Thursday, September 28, 2006

Day 10














I think that I am in the home stretch here. It feels like things are winding down for this particular project and I am feeling back to my less stressed self. However, there is still plenty to do.

On Wednesday, I started the process of painting the cradles. I used to stain them kind of a dark mahogany color but that was too time consuming, having a long wait for them to dry between coats. So I switched over to painting the frames as well as the cradles black. I have a small, low table (which used to be the kid's art table) in my studio that I normally use for gessoing and for painting the frames and other odds and ends. But as my work gets larger it is more challenging to fit more than a few pieces on the table. So this time I had to let a 24x36 piece dry on the dining room table. We don't use the dining room much and the cats have pretty much claimed the table so there is usually a bit of prep in order to use that. I did the first coat but didn't have a chance for the rest of the day to sand and paint the second coat, so I will have to get back to them tomorrow.

I then did four underpaintings. Even though this barn project is nearly finished I have another show in November and the work must be completed by October 27. I am also expecting the gallery director to call me any day now to ask for a few pieces for publicity, so I need to get a move on with new work for that show.

The next thing I did was to put the final Liquin coat on three paintings that are finished. And by the time I got to actually paint it was nearly 2pm (oops, forgot to mention that I did spend some time commenting on blogs and other such things, bad girl!) and so I only had about an hour and a half before the kids got home. But in that time I did manage to make some good progress on one of the 30x30 barn pieces, pictured above. I would have liked to have worked on the others also, but I feel pretty good about getting them finished by Friday or Saturday.

5 comments:

meno said...

I want you to know how much i am enjoying these posts of your progress. I keep scrolling back through the days to watch the emergence of your art. Thank you!

James Wolanin said...

Tracy, the paintings are looking great!

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks Meno, it's so nice to hear that. My stats have risen considerably so I thought that it is either interesting or everyone is waiting to see if I have had a nervous breakdown yet.

Thanks Jim, such a nice thing to hear from a NYC gallery-represented artist!

amber said...

I really like this one a lot
You're dedication is an inspiration

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks Amber! I am inspired by what other artists accomplish though, those who have full time jobs and still paint or who work in their dining room;-)