Despite many requests for virtual studio tours and work in progress updates, I resisted live video for years. Mainly because I thought it was supposed to be a polished looking, slickly edited talking-head-news-broadcast type of thing. And I don't want to be talking at you about stuff from a little screen in your feeds. I know you already have a ton of those trying to get your attention.
I resist using new technologies. Especially when it comes to social media.
I avoid using new platforms for a long time. Maybe in three years I'll be all about TikTok, but right now it seems like the most annoying thing in the world.
So it’s been a surprise to me that I actually love using IG Live to paint and chat with those who join me. Being stuck at home, working in the corner of the dining room by myself made me realize how much I miss my usual open studio environment.
Sunny Goat, as its new owner calls it was painted during one of the IG Live sessions and found a home right away!
True Portland style: we arranged a socially distanced safe pick up for the new collectors who rode their bikes half across town to pick up the painting.
Live video helps re-create open studio environment
I share a wonderful industrial loft every artist's dream space with a wonderful artist and terrific human being. I am so fortunate to have an amazing studio mate, even though she is not there as often as I wish. I love working in the studio while others work beside me. Our pursuits don't have to be anything alike, we don't even have to talk (even though we often do) There is a collective sense of purpose, of pursuit, of inquiry that is magnified when more than one is making art.
And then there is the camaraderie and instant feedback I can offer and get from my fellow artists. I know this goes against the myth of the solitary auteur alone in (his) studio battling creative demons. And maybe some artists really need solitude to focus. Sometimes I benefit from alone studio time as well, but only if it's combined with interactive sessions.
I've really enjoyed responding to comments and questions that come in during the live painting session. I got to talk to some folks I've been trying to meet up with for months in person, but never managed to. But now it's somehow easier to meet up virtually. And I've also been meeting new people from all over the world and making connections and planning split screen dueling easels live painting sessions.
Sunny Goat Painting Time Lapse
I really enjoyed working on this painting during one of the lunchtime live painting sessions. It’s been an absolutely glorious sunny April here in Portland, quite unusual for us. Usually our grey clouds and incessant rain don’t go away until the 4th of July. So I’ve been soaking in the bright sunshine, the piercing blue skies and the vibrant chartreuse yellow green of fresh new green all around me. And I am channeling all of this spring vibrancy into a happy shiny baby goat in a green field under blue skies!