the juggling act

Here is another watercolor from this past summer (early fall). This one is a little bit bigger - just under 8" square. Hopefully, you can see that I worked on it more than the one I posted yesterday. The composition is strong, and I like the transparencies. The other part about it that I am happy with is the balance of light and dark areas. I am enjoying the square format. Traditionally, canvas and paper are more rectangular. As much as I enjoy the rectangle, the square format seems to provide me with a freedom from the idea that a painting should be a figure (usually vertical, especially for portraits) or a landscape, which is typically horizontal. (I am generalizing here, of course.) The square is a departure from these preconceptions, and has provided me with interesting compositions.

This particular painting pleases me in the way that there seems to be motion without feeling unsettled. Because the elements seem to converge in one area which is close to the center, my eye is drawn there. There, my eye finds rest. I think it works well.

This is a painting which I have considered blowing up bigger, maybe in oil. There are always so many ideas for new paintings. My hope is that I find time to paint them all. I had the gallery open today, and so I did not get to paint. I have been painting on Sundays, and keeping the gallery closed. Today, with the holiday, I had traffic all day, and several people asked me if the gallery was open tomorrow. I told them "no", but now I am feeling that old pressure to be open, since there are people in town. The problem is, if I open the doors, I will not get to focus on painting. I will be focusing on people coming in. I guess the question is: "do I try to make sales, or do I make art?!" I know I'd much rather make art, even though my checking account is depleting. I will wait to see how I feel tomorrow, and then I will decide.

I never realized owning my own gallery would be such a juggling act.