What's Next?

Handsome Husband and I were chatting recently about ideas and themes I wanted to explore soon.

 I was tossing out ideas right and left; another painting-a-day series, a highway series, a batch of itty bitty pieces or maybe some great big square canvases would be interesting. Skies, tree rows, open fields, alley-ways or maybe even some still life paintings would be appealing. Oooh! I saw some collages that looked like fun! And there was this abstract piece…

True to form, HH cut through the fog and said, “What’s your goal here?”

 

2012 Patricia Scarborough 4x6 oil Patterns of Spring

 

Hm.

Well…umm…hmmmm.

For the last couple of years my focus has been in interpreting the landscape of central Nebraska in the best way I can. My goal was to be prepared to exhibit whenever invited to do so, and to provide the best work I could for these opportunities. I’ve been honored with multiple exhibits to showcase the work I’ve done in this vein. I feel comfortable saying I achieved my intent.

Faced with an open calendar and time to explore, I find no easy response to HH's question.

I don’t have an answer.

I don’t have an answer because this is real life, and solving the riddle of Now What? is not as easy as picking from a list of multiple choice responses.  I don’t get an A for picking the best answer or for impressing Handsome Husband – or you – with my cleverly worded statement of intent.

Whew. This is going to take some thought. In fact, even as I sit here ready and willing to type out the answer to that question my fingers hit the delete button as often as they pick out words to explain my intentions. That fact alone should tell me something.

So, rather than continuing the rhythmic typing-deleting-typing-deleting that I’ve been engaged in for the last hour, how about I spend some time over the next weeks or months pondering this idea.  There’s no deadline to sweat. No expectations other than my own to deal with.

 

2012 Patricia Scarborough Reconciliation II 9x24 oil

I do know that I want to learn to paint really well. In the end that may be enough. I’ll let you know.

In the meantime:

The Museum of Nebraska Art’s Kaleidoscope of Art event is the weekend of November 3 and 4^th. I’ll be there with some really lovely small paintings for you.

My Norfolk Arts Center exhibit titled Common Ground will open November 8^th through December 29^th.  Opening reception is Thursday November 15^th from 6 to 8 pm.
Make it your goal to stop by and see what I’ve been up to.

Getting Groove-y

I love my groove.

A groove, not to be confused with a rut, is a lovely smooth place where one can glide easily through the day. The mind, not bothered with routine details like which hand to grab a spoon with, or which direction to take a walk, can fill itself with more delightful pursuits such as scooping up just the right colors of paint for an autumn landscape. Unfettered from repetitive details the mind can focus on imaginings and what ifs.

My groove has taken quite a beating lately.  Not one single event, but several of varying degrees of importance, have thrown me off kilter. 

I lurched along rather badly at first. Starting this before finishing that, muddling through and around before wobbling toward evening uncertain whether I’d gotten done what I’d gotten started. (Kind of like that sentence.)  With some thought and awareness my scattered stumbling has become a kind of dance, however clumsy and awkward. With some practice and attention I have developed a suitable sort of jitterbug-careening two-step that has helped me accomplish the tasks that I once floated through without missing a beat.

Tomorrow is Monday, as good a day as any to start fresh.  Monday October 22^nd. 

Monday October twenty second??

I think it just happened. I can feel the cogs slide into place and the machinery begin to move smoothly. 

Ah the specter of deadline.  The dot at the end of the sentence, the slamming of the door, the raising of the curtain.  It’s now or never.  Zero hour.  Play big or go home.

Here’s what’s coming like a freight train:

The annual Kaleidoscope of Arts at the Museum of Nebraska Art Nov 3 from 11am to 5pm and November 4 from 1pm to 5pm.  This is a terrific 2-day event showcasing over 30 artists with new work suitable for holiday shopping.  I’ve got some real beauties to show you.

  ©2012 Patricia Scarborough 6x8 oil Into the Woods

Available soon at the Museum of Nebraska Art's Kaileidoscope of Art event

Then it’s off to the Norfolk Art Center in Norfolk Ne.  to deliver paintings for an exhibit there with sculptor Travis Apel which opens November 9^th.  More excellent work to show you.

Graham Gallery and The Burkholder Project, as well as LuxArt Center are getting ready to open their doors with fresh new work for the holidays as well. Yeah, lots of goodies for them as well.

 

©2012 Patricia Scarborough 6x8 oil Moonlit

Available soon at Lux Art Center

I got my groove back. Funny how a little panic will do that for a person.

Doggone It

I am riding on the horns of a dilemma. What a lovely place to be.

Perhaps an explanation is in order.

 

©2012 Patricia Scarborough Spring Dance 8 x 6 oil 

Available beautifully framed at Lux Art Center, Lincoln, Ne., November 7- December 24

 

Early on in this painting adventure I tried to follow the crowd, painting what the decorator’s promised were the popular colors and motifs. They warned us that if we didn’t paint sunflowers or angels or whatever was popular that year, and in just the right combination of colors, we’d never sell a thing.  When the dust settled I ended up with no sales and a pile of art I couldn’t stand to look at. 

That was the end of that. From then on I painted what interested me in a way that interested me. My ultimate goal is to sell my paintings to others. But, gee, doggone it, if I can’t find that special buyer, I’ll just have to keep my own artwork and hang it on my own walls.  It’s hard to be disappointed when you’re secretly delighted.

 

©2012 Patricia Scarborough  Spring Dance 8 x 6 oil 

Available  beautifully framed at the Museum of Nebraska Art Kaleidoscope of Arts Event,

November 3-4 in Kearney, Ne.

The dilemma now is that I am ahead of myself. I really, really like what I’ve been painting lately. The little gems that have come off my easel please me in a way that is deep and rewarding.  If I hadn’t promised them already for upcoming exhibits I’d be thoroughly content to hang them on the walls here at home.

 

©2012 Patricia Scarborough Howard County at Dusk 6 x 8 oil
Available  beautifully framed at the Museum of Nebraska Art Kaleidoscope of Arts Event,

November 3-4 in Kearney, Ne.

That’s a dilemma I’ll have to learn to live with. Doggone it.

Landscape Hunting

Greetings Dear Reader –

Today Handsome Husband and I are off on a shooting safari of sorts. We’re not hunting elk, buffalo or even wild mushrooms.  We’re traveling into the hinterlands of northern Kansas in search of the legendary rolling hills and undulating tall grass prairies that give this area a special kind of beauty.

It’s been awhile since we’ve taken off on a trip like this. Too often lately we’ve been dashing off, hither and yon, tied to a long list of to-do’s.  Not this time. Our goal today is to get off the interstate and cruise the back roads with an eye toward the landscape rather than the clock.

 Copyright 2012 Patricia Scarborough  Country Lane 6 x 8 oil

My goal for this trip is to fill a memory card with as many photos as possible. Consider it homework of a sort, gathering information for a new series of landscape paintings. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. 

What's on your to-do list this weekend?