Percolating Paintings

Well, I admit it. I wasn't painting today. Instead I was focused on taking care of some extra art business -- working on portrait commission prep work, varnishing a painting that's heading to Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club's Annual Exhibition that will be held at the National Arts Club in October, and just stuff.

Four to finish...

So, instead of new pictures ... I'm offering up some new thoughts. With three and a half months left in the year, I'm thinking about what's on my "to do" and "want to accomplish" lists. I have portrait commissions to accomplish and others to get going. There are paintings to finish (like "Whatcha' Doing?", my carousel horse still life,  "Cars and Coffee" and "London Times") and three more in the Beanie Baby series to create. I want to paint outdoors during this perfect season and as practice before Out & About Norfolk in October. Hopefully, I'll be able to practice painting outdoors and continue work on my Feathered and Furry Friends series. The good news is that not all of this has to happen at once. Some have deadlines, and I'll make those. Other deadlines are self-inflicted (there must be a better word than that) and I'll just see what I can do.

Another important priority is to work on my "100 Faces in 100 Days" book and investigate and pursue additional venues.

This means it's time to break back out my calendar and start dedicating days to these different tasks. For some reason, assigning days to projects has a settling effect and eliminates guilt. Each day I'll be doing what I'm "supposed" to be doing and I can feel just as good about taking my easel to the farm as spending time on the Internet looking into art spaces. And, I'll have some free days to use, with again, no guilt.

Percolating Paintings
All of those current projects haven't stopped me from thinking through some interesting concepts for what's next. I discussed this a bit in a grant application this week, at my demo for the Vienna Arts Society, and with a visitor on Saturday. When my 100 Faces volunteers came and sat for me they introduced me to different, special parts of their lives and experiences. Sometimes, those experiences or activities were shared by a few or many of my sitters, and it opened up "their world" to me, whether that was my dad's poker club or an African dance class or picnics and kid moments in many of the families I got to know. While I listened, I imagined these individuals as parts of the whole. I want to paint and share those experiences, mine and others, that we don't normally get to see or be a part of. My thought is to spend time in these different settings (my mom and dad playing cards at Iceberry's is one of them) sketching and painting on site over many (probably many many) sessions. These will be gradually developed, and I so hope they live up to the vision in my head.

Events
August 1 - September 24: "100 Faces in 100 Days" on exhibit at the Artists' Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA. Open hours: Fridays and Saturdays, Noon-4pm.

My Still Life and Portrait Painting & Drawing Both classes are full for Fall sessions. See the Classes page on my web site for more information on those classes. Send me an email if you would like to receive notification of other class/workshop offerings -- what kind of courses you would be interested in, days of the week and times.

Sunday, October 2, 10am-5pm: MPA McLean Artfest, juried outdoor arts festival, McLean Community Park, McLean, VA

Saturday and Sunday, October 15&16, 10am-5pm: Great Falls Annual Studio Tour. Major weekend long event with 47 artists from Great Falls Studios participating in a self-guided tour. I'll be in the Artists' Atelier, the studio I share with 14 other artists at 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls. Last year, the tour drew 7200+ visitors from throughout the DC area. Don't miss it!

October 20-22, Out & About Norfolk 2011: Juried Plein Air Event and Wet Paint Sale. I'll be spending three days in Norfolk for this 5th Annual Plein Air Competition ... painting away. I'm excited!

November 1-11, 83rd Grand National Exhibition 2011: "Alan" will be on exhibit at the American Artists Professional League Grand National at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, NYC. Reception" Sunday, November 6, 2-5pm.

To read more about the 100 Faces in 100 Days project on my web site (www.jillbanks.com), go to the 100 Faces Project Pages 1 and 2 where you can see all 100 of my volunteers. Click on the paintings, and go to my blog post for that person's sitting.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 1 (faces 1-54): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 2 (faces 55-100): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project_2.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435