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What Twenty-some Hours'll Get You

by Cooper on 5/30/2009 11:59:59 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio on a fine Saturday morning. What twenty-some hours'll get you:

Lori WoodwardSimons is working on a "commitment-challenge" and I am one of those along for the ride. The challenge is to bolster each other up with encouragement to get a solid 20 hours of art, in my case, painting, in each week. Of course, when I signed up, I thought to myself, this should be easy. I already am doing at least that much. Maybe this will help me do more. Hmmm.

It's not that I ever intend to put a time clock in the studio, but I have been keeping close track this week Here are some things I've discovered. Minus two showings of the currently "on the market" house, everything about my week was pretty much directed at art. But. Painting only got a scrawny few minutes more than the goal of twenty hours. If I had not been watching, with the goal in mind----yeah. I think we will delve into the options a bit deeper in the next post, but for now, what 20-some hours'll get you:

not quite ready for the signature, but getting close. This painting is on a 30 x 30 inch canvas, and was already blocked in at the beginning of the week. I am pretty convinced it has a name: It Happened Downtown

a long ways to go on this one yet. A 12 x 12 inch canvas about a piggyback ride.

Also under the paint brush during the week, some work from a life drawing session. Really pathetic attempts at art, that aren't worth photo-ing. Have a lovely weekend.

Later, Cooper

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When You Need Your Priorities Realigned

by cooper on 5/26/2009 6:45:01 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio. The paint is almost ready to spread, but first I wanted to share an article with you. It seems very timely to me, the one who is trying to sell a house and get moved on to the next location! I wish I could say I wrote the article, but no, it's written by a guy named Jeffrey Gitomer. My business minded husband got me started reading the Gitomer newsletter, which is normally a sales-rant, or salesperson peptalk. This morning's article is on the subject of happiness. I highly recommend you read it. It was certainly just what I needed. Time to go paint :)

Later, Cooper

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Plus 24

by cooper on 5/22/2009 4:05:12 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio.

Plus 24. Hours. That's what keeping a house showroom ready can cost ya. You'll remember we were hoping for a a slight lean to the left to finish this painting post-house-showing yesterday. But, plus 24 hours, and it's signed. However, propped up here in my line of vision as I write, there's one little line----dios mio. Have a lovely weekend.

Red Shoe Shopping, an acrylic painting original on a heavy paper, measuring a marvelous 20 x 16 inches. Enjoy. And if your enjoyment knows no bounds, it's available in my portfolio.

Later, Cooper

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Besides Keeping The House Bloomin' Clean

by cooper on 5/20/2009 6:07:45 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio on this fine, albeit galeforcewindy day, in Spencer, Iowa. It is delightfully warm, and you can't argue with that!

Have I whined lately about keeping this house spotless? Yes, we are trying to sell, and I am getting close to wearing out the vacuum cleaner. The day is so magnificent that of course the windows are wide open. Couple that with the aforementioned gfwinds, and now I get to dust everything, along with the vacuuming. Another showing tomorrow at noon, so no morning painting. And let me tell you, with that going on till mid-day, it will be mentally hard to paint in the afternoon as well. The whole process does mess with the mind. It's amazing that I get any painting done at all. But I did today. This one is on a 20 x 16 inch heavy paper, still a little rough around the edges in places. We'll see, maybe getting a house ready for showing will zap my thoughts a different direction, and this one will finish up tomorrow. Who knows?

no title yet, but who wants to bet that it will include "red"?!

Later, Cooper

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Hectivity

by on 5/14/2009 6:46:00 PM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio on this fine sunny May afternoon.

Hectivity. Webster defines it as frenetic activity performed in a hectic and/or frantic mode or mindset.
And yes, I'll bet I can sell you a bridge as well. By the way, did you know Brooklyn (Iowa) did once have a bridge for sale listed on ebay? Interesting, yes?

Back to hectivity, a worthy word, albeit just an imagined one. I would undoubtedly burn up somebody's something if in this post I listed everything thats relating to hecktivity around here. I'll spare you the pain. And me the writer's cramp. Can you get writer's cramp if you're not using a pencil/pen? Let's just post the paintings that at least prove I've been getting that much done. Enjoy.

I Love Happy Endings, an acrylic painting on canvas, measuring a perfect 24 x 24 inches. Available in my portfolio.

Walking And Thinking, acrylic painting on a delightful 12 x 12 inch canvas. Available in my portfolio.

Later, Cooper

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Not In A Noon Hour

by on 5/7/2009 4:14:01 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio. Some of us are pretty fortunate. We get to paint all day long. I know there are people out there who have to paint after they get home from the job, or after the kids are in bed, or on the weekend, even a few who just get a noon hour. And how on earth did this train of thought come about, you ask?

I have been working on a painting. Not only did it get signed today, but it grew a name. Noon Hour. Now, did it get created in a noon hour? Not hardly. I am pretty sure it's impossible to cover 1200 square inches of canvas with a layer of paint in 60 minutes, and this one has several layers. And then we factor in the "lean on the studio wall" stage, which this painting did have to endure. Three sets of hands, that makes 30 fingers, well, sometimes you just have to put down the paint brush and practice drawing hands for a while. Yup, excuses, excuses.

Should I be painting faster? I always tell myself it takes me longer because I paint on larger canvases than a lot of people. But then VanGogh at his prime was cranking out a painting a day on pretty good sized canvases. If I only had my noon hours to paint, would I paint faster? The line that gets adjusted five times, would I take the time to do that if I only had an hour a day to paint? Or would I say "good enough"? And maybe the work would be better if I did? Ha! This is getting too deep. How about we just move along and add the painting?

Noon Hour, acrylic painting on canvas, measuring a bountiful 30 x 40 inches. Available in my portfolio. Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

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Show Me Your Frame?

by cooper on 5/6/2009 10:28:40 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio. The subject I am about to jump in on has been written about before, I am sure. Show me your frame? Can I find any of those articles at the moment? No. So here we go.

When my senior-in-highschool-son eats french fries, the pile of ketchup is often larger than that of the fries. The required parental comment is then, of course, "are you eating french fries there, or ketchup?" Let's get back to the title of this, Show Me Your Frame? I just spent several minutes over at the CanvasFlyer scrolling through paintings, where I found a mix of canvases, mats and frames. One painting, horizontal in nature, made me think of my son eating french fries. The painting was double matted, in a big fat gold frame. I couldn't really tell what the painting was about, because the mats and frame took up most of the available space. Kind of like a big pile of ketchup. Possibly the artist was a picture frame designer, but I doubt it. If the artist is trying to sell the painting, they lost.

Those of you who exhibit your work on a regular basis, have undoubtedly encountered the current rules for submitting artwork images. Zapplication.org has their 1920 x1920 pixel jpg, blacked out edges rule, which thankfully is fast becoming a standard. There are others out there as well. But. They have one thing in common. No frames. None. Not even a single mat. I guess that means they want their paintings straight up. Hold the ketchup.

Now, if judges sitting on a jury say it is important to leave the frame out, how much more concerned should you be about how that painting looks to the folks who come to visit you at your website? Think about it: A judge/jury is just trying to decide if they like your work enough to let you into an exhibit. The people that come to your website are trying to decide if they like your work enough to give you some cash for it. Better give them an eye full of painting, don't you think?

French fries or ketchup? Painting or picture frame? What's more important? I suggest it's the painting. Maybe it's time to excersise that 'crop canvas' button on your photo program a little more often.

And, cropped to perfection :) for your viewing pleasure, Summer School Student, acrylic painting on paper, available here, matted in a single white mat, ready to slip into the frame of your choice!

Later, Cooper

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Have You Seen Your Website Lately?

by on 5/1/2009 5:46:52 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio.

When was the last time you saw your webpage from the other side? You know. The public eye side. The viewpoint your patrons get.

It's amazing what's there. Things you meant to change and forgot. Prices missing. Paintings that came home from an exhibit, but still say they are there. Those lovely red x's that show where an image is supposed to be, but sadly, AWOL.

It is ever so easy with website templates to just click, click, enter that info, and click, I'm outta here. Sometimes easy and quick makes for messups that go unnoticed until we take the time to peruse that website from the world's point of view. Try it. And if your's is perfect, let me know. But if there are a bunch of you with perfection websites, let me know gently, because all those mistakes I just got done fixing on mine will make me feel like a real techno-loser, if I'm the only one doing it. :)

Everybody Needs A Little Treat Now And Then, acrylic painting on canvas, 12 x 12 inches, available in my portfolio.

Later, Cooper

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