Upstairs Windows, Odd, Ends, and Such

WhiteHouse_3508, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

This one was taken on my walk about Reykjavik, Iceland as I was obsessed with shooting the houses there.

I love the design of the houses there. I love the old world craftsmanship and the way they build things there. The houses really give you the impression that they are built to last. They build things slower there then we do here in the ‘States but they have more quality and better design. I like that in a place. I like a place that takes the time to design something, to craft something, rather than just spit it up. I guess, here in the ‘States though, we need too many houses too quickly so we have to build them all fast. Either that or maybe we are just lazy and like cookie cutter homes? I don’t know, jury’s still out on that one.

I have started sketching out some paintings from Iceland. I’ve decided I’m going to do a small series of painting about an Icelandic family that lives in the valley of the moss, near the big green mountain. The family will be a mother, father, two daughters and a son. One of the girls will like to ride horses and several of the children will help with the chores at the farmhouse. I’ve crafted this story, and these people, because I want to make my paintings be more like a narrative. I want to tell the small story of this little family that lives tucked away in Iceland in a neat little way.

I’ve decided I’m going to do it in pastels first, so I can figure out the color palette and then work my way into maybe oils for this small series. I would like to do a series of about 5-10 paintings. Not sure of the size yet, I’m going to try to start drawing, sketching, and the first starts of the pastels over the holiday season. It will be my own little personal “Christmas project” that I’ll be able to work on when I’m home and bored around the holiday season. (I have already started sketching for this, and picking out some reference photos from my recent trip, in case you could not gather as much from reading this post so far.)

I keep hoping that I will be able to do more encaustics soon and it looks like I am going to get my wish. We (finally!) had some rain this weekend, which means that the fire dangers are a lot less (still not completely gone but we are doing much better now) so I will be able to break out the blow torch and other heat-making tools to work with the wax. I have the studio setup and ready to go, I just need some ideas and some time to flesh out some work.

Unfortunately, along with more studio time these days also comes more “busy work.” (And you know how much I just hate that.)

I’ve signed up to do two different locations at the big East Austin Studio Tour this year, so that means I will have both paintings and photography in the shows. I have a lot to do to prepare for this. I was thinking just today that I need to order more business cards (so I have something to hand out) I need to update my website (so I have something to show) and I need to finish some smaller sized encaustic pieces (like 10×10’s and 12×12’s) so that I have something new to show off on the tour. I also want to do some postcards and finish up my Hill Country Water Gardens book, not to mention have some books available for the book signing events as well as the EAST tour. Oh, and it might be nice if I had a calendar of some kind to sell or give away as part of EAST too, wouldn’t it? (Yeah, that’s more work for me. Sigh. Groan.) This all boils down to a lot of paperwork and busy work that I need to get cracking on and soon. While it seems ages away, EAST will be here before I know it. The deadlines are looming and I’ve not been very motivated this year. I need to get my butt in gear, as they say, and start coming to live, taking on these projects.

I also have a photo shoot this weekend. It’s the annual Texas All British Car Day and so I’ll look to shoot that. Believe it or not, I think I’m close to being out of compact flash. After Iceland, everything has been shot or just done up and run away these days.

There are also a host of shows and places that are screaming they want some work from me, so there’s more paperwork and busy work/foof to get down to business and get done.

Some days, I feel like it never ends. And then I remember how happy I was, strolling the back alleys and magical streets of Reykjavik, discovering all of the little houses I loved so much (houses, much like this one.) It’s fun to do that sort of a thing, even if I don’t get to do it all that often and I have a lot of paperworks in the middle.

Yes, I know you don’t want to hear more about paperwork, so I promise I’ll try to get you my Iceland Top 10 list (oh, I still didn’t do that, now, did I?) as well as a “What’s in Carol’s Bag?” post (more gear talk for those of you who dig that kind of stuff.) I’m also still hard at work on the “Tinderbox of Tomorrows” benefit book, so look for a call for entries about that coming soon (if you are an artist, please consider sending me some work. It’s for a good cause-helping out the fire victims, and I promise the book will get some traction once it’s complete.)

I promise, in between the paperwork, I’ll try to keep everybody updated and informed, really I will (well, ok, maybe just entertained would be a better promise? Maybe I should start taking photos of myself buried under mountains of paperwork so you can see what I look like?)

Until next time…