)

But the main reason we were in LA was for the LSU-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Let’s just say that the beginning of the game was the highlight for LSU fans. It was 95 degrees (a full 20 degrees warmer than Santa Monica), not a piece of shade in sight, they ran out of ice and beer, the bathrooms are outside the stadium (!) and the Tigers lost. Nevertheless, it was a really fun weekend. I’m so glad we went. 

Now, let’s get back to reality and an art update. I attended a workshop with Chris Groves at the Booth Art Academy.

 

Chris showed us how he uses all kinds of tools to make interesting marks and create abstract landscapes. From squeegees to brayers, cold wax and palette knives, it was a really cool way to paint. It was definitely a challenge after painting so precisely with Elizabeth Floyd for almost a year, but I’ve already found myself using some of the techniques he taught us.

Here are the paintings I completed during our three days:

 

My Roswell Square Gallery studio mate, Barbara, and I worked on our first collaboration together! We had the best time working on this massive abstract that’s 60” x 48” that is front and center at the gallery.

And I’m back with my Thursday morning plein air group! I love this group so much. We painted at The Goodrum House on West Paces Ferry on the first day of fall - 50 degrees, gorgeous sunshine and an idyllic setting.

 

I joked with my friend Andy that I look like I’m holding that painting like it’s a prized fish. And that’s exactly how I felt about it! 

This morning we painted at The Duck Pond in Buckhead. I *love* painting here. It’s peaceful, quiet and the variations of green are mind blowing. Cool greens, warm greens, yellowish greens, blue greens, gray greens, etc. This little spot is right in the middle of Buckhead, chaos careening up and down Peachtree, just a few blocks away, and here we are surrounded by massive trees, a gorgeous pond, ducks, birds, and of course, luscious grass and flowers. Heaven! 

 

My little 11x14 oil on panel

The Roswell Arts Festival happened … sort of. We battled periods of tropical depression rain over two days, so that was disappointing. But we still had fun, and I completed the largest painting I’ve ever tackled - a 48” x 36” abstract. I let some of our budding artists help me out a little at the beginning :)

I’m doing my abstract demos at the gallery on Saturdays from 12-1, and that’s been fun. Last weekend we talked about the paintings of Joan Mitchell.

I picked up my paintings from the Acworth Arts Alliance on Tuesday and found out that my abstract painting, “Cozumel” sold! Hooray! It seems like the organization is doing a really good job of selling art, so I’m going to stick with them and submit more work.

More good news … The Booth Museum’s Downtown Gallery accepted two of my paintings for the fall/holiday exhibition! 

This past Sunday I submitted three paintings for a new Atlanta Artists Center show at Colony Square. I’ll let you know what, if anything, gets juried in.

I have a few other paintings in the works that I’m working on, a little every day. I’ll post photos once they’re a little further along.

READING 

I’m flipping back and forth between a few books: Mastery by Robert Greene (always!), The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and “How Successful Artists Study.”

OTIS and JULIUS
The boys are doing great. JuJu has been looking up through the windows. He can hear the wind blow and knows that falling leaves are coming soon. They have been spending most days in our bed, snuggling with each other, which is pretty cute. JuJu is always so photogenic and poses just right. Otis … not so much.

Wiggles doesn’t like to sit still for pictures

COMING IN OCTOBER

• Another fun trip that I can’t wait to tell you about!
• More Plein Air painting on Thursdays
• Open House at The Roswell Square Gallery on October 23

Thank you for reading. Have a great October and I’ll see you back here in a few weeks.