Delegating, travel & super heroes

It's that time of year again, when most of my work time (and a sizable chunk of my other time) is taken up by planning the fall shows/workshops/conferences.  Thankfully, due to having hired wonder girl, I am able to delegate my tasks and not completely loose my marbles.  As much as I have enjoyed giving workshops, and working with artists to hone their acrylic skills and find their voice in it's expression, I am feeling a gathering sense of relief as I pass this task on to some very capable, inspiring and talented teachers.

This fall I will be giving a couple of workshops in California, at the always a blast, Learning & Product Expo: Art! in Pasadena.  Dates for the workshops are now up on the website.  I will also be giving one or two workshops at CHA this year (Jan. 2011 Los Angeles), but these have yet to be confirmed.

Beyond these few workshops, my professional path redirects me, and I take on the roles of Tri-Art Acrylic Education Program Director, Writer (book three is taking shape!), and Factory Girl (this role is too complicated to describe with any accuracy or consistency).  If you are looking for workshops with a similar style and content to the ones I have given in the past, there are will be a whole new string of them being offered, primarily in Canada, in the coming year.  Look for them on the Tri-Art website.

There is a lot of travel in store for me again this year, so if you are interested in booking a lecture or book signing, let me know!  At the TAAEP (Tri-Art Acrylic Ed. Program) we are designing a series of New Acrylics Books related workshops, some exciting plans simmering in that pot right now, stay tuned!

Flux

OK, I've changed the look of the blog.  I think that this will have to remain a work in progress.  I'm not quite ready to commit to it.  
It would seem that my present involvement with words, rather than images, has had much to do with the thematic shift in design.  

hmmm

I don't think I like the way my blog looks anymore.  I need some light.
suggestions?  IF you think I should change my look, let me know.  I'm fresh out of creative ANYTHING.

Oh...this sultry heat

This is when I have to hold back from some of my favorite painting practices.  My medium usage draws back to a trickle, as the humidity rises and drying time lengthens.

For the way that I use acrylics, it's a good thing that they dry quickly, a great thing, in fact.  I am a layer girl, in both my paint practice and in how I dress myself.  Textures, colours, overlapping, interlocking, harmonizing.... layers sing.

But in this heat, forget it!  The medium of choice for this devastatingly drippy season is Low Viscosity Polymer (Tri-Art Finest Quality).  It's thin, glossy and clear.  My glazing becomes a succession of vapor thin veils of light colour.  The effect is subtle, drenched in depth, slow and soft like the air.

Another medium I embrace during this season is Tri-Art's Dry Media Ground.  Why? You have to use it to know exactly what I mean, but I'll try to explain.  Although this is made to be used with dry media (pastels, graphite, etc.), I like to paint into it.  It absorbs in an unusual way.   The medium whitens immediately, then settles back slowly to it's clear state.  During the wet time, blending on this velvety surface is smooth and luscious.  Using a dry brush technique yields a completely different effect.  The colour looks dusty, like a soft pastel, like a breath.

There is a piece in my hallway that I don't think is quite finished, it has areas of Dry Media ground, others of glossy glazes, and some a la prima bits that keep shocking me.  I find myself petting it when I go by.  I'll stand there sometimes, touching it's varied surfaces, loving the feel of it, even though I'm not quite satisfied with the whole of it.  For now, as my busy time overwhelms my creative time, this is actually enough.