Crunch Time

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UPDATE: The paintings shown in this post, painted in the crazy-assed creative frenzy the week before Open Studios, ALL sold during that particular OS. So there’s a lesson here, my fellow artists–DORITOS! Oh, maybe pay attention to da muse when she comes knocking on our head. If you’d like to see Forest People and Blackbirds in situ in their new home, click ‘Recent Sales’ under the drop down menu in Portfolios up above. But read the post first.

Gather round dearies, I’m going to tell you a story. In the third person (but it’s really first)

Once upon a time, like today, ’twas the week before Open Studios. Our heroine, AKA, Moi, was sitting at the kitchen table taking a break. She was sipping tea and stuffing her face with Doritos. Looking at her one would think she was stressed just a wee bit. But not to worry, she always gets this way before a show…so much to do and so many Doritos to eat, especially when purchased in the party size bag.

It wasn’t the cleaning, sorting, photographing of new works that weighed heavy on her mind. It wasn’t the labeling or inventorying either. Or making sure the holes get drilled, the paintings get wired, the damn canopies and display panels get set up in the garden and the effing pine needles get swept off the path. Noooooooo! It wasn’t those things at all, although if she were thinking clearly it would be.

It was Da Muse, the not so little voice in her head that starts out as a whisper cajoling One more. Just one more painting… And then that EFFING voice tells her to ditch her signature palette of luscious jewels, of turquoise and purple, ultramarine and gold, the palette she is known for…to trade those colors for black and white and ochre. In other words…dirt.

And so she did, and lo she was please. Really, quite pleased and surprised that dirt could be so effective. Content to milk this new palette she made three small paintings of Birch trees. Like this one:

birch painting slporter

Birches # 1 by Susan Lobb Porter

Da Muse then whispered, Go big. And she thought what the hell, she had time to do another, just one more. So she began a new birch painting of substantial size, 30×40 inches.

And this one was nearly completed when Da Muse said, Babe, it sucks. You’ve done this same image, like, three times. STOP. Turn it sideways. And add some iron oxide, just a touch.

And so vertical became horizontal. A face appeared and trees became hair. And she was pleased, very pleased, especially because there was no horizon–she didn’t know she could paint without a horizon.  And she has a thing about iron oxide.

slporter-forest-people

Forest People Under the Full Moon by Susan Lobb Porter

It was her favorite painting, her ABSOLUTE FAVORITE OF ALL TIME. Until Da Muse whispered oh so seductively One more… just ONE more…

And now there is this, her new favorite. ABSOLUTE FAVORITE OF ALL TIME*!!!

slporter painting

Blackbirds. By Susan Lobb Porter

It’s not that her heart is fickle, it’s simply that her head is full. The last thing to occupy her mind is ALWAYS the best. ALWAYS. It’s like her  kids. The last one she laughed with is always her favorite.

William, better give your mama a call, just sayin’…

 

 

 

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Susan Lobb Porter

Hey, welcome to my blog. I'm an artist, writer and sometimes a wise-ass observer of life. Thoughts are my own because really--who else would claim them?

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