Summer 2012

Summer 2012
BibeauArt of Santa Rosa

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

A closer look at the judging...

My husband and I went to check out my paintings - all two of them that survived the judging at the County Fair this year. This being my first showing anywhere, ever, I'm still learning the ins and outs of this system. There were two systems - the first being the Danish Judging system. My photograph (digital) only got to the last place or yellow award in that category and I ended up taking it back home since there wasn't any room to display it.

The second painting, my still life called "Georgian Blue" made the first place/red placing in the Danish Judging system, but no ribbon. Hey, at least it placed. I noticed that some folks got two entries accepted to be hung on the walls, but not a lot. I am blessed that I have two works on the same wall!

Now for the other 'news' I found out tonight. My best painting (an impressionistic one) didn't get third place as my 'spy' friend thought, but fifth place - a yellow ribbon. She saw the yellow and we all thought 'THIRD!'...boy, do I have something to learn about the judging around here.

When I brought the paintings and photo in to the Fairgrounds there were so many paintings, and I mean A LOT of them. Stacked everywhere. Today, my husband and I saw a hundred or so on two and a half walls - nicely displayed, not crammed together. The only problem with my 'Purple Mountain' acrylic painting was this - when on our 'display wall' as you enter our modest home, it lights up the room and is very 'soothing' as my husband will say. At the fair, well, it gets lost in the crowd, I'm afraid to say. In fact, I missed it the first time I walked by!!

This time, I think I've got a handle on what the judges LIKE - well, that's if they don't change judges! It's funny, but the style they seem to like is the style I'm trying to get away from - realism. They don't seem to like Cezanne stuff, really - or Monet either.

The funny thing is that I have one painting that was too 'real' that I wasn't happy with for entering into the Fair this year, and darn it, that's the one I should have entered! It's a waterfront painting with a weathered boat that's run ashore. A very old boat. It's rustic, heavy looking, very real indeed (!) and I didn't like it. But the judges would have LOVED it. It's called "Point Reyes Beached" and it's a foggy, dark, wintery painting. I registered it and then pulled it the day before the entries were due at the Fairgrounds. Sigh!

I'm now looking into painting for the Harvest Fair coming up this October. The entries begin in August and they love all kinds of art styles. The entry fee isn't so bad, but everything HAS to be for sale - and they take 25%. Oh, and you can only charge for materials! So, you make nothing, but get your name out there. Hmmmm. A friend of mine from the Republic of Georgia who is an amazing mixed media artist said she's doing it and I should do it too. We're thinking of going to the opening night party and having some fun!

Well, that's the scoop for today. Perhaps next year I'll have more to enter and more events to enter them into. At least I'm over the public viewing phobia that I had.




It's been one week and a day...

...since my Endo surgery. So far, I can't paint on painkillers - it just silences the creativity - and I'm visiting my doctor for a post-op appointment. Perhaps he can give me a clue as to when the painkillers can take a vacation so I can paint again.

I tried to paint a few days ago and boy, did that not work very well. The ideas are there, the desire to paint is there but the brain just doesn't connect with the hand/brush. So, I've still got about ten or so paintings waiting to be finished in my mini-studio in my garage. They just look so abandoned, it's sad.

I was to sign up for a bunch of art/painting classes this year with my favorite instructor, but I don't think it's going to happen this semester due to the recovery process. I'm not entirely happy about this, but it's not something I can control either. When you've got Endo, sometimes things tend to take the backseat for a while, or a few years in my case. Maybe that's good. Maybe that's helping me in some way I haven't figured out yet. Perhaps it will let me practice on my own so that I can get more out of the instruction.

I know that this recovery time will let me catch up on some rest and when I can do it, allow me to get back into my Pilates routine a bit. Being in shape will help my health, Endo, my mental outlook on things and of course, my stamina in front of the easel for my marathon painting nights.

The County Fair starts today, so I'll get a confirmation on the Third Place ribbon for my Purple Mountain painting as well as where the Georgian Blue painting (still life) placed. Yes, I'm still wondering about these silly things! As soon as we get shots of me with the paintings this week, I'll figure out how to post them here on the Blog, so you can finally see what I keep ranting about.

Saturday, July 24, 2004

An opportunity to help others with Endo...

http://groups.msn.com/SonomaCountyEndometriosisSisterhoodonline

That's the address to my new group for women with Endometriosis at MSN groups. I just slapped it together so that when my support group with the Endometriosis Association cannot meet, we can meet on line or at least keep one another going via e-mail on this group list. Of course, after I put this group up my husband let me know that I should have done it on YAHOO groups...well, maybe I'll do it there as well. There isn't much activity on it yet, but I do e-mail some of the members and some non-EA members about their battles with Endo.

The reason why I'm a member of the EA and put up a group on MSN is because I have Endometriosis - a very common and very painful female disease - and I have always wanted to help those who are going through what I went through and point them in the right direction - to get them help - to help stop their sufferings.

Endo isn't a curable disease, however, there are things you can do to relive the pain and make things bearable. A positive attitude helps a LOT, so support from other women who have this disease is a wonderful thing to have.

I've had Endo since age 12. Of course in my family it was just what the women had to deal with - no sympathy whatsoever. I was a tomboy, so this time of life wasn't welcome in my active lifestyle at the time. Sitting around at home in pain was awful. What's worse is that there was 'nothing to be done about it' so I had to 'tough it out'.

I find out at age 29 that there IS something to be done about it, and did it promptly in the form of laser outpatient surgery with a very skilled doctor. I'm 33 now, and was able to have one child out of all this mess - but the one thing that I've always thought of is this: I had to deal with all of this pain for so long - what if I could help others before it got out of control, out of hand? Even if I could point the way for them, say to the EA or to a competent doctor, I would feel as if I had DONE something!

So, on Tuesday I find out all about a new experiment group that I'm in for Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain with my doctor and his associate. I said 'yes' right away because this may help me and others with new research on Endo. So, perhaps you know of a young lady or woman at work that has Endo - or perhaps you yourself have it - maybe some of this new research will help someone - or you - someday. I really hope so.

On another board that I visit that is run by an Orthodox friend of mine, someone pointed out that there is a lady in the Bible who had an 'issue of blood' that could have had Endometriosis. Her name was Veronica, and I'm naming her the patron saint of all of the women suffering from Endometriosis. The beauty of her story is that she knew that if she could only touch Jesus' cloak that she would be healed -- she did and was healed! So, beyond the support groups, clubs, research groups and fundraisers for Endometriosis we should be praying.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Third Place Award!

We are not to know the official awards until Tuesday when the Fair opens, but my best friend who collected my digital photo from the officials snooped - and it looks like my first and best painting got a third place ribbon! Not sure where the other painting placed (still life, traditional setting), but we'll find out next week for sure.
No, it's not best in show or class, but third place is nothing to sneeze at. My painting is called Purple Mountain and has a purple mountain in various shades of purple and violet against a brilliant blue sky. At the mountain's feet is a golden field of wheat shining in the sun. The color is what puts this painting over the top, not the subject. It's done in a post-impressionistic style with a nod to Cezanne, who I adore.
This is the first award I've gotten for any work, ever! I'm very happy! So, it placed third in the acrylic fine art section under the landscape class. Not bad for a first timer. Glory to God for all things, including giving us such talent so that we may imitate his most beautiful art! I'll see if I can take a photo of it at the fair so I can post for all to see - so then you can see what it's all about and judge for yourself! I'll have a web site coming soon too, so that will help people see more of my stuff.
Oh and yes, my surgery went very well and my recovery is, well, a recovery. Slow and sometimes painful. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things and start my art again! Thanks to all for your prayers and good thoughts...

Sunday, July 18, 2004

The first placement is in - and coming home!

My husband got a call today from the Fair folks and the photo that I entered into the kind of limited Digital class placed Yellow (Danish system), and it's coming home this week. Apparently there's no room for the last placements on the walls! Well, that was a fun entry, not as nerve-wracking as my paintings. Still, I placed somewhere in photography (and I didn't know what I was doing)! This entry was an 'action' shot taken when I was recently in Florida with my sisters on a mini vacation. It was just a photo of my son running away from the tide - but those friends and family who saw it thought I should submit it to see how it would place. Well, at least it placed. I'm happy to have it back and not my paintings - now I'll have to wait and see where they placed. They are not posting the awards on line, yet, but while I'm in surgery my cousin will be watching the internet for me. So, does this mean that I placed somewhere nice in the American System of Judging? Hmmmm...stay tuned! I probably won't post for the rest of the week - post-op/drugs pending. Maybe by then we'll have some NEWS!

Saturday, July 17, 2004

the waiting game!

It's Saturday night and still no postings on the website for the judges' outcomes. Perhaps it will come out on Monday, while I'm in surgery? I suppose I'll be too drugged out to care! ;o) I can't wait for the surgery to be overwith so perhaps I can finish my paintings for a Fall show with a photographer friend (see www.jennifermarshphoto.com) - she's so talented! It would be even NICER to show something that I won an award for at the Fair! Okay, one can dream, right? I really hope that nothing happens to my artwork - that's what I'm really thinking about tonight. I know, I know - BREATHE!!!

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Paintings are in the judges hands...

Okay, I said I wouldn't write til the judging - which is this Saturday morning - but I have to write about turning IN the works to the judges. Since artists have been turning in their works for about twenty some odd hours now, there's a lot to look at while waiting to 'drop off' your artwork. Amazing stuff - all from amateurs like me. But some of this stuff is just jaw dropping good. You can tell what art masters their influences are from - and some are big HUGE fans of Thomas Kinkade (not my kind of stuff although you have to hand it to the man for his treatment of light).
I'm kind of a snob in that area - I don't like Kinkade's stuff - and I've seen the real things too. Just not my style. I'm not that precise and neat when I paint. Colour is my centerpiece in all my paintings.
My art prof. - I call him the Maestro (he'd laugh if he heard that one!) told me during my first painting (which took a month!!) that I can draw very well, so I CAN paint. I said that wasn't what I was going for with it. He replied that very good use and placement of color can hide the most grievous of painting sins and even make a painter- and that I was blessed with that already. Then he would harass me with my first paintings saying 'look, if I wanted a photo of the still life, I would have taken one - do it in YOUR style'.
I am still digging for my style but I know what it looks like in my head. I can almost taste it. I just can't do it all the time. Sometimes I can, and then I'm exhausted, happy and sad that it's over. Then I start the next empty canvas with new and inspired ideas - sometimes they work and sometimes, well - like the third painting that I was to turn into the judges for this event - didn't turn out at all. That's why they make Gesso!
So, anyhow, back to the paintings I saw with the judges. Beautiful - from all ages of painters - all different backgrounds, all different visions. I can't wait to see the showing of all this art. It will inspire me for sure - and maybe it will inspire me to re-invent the poor lost painting that didn't make my cut for the judges for 2005's round.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Waiting to be judged...

This could be painful. The next few days will be really, truly a test for me. My two best pieces of artwork (paintings) will be judged by folks who seem to know their art and what's pleasing to the eye. Watch, they don't even place the paintings! Sigh! Well, I like them and my husband owns them both, so I really shouldn't care, should I? I also figure the real test is if people BUY your art. But, I'm curious to see if my little paintings can place in a county fair. Maybe I'd be better off with some good ol cookies - oh, wait a minute, my cousins sweet and very talented daughters will be doing that. I'm sure they'll win!
Also, above and beyond the judging this week, I'm waiting to see if I can sign up for my painting prof. and his six hour class this Fall. It's a health thing that I've lived with all my life (Endometriosis), but it tends to put a crimp in my school plans all the time. I'm trying to set up a surgery date so I can get on with life for a few more semesters, then surgery (lapo) again most likely. Of course, Endo would rear it's ugly head once more just as I'm getting back on the painting course of my life...just a challenge I'm sure. It is pretty hard to paint when one is on painkillers - and I try not to take them - only at night or when I can't stand it anymore. However, I am trying to figure out how some artists can do their 'craft' while stoned silly. Sorry, I've always NEEDED my brain and those lovely brain cells, thank you. More when I hear about the judging results...eek!

Monday, July 12, 2004

First post...

Well, here I am. I was trying to post to a friends site and got stuck doing my own blog in order to write him. This will be an occasional site, since I'm a pretty busy gal and should be painting and being with my son more than I am on the computer!