Organizing for North Carolina,Fall is Almost Here ,Handling Criticism,Cowboy Coffee Cake

Birdbath
6x8 inches
oil on mat board

This image is of a painting I did a few years ago, long ago sold. It is rough and only a study, but I always liked it.

I'm getting my materials together to head up to NC. We are allowed to put a few paintings in the gift shop while we are teaching. I didn't know that last year, so this year, I am taking about 6 little mountain paintings from 100.00-500.00 with me. I really don't know if they sell artists work very often, but it is a fairly affluent group of students. I know that I made a couple of purchases while I was there. It is certainly worth a try.

I will be leaving on Saturday morning and spend one night on the road. They don't allow us to check in until Sunday afternoon and I hate driving that far and then having to check in, and then teach on the same day. I like to drive within about a hundred miles of the school the first day, sleep in till around 8 AM and then get up there in plenty of time to set up my easel and paint around the school. I get very little time to paint for myself while there. Only after dinner before it gets dark and that is after a full day of teaching.

They give us a free class for teaching there. Last year I had hoped to use my instructor's resource to just go up for a week and paint. They will not allow that. We must use it to actually take a class. I am thinking that I might sign up for somebody's class and just use the time to paint. I think if I signed up for one of my friend's classes,they could just ignore me and I could paint for the class time just showing up at the end to do the ceremony. It is a magnificent place and I want so much to spend some intense painting time there by myself. I am to go back up there in March and teach a Values in the Landscape class, so I could go up, teach the class and do the next week's painting class for myself. I'll check into that possibility.

I'll be bringing my computer along, posting about my adventures each day as time permits. Saturday I'll be on the road, so please be patient and don't abandon me.

You know, I'm starting to get a little excited about getting out and about again in cooler weather to come. The anticipation of painting out on location again is starting to build. I spend every summer hibernating in my studio, practicing technique. When fall arrives I get ready to go back on the road, having a little feeling of excitement. Shark Week is over; The Olympics almost passed; and here I am packing for another season of adventures. It's almost time for my vacation at the beach.

Handling Criticism

Arguing against unasked for criticism is pointless. You are not going to convince somebody to like your work if they don’t like it. Criticism is not an effort on their part to find out more information about you or your art. They are often not trying to help you to improve, but rather trying to make you more vulnerable about your work.Artists in particular are guilty of this. We are competitive creatures, always jockeying for position on the food chain. If an artist can make another artist doubt his/her own work they will be less likely to compete.

If somebody says something mean and insulting about your art, take a pause to consider their motivation.Why is this person so negative about my art? Negative and unproductive criticism does not show superiority, rather it shows weakness and insecurity. Excellent and highly regarded painters are the least likely to be mean or critical about another painter's work. When you are secure about your own work you have no need to be ugly to anyone else. If you can keep this in mind when you are being harshly criticized, you will probably be able to resist arguing. If you find yourself being engaged in an argument by someone, an excellent and simple response is:

"I like it that way," which can be repeated as many times as necessary.

You can rarely anticipate the zingers that come at you. Frankly, I have had more than a few from artists that I would not have expected capable of such nonsense. Once I had an artist whom I have known for years, tell me that if I kept practicing, I might be a good painter someday. The amusing end to that is that my career has been much more successful than hers in the end, but only because I worked harder than she did. We are still casual,superficial friends, but the zinger hurt me and they always do.

Having been the recipient of quite a few zingers, I make an effort when I see a painter's work who is not quite there yet, to compliment them at openings. I will find something positive about their work and tell them how much I admire it. You cannot imagine what it means to them to have a kind word from an artist they don't know well. It takes but a moment to make their day.


If you are showing work at a gallery or art show and are receiving unhelpful or malicious criticism from viewers or other artists,Don’t waste your time with someone who is providing unproductive criticism.

Believe in Yourself!!

If you feel good about yourself, and you wake up each day with the intent to paint the best way you know how, you can fee secure in the knowledge that you have succeeded and that you owe no explanation to anyone about your work.

Can you improve? Of course. I hope to every day, but that does not mean I can't rejoice in the work I do now. It is the best I can do and that is certainly good enough for me.

Today's Recipe:

Cowboy Coffee Cake- From my friend Patty Zeile

Bake 350 for 30 minutes

2 1/2 C flour
3/4 C white sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
dash cardamon
3/4 C oil

Mix thoroughly. Remove 1 C for topping.

To the rest add:

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 egg
1 C buttermilk or yogurt

Beat and pour into geased pan
Sprinkle with remaining topping. Bake