So, this morning the phone rings and I think it's around 6:30 or so and stumbling out of bed to find the phone and see the time, I notice that it's almost 9!! Luckily, I'm off from work, but it was one of those moments when your brain is still trying to get your right foot in front of the left and any other function(s), like opening your eyes, is almost too much to ask, :P

The person on the phone was Bridgette. She was calling to let me know that she was prepping 18 of my paintings to be shipped to the law firm in Washington, D.C. She's arranged for the law firm (I keep forgetting the name) to hold the work for two weeks to see how it fits into thier space and decide which pieces they would like to purchase. She also asked me to come up with one or two-sentence blurbs to give them a sense of the inspiration for the work since neither Bridgette nor I will be there to talk about the paintings. I have to meet with her tomorrow morning at the gallery around 8:30 to do that. She's going to send me an email with all the titles and so forth so I can get a head start tonight. I remember most of the works she has, but not all.

This could turn out to be a great thing if all goes well, as in they buy all of the works. Even if they don't like *all* of them, and still purchase some, I'll be happy. This is potentially my first corporate collection that I can put on my resumé and that's exciting. I'll certainly have more incentive and funds to replenish my inventory in the coming months. This is certainly one more good step towards realizing my goal of becoming a self-sufficient artist.

Mmmmmm...art supplies, more paintings...drool
 

Bridgette and I had a meeting last week in my studio. She wanted to see what I'd been working on for the past few months since my solo show at the gallery in February.

We talked a bit about the paintings I had on the walls. Then she asked me about one in particular. She asked me what excited me about that painting, tentatively titled, 'Frances Blue'. The first thing I pointed out was overcoming the challenge of having some of the stripe elements entering the picture plane from the top of the canvas instead of being anchored along the bottom as is usually the case. This was a big deal for me since the 'hanging' stripes cause a total shift in how the space is perceived; from that of looking at something that is anchored on the same horizonal as the viewer to a much more ambiguous space. One where the main forms lend themselves to a floating or sliding action in front and behind each other.

What excites you about this painting? That question opened a whole world of dialogue between her and I as well as between myself and my work. It's not as if I hadn't dealt with it before, however, it hasn't been a part of my thinking process a lot lately. It's so difficult to put a finger on that thing inside that I'm attempting to put on canvas. That's the way painting is for me. There is always the chase to make solid a usually vague feeling inside. Trying to give a body to something that could be best described as having the consistnecy of fog. It's next to impossible and frustrating at times. It's also what keeps me going as an artist. Trying to capture the ambiguity of life in abstract images and yet have it hold together and mean something.