Blog

3/31/2009 9:12:42 PM

Daily Painting, Cake At The Bubble Room

Greetings,

Welcome to daily painting at the Cooper studio. So the canvas hanging on the easel at the moment is a charming 24 x 24 inch square, and it's involving a lot of red paint. Ain't it wonderful?! Red is such a lovely color. But wow. Even in my encyclopedia, this is a LOT of red.

Somewhere from the memory banks, I think I recall that redheads never wear red. But. I just happen to be working from a photo this time, and guess what? It's a black and white photo, so no boundaries!

This painting is asking for a little more brush time (the white gap downfront, for starters). As it is about cake in Florida, the resident 17yr old advised me I really should get around to painting the cake in there. Details, details. Anyway, enjoy it as it is for now, it'll probably change a bit by this time tomorrow.

progress report on cake at the bubble room

Later, Cooper

3/27/2009 9:54:22 AM

Daily Painting, Acrylic Painting, Farmer's Market Morning

cooper / 1 Comment

Greetings,
Welcome to daily painting at the Cooper studio, in sunny (yea for sunny) Spencer, Iowa. Yesterday's daily painting involved another canvas destined for the "in pursuit of tasty" adventure. I promise a photo update later today.
Today's color is the finished (yea for finished) photo of:

Farmer's Market Morning, an acrylic painting on a gallery wrapped canvas, measuring a delightful 24 x 20 inches. It is available, $355, in my portfolio. Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

3/26/2009 6:24:05 PM

I Want More! Information, That Is.

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,

My kids went through a phase where it was cool to cover their ears with their hands and holler "too much information!", which really just meant "I don't want to hear anymore of that". Many and random were the events that could initiate these outbursts, and trust me, you don't want me to elaborate.

However. A blog post is another matter, a different ball game, an apple in a bowl of oranges, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you understand now, right? A blog post is all about information. The concept was designed as a vehicle to share information. We read blog posts to garner desired information.

So why, I ask is it often so lacking? Marsha at The Extraordinary Pencil wrote a great blog a while back about missing information, in the form of artwork with no price listed. I'm afraid I know artists who do that intentionally, thinking it gives them an (ahem) image of success. Read: if you have to ask you can't afford it. Very annoying indeed.

However. The kind of information absenteeism I'm bashing today, is probably accidental or unthinking, but no less maddening. And here it is: why do people post their gallery showings, workshops, studio events, etc. and just put the name of their town in the info? Do they not have a state? Do they not know the name of it? Do they expect everybody to know which town named Lincoln is theirs? Their are 32 states that have a town named Lincoln. Did you know their are 29 Springfields in the United States? And five of them are in Wisconsin. How Do they do that? Oh, nevermind. My point is, folks, if you really want people to come, you need to say WHERE.

Oh, and I just heard someone mutter, but everybody around here knows us/the gallery/the studio. What if I am traveling in your area? Actually, road trips are my favorite time to seek out new art. Some of us are so addicted to looking at art that we will schedule our travels around an art show that we know is going to be in the vicinity. Ha! (crazy artist)

Do you remember that fourth grade writing assignment your teacher gave? The w's. Who, what, when, where and why. I hope I didn't leave one out. It's been a long time since fourth grade, Mrs. Keithly.

Later, Cooper

3/23/2009 1:44:50 PM

Daily Painting, Acrylic Painting, Farmer's Market Morning

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to daily painting at the Cooper studio, on a soggy Monday in Spencer, Iowa. We even had a bit of dog-shuddering, pre-dawn lightning and thunder!

Way back when the Cooper's were still Nebraskans and farmers, we spent several years involved in vegetable production. Some of the crop was sold wholesale. (yes, not every vegetable you eat is grown in California or Florida!) Some of the crop was sold at farmer's market, and despite the labor intensiveness of the whole scenario, we still think fondly of those days. We did a pretty respectable job of growing a darn fine tomato. Not to mention eggplant, breakfast melons, peppers, and I won't carry on, but basically we grew lot's of tasty edibles.

No wonder then, the moment we feel even a hint of spring breeze on our faces, that the overwhelming urge to dig around in the dirt and plant something strikes. No wonder also, that pulling out some farmer's market photos, inclined to a painting, seemed like a very logical action to take. Started last week, more daily paint landed on this canvas today, to the point that it's beginning to feel signature-ready. We'll lean it on the wall for a day or so just to make sure.

Later, Cooper

3/21/2009 4:46:28 PM

Painting The Figure Versus Painting Something Else, And The FASO Painting Competition

cooper / 5 Comments

Greetings,
Welcome to the Cooper studio, where today is Saturday, and the only thing painted so far is the fence in our back yard. But it does look much better, thank you.

I was just browsing through the entries for the FASO painting competition. Has anyone else noticed how many paintings are appearing there that involve painting the figure in some way, shape, or form? True, a couple of them are fairly abstract, and one is of someone's legs and feet, but we'll call them figurative anyway. Of the 130 submitted when I checked, 41 involve the figure. I thought that was a pretty high percentage, so just for kicks and giggles I jumped over to the canvasflyer pages. I decided that ten pages was a nice round number, that's 60 images, so that's how many I scanned. Four of those 60 had the figure involved. I am an artist, not a CPA, but I think that means 32% of the paintings entered in the contest were figurative, while on the canvas flyer a mere 6% were figurative paintings.

That information could lead us to several conclusions:
1. Do artists think figurative paintings are better accepted in competitions?
2. Do artists paint landscapes, still lifes, etc for their everyday stuff and when they need to jump up a notch, they paint the figure?
3. Are artists that paint the figure more competitive, and therefore more likely to enter a competition?
4. Or one other possibility, ha, maybe landscape, still life, abtract painters are more laid back about getting their entries in and they plan on getting it done tomorrow or one of these days soon. (remember I said "ha" so that means #4 is like a joke!)
5. And the best possibility yet, because I paint the figure, maybe I pay way too much attention to things like this and it's really just a coincidence!

But you have to admit it's a little bit interesting. Now we'll all have to keep a little closer track of the contest entries to see how the scenario plays out! Have a great rest of the weekend.

Later, Cooper

3/20/2009 4:44:31 PM

Daily Painting, Acrylic Painting, Farmer's Market

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,
Welcome to another day of daily painting at the Cooper studio. Today's daily paint landed on the farmer's market canvas yet again. I do believe I solved a fairly major problem from yesterday's work. You can decide for yourself.

Yup, there's more work to do here, but it feels like we are at least headed for the home stretch.

Later, Cooper

3/19/2009 7:26:05 PM

Daily Painting, Acrylic Painting , Farmers Market

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,
Welcome to daily painting at the Cooper studio. Today's daily painting landed on a canvas of a farmer's market scene that I have been working on. I am sorry to report that, no, they are not really farmer's market tomatoes. Get real, this is Spencer, Iowa in March. The really sad part is when I got home from the store with the tomatoes, I read the little stick-on label and discovered they are from Mexico. Alas, all the good advice I ever absorbed from Robert Rodale, shunned in the need for a real tomato model. Here is the photo of my efforts--a ways to go yet, but some good things did happen today:

Later, Cooper

3/19/2009 2:15:07 PM

More Thoughts On The Summer Art Fair

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,

It's confirmed. I have spring fever. Yes, Dorothy, even in northwest Iowa. The proof is that I am still thinking about summer art shows. Here is a light hearted, but possibly painfully true, look at that scene for you. And yes, all you inquiring minds, I am painting today, just no photos yet.

Later, Cooper

3/18/2009 6:39:09 AM

Should I Stay Or Should I Go-Oh, The Summer Art Fair 2009

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio. Yesterday's inbox gave me a friendly email from a fellow artist, inquiring about a summer art fair I exhibited at in 2008, wanting to know if it was a 'good one'. I always appreciate when someone shares their art fair knowledge with me, and have already responded to her email.

However. It left me pondering the concept of the venue, and here we are again this morning. Several others who regularly post blogs at FASO have mentioned staying home from shows this summer, or at least cutting back on the number attended. What about you? Are you an art fair 'regular'? Will you be again this summer? Were you just thinking about doing your first art fair this summer? Do you have your 'art fair top ten?

I have exhibited at summer art fairs since 1992, between eight and twelve events each year. I guess that means I've seen a few, but definitely not all. My range is limited to the midwest, no further east than Michigan, west than Colorado. Am I especially curious about how this summer's art fairs willl play out? Absolutely. Times they are a changin'.

I firmly believe that we have too many summer art fairs. There are some great old standards, but there are a massive flock of newbies that I think need to be eliminated. When was the last time you went to a planning/fund raising meeting for some organization, where someone piped up with "we could sponsor an art fair, you know with the white tents and everything"? I've been to two such in the past six months. And let's put that in the proper context: I live in Spencer, Iowa, population 11,000. What could the count in Chiacagoland possibly be?

So how about a top ten list for "should I stay or should I go-oh?

1. Has it been a good show for you in the past? That's a tough one if you've never exhibited at a summer art fair before. See number 6!
2. How does the staff view advertising? We are talking beyond the local paper here. Does the show have their patron email list ready to send, and hopefully it numbers more than 500, preferably add 2 zeroes?
3. Is their a slew of sideline events, carnival rides, 10k runs, antique car show? Yeah, that list could go on and on. Too many sideline events are just too much unnecessary distraction. The purpose of a good art show is good art. Period.
4. How far do you have to travel? Too many artists say "it only cost me a tank and a half of gas to get here". No, and no. Charge yourself mileage just like your accountant will do :) (thanks, honey)
5. Does the 'jury' line of the application say something like "or until full" (!!!) Read: "we haven't been able to get as many artists as we want, but we'll keep trying"
6. Is this a good year to exhibit at an art fair for the first time? You might want to read a copy of the WallStreetJournal before you answer that. And it could be a trick question--who knows?
7. Who is promoting the event, and what is their purpose? Are they there to create interaction between artists and community, and while most will say they are, is their bottom line really prefixed with a $ sign?
8. Did they jump their jury fee to $40 this year? And if yes, why?
9. Does the show maintain a website, and does that website keep info from the previous year's artists for patron referral?
10. And from the website mentioned in #9, does it look like artwork that you want to spend a weekend next to? Or is it just another crowd trying to make a buck, selling whatever? (ooh, that was a nasty one!)

And so go the thoughts of an artfairartist early in the season. Am I exhibiting at any shows this summer? At this moment, I have exactly one on the calendar. I'll keep you informed. But this post needs some color. My worst event of the summer 2008 has actually resulted in several paintings, ironic, that, eh? Here's the current look, not quite done version of Saturday Morning, Nothing Much To Do.

And do inquiring minds want to know what that 'worst event' was? Ha! This is a scene from in front of the Unicorn Cafe, location: downtown Evanston, Illinois.

Later, Cooper

3/16/2009 7:19:25 PM

Daily Painting, Saturday Morning, Nothing Much To Do

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to daily painting at the Cooper studio. Today's daily paint landed on the Unicorn Cafe canvas. By the way, that would be the same Unicorn Cafe that is just off Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Illinois. And if in reading this blog in the past, that name sounds familiar to you, then yes, this is the second painting from that setting. The first goes by the title of Tea And A Book At The Unicorn, and is definitely one of my favorite paintings :)

However, back to today's agenda, this Unicorn Cafe canvas has been named Saturday Morning, Nothing Much To Do. I do believe it is getting close to done. I promise I am not color blind, even thought you are definitely wondering why those shadows to the left got painted Cadmium Red Medium, eh? When I did the thumbnail sketch for this painting, the deep part of the shadows cut back in towards the doorway, but after painting it that way, it kind of felt offkilter to me, therefore the red. And we can never argue with a good red :)

The poor guy who is deep in thought, has only about 1/2 of his left hand present, I suppose we need to at least suggest more than two fingers. The guy in the blue shirt, might not have a right hand at all. He would probably appreciate one. Let's plan on that for tomorrow.

Later, Cooper

3/13/2009 6:12:22 PM

Daily Painting, Saturday Morning, Nothing Much To Do

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to daily painting at the Cooper studio. Well folks, we've got a slow one here. This painting is just not one that want's to be hurried. Sometimes that's ok. And good progress, no matter what size, is always pleasing. With no further ado, today's
daily painting on the canvas of Saturday Morning, Nothing Much To Do.

Later, Cooper

3/11/2009 7:05:02 PM

Daily Painting, Studio For Sale

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,
Daily painting, studio for sale: how's that for an attention grabbing headline? And it's even true, a little. Actually, the whole house is for sale. There, of course, is a story behind that, but the short version is my husband's work is about 100 miles south of here, my work is pretty darn portable, and the youngest Cooper graduates in two months. That means it's almost time to live a little closer to the job.
But then, the painting: on my journal blog, I often investigate the topic of 'what makes artists paint the way they do?' I promise to get to that blog soon---the journal definitely needs a little house-selling-versus -painting story,don't you think?!
And in between it all, two looks at what's on the easel:

This is a larger canvas, 33.5 x 36, an unusual size for me, and yes, there's a story behind that as well, but not now. :) The interesting fact about it is, I was struggling with the thing, until it grew a name. I now know exactly what to call it, and exactly what I want it to say, and I think it's a pretty darn pleasant thought as well. Saturday Morning, Nothing Much To Do Don't you love it?

Later, Cooper

so tommorrow I have to go LOOK at houses, yeah, the other end of the moving equation---don't look for too much painting to be happening at the Cooper studio until Friday

3/6/2009 11:34:31 AM

Daily Painting, Another Painting 'In Pursuit Of Tasty'

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to daily painting at the Cooper studio. Procrastination is good. At least sometimes it has it's applications for the positive. Take today for example. I have a large canvas in process, a cafe scene from last summer's foray to Evanston (Illinois). It's got me to the thinking stage, where I know it needs to lean on the studio wall for a day or two. You may call it the watch and wait stage.

So up onto the easel hops a cute little 12 x 12 inch canvas begging for some paint. I've mentioned my upcoming exhibit (mid-April, yes, I promise to get my newsletter out about that soon), where it appears the paintings are being directed to 'in pursuit of tasty' or all things related. And so here you are:

These Are So Yummy, acrylic painting on canvas, measuring 12 x 12 inches and available, $135, in my portfolio. Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

3/5/2009 3:27:34 PM

Thoughts On Readying For The Economic Upswing, And Painting To Match The Sofa

cooper / Comment on this

Greetings,

I am into a book, Vincent By Himself, edited by Bruce Bernard. Technically, it's written by VanGogh, as it's really a compilation of his letters, interspersed with his paintings. In one of his many letters to brother Theo, I found a gem of a paragraph, which I'd like to share with you. But first I would like to set it in present day context, because it really seemed to me as current today as it must have been when he wrote it.

There have been many blogs written lately by artists planning to stay home from shows this summer, work on their art, hone up on their skills, study, maybe even create a new body of work, written as constructive, positive-outlook letters, by artists whose paintings aren't selling well in the current economy. Situations assessed, plans made for moving forward. Here's the paragraph:

"As to the the money value of my work, I do not pretend to anything less than that it would greatly astonish me if in time my work did not become just as saleable as that of others. (somebody's paintings aren't selling?) Of course I cannot tell whether that will happen now or later, but I think the surest way, which cannot fail, is to work from nature faithfully and energetically. (study?) Sooner or later feeling and love for nature meet a response from people who are interested in art. (prepare for the time when people are ready to buy art?) It is the painter's duty to be entirely absorbed by nature and to use all his intelligence to express sentiment in his work so that it becomes intelligible to other people. In my opinion working for the market is not exactly the right way: on the contrary, it means fooling art lovers. The true painters have not done this-"

I love how he added in that 'not working for the market' phrase in a letter regarding paintings not selling. Do you suppose by that we can assume he really didn't care what the decorator colors were for the coming season? Ha! No painting to match the sofa concerns at the VanGogh studio, I would say.

But for those of you artists out there, working hard to prepare for the time when people will buy your paintings, I say "way to go!" It would seem to be an exceedingly good time to progress your skills. And about Vincent's remarks as to the ideals of a true painter, he's probably just as right now as he was then. Don't just paint to get by, paint to get THERE.

Later, Cooper

oh wait, do you need some color for this post? But of course. I vote for:

Knowledge Found In Quiet Places. It seems appropriate to the rest of the post, wouldn't you say?