An Artist's Work is Never Done

After the large, combined conference (Watercolor Society of Oregon and Western Federation of Watercolor Societies) was over April 9, I took a week off. I pulled weeds, read a book, did laundry, vacuumed corners--in other words, I took some time to get my home-life pulled together. But the following weekend, I traveled to Coos Bay, Oregon to attend the opening reception of the Expressions West Exhibition at the Coos Art Museum (CAM).

It was a delight to visit with other artists, meet new folks, and have a good visit with my mentor, Katherine Chang Liu. The beautifully hung exhibit at CAM is full of good art with expressive color. A real bonus to visiting the Expressions West Exhibition is that Katherine and fellow artist, Eileen Senner have a striking two-person show upstairs at CAM. Aside from all the festivities of the opening, I was honored to win an award for my painting "Teen Dreams."

Teen Dreams
Mixed Media, 29 x 21

But as the title of this posts indicates, as an artist, I must continually come up with more art to display, enter into competitions, while selling a painting or two along the way.

So what's next? There are always competitions to enter, but I try to limit the number I send images to. I plan on sending images to San Diego Watercolor Society's 2017 International Exhibition and the National Watercolor Society 2017 International Open Exhibition next week, both big shows I have not yet had work accepted. Many of these exhibitions require work done in the last 2 years, therefore, an artist cannot rest on her laurels! Studio time and creativity are always on my mind.

And I am very happy to have an upcoming workshop in Portland, May 3-6. This workshop is something I've developed to help other artist add more content to their art. Although I have taught many workshops in the past, this is the first one focused on content. I am excited to see how it goes. I truly hope the artists attending will go away with fresh ideas of how to express themselves and new creative energy.

I will keep you posted and review the workshop from my perspective.