The Rest of the Story

It has been five months since I posted here. I'm very active on Instagram but not here, (obviously). That is about to change as I focus more on my "golden years." 

I started this blog in 2013 after a milestone birthday when I was told I was entering my golden years - a time of cutting back, taking life easy, smelling the roses. Somehow the years since then have been as busy as ever and speed by at an alarming rate.

Jay and I have been happily living our dream at our Mill Pond Cottage, the home we built on Lake Sawyer seven years ago. It is the perfect place to grow old but we have one more dream: to move back to Vashon. Thirty five years ago we moved off island and now our plan is to move back, to be near one of our children. 

Life is full of cycles. Growing, accumulating, disbursing, letting go. We are ready to let go of this time of our life and move on to the rest of the story.

Yesterday, we almost bought a house on Vashon! So exciting and so close, but no cigar. Getting that close to finding the perfect place makes it extra hard to concentrate today but I am continuing to pack up the Studio and varnish the last pieces completed for a June show. I'll keep you posted as our search continues.

Checking in...

It has been many months since I last posted on this blog. I'm posting a bit of news today and would love to hear from my old friends.

I had another birthday. (that's good!)

I had a COVID Moderna Booster (some people DO have side effects...aargh...but I'm good now)

I received a nice bouquet (enjoyed it, then ripped it apart and painted the flowers in acrylic.)

A shot of Joy

 Something just happened. Take a look here.

Balance

 It is the end of the year (and what a year!) and time for my usual year-end ponderings. Here is a link to more about what I hope to focus on in 2021.

2020 was a year of working with an art mentor. In 2021 I will work for more balance in my life. Painting, baking and gardening.  Happy New Year to you!

I'm still here...are you there?

I am shocked to see that it has been seven months since my last post! Wow! What happened? Well, COVID-19 for one thing. And that one thing affected everything else which resulted in more time for myself; more time in the Studio. 

In late 2019 I set aside the year 2020 to become a better painter by starting a year-long mentor program working in oil with Australian painter, Colley Whisson. As I finished each painting, it was submitted to Colley for his input. Then I would either change it or not. Of the 55 paintings, I completed 24 paintings that are mine alone and therefore eligible for competition and another 31 that were reworked or painted again using Colley's very good advice. These paintings can be shown or sold but not entered into a competition. It was a very worthwhile commitment and I highly recommend Colley as a mentor. 

Now it is time for a change of direction. And as with every refocus, I like to clean and rearrange my Studio. 

Barbara's Studio 2015
Look at this image from 5 years ago. Wow, so bare.

Barbara's Studio Nov.1, 2020
After a year of nearly daily painting, the Studio is out of control.

Barbara's Studio Nov. 5, 2020
It took 3 days but I managed to rearrange my studio working space back to the 2015 version. My watch-dog Annie is no longer with me so I have arranged my desk in place where I can keep see what she would have alerted me to. I have painting canvases, panels and empty frames stored in every nook and cranny but it does once again feel organized which is essential to my well being.

And, while cleaning, look what I found! I thought my Schmincke pastel "suitcase" contained only 1/2 sticks but wowzer! It is 4 trays full of all brands and colors. I haven't seen these for 5 years. Now I have to reorganize my current pastel trays to accommodate new colors. Exciting.

Pastel Work Station

Oil painting Work Station

That's all for now. I hope you are well and able to enjoy more time in your studio. Did I mention that I still have my couch in here? Good for naps!

What's in your freezer?

What's in your freezer? Is it similar to mine? Take a look.

Checking in and the teapot

Have to say I am loving the social distancing aspect of this horrible COVID-19. I don't have to go anywhere or do anything for the several organizations I do volunteer work with. When this is over, I will re-think how busy I want to be. For now, I am painting most mornings and gardening or cleaning each afternoon.

Biggest event recently was today's Instacart Costco delivery. Other good news today is completion of Teapot with Lemon. Yay! Now I can move on.

I hope you are all staying home and staying well.

Teapot with Lemon, oil, 10x8 inches
©2020 Barbara Benedetti Newton

Coronavirus Paint-Along

My friend Kay and I were telephone chatting about social distancing. It evolved into us painting the same still life set-up. Today, we are showing each other progress (or my lack-of). Here is a screenshot of my email to her today. Phone a 60+ artist friend and start a paint-along of your own.  

Collection of the Artist pile

Wow. It is already March! We are 'social distancing' due to the coronavirus COVID-19 and I'm loving my days at home, in the studio and garden. Cleaned out my file cabinets and moving on to my flat files - specifically the drawer marked pastel paintings. I'm creating a Collection of the Artist pile. Have a look here.

2020 Replace art Tools as Needed

Aha! a new paint scraper for 2020. Wishing you a great new year of painting.

Art Goals for 2020

Art Goals for 2020

Tomorrow is the first day of 2020 and the beginning of a new decade.
Jay and I are sad to start this new year without our beloved dog, Annie.

My ART goal for 2020 is simple...to become a better painter.

This year, decisions about my time and energy will be based on achieving this goal. 

And of course, I must add this to the best laid plans:  
"This, or something better, now manifests for me in totally satisfying and harmonious ways, for the highest good of all concerned."

Sunday with Sorolla, Seahawks and my Studio

A good start to a Sunday morning. Then the Seahawks played. Jay brought lunch to the TV. Then the Seahawks won. I took a nap, then into the Studio.

I'm ending the day blocking in a new painting and am so happy with the temperature changes in the three values at left. My kind of day! 

Final Group Mentor Session

Thanks to Marcia and Debra for making my final group mentor session so enjoyable. I won't be offering these sessions in 2020 but have loved having everyone here in my studio the past few years. Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

The forest and the trees

November 2nd, 2019. At 2:29 this morning I awoke in a strange bed. My husband was asleep beside me and I quickly realized I was spending the night at Nantucket Inn in Anacortes, WA. We were there for the opening reception at Scott Milo Gallery where I have 9 paintings in a show through the month of November.

I was awake. My iPhone was handy so I began browsing Instagram and came across information on a year-long online mentoring course with an oil painter whose work I admire. The word mentoring caught my attention because that is something I plan on doing more of in the future. I settled in for a middle-of-the-night pondering session; those usually begin with the last stimulating events before bedtime that I didn't fully process. Eventually I fall asleep.

I relived last night's chats with visitors and other artists at the gallery. I heard myself explaining that I switch subjects and mediums because I like a new challenge. I even heard myself saying I might try acrylics yet again. I am at a time and place where I can choose to paint anything I want or not paint at all. My teaching, jurying and gallery commitments for this year are coming to an end and as always, I like to review the year and plan what's next. At 2:29 in the morning, away from home, it is easier to get some perspective on my goals. It is as if I'm mentoring myself. The following saying came to mind:  "Can't see the forest for the trees."

 'You can't see the wood for the trees'? This proverbial saying is first found in John Heywood's 1546 glossary A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue: An olde saied sawe, itche and ease, can no man please. Plentie is no deyntie [dainty]. It is an expression used of someone who is too involved in the details of a problem to look at the situation as a whole.

At home, and especially in front of my computer, I lose myself in details (trees). I am beckoned to check out various websites, Facebook, Instagram and to look at the artwork of others. Update my database, post art for sale on Etsy or DailyPaintworks, update my own website, run a Quickbooks Profit and Loss report to see if the business end of my art is on track.  But, what about the big picture (forest)? What do I hope to accomplish in the coming year? More opportunities to teach? Awards to add to my resume? More sales? No. What then? I would like to become a better painter. 

So back to the online mentoring offered by another artist. I could do that. Instead of focusing on mentoring others in 2020, I could take a year off from teaching to become a better painter. I could take an online mentoring course. What would that life look like? I'm thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Click here to see my larger-format paintings from 2019. I posted 35 smaller format paintings from 2019 about a month ago. Click here for those.

And, because I like to include images in my posts, here are a couple photos from the Nantucket Inn Bed and Breakfast in Anacortes. We highly recommend it.

October 2019 Check-In Short Version

October is my birthday month and this year more than ever it is a time of reflection. We lost one of our long-time Critique members and she will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, Connie Speth.

I recently taught my last travel-to workshop. It was a great workshop with a wonderful group of artists and I feel like I'm ending that part of my life on a high note. Thank you Pastel Society of Oregon. My interest now is in mentoring artists and I plan to do that closer to home.

Much of last week was spent video conferencing with artists Brian Bailey and Amanda Houston as the three jurors for the 35th IAPS Juried Exhibition 2019 Webshow. We juried 1,905 images down to 163 accepted. This process was quite an unmaking and collaborative experience and one I am grateful to have had.

This month I will deliver art to Aljoya Living to show with the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Artists (established 1928 in Seattle) and I will deliver work to Scott Milo Gallery in Anacortes for the November show. As always, many thanks to Kathy Khile for her continued support.

My work will appear in the Jan/Feb 2020 issue of Pastel Journal - thanks Anne Hevener for inviting me to contribute.

One of my publishers contacted me last week for new work available for future reproduction. While scrolling through work of 2019 I realize the majority of my art has been small this year: 35 small paintings. I plan to work larger for the remainder of 2019. Click HERE to see all 35.

House, pastel, 8x10 inches 
Plein Air ©2019Barbara Benedetti Newton

Our Critique Group

2019 -  Our Art Critique Group in it's 24th Year!

Yesterday Jay and I had the pleasure of hosting the Fifth Annual Overnight for our Art Critique group (officially called Pencils and Palettes) at our home. We meet every other month, share personal updates, share our art and have a meal together.  We continue to love and supported each other through good times and through the challenges that occur in life. A big thank you to the women in this photo and also to those of our group who couldn't join us on this day.

Kay Dewar, Sheila Theodoratos, Iris Stripling, 

Paula Parks and Barbara Benedetti Newton.

Orange

Orange, the backstory

A short attention span

I think the older I get, the shorter my attention span. In the 1990's I worked in colored pencil and it was not unusual for a painting/drawing to take 80 hours. In the 2000's I switched to pastel - a much faster medium. Now, in the 2010's (2019) I'm working more and more in oil but I if I spend more than a few hours total on a painting, it loses it's freshness and I lose interest. 

My method of working these days is to set up a still life beside my easel, take a reference photo (before the flowers shatter and the fruit rots), block in the composition with a sketch, paint for an hour or two, let it dry and then tweak it over the next few days or weeks. This suits me now.

See the progress of this painting here.

Strawberries, oil, 20 x 20 inches

An important question?

I just posted a story on my Art Journal blog but it probably really belongs here, on the blog of an artist in her Golden Years. It's about giving up the way I've always done it and saving time and energy and raises an important question. Read the story here.

April Demo

Thanks Kent Valley Artists for inviting me to do a pastel demo last night. We had a full house with nearly 30 artists attending for an introduction to pastel. See the backstory of the finished painting here.

Checking in - April 2019

Mentor Sessions are over and my Studio is rearranged (again). The pastel easel moves closer to the window (rainy Spring day outside) and the oil easel will soon be busy with paintings for a couple Fall gallery shows.

Today I attended the April meeting of Women Painters of Washington, an organization I have belonged to for more than 20 years. I'm not as active with this group as I once was so it was good to see old friends and to vote on the acceptance of prospective new members. Just being around these women with whom I have so much history was inspiring. Much has happened to each of us over the years. A special thank you to Kristi Galindo Dyson for the ride and good conversation and to Sandra Kahler for transporting my painting to the upcoming WPW Show at Scott Milo Gallery, Anacortes.

I'm happy to announce my work is included in this new book: Pure Pastel: Contemporary Works by Today's Top Artists. 

"This visual feast of a book serves up page after page of luminous color, staccato strokes, fresh perspectives and masterful techniques from over 100 of today's most recognizable names in pastel. It’s sure to be an enduring source of awe and inspiration for artists and art lovers alike."

March 2019 update

The year is flying by and my blogs haven't been high on my priority list but it is definitely time to check in. In January I was working in pastel and concentrating on online sales. We had another mentoring session here at my Black Diamond Studio on February 22.

Four students, four hours on a Friday.

Next came our local Black Diamond Arts Alliance first annual Art Auction Gala - a huge success! Then came tax preparation and that went on for weeks. At the same time, I volunteered to be the new Treasurer for two non-profits. Knee deep in numbers and I enjoyed it until I received a request from my art publisher, Wendover Art Group, to send seventeen new images via my photographer, Art & Soul, Seattle.

If you remember, last fall my goal was to fill empty frames with new pastel paintings. Now I needed to unframed them so they could be photographed for Wendover. Happy to do it but it took some time. Jay and I spent an entire day unframing seven oils for immediate delivery and ten pastels to be delivered as soon.We spent another day building protective cradles for the pastels for transport to the photographer.

A couple weeks ago I was able to get to my easel to begin the work for a Fall 2019 show at Scott Milo Gallery. Here are the progression photos of the painting I'm working on now:

Lemon, oil, 20x16 inches ©2019 Barbara Benedetti Newton

This is my first painting on aluminum and I love the surface. No springiness, no texture. My third and final mentor session takes place this Friday, March 22, 2019. We're going to try FIVE students instead of four. My studio will be buzzing with creative energy. Thanks to the artists who have joined me for this first quarter of 2019 sessions. Contact the Pastel Society of Oregon if you would like to join me for a rare (I rarely teach workshops anymore) 3-day workshop September 19 - 21, 2019.

Wrap-up January 2019

Months and months go by without a post to this blog. I plan to read this when I am old so I need to post more often so I'll have something to read. So, here's my wrap-up of the first month of 2019.

My January 25th Mentoring Session. Four artists, four hours, lots of fun.

P20191-9 Mindful, pastel, 7x5 inches

P2019-1-15 Hopes and Dreams, pastel, 7x5 inches

P2019-1-14 Assurance, pastel, 7x5 inches

P2019-1-2 Riverbank at Dawn, pastel, 7x5 inches sold

P2019-1-4 The Ways of Winter, pastel, 7x5 inches sold

P2019-1-28 Violet Evening, pastel mini, 3.5 x 5.5 inches

P2019-1-27 Violet Road, pastel mini, 3.5 x 5.5 inches sold

P2019-1-17 Sunrise, pastel, 5x7 inches sold

P2019-1-16 Sentience, pastel, 7x5 inches  sold

P2019-1-18 Glory Days, Revisited, pastel, 5x7 inches

P2019-1-20 Meadow, pastel, 5x7 inches

P2019-1-29 Roadside Attraction II, pastel, 5x7 inches sold

Art Goals for 2019

It is the first day of 2019 and time for me to think about my art goals for the coming year. 


My ART goals for 2019

1. My online presence
I continue to work on online opportunities to network, show and sell my work. I have two websites now. My original website is unchanged with archived work going back to my fashion illustration days. My NEW website is primarily for new work but that may change. Both of these websites are maintained by me which means I must be more attentive to this in 2019. 

2. Grow as an artist
More work with oil in 2019 for better understanding of the medium. A clearer vision of what and how I want to paint with oil. More plein air.

3. Paint to support online sales, galleries and publishers
2018 was a year of larger paintings and better art rotation at my galleries as well as available art for my publishers. I love painting larger but I still believe there is a market for smaller less expensive art.  My goal for 2019 is to paint for a good balance of both. 

4. Author another book?
This was high on my list for years but in 2018 it dropped to the bottom of my list. Now I'm interested again.

5. Work with other artists to further their success
This goal was #6 for 2016, #4 for 2017 and #1 for 2018. I'm happy with accomplishing this goal in 2018. The new local art group Black Diamond Arts Alliance had a successful first Annual Open Show in 2018 and membership has doubled. Our Black Diamond Critique Group evolved into Lake Sawyer Plein Air Artists (see us on Facebook) and my Open Studio Sessions have grown into Mentoring Sessions at my Studio for 4 students each session. 

And of course, I must add this to my list: ""This, or something better, now manifests for me in totally satisfying and harmonious ways, for the highest good of all concerned."

It is good for me to commit (to myself) in writing to goals for the coming year. Without a plan the days and weeks would fly by and I would have missed an opportunity to grow as an artist. Thanks to all who have followed my work this year. Let's keep in touch! Wishing you a happy and healthy 2019, Barbara