It has been a year of facing fears and the unknown, growing and celebrating. It is fall 2008, and the warm extended summer and cool crisp nights get us nesty for winter.
Sometime last year I had a new website set up with a solid plan to have it done in 2 weeks. Well weeks turned into months and eventually I will have hit a year on October 12, 2008, with no advancement done. What have I been doing? Summer of 2007 was a banner year, sales were good, even great. I thought I would do art festivals again, having come off a successful season. But fall hit, and with it my husband's cancer returned and we slogged for 6 weeks to radiation therapy every day, Monday through Friday. He finished treatment right before Thanksgiving, neither of us having much appetite or energy, so we played it low key. His strength returned, lab tests looked great, and after having been sidelined for a few months, we hit the road in February 2008, heading for Las Vegas and Arizona to reinvigorate ourselves. We celebrated Valentine's Day with a two-day stay at a Venetian suite, shopped and dined sumptuously and then headed to see friends in Arizona, relaxing, shopping, catching up, light hiking, shopping, cooking, and even hit a flea market in bustling Kingman. Antique art shopping is always a favorite pasttime with my friend Mary.
In early April I went to a Donna Zagotta workshop with a friend, for a week in Hood River. Fabulous! The buds were wanting to pop on the pear trees, Mt. Hood towered to the southeast, and the Columbia River beckened to the north. All restaurants in Hood River seem to feature dishes and drinks made with pears. Pear dumplings (scrumptious), pear chutney, poached pears, pear wine, you name it.
In late April, I headed to Taos, New Mexico and participated in a two-week Intensive Studios Seminar, with Alex Powers, Fran Larsen, Topher Schink, Skip Lawrence, and Katherine Liu. OMG was it fabulous, and the word "Intensive" was quite appropo. It was WORK. We arrived a couple days early to get our bearings, see the Rio Grande, and explore Taos. Then it was down to work. Some have asked what techniques I learned. Well, none, it wasn't that kind of a "workshop". It was a seminar to explore one's strengths and identity. Two of the instructors said I should stick to landscapes, 1 said definitely figures, and the other two said do whatever you like. Well I like so many things, that was my struggle, to find an identity. What I came out with was, I shall do 30-40 landscapes. After that, I can move to something else if I want. Meeting with 100 other artists from around the world was amazing, all striving to improve their voice in the visual arts. I may go back again. Some have gone for 7 years or so. We stayed an extra day in Taos and took in the first art festival of the season, then off to Santa Fe for 3 days of gallery exploration and fine dining. A wonderful city, met a lot of wonderful and friendly artists.
In late May-early June, I went to San Luis Obispo, California, for a week's stay at a the Avila Beach Resort and took advantage of a Robert Burridge workshop. How fun was that! Intensive freedom! I explored new mediums and we stuck our paintings on the wall. Some of my fellow students mistook my paintings for Bob's. Bob is one heckuva teacher. There was no fear. No wrong. We had official permission slips to do anything we wanted. I bought two of Bob's original paintings from his "circus" collection as a souvenir.
Returning to Oregon, and welcoming home my son and his wife from Japan, I had decided back in February I would take the summer off from festivals and teaching. I would enjoy family, and painting. And I did. I mulled a lot. Mulled over what I had learned, discovered. I explored. I did 9 on-site plein air paintings (at least I started them) and set up tables on the deck with my festival canopy over me, and had lovely bright white light to paint under all summer long. We had company most of the summer, coming and going. I gave the gift of a "summer off" to my husband. We held onto our sanity together that way, without the pressure of creating huge bodies of work for summer festivals after traveling so much. Life is good, my husband feels great. I think I took like 3000 digital photos this summer, for inspiration and memories. I had two paintings accepted into the All-Oregon Art Annual this year (professional division), which exhibited in late August. Didn't win an award this time (as I did a couple years ago) but it was the only thing I entered this summer, with all that was going on.
So now I am looking forward to our fall studio tour. I have busted out new paints and materials and have hit a roll! I had to order new cards and restock my galleries with original paintings, prints and cards. New paintings have poured out of my soul. Rest is good. The sabbatical was successful. Invigorating, inspiring, and I'm more happy with what I'm painting than ever before.
I will update this as events warrant. I have scheduled nearly nothing else for the rest of the year, an exhibit or two in the winter, one in January. An exhibition in October, small things.
It has been a year of facing fears and the unknown, growing and celebrating. Now, I face my website with updates of new artwork! Find me at krug-art@krugart.com.
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