I finished the first draft of the audio version of Filming An Indie and it is now in the hands of my sound editor. It took me only about 20 hours total to finish it once I got started , but it had to be in segments due to my voice getting raspy after only a couple of hours. 

I am eager to get back to painting. I want first to finish the reddish piece that I already started, but also have a grey work in mind.

I mentioned earlier that I was embarking on a project to record an audio version of my book, Filming An Indie: A Diary of Making Revenge In Kind. The learning curve has been difficult, but not insurmountable. I had to study what kind of equipment to buy (mic, boom, pop filter, sound isolation) and take an online course (as well as watch YouTubes) on GarageBand for podcasts (the nearest instruction related to audiobook recording). After all that, I had a lot of false starts, but the biggest hurdle has actually been my deafness. I cannot record with headphones (there is feedback from my hearing aids and my hearing is too bad anyway) and cannot hear the result well enough to know where the mistakes are. So I've hired an excellent sound editor to help me. It takes me about an hour per chapter to prepare and record; there are 20+ chapters. It has been fun, but physically challenging in a new way. I am used to getting physically tired from exertion in the garden or whatever. This activity, however, tires my voice. It changes my pitch and messes with the clarity of speech. So I can't do more than about 3 chapters before things begin to go south on me.

It has been about a year since I published the book. Reading it aloud makes me wish I could fix a lot of things, especially typos and some repetition, but that is water under the bridge. Time to move on. But I have been pleased that I still think the book is worthy. 

​Below is a photo of my mic setup. The kitty bed is usually occupied by a sleeping cat named Kala. She sometimes awakens and messes up the recording, so I start over. I don't mind. I like her presence.

I had some news today that pleases me a lot—my painting "Aside the Wharf" was juried into the Texas & Neighbors Annual Art Exhibit. That competition is well-respected and the show is at the gorgeous Irving Arts Center. The juror is Andrea Karnes, Curator for the Fort Worth Modern Museum. There were only 82 pieces accepted from all media (sculpture, photography, watercolor, etc.). 

​Update: Here is an image of the accepted piece. I neglected to post it before.

Today I felt like starting a new piece, although I had planned to wait longer to begin anew. Here is the first step—the backpainting. The final will look nothing like this, but I am going to catalog the steps.

I think a painting should have a name. (A gallery that once represented me argued to the contrary and wouldn't exhibit the names of my works, which didn't please me!) But the name of my artwork isn't usually evident during the creation; it emerges. In the case of the painting shown below, it took a few days to let it come. I didn't search for the name, it arrived without fanfare. It is "Petrichor"—the smell of earth as rain falls after a dry spell. "Petra" means rock in Greek and "ichor" is the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. The name carries both strength and subtlety to me, so I am well pleased that the painting shared this lovely name with me.

Here is the latest on the abstract that I discussed below. In the interim between the background I painted first and what you see here, I really messed up one day. I ended up being not only disappointed, but angry about it. So I just scraped all the paint off and let it dry for a day before re-starting. Then I took a bit more time and moved from painting with the paper almost flat to having it on my easel so that I could step back constantly, as is my usual practice. I am much happier with this. I am thinking of adding a few dark straight lines, but will mull that while it dries for a few days.

Today I switched over from acrylics to oils for a while. It gives me a fresh start because working one is so very different from the other. Oils give me more time (dry more slowly), respond to  surfaces and applicators more smoothly, and require much more clean up effort. 

I am using paper (Arches) for the first time with oils. I am hoping that this makes it easier for purchases. The high cost of freight to ship paintings on board or canvas is a real deterrent for some.

Below are photos of the outset. I began the adventure yesterday by acquiring a backboard to hold the paper. This morning I cut it down to size and affixed position markers for the paper to keep it level and straight. By late morning, I was ready to go. I applied the backcoating and am now letting it dry a bit to get it ready for the actual painting.

Today I read something that really clicked with me. A soliton (new word for me) is theoretically a type of wave or "warp bubble" that allows its contents to move at a speed faster than light. I was delighted that there is a word for the concept because that is exactly what I think the orange-red orbs are in the painting below entitled Outside of Time.

Someone made a comment on Instagram noting that blues had been added to the revision of the painting. I responded that, yes, I was trying to achieve balance as I imagined it would be in outer space. Before there were warm colors, like the sun. Then I added cool, like the moon.

I am thinking of calling this "Outside of Time" because it was inspired by thinking doubt the Universe out there.....way out there. It began with my following the story about exploration of Mars and the dear rover, Percy (Perseverence). Anyway, here is a close up of the painting.

Here is the revision of the painting that I showed you yesterday. I think it is finally finished, but I am not going to varnish it for a while, just in case.