Day #9 :: HUNTER :: January Daily Painting Challenge

HUNTER
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

Each day I place my pastel on the scanner bed and hit 'preview' and wait. The machine buzzes and whirs and I always cringe as I wait for the image to appear. Each day I am tense with questions. And so it goes....

Artists are like this, I think. We always second-guess what we make and how we feel about it. This back-and-forth effort may be why I'm so tired after painting. The conversations in  my head are intense deliberations of color and shape and mark. Back and forth. During the process there are intense highs (the beginning) and the yucks (the middle) and hopefully the whole mood elevates again as the piece progresses to the end. Of course there are the times you don't leave the yuck period, but there is always something to learn and so off to the next!

If it's not the apprehension of success in painting-making, then I have oodles of stress for the scanning and optimizing. UGH! Despite having had tons of practice, Photoshop and I have a fickle relationship. I do my best, heck, that's my life's motto!

Here is our puppy, Hunter (obviously). He's a hoot. I've always  been a dog person (although cats can be cool, too) and now we are the caretakers of this little stocky fellow. He's a great dog and we've been training each other on how to be owner and puppy. We go on walks in the conservation land in the neighborhood.

We are both in our element in this field. I find wild cranberries. He finds entrails from a coyote kill the night prior. I discover Fibonacci's sequence in the frost-kissed Sweet Woodruff and he delights on the frozen streams and chomps on chunks of ice. Of course it was only a matter of time before he'd show up in a painting. And look how small I made him!

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Day #2 :: SNOWY TREE :: January Daily Painting Challenge

SNOWY TREE
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

Sold!
Thank you!

January is chilly and snowy so far, but nothing too much that we cannot handle. It's been mild and unseasonably warm until recently. Again, the January painting challenge means I'm inspired by what I'm seeing. This tree was so beautiful with it's thin snowy garment. 

Artists always inspire me. Are you familiar with Marc Hanson? Superlatives don't do his work justice. His snowy paintings are impeccable. I think I had his work in mind when I created this piece. It'd be wonderful to take a workshop with him. Perhaps someday! 

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Day #1 :: SNOWY FIELD :: January Daily Painting Challenge

SNOWY FIELD
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125+ $8 shipping

Happy New Year! It's always busy through the holidays and tonight is New Year's Day and my dad's birthday. The girls will resume school on Monday and, while I feel busy crazy right now, come Monday, normalcy has the potential to resume. Perfect time to do another Daily Painting Challenge facilitated by Leslie Saeta.

The bummer of a January painting challenge could be the subject matter. Today I took our puppy, Hunter, for a walk and here is what I planned on painting tonight. Quick notan sketches in the field made for easy studio work tonight.

Subjects like this are my favorite. Depth. Foreground. Grasses. Color. Hmmm -- the color on this was a challenge and were so difficult to render on my computer. It's day one of the challenge and I'd bet I'll be writing that more often than I care to.

When I paint I strive to communicate a lot through the colors I choose. I want them to be somewhat unexpected. Today I got that right!

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Day 39 :: BLUE CLOUDS :: original pastel, 6x6"

BLUE CLOUDS
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

at The Drawing Room, Marion, MA

Tonight and tomorrow I'm hosting an Open Studio event at my home studio. When I came up with the idea it was to showcase my #30in30 from September. As the time came to welcome in people to see my work, I got a bit nervous. I'd never had people in to my art-making space like this, and I wasn't sure what to expect.

Well, the last of my guests just left and the night was SUPER! I'm so honored at their efforts to come and support me and my work. Such kindnesses were said. The conversations really were helpful for me in understanding how others see my paintings. It was great to have the feedback. I so enjoyed myself and hope those who came had fun, too.

Tomorrow Open Studio continues from 10am-2pm. It is an understatement to say I'm looking forward to it.

Earlier today I did this painting of that same field in my neighborhood. The marks are quick because I had a lot to do. Still, I loved how it came out. The immediacy of it is sort of neat.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Day 28 :: BLUE COAT :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

BLUE COAT
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping

This month has been something else. Knowing I have a 6x6" to paint every day has been quite important to me. Can I find the words to say how? Let me try.

For years now, since I became a happy mom (eldest cutie is now eight) my painting time is different than at any time before children. Since having children, my attention has been multi-focused and scattered. My short time in the studio had a specific motive. Instead of painting to paint, I was painting to "get something in" during a nap. Rather than take on a challenge or consider trying something that I felt could be a good painting with work and development, I'd focus on the subjects I could do with ease. I loved painting salt marshes and hay bales because I was good at painting them.

If I could find the time to paint, I felt I had to spend that time taking on something I could do well (and hopefully sell.) During this time I felt there was no room for error. If I had two hours to paint (and neglect the jobs I had/house/laundry/dishes/groceries/etc etc) I had better make art that was good and would sell. I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I also put a lot of constrictions.

Now both children are in school. After a long while (that also flew by) I have TIME. The truth in that statement is that I have no excuses.

On my desk, in a box, is a hefty pile of mediocre photographs I took (and had printed out!) with the intent to make beautiful paintings of them. This pile grew for years. In the midst of the #30in30 this month I have started working from that pile. Can you imagine how good that feels?

This studied portrait I'm posting today was one in the pile. The photo was taken a couple of years ago, when I saw my friend's beautiful daughter in her gorgeous blue coat standing in the doorway of our happy old house. The light was bisecting the composition just perfectly. I was smitten with the idea of painting her. We shared a silly moment when I asked if I could take her photo and staged her to return to her previous pose.

I don't know if anyone else will like this piece as much as I do. It's a figure, and that's not my strong suit (yet) and the less confident marks show. Even though I know this is my friend's daughter, there's something about her in this painting that could be anyone. I love how she came out, looking just like her but a little wiser and older than in the reference.

Part of this #30in30 process has been showing artistic vulnerability. I'm posting pieces that aren't all salt marshes (only three have been, so far) and have pushed me in new ways. It's been scary, exhilarating at times, and freeing.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Day 20 :: WINDOW BOX :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

WINDOW BOX
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

Sold!

In person, this painting is more nuanced. Some dark blues here are scary bright (like in the shutters) and that's not how the painting looks on my shelf next to 19 previous paintings. This painting has a lot of contrast in dark and light color and warm and cool color temperature. Perhaps I made the scanner tired with all of this intricate color.

Tonight I chased everything about this painting. The greens of the plants were too warm, too cool, too bright, too dull, and you get where that's going. This happened for nearly everything in this piece. At one point I thought I picked up a cream colored pastel only to discover it was IRIDESCENT! Oh no! Perhaps that is why my scanner balked. Sparkly glittery whites!!

Each hunt and chase and trying again ended. When I finally put down my last pastel stick, I was happy because I won and am happy with my result. Since I have been painting every day for 20+ days now, I'd presume that painting would get easier. "Ha!" says painting. But it does. What's making the process more difficult are my expectations.

Yesterday I had a study in simplicity, and today is anything but. Architecture, reflections, soft edges and hard, a dramatic light story, and color all play a part in the piece. When I look at it on my desk I am pretty excited about how it came out. Just enough detail to be the way I like it. And, like with every piece I've posted this month -- I learned a lot in simply painting it.

Thanks for reading! -kmw