studio update

I've been delinquent; it's been almost a week since my last post. (That sounded freakishly like the opening words of Confession or maybe an AA meeting: "Bless me, Readers, for I have sinned. It's been six days and four hours since my last post".) As I continue to not paint the anxiety has increased, but I have been doing the groundwork for the next six months. Here's how it all looks from here:

1. I need to paint two paintings to add to four I did last year and have them shipped to a new gallery in the Rockies by the end of next month. Last fall I was approached by the business manager of Effusion Gallery (will post the website once it's up and running), which is being built from the ground up in the resort town (lakeside with skiing and hot springs nearby) of Invermere.

2. When those are done I need to embark on a series of large paintings for a three-person show in August, same gallery, with two abstract painters.

3. I was again invited to contribute a painting to this year's big annual FCA fundraiser, Paintings, by Numbers, and fretted over finding time to paint something new. In the end I decided to donate an older painting, but am doing so with some reservations because, as you can see by 2007's roster, this is an event for the more traditional art lover. My fellow artists are mostly established painters of mainstream subject matter. I haven't made the final decision but the painting above is what I'm thinking I'll send. (I also might participate in a four-person show at the FCA's Federation Gallery in the autumn.)

4. We spent Sunday morning with friends Sonya and Ken, photographing Kiki, Sonya's mother's pampered Fox Terrier, so I'd have enough reference material to paint a portrait commissioned by Sonya. There's nothing like the instinct of dogs bred for a purpose. Three times a day for nine years Kiki has hunted down, shaken vigorously to break its neck, buried, then dug up (all the while barking menacingly) a defenceless green tennis ball. She's taught lessons to more than a half dozen Wimbledons' worth of tennis balls during that time I'd guess.

5. Finally, for fun, I have been painting little wooden boxes. It's been good letting myself play for a couple of weeks but now it's back to the salt mines. Please abuse me if I post more than twice a week or visit blogs more than occasionally in the next few months. Must. Focus. Stay tuned for masterpieces.