Mary's Daily Art Report

I'm catching up...

2012-03-07T14:27:00.001-05:00

I've been redesigning my bios and business cards, designing and doing data entry for my new inventory sheet and an activity sheet for all the ins and outs of keeping track of where my work is. So much time has been spent on this but it does feel good to have things in order. I also re-photographed every painting and saved it in the manner that is necessary for entering shows, etc. I make a slide show which I now can bring along to exhibits and will give that a trial run this Saturday in Wakefield, and I can play nice quiet jazz in the background! This photo work enabled me to easily insert a picture of each work next to it's inventory number on my sheet, how sweet it is! Now if I can only get busy with my official web site which has been seriously neglected for too long. I hope I can report good news in that area soon.

I can hardly believe how much is involved with carting paintings to an exhibition event. I'm the only one, so the set-up and equipment is entirely up and to me--all for one night.

Sage Gallery Show, Haverhill MA

2012-03-02T18:23:00.003-05:00

I delivered two paintings and two bin works to the Sage Gallery today for their upcoming show. I entered an abstract painting called, The Eagle; and a representational plein air work called Stevens Coolidge Place, North Andover, MA. Sorry about the poor photograph, I have a better one but I can't find it. I've been working in Photoshop's Elements lately and grouping things in a more organized way, but I'm not clear about how to find them directly on the hard drive.

Awards will be presented during opening reception Saturday, March 10th 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. I won't be able to attend as I'll be showing my work in Wakefield that evening at their performance center.
Most Popular Award will be announced at the end of the exhibit.

Busy day, hard work

2012-03-01T18:18:00.001-05:00

All my paintings are now inventoried and hung, except for those that are on their way to various shows and exhibitions. This is also the space where the classes are being held.

Hanging day, seeing my style.

2012-02-28T11:44:00.002-05:00

I'm working on framing the last thing in order to hang everything. Unfortunately, I had to make three runs, so far, to the lumber yard to get the framing materials for the triptych. I need that one hung first as it's the largest thing on that wall.

I want to divulge that it was a telling moment when I sorted all my work and was taken aback that as a whole it didn't look like I thought it would. They always talk about "style", a person's painting style. When you see a couple of paintings at a time you don't notice it much, that overall style people talk about, some are different from one another: but as a whole, it's obvious. Maybe it's like seeing a photograph of yourself someone else took that you didn't know about, and you didn't immediately recognize yourself. Anyway, what I saw was that it was more colorful than I thought I was and somehow unsettling as I am working to have a looser style which I haven't achieved yet. This is a a good thing, seeing everything together, now I can move forward on a steadier course.

Wrapping up inventory project

2012-02-28T11:32:00.001-05:00

I am finally finished photographing all my work and writing the inventory list. Now I have to input the data to a file that I designed to hold any and all information regarding every painting I have. This will facilitate things when paintings are out for a show, know when to pick up after, etc. as well as know where they are, who bought them, sizes, etc. and can be sorted as well to find mediums, sizes, etc.

Next--it's hanging everything in my presentation space.

West Newbury Pump #3

2012-02-23T13:42:00.002-05:00

West Newbury Green Pump #3

This is the third painting I've done of the wonderful old water pump on West Newbury Green in West Newbury, MA. The building in the background is the Town Hall which holds fond memories for some of its citizens who used it as a gymnasium and other activities were, and probably still are, held here. The first painting had an old farmhouse in the background where the current resident sells vegetables from a small help-yourself stall out front during the season. The second painting had a memorial to fallen soldiers and several old homes in the background.

Contact Cement

2012-02-23T13:35:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Fred, Harold and Mark who replied with ideas to fix the "9 Little Pollacks" painting, and this morning I worked on it as follows: I used a chisel to remove all the old glue material, sanded the surfaces, wiped it with alcohol to be sure it was clean and applied the contact cement. I can't tell you if it worked or not as I'm reluctant to stand it up to see what happens. I'll let it cure a little longer first.

Update: I had to work on this for a while longer, the second coat worked mostly but I had to clamp it for another day to achieve perfection. It is a very heavy piece and I'll put two hangers on the wall when I hang it.

Double Trouble, how to fix it?

2012-02-20T14:36:00.004-05:00

I have a large 36x36" contemporary painting that is a series of 8x8" stretched canvases, done in the style of "Pollock" in acrylic and enamels and fixed/glued to a painted sheet of masonite and framed with a floating frame. The glue gave way, and I am trying to re-glue it. An electrician friend thought I should use liquid nails. So I tried it. The glue didn't dry clear and I had to use a razor sharp brush to reach into the slight space to paint the white glue the same color as the background of the mounted board. After all this, the glue didn't hold! I think it was the glue that failed because some of it adhered to the frame and some to the masonite. What to do? It's only 1/8" masonite so screwing it from the back wouldn't give the screw much to grab on to. Another friend thinks Gorilla Glue would work. If I screw in along the edge from the front, which would certainly hold everything together, I'd have to add a strip of wood over that margin to cover the screws--a last resort. What do you think?

Dining Room East Wall

2012-02-16T16:10:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned earlier, I finished my painting (here on the right) and hung these others

one by Qiang Huang and the other by Susan Manning O'Briant.

Tulips for my dining room

2012-02-15T19:17:00.002-05:00


9x12" Tulips - Eternal Spring

I finished this painting today so I could hang a small group of paintings of my collected works in my dining room. I discovered that it is difficult to have a room with a number of paintings all about the same small size. I purchased a painting of Qiang Huang during a workshop I did with him down in Newport RI last year and in order to balance it in the grouping, I decided to put my painting there as well. I also discovered that while hanging a lot of paintings together the frames are a big statement and must work well together so I ordered the same frame for my painting (above) and Qiang's as they both have this dark background. I love this guy. I receive his blog by subscription and enjoy his daily comments almost as much as I do Robert Genn's. Check out his work. Qiang Huang pronounced Chong Wong. I'll frame and hang tomorrow and show you how it looks.

FYI, my painting classes start next month, so be sure to phone or email if you are interested.

Bear Hill Series - First One Completed - Triptych

2012-02-11T13:23:00.003-05:00

Bear Hill Road Sunset 3 panels 18x18"each

This country road in Merrimac, MA. is a route north to Newton NH and beyond. I usually walk this road everyday in the mornings but when I walked later in the day I loved the way that the sun hid behind the trees and highlighted some of the things that I always enjoy looking at. I first painted a smaller version (12x36") which is still in process but will be completed in a few more days.

New Art Magazine

2012-02-05T17:37:00.002-05:00

Artists on Art Magazine is a new on-line magazine that I just subscribed to. It's beautiful to look at the hi-res photos on screen and nice to be able to copy info into my notes document with a click of the mouse.
In the meantime, my Bear Hill Series is coming along. I wanted to be finished by this Wednesday, but that might not happen. I had to take a break, do a diversion, as I was getting a little too careful (another word for tight!).

The new "Artists on Art" Magazine, check it out.

Bear Hill Series

2012-01-29T12:38:00.001-05:00

The order of producing the work is as follows: Storyboard on top. Acrylic color sketch on the floor. 12x36" version on the shelf, and the triptych on the easel. The single painting and the triptych are still in process.

Series plus one

2012-01-16T11:40:00.000-05:00

I'm doing the preparations for a triptic plus one painting for Lully Schwartz's class starting this Wednesday. So far I took probably over 100 photos, running out at sunrise and sunset to capture the right lighting and have settled on a view I see on my morning walk, although it will be set at sunset.

While a student of Joel Babb's at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, we worked on complicated perspectives such as this view which includes what you can see on the left and right of where your field of vision actually is--a wrap-around more or less. Joel is a master of this.

So I did a storyboard, a sketch, a rough color study and worked out some variations to decide what size canvases to use for the triptic and have pretty much decided on three 18x18" squares.

I also will attempt to use a broken color theory and use a modified impressionist palette. I love the colors and style of work by Connie Hayes and will be using her style for inspiration. There is an excellent but long lecture that she did, which is streaming online, and accessible by way of the above link as well.

Photo Station

2012-01-16T11:23:00.001-05:00

I've have a good leg up on cataloging my paintings. I set up a photo station and am in the process of doing an inventory sheet to track artwork which includes a photo and all pertinent information. I can only do this at night because, they say, that any daylight entering the room would have an adverse effect. It's taking longer than I thought, doesn't everything?

Observations at Mass Audubon Society

2012-01-08T08:48:00.001-05:00

Today at Joppa Flats Education Center, Lully Schwartz, Carol Reynolds and Joan Merrill will be hosting a reception at 2:30 for the opening of their show. The show title "Observations" should be a feast for your eyes of water, grasses, sand and skies depicting the warmer seasons of the year.

1 Plum Island Turnpike
Newburyport, MA

RED, the play about Rothko in Boston

2012-01-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

I liked the play last night about Mark Rothko. RED

I am preparing to do a series of 4 large oil paintings (no connection with the above topic) soon in a contemporary impressionist style using an acrylic ground, and coincidentally, I received an email today from Michael Chesley Johnson about that process "using a clear acrylic ground in oil painting".

I am a confirmed oil painter but lately I need the expediency of using acrylic in some of my work. When people say that oil is too slow, they could be referring to the fact that it doesn't slide on easily and quickly like acrylic does. If you like to move the paint around quickly, oil doesn't do that unless you add too much medium to it which destroys the chemical makeup of oil paint. As long as the oil paint is the last thing you apply, in other words, acrylic under, oil over, all is well.

NAA Reception Tonight

2012-01-07T10:26:00.002-05:00

Two of my landscape paintings were juried in to the current Newburyport Art Association and the reception is tonight at 7. If you are near Newburyport, by all means, come and see this new show.

I've been busy ordering stuff and my kitchen is full of boxes: 4 easels for my new classes, and 4 frames to fill out my inventory of 9x12's.

More prep for my class and for Lully's

2012-01-03T19:54:00.000-05:00

I met and had lunch with the members of BOB today, that's the Band of Brushes. Great to see everyone again.

I've been trying to take photos to organize my ideas for Lully Schwatz's "series" class starting on the 18th of this month. I need to paint 4 paintings in 4 weeks and I plan to work LARGE. We'll see how that plays out!

I'm doing some prep for teaching my class starting in mid-March. I've got a good start on the curriculum. I made mini-flyers to distribute everyday that I can meet up with anyone who can spread information by word of mouth--they are business card size, and I have large flyers made with those tabs on the bottom that I can put on bulletin boards at locations nearby. I also made of blog that will be private and interactive, hopefully the class members will be able to compute. It's www.laDaVinciClub.blogspot.com and I will do a Facebook private group as well.

Boy Oh Boy, I hope I get people! The class will be terrific, I know it, I can't wait!

Organizing for teaching my upcoming class

2011-12-30T19:50:00.000-05:00

I'm buying easels which were on sale just before Christmas in anticipation of holding a serious beginner oil painting class at my home starting in mid-March and shopping for some other supplies as well. I found out that my plan to advertise in the local newspapers will be financially out-of-sight. Now it seems that flyers distributed in the area and word of mouth will have to do the trick. I hope it works.
The flyer will give my phone number for anyone interested to call and discuss details. 978-273-3496.
I hope to have a serious beginner class in the morning and a non-beginner class in the afternoon. The focus will be on learning and discovery in both classes. By all means, please spread the word, thank you in advance.

Motif No. 1 Rockport MA

2011-12-30T19:41:00.000-05:00

I'm reading the new book that is a tell-all about the sweet old fishing shack in Rockport that has put Rockport on the map, sort of speak, with tourists and provides a new understanding for me about how Rockport got to be an art colony. It also gives me a close-up, personal view of the lives of some of those early artists that have become household names here in the area. I highly recommend it.

Lully's Series Class

2011-12-27T23:50:00.000-05:00

I'm signed up to work with Lully Schwatz to do a series of paintings. She likes to paint in the large format and that's what I'm planning to do because while I was organizing my supplies, I realized I had a lot of large canvases. I love to paint large and haven't done that for a while, so it should be a lot of fun. My ideas require me to take photos at sunset or sunrise, well, I haven't been able to do that yet, either slept late or there was no sun, and it get's dark so early, it's hard to realize at 3:15 that I should run out and take a sunset photo.

Ordered easels for classes

2011-12-27T23:45:00.000-05:00

I took advantage of the Jerry's Artarama sale and bought 4 easels for the classes I am planning for March.

Framing-hanging my collection

2011-12-27T23:42:00.000-05:00

I painted my stairway, hallway and dining room walls and finally framed and hung my personal art collection. And my husband bought me a painting for Christmas. I just love looking at all my beautiful paintings. I never realized how satisfying it is to be able to look at one's own art collection. Now I know what people mean when they say, "don't buy it if you don't love it".

This week in my studio.

2011-12-02T16:28:00.000-05:00

I cleaned, organized, uncluttered, revamped, etc. my studio--just about every inch. I built on to my vertical storage unit, ordered frames, a lighting system for taking photos, and shopped for classroom/studio furniture for the classes I will start giving in the early spring. In the meantime, a friend gave me 10 years (at least) worth of International Artist (my favorite) magazines and I've had little sleep with all the reading I am compulsively doing. It was better than Christmas receiving these magazines. I'm also deep into writing my book on Beginner Oil Painting, which will probably never get finished, but it will be a great help with my course syllabus.

I had oral surgery the day before Thanksgiving and ripped my stitches and got an infection, so I have still been busy as you can see, all things considered.

I've been running into friends since I'm hanging in the Sage Art Gallery, Haverhill, MA.

Sage Gallery--up and running

2011-11-16T12:21:00.001-05:00

top left painting

Pardon the confusion, but I took these photos while the paintings were on the floor as I was arranging them for hanging at the gallery. It was a busy day, bringing them there, hanging them, running to Newburyport to enter a couple of paintings for the Holiday Show there--Newburyport Art Association, until January 2nd. Then I had to run to my dentist and tomorrow I'll be visiting a specialist about an old root canal that is acting up. I did work on a spreadsheet for inventorying my artwork and will be inserting some data today to see how it will work. As easy as Picasa is, I manage to goof it up. I had to edit these photos in Photoshop's Elements for some reason. Photos are my nemesis.

Entering the Sage Gallery in Haverhill MA

2011-11-12T08:38:00.002-05:00

I have a lot to do today to pack up and deliver 8 paintings to this new gallery in downtown Haverhill (136 Washington Street, just under the railroad underpass, parking in the back in a large public lot). It opened last week and has demos scheduled with very good artists--the first of which was Judy Pumfrey last Wednesday. You may enjoy watching an accomplished artist paint and talk about painting. See the website for details.

The opening reception will be this Friday, the 18th.

Link to Sage Art Gallery

Mural Pictures

2011-11-04T18:54:00.006-04:00

There is a before photo here as well as a few photos of after--to show the finished painting of the walls. There is a dog fence that has a very hard commercial finish to it, which could have been prepped and primed and painted to disappear, but we decided to do a snow fence and tie the fence in with the design instead.

The main entryway is below and these stairs lead to the family room. The mural is on this stairway from the front entrance to the family room. The rather simple fade design faces the entry door before ascending the stairs. There is a birdhouse on the snow fence with a chickadee on it as well as one in flight.

Mural Completed Tuesday

2011-11-02T10:52:00.000-04:00

I couldn't work on Monday because on Sunday I was dizzy all day and was reluctant to work on ladders on Monday--probably an oncoming cold. Tuesday I worked until it was finished, around 3 p.m. I didn't bring my camera so will have to post the finished photos later on this week. Because painting the swinging gate that is attached to the wall wasn't going to work out well without a lot of surface preparation, I decided to work it into the design by painting a snow fence behind it which somehow helped the gate to blend into the painting better. Customer wanted Chicadees so I included a bird house and two Chicadees. The customer also likes red and pink flowers so I included these as well to tie in with her red chair in the adjoining room. The simpler tree design at the entry was done to blend the entry area with the stairway area mural.

The overall effect of the mural opens up the living area in a cheerful way and expands the feeling of space.

Nope, not done yet.

2011-10-27T17:38:00.000-04:00

I got to that point where I should stop and I did. I'd guess that I'll need another day for this part, and I appraised the ladder situation for the part around the corner, and if I can get a ladder, I might even finish that part in the same day. I'm busy now until Monday and then only have a half day to work on the mural, so it might go into Tuesday. Oh yes, and then I have to add birds, so Tuesday looks like a good goal to wrap up the job.

Wall Mural should be done today.

2011-10-27T09:20:00.001-04:00

This is the third day of working on this wall mural commission. I will put up photos later today or tomorrow. I downloaded Picasa yesterday and I think it will be a lifesaver for me. The only photo software that I had that was still working was Photoshop and believe it or not it does have some limitations.

The third pump painting is also underway and, hopefully, I'll work on it on Saturday. I had additional electric plugs installed in my studio and had to move everything away from one long wall, so now I have to put it all away and will take the time to sort through and reorganize and clean, so Saturday will be productive and therapeutic.

Another pump painting--in the series

2011-10-25T16:26:00.002-04:00

I finished another painting yesterday in the pump series. This series is inspired by a native of West Newbury who has fond memories of the town common where her grandmother used to live. It has an old-fashioned water pump, probably was used for horses, and a memorial to veterans. I'm having trouble posting photos. I'm only using Photoshop and the photos that I originally took in a vertical format post sideways. I downloaded Picasa today and maybe that will help.

Today I started a mural and got the drawing done and some color tests. Tonight I'll try to prepare some paint. If that doesn't work out, I may go to Home Depot tomorrow morning and get some samples. I did take some photos before and now during, so I'll post them when I get a chance to load them up on Picasa.

I may even finish the project tomorrow as long as the paint colors work out.

MoCA was great!

2011-10-23T18:50:00.000-04:00

I'm just home from a sunny drive through great autumn scenery to North Adams and Williamstown. We had an unexpected detour because Route 2 wasn't. The hurricane washed a lot of it away and we never heard about it. www.massmoca.org was much better than I thought it would be. Williams College Museum of Art and The Clark were also wonderful to see even though there were some exhibits that were closed. My friend, Lynn Murray, and I ate at Spiceroot, an Indian restaurant in Williamstown, very delicious, highly recommended and it was. We stopped in both directions to eat at the Wagon Wheel in Gill, MA. Another great eatery. So was this an art trip or an eating trip? So I'm home after approx. 400 miles of traveling the by-ways. We both took lots of photos.

Museum weekend

2011-10-22T07:48:00.001-04:00

I'm excited to be leaving for a great weekend of driving through gorgeous autumn scenery and checking out museums I have been waiting to see for a long time. Also the electrician has finally shown up and added lots of "juice" to my studio, of course, I spent a big chunk of time moving stuff so he could access the walls and now I'll have to "clean" and rearrange everything. It's a good thing.

West Quoddy Lighthouse, Lubec, Maine

2011-10-20T15:18:00.000-04:00

West Quoddy Lighthouse, Lubec, Maine

This 8x10" painting was previously done on site, updated last week and sold to Ron and Jan Deveau. This spot in Lubec is where the sun first hits the United States in the morning. The area around Lubec is very picturesque and I have lots of reference photos from which I plan to paint.

I was all set today to work on my second painting of the West Newbury Common when the electrician came. I've been waiting for him for a long time. He decided that he wanted to start with the work in my studio, adding wall plugs and running wires all over the house. So I think I'll try to get some work done on organizing my photos so I can find them and also doing some backups--necessary stuff that I never want to do.

West Newbury Green

2011-10-20T12:42:00.000-04:00

Commission for Priscilla Flynn

This is the painting of the West Newbury Common Pump that I just completed last night. I am working on another version looking in the opposite direction towards the monument with the pump in the foreground.

Two for Two at Newburyport Art Association

2011-10-19T15:03:00.000-04:00

My Right Foot - Mixed Media 24x36" on canvas w/floating frame

Good news, the Newburport Art Association Fall Members Juried Show II accepted my two entries:

Mary	Pyche	Right Foot Forward	Mixed Media
Mary	Pyche	Life Has Its Moments	Photography

The jpg of the mixed media painting doesn't look clear enough, sorry.

Degas Nudes at MFA

2011-10-17T22:59:00.000-04:00

I spent the day today at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston mainly to see the Degas show but spent time in other parts of the museum and took lots of photos of "people at the museum" for future paintings. My art friend Dale Prentiss Green and long time friend Ed Lemay were with me. I also brought my finished painting of the lighthouse "West Quoddy" to it's new owner tonight. I wasn't able to paint today and I'm disappointed about that, but I did work late last night on the two paintings of West Newbury's common with the old fashioned pump.

How about true confessions?

2011-10-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

I'm doing this blog to force myself to confess daily what ART I've done that day. I'm working daily these days and can't promise myself a daily painting, well, I could, but probably won't. I don't really want to put myself in that tight a routine yet, and it might happen as a result of my work ethic, but I'm cleaning up old promises to myself and others. I'm painting every day, sometimes all day, and like the walking regiment I started over a year ago, I'm letting myself do it without "pushing" myself too hard. I'm somewhat compulsive or competitive and when I push too much, too fast, it gets overwhelming and I stop. I found with walking that I do what I can, I enjoy it, then I keep doing it.

There is a lot of art related work that I have on my plate, and I'm going to chip away at it, like teach art (which requires lots of preparation that I need to do), fix my web site (which requires tons of time on the computer), bookkeeping my art (which requires setting up systems to record everything, like deadlines, sold work, photographing work, organizing materials, flyers, etc.) get ready for shows (which requires all the the previous plus producing work that is cohesive--I have 2 shows in the works).

Today I'm delivering 2 pieces of art to Newburyport Art Association for entry into the juried show, Part II, which is not for oil painting so I'll put in a mixed media piece and a photography piece. The photography piece was rejected at Newburyport a year ago, but it received an "Honorable Mention" at the Rockport Contributors Show shortly afterwards. Was I surprised? I was just hoping it would get in!

I've been working on a painting that I sold last week that needed a little more work, and yesterday I completed it, framed, wired, etc. and took a photo. It's the West Quoddy Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine. Yesterday I also worked on a painting of the public common and pump in West Newbury, Mass. This one is for Priscilla Flynn. I did drawings and gouache studies and she picked one and her friend, Ted, picked another, so I'll do both of them and see which one they take.