Painting Lesson

Today, I go to visit my friend to take a painting lesson. I am so looking forward to that.

Mary is an amazing artist and a fabulous painter. That she would take even a few minutes to talk to me is amazing. But she is opening up her home and giving me free painting lessons.

I hope that I don't disappoint her. I'll keep you posted!

Spanky's

I saw this painting on the side of a wall at Tybee Island and was captivated by it.

It is so very interesting!

There is this scantily clad waitress in comfortable shoes.

Doom fish. What is doom fish?

There is a fish dancing like John Travolta.

There is some drink brewing and a fish is drinking it with a pipe. What does that mean? Coffee is so good here that even the fish drink it? Right before we kill and cook it?

There is a man on the surfboard whose face looks like a bird and he is holding a flag while surfing. What does that mean?

I could have stared at this for hours. It is so very interesting.

What do you think? Is there anything interesting this you see here?

And do you have a sudden urge to go to Spanky's?

House

Nice house, nice yard with a very "interesting" mermaid fountain. A golden one. Since I don't have anything nice to say about the fountain, I'll stop now.

Painting 101

How to create a painting that is most likely to sell for 10,000 dollars.

Caution: Painting on canvas is not for the faint of the heart. It requires a lot of planning, dedication and laser focus on your part.

Before you begin:

1. Plan everything. And procrastinate. If anyone asks, tell them that you are visualizing and harnessing your creativity. Just sit around, watch judge Judy and put off the painting as long as you can.
2. Get some canvas and some really expensive paints. You could take that money and feed a nation but who cares? Creativity is at stake here.
3. Tell everyone that you are not only a photographer, but also a painter. You may never have painted ever in your life, but so what? Believe in yourself. Use terms such as acrylics, media, matte, glazed etc. If some one asks you what exactly you paint, give them an answer that is completely confusing. For example, "I channel my inner cosmic energy and kundalini to use my creativity to create a representation of the mysterious energy that is life. I capture the energy using media like acrylic paint, oils, pigments and bacon fat. In my opinion, that is the only way to obtain world peace." Ha! That will teach them not to mess with you! After that, no one will ever ask you about your paintings. Trust me on that one.
4. When you go shopping for paint supplies, refuse to buy the basics like an easel, a paint bucket etc. When your good friend, who is doing you a favor by showing you the ropes suggests you buy a kit, complain loudly. Whine a lot. "You are making me spend too much money!"
5. Tell your family or whoever you are living with that you are about to embark on an artistic journey. You are not to be disturbed because you are harnessing your creativity. You are going to paint. And you can't do dishes anymore for at least a month since you have to preserve your hands and your creativity.
6. By now, almost everyone you know should have stopped talking to you. Good. Now you are a true recluse artist and ready to begin.

To create a painting:

1. Since you refused to buy an easel, spread an old rug on the floor and layer it with newspapers.
   
2. Grab a snack.
3. Get your canvas, your paints and your brushes and lay them on the carpet.
4. Open a bottle of wine and have some.
5. Watch a movie.
6. Take canvas number one and apply a base coat of an acrylic paint to it.
   
7. Set it to dry and go grab another snack.
8. Surf the net and remember that you were supposed to clean the brush.
   
9. Run and grab your brush, pour some paint cleaner in a plastic cup and soak your brush.
10. Pour another glass of wine and surf the net.
11. In about ten minutes, go to check on your brush.
    
12. Pick up the plastic cup which has now melted into putty and clean up the paint cleaner from the counter. No one ever told you not to put the paint cleaner in a plastic cup.
    
13. Sigh.
14. Take a nap.
15. Wake up and find your long lost family. Tell them, "Guess what I did today? I painted AND cleaned up the kitchen counter."

Trust me. They will be thrilled for you.

12 by 12

An artist friend of mine, Mary, recently asked me to participate in a 12 by 12 show. 12 local artist would create artwork on a 12 by 12 canvas. Sometime in September, we will have a show.

Sounds great. Right? Except I've never really painted. So what to do? Mary assured me that if I could paint with my camera, I could paint on canvas too. It was just a different medium.

She told me to buy some canvas and practice. She even offered to give me painting lessons. She told me where to buy the canvas from but I got overwhelmed when I went to the website. So many choices! What to do?

So she sent me a link to the exact canvas she wanted me to buy. I ordered 5.

Paint was next. Do you know how many choices there are? Ridiculous! And everything was so expensive! Oye.

So I dragged my other friend Carol to the art supply store. I have to admit that I complained a lot during the whole time. Everything was ridiculously expensive. Nevertheless, I came home with some paint.

So there you go. You heard it first here. I am going to paint. And it is going to be part of an exhibit. A show. When I told my mother, she burst out laughing. We laughed until we were crying.

Yesterday I started on my first piece. I applied an orange base coat to a canvas. I rather enjoyed it. I would hang it on my wall as is. But no. There are textures to apply and even more paint. So I'll keep working on it. And report my progress.

If you've never tried painting, I suggest you get some supplies and go for it. It is fun.

PS: Don't put the paint cleaner in a plastic cup. That would be stupid. In 3 minutes, the plastic will dissolve.

This and that...

First, I've not had internet access for last 2-3 days. It was no fun.

This morning I woke up and went to view my blog. And got the shock of my life. Somehow, the discreet ads I place on my blog turned into huge photo ads and I saw some photos of things I did not want to see on my blog. I scrambled to change it. If you saw those ads, many apologies.

We have some friends visiting us and yesterday, we went to the Emerald Marina in Austin and rented a boat for a couple of hours. We had a great time. After the boat ride, we went to have dinner at a barbecue joint and came home and watched movies.

I am going to cook dinner today for everyone. I have a standard menu that I always make when cooking Indian food for parties. Every time I deviate from that, people feel disappointed. They must have my chicken curry. Since they like it so much, I figure it is easier for me to just give in and make what they want to eat. I can always experiment later. It gives me so much pleasure to cook for people. I'd rather make what they love.

The other thing that is happening today is that I have to drop off 5 pieces of artwork at a prestigious bank. They will be displaying my work for a month or more. This opportunity just kinda fell in my lap. It is amazing to me how these things happen...

An old friend and neighbor of mine emailed me a while back and asked me if I was interested in displaying my work with other artists at this bank. She regularly displays her work there and it had been there for a while so she wanted to change it.

Of course I jumped at the opportunity. Later on, when we discussed dropping off artwork, she told me to bring as many pieces as I could. There was plenty of room. So, me being the opportunistic person that I am, immediately asked if we could also display my friend Carol's work. I had no idea if Carol would agree but no harm in asking. Right?

Much to my delight, Carol agreed to display some work there. We even asked another friend of hers to join us.

I am so happy that things turned out this way. I have to drop off the artwork today at noon. Thank God Carol will be there. We are supposed to talk to the bank manager who is expecting us and to hang the frames. Some kind of putty is also involved but I have no idea what that means.

I do not know how to hang frames and certainly do not know what putty to buy. Plus I am terrified of talking to the bank manager. Carol will take care of all of that. She is an awesome mentor and a good friend. Frankly, even if she was not displaying any work there, she would have come to the bank to talk to the manager and hang the frames for me. She's just that kinda gal.