Courting acceptance. . .

Bougainvillea #3 - watercolor - 22" x 30"

My last post was on the 6th. . .how can that be?  The time does fly by, doesn't it?  Shockingly, this is my 100th blog! 

I have no new oil paintings to show as I've been working the last couple of weeks on a new portrait commission which is to be another "surprise" for an anniversary.  Hence, there won't be any progress photos for quite some time, but meanwhile I've posted a watercolor I painted in 2002.  I painted quite a lot of flowers and nature in the past. . .in fact, that's how I began painting, in 1997, completely self-taught.  Florida was indeed a spectacular place to be overwhelmed with the beauty of nature - I mean totally knocked out by all the lush flora and fauna!  I suppose I'm thinking about all that deliciousness of color because today we are once again in the midst of gray and mist.  I'm not complaining, mind you, but thoughts of a new season are bubbling to the surface. 

I've been ruminating about the un-insulation of our lives today.  To be an artist means you should be out there in our connected world showing your wares, talking your talk and walking your walk.  "Courting acceptance" often collides with the making of art.  How to do it all?  How to keep up?  Establish a presence/post witty things/steer the public to your art? I mortiflyingly admit to being positively green with envy of those who can keep up their marketing skills via Facebook, Blog Talk Radio, Twitter, YouTube, etc., all while making wonderful art!

Engaging with the outside world, courting acceptance - a potent and important necessary ingredient, even if you haven't been dealt an extroverted deck of cards.  So with that, I'll end with a quote that rings so true. . .     

"And surely one of the more astonishing rewards of artmaking comes when people make time to visit the world you have created."

from Art & Fear - David Bayles & Ted Orland