Art Life/Brenda Semanick

The mercury has been steadily rising.
Here is the second layer of the prickly pear painting, oil on ragcoate, 30x40. Working on the third layer now, and there will be a fourth.



Here is my good friend Jinou holding one of his beautiful relief pots, at greenware stage.














A close up of another relief.


And I can't wait to see this one!!! Just glazed, with fish in relief.



David and Rebecca looking up 19th century Japanese wood block artist from an original 1890's book with attached original wood block prints. Rebecca speaks Japanese, but it took them several hours to locate Hosai, 1848-1920. He went by several names: also known as Kunisada III, Toyokuni IV/V and Kunimasa IV. More investigation and they learned that each one could fetch around $250. Not bad. The book was going to be thrown out by the owner.

And of course studio cat Baby, is helping.
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It's official. It's summer. Now here in the Baked Apple, as we so appropriately refer to our berg, it has been summer for quite a while.

I've been putting in the hours on my Dad's website. I like feedback so if you go there, leave me a comment about it.

I finished the red amaryllis which will be used for the 2006 Tucson Winter Chamber Music festival.


On the Easel: I have just finished a block in of prickly pear fruits. Oil on ragcoate paper(30x40).You don't have to prime the paper with gesso. It feels like working on smooth masonite. On the first layer, the paint is difficult to move around but after that dries(one day) it becomes a great surface to work on. And I like the luminosity it gives the painting.


Sky Harbor Airport: I will be driving up to Phoenix tomorrow to deliver a painting to Sky Harbor Airport they purchased for their collection. I'm really excited about it. It is also done on ragcoate paper. I'm doing the one of the prickly pear fruits in hopes they will want a companion piece. Sheila Kollasch is the museum assistant for the airport- a great person and a darn good artist herself.

You can really see the difference her of what happens after several more layers of paint on the paper.
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So I started trying to do the syndication thing with the blog yesterday afternoon and then realized it was time to go throw pots. Good night. I'll have pictures next week. Jinou is throwing 'em bigger each time, and Connie is working on a waterlilly relief using one of Jinou's pots.

Oh, yeah, anyway, I started again this morning and I kept doing the same thing with the path to the atom file, etc., and I just could not get it to validate. I feel stupid now, 'cause it was a quotation mark in the WRONG PLACE!!!!!!!! When will I learn to triple read those things??? Attention to detail is an understatement when doing this stuff. (Ever do that exercise where you have to count how many f's there are in a sentence, and you never get it right?)

So, went to feedburner next, and now I should be available to the entire world; oh my. That is a humbling feeling in many respects.

Oh, and the papers. At this point I am almost two weeks ahead so this week is a painting only week, and the slovensko web site at night.

Its a good thing I stopped watching television years ago. I don't know how people do it; how do you get anything done when watch you watch TV??????????? More on TV as the opiate of the people in a later post.
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Hmmmm, at some point today I asked what day it was, confident that it was Wednesday. Thurdsay? Are you sure???

I suppose it has been the cyber world fog of research I have put myself in the last few days. Two papers a week for a perfectionist is not easy. It takes time, and, the re-writes, and tweaking, and revision, and revision, and....

But, resolving to organize my life even during the hot lazy days of summer(I don't think I have one of those since I lived in Ohio when I was 15), I am planning ahead, doing research on the next assignment before the next several revisions to the one I am working on now. Yes, got an A on the first one, so I have already set a precedent for myself that I must maintain.

Okay, the plan is to set the alarm clock for an early rising, spend some time in solitude on the patio comforted by the sound of birds and fountain, and, with coffee and laptop in hand, do whatever is necessary for a few hours to keep ahead. I am embarrassed to admit, that it has been so long since my BA that I had no idea what APA style was. Sheesh, it took me as long to inform myself about APA as it did to write the first paper.

Next, paint for the rest of the day. Evening will be devoted to continuing building my dad's web site, slovenskonewmexico.com, and hopefully some time for redoing my own.

There is no rest for the OCD inflicted.
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Connie made me a great dinner, Jinou pumped up the air mattress and then after they went to bed, it was a matter of waiting for just the right time. Are these not gorgeous? Only one bloom, only at night, and then, when the sun begins to rise, they close.


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Didn't paint as much as I wanted to today. Got sidetracked with an on-line class I'm taking with NAU. Egads, a report each week! This means managing time more efficiently.

Connie just called and said the night blooming cereus is going to do at least nine blossoms, tonight!
The best picture opportunity is in the middle of the night so I will be sleeping on their couch. Of course I asked what was for dinner first.

I'll have pics tomorrow for you to look at.
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I had anticipated with great eagerness all week to throw pots last night. It's been four weeks and I was a little rusty but managed to get out two bowls and two short vases, short because I had to keep trimming the tops off.
Jinou was throwing big ones, doggoneit, and asked me if I had thrown an amphora for David yet.

Right now, throwing on the wheel is the only activity in my life which allows me to not think about anything else. It's also an excuse to get dirty. I end up with clay all over me, my face, hair, and anyone nearby.

The lesson is not to become attached to what you are making, because it can fall apart at any time in the process. Sorta kinda like life, huh? It's the process, the moment, the now. No preconceptions. Like painting, it shuts off the verbal thinking process in your mind. That is a nice place to be.
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My painting of amaryllis for the 2006 Chamber Music poster.

David's painting of Erasmus in progress .
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Hmm, well, this is the first day of launching this blog. Staring at this white space to post, is almost like staring at a blank canvas. I think this will become easier with time. I have spent enough time this morning getting this together and now it is time to go paint. I am looking forward to this afternoon when I get to throw pots with my friends Connie and Jinou.
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