Happy New Year!!

The new year is picking up steam. I enjoyed having my 2 kids home from college in California; we spent time shoveling snow, ice skating, binge watching Phineas and Ferb - and now- as a friend so aptly put it: the holidays are over, it's time to take off the pajamas and go back to ADULTING.
sigh. . .  It was all too short.
I am ready to get back to the studio, back to work. Today we are snowed in tho' - so I am writing instead of painting.
For many artists - the kitchen or spare room is the impromptu studio - their "PLACE".
But the STUDIO is only the space, not the source.
We are all trying to tap in to the well spring of inspiration.
When it is flowing, I want to stand under the stream; when it isn't,
I want to cry over the tap.
I know creativity does not happen in a vacuum; sometimes just getting together with others helps to prime the pump - or trying something new, or following a wild hare. . . . That has been my experience of the last year and a half; banging on the pipe to get the juices to flow.
And the upshot?
a new medium, a new painting experience, new subjects. That also means new marketing, hmmm . . .
I did a lot less oil plein air work this year and a lot more studio work - in ACRYLIC.
Yeah- I have been thinking about it for years and finally jumped in. . . .
I traveled to Canada twice to study for an extended period of time and have been painting like mad - and not all good stuff.
To use a metaphor: I had to consciously give up the love affair with that old car, one that by the way,  no longer made me happy or took me where I wanted to go;
I had to get into a new car; one that I did NOT know how to drive
-
of course, I thought I KNEW how to drive it - I have a license after all. . .
It's been a real road trip; in a crazy new car that I am having a love- hate relationship with - and still can't figure out.
Can anyone relate?
All I know is that 2 years ago I hardly wanted to get out of bed in the morning - even to go out en plein air, and friends had to listen to me whining about "my car" getting stalled. Actually, it was me getting stalled; tapped out, bored.
Back to the car thing;  I've spent the year driving all out - to the metal,
no map, no destination and nothing to lose - except a gallery or two, but that hasn't happened yet.
I still love plein air painting; the landscape is still OUT there and I am still inspired by it.
Maybe the difference is - something about this new car makes me feel like I am still in my pajamas.

Weekly oil Painting classes started up this week. I am so grateful to my students who motivate me and keep me honest.
Aside from the weekly classes, this January I will be running 2 workshops out of my studio: a 2 day workshop and a 5 day workshop.
I guess I'll have to get dressed for those.

A lot of my new work is now on display at the ARTrium Gallery, Alamosa, Colorado - in the DESIGNx2 Exhibition.
To view my work in this show click on this link: DESIGNx2 or go to ConiGrant.com

Happy New Year - or How to Get Going Again When the Going Has Been Rough.

Happy 2015.
I haven't posted since November 29th -2014.
Now, even I am beginning to wonder where I have been. . .
The end of my 2014 was full of drama when a 48"x 36" painting I had shipped to Texas arrived there in several pieces.
You try to take those sort of things in stride but it was very hard when the client is crying foul, the insurance adjuster is claiming fraud and I am just crying.
I spent a lot of December painting a copy of the destroyed piece then set it aside to cure and left with my family on a long awaited trip to Germany for the holidays.
Our time in Germany was magical-  beyond expectations,
and I did not paint a lick - or even have a desire to do so.
I know, to some artists that is heresy, but I felt used up in side - or maybe just fed up.
It happens to almost all artists at some point - the lack that comes from only pouring out and not soaking in. The hardest part can be figuring out just how to get the juices flowing again.
Sometimes what we need is a really long soak in a really big tub.
I think what I needed was a lot of really dark beer in a foreign country.
But, you don’t need to go abroad to gain a new perspective -  sometimes you do need a bit of soaking.
If your 2015 has been a slow starter, don't panic.  Stress, work and so many other things, common to us all - can dry up the tank of Inspiration. And it is amazing sometimes how far we often go - on empty.  Hmmmm. . . .
Be good to yourself.  If you are an artist type, or even if you aren’t - get together with others, take a class where someone else directs the creative activity - and soak it up. A class can be the recess in your week- a time of creative play, or the lab of discovery that can become pure alchemy.
All the best to you in 2015.

Happy New Year- 2013- let's get on with it

It has been pretty quite in Alamosa, Colorado - the coldest spot in (the universe?) the country. Our back door has been frozen shut for virtually 2 weeks - opened at the expense of one hair dryer - and only on account of our dog.
Temps like minus 28 for days on end and post holiday blahs contribute to a downward spiral. Sometimes I envy folks who must get up and go to work. Like it or not, I think that very act can get you back on track and into the flow of "life" again.
For the artist, this can be a very hard time of year - especially if you worked hard right up to Christmas with shows etc. A break might be in order but the holidays have a way of killing inertia and getting juices to flow again can be like trying to start the car that sat under a snow drift for 2 weeks. That is - if you can even get out the door.
Creative inspiration is so elusive - I have long since given up chasing that rabbit- but getting into the flow of work by DOING definitely leads to creative inspiration---- I promise.
Maybe for you, a shopping trip can fire off motivating endorphins.  For me deadlines are very motivating; the letter on my desk from the Colorado Dept of Revenue - that will do it. While working on my taxes- the desire to paint and the frustration of having to do something so mundane will be very motivating.

DOING even one small thing often gives the impetus that will propel you to the next thing with a positive cascading effect; before you know it,  things are humming again. 
Painting classes start up again tonight. It is one of my DOING things, and even tho' I teach the class, it is as encouraging as anything;  3 hours to paint, any way I want -  no one to please but myself.
And for all you artist- types that make excuses like: I don't have a place to paint, I don't know where to start, I don't have the materials - THIS is what classes are for;  at the very least, socially interactive (that means - fun) and, I hope - always creatively stimulating.
Whether you are looking to get the car out from under a snow drift, or just fighting off the after effects of too much "holiday"- do something good for yourself - get with people and paint.

THANKS and Happy New Year

A special THANKS to all of my students for a great year.
You keep me looking for new answers to old questions, and new ways to challenge what we think we know and see. You help me be more inspired, more energized, and I have a great time doing it. I hope you do too.
Here's to a great 2012.