Studio Notes | Meiners and Lee Studios | The Art of Leslie Lee and Dennis Meiners - Part 3

Painting Intensive – Final Day 5

Sunday, August 25th, 2013

Leave a comment

I only had a couple hours the last day due to a planned trip to Seattle to meet up with my daughter for dinner and have a “play day” with Dennis to celebrate his 63rd.  We just returned, having soaked ourselves in a 50 year retrospective of  Patti Warashina’s work at the BellevueArts Museum (as well as two other really interesting sculpture exhibits).

Patti’s exhibit occupied the entire third floor and at one point I had to go out into the courtyard and close my eyes for a while.  My inner dialog went something like this: “Who the hell do I think I am to call myself a professional artist?  I haven’t done anything but class work for an entire year. I don’t even carry a sketch book with me. I’m 65 years old and I still don’t have a handle on what I want to do or how I want to do it. Blah blah blah. I will never have a museum retrospective or even show in a major gallery  Blah blah……..sigh… but do I really care? Didn’t I decide a long while ago that I didn’t have the stamina to play the Fame Game? That I just wanted to make art and sell it myself and die knowing I enriched some people’s lives with my images…?” and then I got up and went back to see the rest of the exhibit.

On the drive back I dozed in the car and by the time we got home I had made notes for a half dozen conceptual paintings I want to do. Allegory. Metaphor. New fresher painting approach with stronger forms. I can’t wait to finish setting up the studio and start painting again, everyday, like I did this last week.

So here’s the last little (8 x 10) painting of the 5 day intensive to honor the space I was working in when Variation #4 came to be.. It was inspired both by Matisse’s Studio Under the Eaves  and a comment made in the crit on Thursday: “Moving out into the sun room was a really good move for you.”

IMG_0091 (480x640)   IMG_0095 (436x640)

Henri Matisse:


Moving my head out into the sun is also a good move. Wish me luck with that.

 

Leave a comment »

Painting Intensive – Day 4

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

One comment

Did not take a nap today so I’m a bit loopy.  I squandered that half hour by being late, so worked through with only a lunch break.  My goal for the day was to resolve the big painting #3 and start another Variation #4 on a 24 x 30 inch canvas.  (side note here: I […]

One comment

Painting Intensive – Day 3

Thursday, August 22nd, 2013

One comment

I had the sense to find a quiet place to stretch out for a short nap this afternoon. This is something Dennis and I, and a great many other sensible people around the world, do everyday after lunch. For me 30 minutes down buys two hours or more in the evening. Missing my siesta and […]

One comment

Painting Intensive- Day 2

Wednesday, August 21st, 2013

Leave a comment

Today I pushed. I’m pooped and pumped.  Decided to work bigger and so prepped some canvas last night for today’s efforts.  30 x 40 inches?  Didn’t measure. Doesn’t matter – you get the idea. At the venue this morning I did a quick acrylic wash of red/ pink over the white ground and then finished […]

Leave a comment »

Painting Intensive: Day 1

Tuesday, August 20th, 2013

2 comments

Through a friend I was included in a five day painting intensive that began today. Nine to four Monday through Friday with Jef Gunn coming in for the last 2 hours of each day to give us feedback.  I had no idea how I was going to utilize these workdays amidst 17 other painters. Jef’s […]

2 comments

The Last Copper Red Bowls?

Wednesday, August 7th, 2013

Leave a comment

Slowly, slowly our studios are coming together in the lower level of our Portland home.  The big delay has been due to installing in-floor radiant heat to replace the baseboard heaters in the house.  Doing that meant having access to every bit of the ceiling downstairs so there wasn’t much point in unpacking our studio […]

Leave a comment »

What’s a Giclee?

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

One comment

First of all the word giclee is pronounced zhee-klay. Who knew? The French word “giclée” is a feminine noun that means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The word may have been derived from the French verb “gicler” meaning “to squirt”.   If you find that amusing, I do too. The “squirt” refers to the […]

One comment

The Work of Selling Art

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

Leave a comment

Before we knew we had buyers for our home in the Applegate Valley we decided to go ahead with hiring a web designer to re-do the website I had been cobbling together for the last decade. It had begun to take on aspects of the Winchester House with stairways leading nowhere and doors opening to […]

Leave a comment »

We’ve moved!

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

One comment

All that effort to sell our country home via the internet finally paid off in August when we were contacted by a young couple who had been living in Uganda for five years and were ready to bring their family back to the U.S.  They saw the video tour of our property and after sending […]

One comment

Studying Heads at Gabriel’s Studio

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Leave a comment

Another 8 weeks with Gabrielle before I bow out of class for the spring/summer when too many Fridays are already scheduled with events. Last week Gabe did a demo painting a model for the whole three hours while we sketched. I’m glad for this instruction at this time, when I am finishing Noah’s Guitar and […]

Leave a comment »

Subscribe to our Email List!

Recent Posts

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

.