Da-da-da-DAH!
It’s that time of the year again! It’s September! It’s the Fountain Square Art Fair, now known as Art Squared!
That also means…It’s time for Masterpiece In A Day.
I’m a fast painter. As long as I sit still long enough and just DO IT, I
can get a lot of painting done. But the key there is the sitting still
part. MIAD is an endurance test, by all measurements.
I like working with acrylics over oils precisely because they dry
quickly. In the sun, on a nice 70-ish day, they dry very quickly. This
is all very good, as I said, I paint fast. But…My attention span wavers,
constantly. That’s why I’m not in Animation.
I always think about a painting for a while before a brush hits the
canvas. I have a concept in my head. I have it mostly mapped out. I can
“see” it before it’s even created. Then I compensate for the ‘short’
between my hand and my brain (nothing EVER turns out as I see it)
and…Voila! The finished piece!
There’s been a lot of construction in the Fountain Square area all summer, extending the Cultural Trail that runs through downtown to the once-close-but-since-the-70’s-cut-off-from-downtown-by-the-interstate Fountain
Square Arts District. The Trail will be a good thing…when it’s
completed. This has been shown in previous districts. But it’s a tough
trial for the local businesses. The project was supposed to be done in
July
but then they discovered a nice relic from Fountain Square’s
connected-to-downtown-days: The iron remains of the train track that
used to service the area, using the Fountain as a turnaround. Why no one
already knew it was still there, buried under the pavement, I’ll never
know. But they had to assess it for historical value, then rip it out,
and continue constructing…and they have. They now say they’ll be done in
December.
In
the mean time, I get to see everyday one of the things I really really
like to paint: Orange pylons! OF COURSE I’m going to paint a pylon for
MIAD!
I took a picture of my subject that morning, after
registering, since I didn’t want to actually sit in the construction
zone to paint. Remy and I carried on our tradition of setting up shop
outside of the Hero House comic shop by the Fountain and I started
painting.
Remy, my dutiful assistant, assisted my by giving a
puppy-face to passersby and collecting their affection. She’s a good
helper. (Last year she participated, this year she declined).
I’m happy with
my work; at one point, I was scratching my head and wondering why it
doesn’t look right! Every now and then, it’s good to remember to stand
up, step away, turn around, and look at the painting fresh. You’ll see
where you’re going wrong, and be better able to fix it. I did that, as
well as my high school art teacher’s trick of turning the canvas
upside-down—this refreshes your brain by forcing it to look at the
painting anew—and I labored on.
People came, commented, left,
Remy got fussy, went home with the BF, I painted on. I finished just in
time for the 3pm deadline: Five hours of continuous painting. Turned in
my work and went home to rest: I was exhausted! Whoever thought it could
be so tiring! (Oh wait, I did this last year…and the year before
that!).
We capped off the day with Remy and I marching in the
neighborhood art parade, Remy as the World War 1 Flying Ace, my holding
her leash and holding her “Curse You, Red Baron!” sign. Then it was
time for the results…
Ok I didn’t win this year either. But I
really like my painting, and, while there are things to fix, I’m happy
with how it turned out. I did get it selected to be shown in the October
First Friday show at the Wheeler Arts Center (where we registered and
were judged at), so that’s really cool too!
Yeah…I’ll do it next year. I’ve got until then to improve my endurance and quicken my pace!