Circumstantial Undertones

CircumstantialUndertones_5625, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

This weekend, I ordered a frame for my prior “mistake” piece, called “Circumstantial Undertones.” Since I have the frame coming in the mail, I thought it might be a good idea to (finally) post a picture of the finished piece (well, finished minus the frame.) This is “Circumstantial Undertones” in all of its glory, I hope you like it.

You can kind of see the undertones of the colors I layered in the wax as I made layer after layer of “mistake.” You can kind of see the colors in a muted sort of a way, and the yarn is in there too, if you look closely enough. I’d have to say that this now is one of my favorite pieces.

This weekend, apart from attending the wonderful show by local Austin favorite artist Will Klemm, I worked in my studio to “tidy up” some additional mistakes. I have a few other pieces I have wanted to re-work, so I started doing that, and I’ve have to say they don’t look so bad. I’ve actually managed to save a few pieces here and there. I think I managed to save 2 pieces and lay down the ground (under painting) for a new, third piece.

When I started this project, one of my goals was to have 20 new pieces ready by January 15th. I’m probably not going to make that goal. In fact, it’s now January 9th and I have 3 pieces completed with at least another 3 in the works (4-5 actually.) Even if all 3 of the pieces I worked on this weekend turn out ok in the end, that will give me a total of 6 pieces. Far short of my 20 pieces by mid-January goal, but there’s still one weekend left and so I might be able to make a few more pieces. At this point, I would be happy to have 10 pieces done by January 15th and, realistically, even that is a moving target.

I’m not going to beat myself up about this, however. I do feel like I’m making progress and I do feel the work coming along. I’m finding too that the pieces I manage to re-work I actually like better-there’s something about them, something about the working with the wax and adding layer after layer that makes it more magical (somehow.) I can’t explain it but somehow the pieces I’ve managed to re-work seem to come out with more depth and look better, more involved, than the pieces I like right off the bat.

It’s been an adventure doing these pieces. If I do somehow manage to wind up with 20 pieces, I would probably be shocked, but that’s not to say I won’t end up with a new series and that it won’t be a series I really like. I do really like this new work, the new “Santa Fe Desert” style work. It’s pretty. There’s something about it that’s earthy and it does really reflect the lights in the sky at night over the desert, at least it has the same feeling to me. Even the pieces I’ve re-worked seem to capture that feeling.

I keep telling myself too that I will photograph them, the finished pieces and put them up here for you to see. And I do mean to do that, honestly, I do. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. One day soon, I promise, you will get to see my progress in the series. You’ll get to see the progressions and the output from all that I am making these days in the studio. As with art projects in general, some days I feel like I am making great progress, while others? Eh, not so much. That’s how it goes, I guess.

So, the good news is that this “Circumstantial Undertones” is one of only a few yarn pieces (pieces I’ve had to make to completely cover up a mishap from another series.) The bad news is that I’ve got only 3 pieces complete from my “Earthen/Dusk” series and am on my way towards having about 6 or so done-a far cry from the 20 I had wanted to be polishing up at this point in time. Would you call that progress? Maybe? Slow but steady, perhaps? Ah, we’ll see soon enough, I’d guess.

Once I get to 20, or closer to 20 I should say, I’m going to really shop these around for a venue. Wish me luck on that one as well, for I am going to need it. There is still a lot to do-framing, photographing, website work, and then the marketing packets and stuff like that to see that the paintings find themselves in a happy new home.

Three down, 17 more (plus a lot of busy work) to go. Wish me luck with all of that.

Until next time…