Baby's In The Corner!

For the last few days I haven't been able to get a quote out of my head; it will just pop into my mind at random moments. You probably know it, the one from Dirty Dancing when Patrick Swayze's character says "No one puts Baby in the corner". Good stuff. Well tonight when I arrived to set up my wall at Gardenscape I was met with a bit of a surprise... the walls were not assigned as I had expected. It was first come first served which apparently everyone knew but me! Ha! I started walking around the area and all the boards were taken. I honestly thought that maybe they miscounted and that they didn't actually have enough walls and that I was going to be out of luck. I literally got to the far end by the corner facing a wall with bad lighting and finally found an empty one. And what popped into my mind? "No one puts Baby in the corner!" Well, I started giggling- I really cracked myself up with that one- and I am pretty sure the sweet couple setting up their wall nearby thought I was a bit nutty. Anyway, it's all good, somebody had to go there and I was pleased with how the paintings looked. I just hope people walk all the way down and discover my work.

So many beautiful flowers everywhere... and the smell! Mmmmm.

And when I got outside after setting up I was met with a little miracle of a sky...

 

Quirk 2

Quirk 2: An Experimental Sky

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2012
private collection

It's definitely times like this that I feel nervous to post. Granted I don't have to share this painting- I'm in control of that decision, but the point of this blog is to record my journey as a mom growing up to be the artist she always imagined was inside, so I'm okay with sharing things I'm a bit insecure about. I started off trying to do a small painting of a detail from a larger painting I did last week. It went south fast. I wiped 'er off and the smudges that remained intrigued me, so I experimented... it was intuitive play. What was going to be a bush ended up being a wild sky of sorts. The spontaneity is in the same vein as "Quirk: An Experimental Sky". Today as I was toiling away at the studio over shadow boxes and layout options for the Gardenscapes show, I kept looking at this painting and I determined that I like it. I wish the skiff of bright yellow at the bottom read as well as it does in person. It is one of my favorite parts; it's like a little electric shock.

Speaking of intuitive play, it you have an extra few minutes click this link, it will take you over to my friend Kim's blog and you will see a fantastic painting experiment she did today. I am so proud of her for dropping her inhibitions and just going for it. Not easy to do. As well, I am really relating to her words right now.

Tomorrow evening I will be setting up my "wall" at Gardenscapes... tonight I sorted out my template on brown paper so the hanging should be smooth sailing. I'll just roll it up and store it in case I do the show again next year. Easy peasy.

Getting ready for Gardenscape...

 choosing the paintings to put in the show

 spray painting shadow boxes

 

shuffling the studio around 

so I can lay out a template for the wall

Usually I can procrastinate with the best of them, but this time I thought I was organized, I thought I was ahead of schedule, I thought I had a plan. Operative word: thought! I have to set up my "wall" at Gardenscape on Thursday evening and I am not ready! I know I will be but right now it feels like there is too much to do... and I am still feelin' sketchy (achy all over, head-achy too).

On a positive note three paintings sold within the last several days, so that oughta cover a painting I bought for my own collection last week!

Feelin' Sketchy Saturday

 pencil sketch

 20 minutes

© Nicki Ault 2012

I really enjoyed the drop-in drawing session today. It was a new model... voluptuous and beautiful. She had the most gorgeous, long, black hair and a sunshiny smile.

 pencil sketch

10 minutes

© Nicki Ault, 2012

pencil sketch

20 minutes

© Nicki Ault, 2012

vine charcoal

2 minute gesture

© Nicki Ault, 2012

And now I really am feelin' sketchy... aches and pains, the sniffles, raw throat. And I still have lots to do for the Gardenscapes show next weekend. I'm hoping a nap and some Cold FX will ward this thing off.

Wolf Willow Breeze

Wolf Willow Breeze

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2012
sold

I've been painting a lot this week. My hand is sore! I'm looking forward to showing you some of the larger pieces I have done. For now here is a small wild prairie landscape using a photo I took at the Grasslands.

On The Way To Waskesiu

On the Way To Waskesiu

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2012
sold

On road trips with my family, inevitably my husband drives and I man the snacks, untangle ear phones, reach backpacks, find little things that get dropped and of course help pass the time with a rousing game of "eye spy". But when everyone is content and busy I have my camera in hand and I snap pictures of the passing scenery. They are never great pictures, but they are usually enough to remind me of the place, light, time of day and thing I found interesting. This painting comes from one such photo. It was from later in the afternoon when the atmosphere starts to cool down and the sun is disappearing in a hazy, quiet way rather than in a bold, knock-your-socks-off sunset kind of way. This is from a photo looking east, as we were driving north to the lake. I loved the marsh and how it reflected the sky. I knew when I took the photo that I wanted to crop the picture so that it looked like a blue stripe in the field.

~~~~~ * ~~~~~

Yesterday I posted this quote on my Facebook Fan Page:

"... the seed for your next art work lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece."

~ from "Art & Fear: Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of ARTMAKING" 

by David Bayles & Ted Orland

I am reading this book for the second time- it has some great nuggets to mull over. This particular line and the paragraph that goes with it really got me thinking about the painting I have been working on... the one I lovingly refer to as "the monster". It didn't turn out as I pictured in my mind. I am happy with it, but it went down a different road. When I read this line it got me thinking about where "the monster" missed the mark as far as my original idea went. Once I figured this out I knew what I wanted to try. Today I painted two 10 x 10" canvases that address this idea. I feel satisfaction and excitement... and now a curiosity about what seed has been planted in these new paintings.

Feelin' Sketchy Saturday

Four

pencil on paper

© Nicki Ault, 2012

I couldn't go to the Saturday drawing session today because of two hockey games and a wrestling practice. I was the driver not the participant, in case that wasn't clear! :)  I worked on this for about three hours this evening... and I am tired! It doesn't necessarily look like the little fella it is meant to, but I figure it must look like someone out there! The eyes are too close together and, seen in the photo, look too dark - dang! And there are various other things that aren't right, and yet, I'm content with it. Or I'm too exhausted to care. Either way. I'll do better on the next go around. 

I can't believe he will be ten next month!

* photo used taken by Melina Perron

Distant Wind Break

Distant Wind Break

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2012 
sold

I felt the need to pull out a prairie photo... it is almost nice enough to get outside and paint. The Grasslands are definitely calling!

I've added a few lines of upcoming events at the top of my blog. It seems like there is a lot going on right now and this will be a good way to keep it all straight and orderly for anyone who might be interested. I'm really excited about everything going on in the first half of the year. The show at O'Reilly Insurance is up and we have decided on the reception date (April 19) and now I have to get all sorted out for Gardenscapes. I will mainly be showing my 6 x 6" paintings so the big job for me right now is to get all of the shadow boxes ready and the paintings set in them. And soon I will be announcing what is likely to be the highlight of my year... it's a very special show on a very personal level.

And if you haven't already, check out and "like" my Facebook Fan Page. I now have the new Timeline...

https://www.facebook.com/Nicki.Ault.Studio

Note: as I lay in bed last night I realized I forgot to mention that the idea for the upcoming events info. at the top of my blog came from Monika at My Sweet Prairie. She is a very talented fibre artist and didn't mind at all when I wanted to implement her idea on my blog. She will have work at Gardenscapes, too!

Three Sisters

Three Sisters

6 x 6"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2012
sold

I have two sisters, so I grew up in a family of three girls. I love them. Not sure what I would do without them.

Three Little Paintings Went to Auction

January Road Trip
sold

Foggy Morning at Gabriel Dumont Park
sold 

Afterglow

sold

All are 6x6", oil on board, © Nicki Ault 2012

These three little paintings got all dressed up in shadow boxes and went to a live auction last night while I stayed home in my jammies! I hope they had a good time and I hope they don't return!  : )

*note: I received a Facebook message from the person who bought Afterglow and now I anxiously await the status of the other two.
*note: just found out the other two sold.

Feelin' Sketchy Saturday

pencil drawing

2 hours

I was in need of a lazy morning so I read my book and then decided to use a picture from the Art Models 6 book that I ordered a few weeks ago. This is what I ended up with after a couple of hours with the majority of that time spent on the face.

Last Rays

Last Rays

6 x 6"

oil on board
© Nicki Ault, 2012
sold

This is the colourful forest scene I came up with on Monday after my many attempts at painting flowers went nowhere. I used a photo that I took last September when I went on a weekend retreat to Waskesiu all by my lonesome. Which got me thinking... I'm sure I haven't shown one of the paintings I did on that weekend which, in fact, I called "Retreat to the Forest".

The last two days have been beyond busy. Completely non-stop... like a two day marathon. I should have taken pledges!

Clearing

Clearing

6 x 6"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2012
sold

I found an old photo from Waskesiu which kept pulling at me so I decided to give it a whirl on a small board. I had lots of fun, but looking at it here I am wondering if the earthy red bit at the front is distracting. I have also painted a larger forest scene that I will show you soon. And my crazy dogwood painting that I have lovingly referred to as the "Monster" is moving along. 

This is the first painting I have taken with my new camera! Yes, I had to get a new camera... basically I tried to carry too many things at once in order to avoid multiple trips up the studio stairs. My camera was in a box with two little paintings when the Starbucks coffee I was balancing, with no lid, tipped and poured into the box. Now here is the interesting part... what do you save first, paintings or camera? For me the instinct was to save the art. Only after I had whisked them out of the box did I realize that my camera was literally floating in the corner that was filled with a half-sweet Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Why oh why, you ask, did you not have a lid on your coffee?! Because the whipped cream melts much more quickly with a lid on and then it is not as much fun to drink!

*note: my camera had seen better days and a new one was in the future anyway... the screen was cracked and a piece had broken off... the future just came a little sooner than planned.