The Story Begins

In September I made the transition from housekeeper to full-time artist amidst cries of, "Oh no, but what about the economy!?," "Artists never make money," and "You're making a terrible mistake." Three months later, every time an expense comes up, my partner will ask, "Are you sure you don't want your old job back?" to which I emphatically reply, "No!" Although it did provide a steady paycheck, my former job left me feeling empty, exhausted, and like I was going nowhere. Eventually my personal feelings far outweighed a steady paycheck and so I took the great leap and haven't looked back.

Immediately I started telling everyone I knew about my artistic pursuits and I was overwhelmed by the donations of hand-me-down supplies ranging from pastel sets and paper to paints and brushes. Of course, being new to the art game, I had no idea about things like archival quality, how to hang my work without damaging it, or even which medium would be right for me. However, I now had materials and making use of what I had available, I jumped right in with oil pastels.

Although they can be messy, the flexibility to create depth and layers of texture, to etch, and to get fine details just right are all integral to my pieces. I fell in love... hard. In some ways it's too bad that I've decided to not only be an artist, but to be -- god, this sounds horribly cliche --the best artist I can be. I started investigating the archival qualities and lightfastness of my precious pastels, which in simple terms, means how well the color will last over time. Unfortunately, the hand-me-downs were given for a reason. The quality was terrible in terms of archiving and how could I conciously sell, give, or display a piece that I knew wasn't of the highest standard? I couldn't.

So okay. Deeeep breath. I discovered pastels that were of a higher quality and decided that when I had the money, I would try them out. And then it happened. I got an email stating that I was selected by Dock Fore in Portland to display my work for the month of January. Yippee, my first exhibit! And then the panic set in. How do I display my work? What materials should I use? What about pricing? How large should the art be?, and on and on my mind went in total freak out mode. Although I adore my pastels, I realized that I couldn't exhibit them without proper framing and being a poor out of work artist (at least, at the moment), I just can't afford it. My heart is broken but with a show one month away, I have no choice but to switch mediums. Besides, I rarely back away from the chance to try something new.

I tried using acrylics but it was immediately apparent that I am not a painter and acrylics couldn't give me the desired depth or etching qualitites I love and I'm not ready to tackle oil paints, though I suspect I would run into many of the same issues. With four weeks until my Dock Fore debut, I still have to buy materials and get down to work. I am hoping to have better luck with paintsticks, and perhaps reserve acrylics for background work. By mid-week I should have some photos of my paintstick experiments but until then, I shall post some of my pastels, if only for the memories.