Monday, August 20, 2007

Juggling

Red Roof, 2007, Oil on Panel, 8x10

Well, despite being pretty busy the last few days, and being terribly lazy about getting started in the studio, I did manage to get quite a few 8x10 paintings finished up. I am juggling a few deadlines right now, and they are all on this Friday, mostly because on Saturday we are going on a week long family vacation to the Lakes Region in New Hampshire. So this is what I have to do before we leave (doesn't count packing or cleaning the house):

The Harrison Gallery has been doing a bang up job selling my work lately and they need more paintings in their inventory. So I need to ship them at least four, although six would probably be better.

I am in a group show, called Upstate Landscape at a local gallery, the Smithy-Pioneer Gallery in Cooperstown, NY. I have to drop off about six pieces on Friday, and the opening is on Monday. We will miss it, which is unfortunate, because we usually know so many people at their openings.

The Blogger Show needs to have jpegs by August 31, of the two pieces that I plan to put into the show which is in November. So, um, I have to paint those paintings this week....

And the local arts org is having their annual Arts on the Lawn sale and so even though I have decided not to participate this year, I probably will end up doing it anyway. Since the events starts before we get back from vacation, I will have to drop off the work before we leave.

I have about 15 paintings in progress (five are essentially finished) and will totally be holding my breath this week, hoping that I don't screw up more than one of them. Heh.

After a bit of trial and error, I have a pretty good system for keeping track of all of this stuff. I have a calendar next to my desk which has the deadlines written on it, plus as a back up I take notes on a notepad on my desk. Cause sometimes I don't even feel like actually turning my head to look at the calendar. I also have a Day Runner type month-in-view calendar in a binder which I use to map out shows and projects for the upcoming year. Although I don't refer to that very often, it's great to have the overview easily available. And I always add the opening receptions that I have to go to, to the FAMILY MASTER CALENDAR, centrally located in the kitchen. That way the kids can see when the 'rents are going out of town!

The interesting thing I have found is that if I write everything down, I always remember all of it and rarely have to check the dates. If I don't write it down, I forget the info entirely. So I take special care to write the important stuff down leaving the rest to mysteriously disappear into the recesses of my shrinking brain.

9 comments:

Daniel Sanger said...

very nice work:) Love the shadows.

Mary Klein said...

This painting is lovely. The detail of the roof and the burgundy-yellow color combination stand out - very, very nice.

gary rith said...

I used to have scraps of paper with ideas and orders fluttering about, now use an actual pad of paper. You learn things as you grow older and more forgetful.
You're pretty darn busy!
--actually, there re still alot of scraps of paper around...

Steven LaRose said...

Was this post for me? Cuz that's twice now that you've told me to write everything down on a calendar.

Do you keep a strict inventory? Or, god forbid, track of your hours?

Live Free, or Die!

and watch out for the no-see-ums.

ps.
When you go on trips, are you still "on" with your camera or sketchbook?

Tracy Helgeson said...

Yes, Steve, I write all of my posts for you:) Actually, I had written the post when I mentioned it to you. Other way around. But you should have a tracking system, trust me, it helps at every level.

But no, I am not militant about doing it, obviously since I am almost a year behind on paperwork, things slip by me all of the time, and I do NOT track my hours. That would drive me crazy.

No-see-ums?

I take my camera everywhere I go, don't always use it, but I always have just in case. And on this trip, I am taking a box of art supplies and we'll all do some art, just fun stuff. So I will be partially on, but mostly off, this trip.

Steppen Wolf said...

Tracy,
I checked out your artists website and liked it much.
Good going.
Sunil

Steven LaRose said...

no-see-ums, or "midgies?"
nasty new england bugs

Hattermad said...

Amazingly fantastic painting...
just the right mood...w/o denigrating your own vision and work, gives me the same goosebumps a good Hopper does, though does not remind me of him in a direct manner...make any sense? hehehe

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks, Sunil. I really should update it more often, but eventually visitors there get over here and I put new work up almost everyday.

Steven, well I can think of several horrible, seemingly invisible bugs that love me here in New England. Not to mention deer flies, that really cause me problems! I have a bad word for them though, nothing so polite as no-see-ums:)

Thanks so much Hattermad, you flatter me greatly. In fact, by mentioning Hopper when referring to my work, you have now become excellent marriage material for me. Well, if I were single of course:)