Out With the Old, In With the Current

For over a month now my husband and I have discussed the need to create space for my 21 piece framed exhibit to come home. Because this exhibit will be moving on to Coos Art Museum this summer, I will keep the paintings framed and ready to hang again in a few months. So what to do??

I have stored many older paintings in our garage. Actually they have been there entirely ignored, some for years. Was it really storage? No, these paintings were in "nowhere land."

Emptying out this shelving unit is trying. I've been "trying" to empty it out for years. Each attempt has stopped short of actually pulling out every old piece and breaking down the frames, breaking the glass, and letting go.

Yes, each piece was at some point worth framing and putting out for the public to look at and possibly purchase. But as I went through the process, I acknowledged to myself that these pieces no longer represent the artist I am today. And my attachment to them was mostly a distant memory and proof of the work I have done to be the artist I am today.

Out of all these framed paintings I was able to revisit where I've been, and marvel on where I am going. I could have (and briefly did) lament over the money spent on paper, mats, frames and glass. But I invited myself to feel relief over the new space I was creating for the artist I am today, and the artist I will become tomorrow.

I am forever grateful to my husband, who cheerfully helped me with a screwdriver and mallet breakdown the metal fames and physically breaking much of the glass. There seems to be no way to recycle the glass and I now usually cover a painting with plexi.

I was thankful for this sunny day to do this work outside. It was almost a cheering activity and a restorative process.




I found a couple of things to keep. One was an early painting juried into the Red River Watercolor Society Exhibit quite a few years ago. The painting itself was inspired by a trip Mike and I took with a great-nephew to Hokkaido, Japan. He was 14 years old at the time. Now he is young man who was recently married at our home.







Hokkaido Doorways has a new home.

Another painting I kept was an early attempt at painting people--my parents from a photo. It is not a "good" painting, but too dear to part with.

I also kept  some pieces I thought might make great additions to a collaged piece in the future. but the rest?






I'm not one for huge drama, but I asked Mike to have a bonfire with the remainders. Why? I didn't feel up to any more decisions.

One small piece I tore away from one of my first framed pieces because it seemed to say something about the artist I would become.

Patterns, I am and always have been a pattern painter along with Klimpt, Bonnard and many others.

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Playing with Patterns

a 3-day workshop

in beautiful Nye Beach, Newport, Oregon

March 3, 4, 5th 2018

Contact me: msgodfreyart@msn.com

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When Paintings Come and Go--One Way to Keep Track

This past month I have had 3 paintings in 2 different exhibits, 21 paintings in my solo exhibit, 2 sold paintings, and have a painting accepted in a February-April exhibit. There are other pieces entered in upcoming exhibits, but I have not yet been notified whether they are in or out. So how does one keep track of all the comings and goings?

Well, I have to admit this sort of thing has never been my strong suit. I know artists who keep notebooks full of records. There are computer programs out there for artist to use to record all sorts of information about their artwork. Frankly, none of these methods have worked for me long term. In part, I don't have that many paintings out there, but enough so my memory bank in my brain can't handle it all.

What has worked well for me is using my computer calendar. I have a specific color for my art entries. I can put the name of the painting, the exhibit I'm entering and the name of the juror on the date I send off my entry. Then I go forward and put in the date I will get notification whether my work has or has not been accepted. After acceptance, I can put in the date it must be delivered, show opening and closing dates and when to expect the painting shipped back to me. If I have not been accepted, I still know what I put out there.

In the last week, these 3 paintings arrived, returned from shows. I knew they were coming because my calendar told me so.

And this painting below will need to be shipped off to California before January 1st. The show dates are also on my calendar--February 4 - April 15, 2018 in Fallbrook, CA.

Will She Be Allowed
29x21
Mixed Media on paper

 There are days I get frustrated by technology, but there are other days I love it.

Looking into the future: Sign up for my March workshop in Newport, Oregon. 

Playing with Patterns

March 3, 4, and 5th in Newport, Oregon 

in the Heart of Nye Beach

3 full days for $295

Register today: email msgodfreyart@msn.com or call

541-912-3400