Robin Popp's Studio

Studio Disaster

2011-08-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday,Bill came into the kitchen and told me he just let three chickens out of the studio. They must have gotten themselves stuck in there the day before. (I think they got through a whole in the screen door) And he added they had made a huge mess. Well, that didn't begin to describe it. I started walking towards the RV when the tears began to fall. Yesterday was supposed to be my art day. I was looking forward to a whole day of creativity. As I walked into the space, the first thing that hit me was the smell, then the devastation. Every surface was covered in poop, and everything I had been working on was now on the floor. Nails and screws covered my work table. Brushes that were soaking in cleaner were tipped over and my projects were scattered. There was chicken poop on my computer keyboard, and even on my Bible. I couldn't even sit down on the couch. It was the worst. They must have been pacing back and forth in front of the window on the back of the couch.

I couldn't touch a thing. I could only cover my face and sob. I walked back outside and sobbed some more. Bill hugged me and let me cry on his shoulder, but there was nothing either of us could change about it. Finally I got control of my weeping and blew my nose. I grabbed the broom and a roll of paper towels from the house and headed back to the RV. All day long I cleaned, and sorted, and pitched things. Thank God, none of my special work was scratched. A few paintings went into the trash, but nothing noteworthy. As I worked, I felt liberated in a way. It was easier to throw away things and organize what I should have gotten in order before. I finished it today and put the worktable back in business. I actually got to drill a few new holes in a piece I've been working on. I don't have a vendetta against the chickens anymore. We've made peace. I've got a new start on a cleaner space.

etsy

2011-07-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Soon I will have my etsy account ready to post new art pieces. I am so drawn to the etsy world. I don't know why. Maybe it speaks the the entrepreneur in me. The one-man-band thing in me that tells me I want to do it all: be shopkeeper, stock boy, and inventory supplier. All this happens in the world of etsy.
My shop is called "Makesmeglad" and it does.
The part that doesn't make me glad is all the set up stuff you have to do before you get to post. The shop policys, (do I take checks?) The wording of all the profiles and about you pages. How do you sum up all that goes on in your head in a few paragraphs? I don't know why I create stuff. It just happens. Hopefully someone else will like it. How do you make it sound like you are someone interesting enough to sit down with and have a cup of coffee?
So I've been watching the etsy help videos and shop critiques. I guess I have nothing to loose by jumping in with both feet. Hopefully I'll be ready soon.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/makesmeglad

Spring is spelled P-A-I-N-T O-U-T.

2011-04-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

As crazy as life can get on the farm in this season, this is also the time of the year most paintouts are scheduled. They send out the invitations early, when things are still brown and gray outside. Romantic thoughts of sitting outside among the flowers under a warm sun is hard to resist. Then the dates actually come when I have to pack up and leave, stay with an unknown host or hostess, eat food (or not eat food) on the run, and basically live out of my little pick up truck. I tell myself this is the last year I'm doing it. Period. However, I do get to paint, more than I have this year to date, all at once so there is a continuance to my thoughts and patterns of applying the paint. I get to see a snapshot of where I am in my journey as a painter. It's valuable stuff to sift through. Plus, although I'm always nervous about staying with strangers, I'm always rewarded with new friendships. This year has been especially difficult to switch over from farmer to artist. At the Melrose paintout I got to my host home at 9pm on Wednesday after we packaged 80 chickens, stayed until Friday evening, returned home for the farmers market on Saturday, went back Sat. night to paint Sunday. It was exhausting to say the least. Next week, the Evinston paintout will have to work the same way. I'm not complaining, just wondering if this is what I should be doing. The price is high, but the rewards are high too. I completed 7 paintings in Melrose. I'm thinking painting thoughts again and connecting with other artists. I've made new friends and have plans to paint with old friends after the paintouts. As hard as this season is to keep up with, I guess I'm not willing to give it up yet. Then, as things go on the farm, when I got home, there were new chicks to place, chickens to process, and a swarm of bees set up housekeeping in my RVstudio. Never a dull moment.

Lost in the storm.

2011-01-27T12:17:00.000-08:00

After the big rainstorm the day before, I found a little rock dove on the ground. He didn't make it in the downpour. His feathers were soaked and matted. I wonder if he was already in trouble and unable to keep his feathers oiled.

I know it's kind of odd, but I enjoy the opportunity to examine birds up close, so I keep them when I find them. They go in the freezer until I'm ready to do a study. Today I did a drawing, but his subtle colors will be more interesting in paint. An orange beak, blue iridescent spots on his wings, and a rosy pink chest - not what I expected. Lots of these doves fly through our pastures, but they move so quickly I can never see their true colors. They just look like grayish brown stubby birds. God makes so many things more beautiful than we ever see or take notice of.

Happy Ending

2011-01-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we took the drive to the panhandle to deliver the painting of "Lazarus, the little man, goat" Here he is approving the portrait. Brooke, his owner was also very pleased. And we got to meet our new puppy, Lilly. To say that everyone is happy is an understatement. We are thrilled to have her and now after getting to know her even better we have fallen in love with her. She has made herself at home here and loves playing with our other dog Jonny as much as he loves playing with her.

On another note, my studio is now warmer courtesy of my wonderful husband's talents. Bill devised a way to get the camp stove into the RV with a muffler for a chimney. He used some scrap angle iron for support and put pavers inside for it to sit on so we don't burn the whole thing down. We started it up yesterday and filled the place with smoke. (It doesn't take much to get the fire going in such a small space.) But after a while we got a nice fire burning. Bill is still willing to make adjustments if it needs them. I'm looking forward to warmer times in the studio before spring!!

finished!!

2010-12-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

I'm done! (I really like it too.) I worked side by side with Micah as he sewed a gift for his cousins. It turned out to be a day of peace and creativity. I loved it. My spirit feels refreshed, and I can face all the craziness of our Christmas Eve trip to Clearwater tomorrow. Plus, now I feel confident in handing over a completed piece that I think she will like in exchange for our new puppy.

Most of this final stage of the painting involved glazing with paint thinned with liquin so it will dry quickly and much of the underpainting will show through. I added more punch in the blue background and used a gray that was a mixture of Veridian and Alizerin Crimson. Black and white would have been lifeless and boring, but combining the green and red deepens the darks and holds a rainbow inside. It works like a seesaw back and forth with either more redish or greenish shades of gray. I had to be careful with this subject because a green goat would have looked a little odd. The combo needed to stay balanced.
I'm very happy with the turnout. Can't wait to see the client's reaction.

stage 2

2010-12-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

Everyone is out of the house today. Well of course that's the time to paint. Got some more work done on the "Little Man". I wiped off the background color three times. Still not sure about it. That's it for today. Gotta go get Micah from the bus stop and start the evening feeding and gathering eggs. Burrr it's cold outside!

New painting

2010-12-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

Today I started on a painting that I am going to trade for a new puppy that will eventually be a guard dog for our farm. (Hopefully) We've tried other dogs in the past, but this time we are getting a Great Pyrenees who has started out life thinking she is a goat. We will try to keep her thinking that by bringing home two baby goats to keep her company.
So today I started the goat portrait for the shepherdess who owns them. I like it so far. Plus it puts the brush in my hand. Oh, it's so easy to get distracted while using the computer for reference material. I got into email and other posts and looking at artwork by Picasso today, and more. But my brush did touch the canvas as you can see. Before I started the painting, I did three head studies in my tiny sketchbook. It helped me pick a pose and it also gave me more confidence. When I got lost in the painted version, I could look at the small pencil drawing and say, "Look, you did it once, you can do it again." I think I'll do more sketching just for the advantage of telling the critics in my head to back off.
More to come later on the progress of "Little Man, the goat".

Starting again

2010-12-01T10:58:00.000-08:00

It seems I get so overwhelmed with trying to make art, be creative, prove a point, that I avoid going to that scary place within myself where art happens. I can come up with plenty of good excuses why I just can't create right now. Too busy with the farm, husband/kids need me, or who's going to cook dinner? But each day and week that passes when I don't allow those creative thoughts into my life, I feel weaker and less of who I really know myself to be. It's abuse and neglect of the child inside me. How can I change this? I am a risk taker. Why don't I take the risk of facing the palette and canvas? Why don't I put importance on it like other things? Oh I could go on and on. How boring. I know other artists feel the very same way. They've found a way to overcome. I have to too. So starting today. I'm changing the way I live. Oh, please help me, Father. I'm scared and the voice inside my head says I'll fail at this. I want to be able to face the day's needs but pull away from the tentacles and get into the studio and actually do more than clean it up. I want to create art again. I want to follow it into the restoring waters that will quench my thirst for truth. I mean being true to me. Follow along if you want. I'm going to find out what God has put inside me that is crying to get out.

Lights, Camera, Action!

2010-07-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

I've got 'em. See the lights? I've got electricity in my studio!!!!! Next step is a fan or an A/c unit. Oh, it feels so good. Like Christmas. Now comes the action part. Tomorrow is my day to paint. I haven't been in the studio in the heat of the day yet with the lights on, but we'll see how long I can stand it with a fan running. I really want to get a new painting started. Whoopee!!

Electricity is coming to the studio!

2010-07-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Since we moved, my painting locations have been more mobile and less frequent. The paintouts have been my refuge, but now things are looking up. My new studio is a very large, very old RV. It was our first home on the land last summer and now I get it all to myself.

Since moving it to the side of the property, the electricity has been disconnected making it very cold this past winter, and very hot so far this summer. But now it is getting electricity soon. Everyone is helping with the trench to lay the cable. Thanks to all who are lending their muscles to the project!

Last week, I brought all my painting stuff into the dining room to paint in the AC. Here's a little painting I started while teaching at John C. Campbell Folk School in May. They have the most beautiful, lovingly made elements all over the campus. Here's a hand forged gate near the garden we painted. Every day the same bird joined us from his perch on the curve of metal. He preened, we painted, the wind fluttered through our gazebo cooling brows knit in concentration. Ahhhh what a week. One of my students already has dibs on the painting.

WATCHFUL SPARROW oil, 4" x 6"

2008-02-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

Painting this small canvas was like holding a bird in my hand. My friend Cindy was so kind to send me photos of the birds at the feeder in her backyard in Pennsylvania. Thank you, Cindy! I want to paint a whole flock of these! This particular guy seemed to be watching and waiting for someone. It gives me such a settled feeling to have painted. Why do I procrastinate?

Spilled Apples 8" x 10" oil $95.00

2008-01-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

I haven't exactly been up to date on this painting a day stuff, but at least it's something to shoot for. Here is a study I did at our last painting class. Apples pouring out of a bowl onto a green cloth. Here it is again: contrasting colors. I love the zingyness.

Something that is becoming so important to me in these quick studies is the way they are taking so much of the fear out of putting a loaded brush on the canvas. If I keep at it, I'll keep at it. That's the idea anyway.

Onion and Vase, 8" x 6" oil on canvas, available

2007-12-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

Second painting! I love the way the colors work with each other in this one. I set up this still life in my painting class.

TREES, 7" x 7", oil on masonite, available

2007-12-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Well here we go. My first "painting a day" painting. It may take me a while to get used to this, but I want to give it a whirl.
'Tis the season for Christmas trees, why not paint some. I loved the way the lights hovered over the trees in the lot. Misty air, surreal. A friend said it made her feel like she was standing there smelling the pine.