Finished!

Just a quick post as it's late! I'm in the midst of the frenzy of mid-December. Both kids and Jesus were born, so needless to say, it's a miracle that I finished this painting (and that cool prayer painting, too!) at all, but I felt like I needed to get this to Pet Wash Mike so he could hang it up and get me some business!

SO here is Lucy! I love how she turned out!

When women had babies in my mother's era, they seemed to dispense Valium like candy to keep they from going crazy. At least, that's the impression I get. My mother ditched the valium at some point and had a cat who had the same effect on her, who she called 'Valium'. Random thought while painting? Not so much. I'm having a ball painting this dog, remembering her personality; she strikes me as the type of dog who could be called 'valium', though her name is Lucy. She seems whimsical and calming at the same time, and the great pose I got from her just lent itself well to swirls as a background. So today I worked on the background some and will work on both that and Lucy at the same time to prevent the 'pasted a dog on a painting' look.

Keep in mind it ain't finished yet! A few more days of work and we'll see the finished product.

I also got some time to work on my 'Prayer' painting from weeks ago--it's filing in nicely, though I can't work on it for too long or else I tend to get into a pattern.

Work begins again!

It's been a long absence, but I am back in the studio once again, minus a body part. That's okay--I didn't need it anymore and it was making life miserable!

Today I'm starting a portrait of a dog owned by the guy who owns the Woodinville Pet Wash, affectionately dubbed 'Pet Wash Mike'. He has agreed to hang portraits of his dogs in his shop as advertisement for me, so I had him bring his lovely dogs over to my studio one rainy day for a photo shoot. I shocked myself by taking some pretty great photos (I guess it's not that shocking as both painting and photography lives or dies on composition) and am working on Lucy, dog number one. She appears to be a Lab/Aussie Shepherd mix and is absolutely adorable!

Since this blog is supposed to be about the process of art, I've posted the dirty little secret of the process--the underpainting! Cover your children's eyes, folks, for this is the equivalent of underwear. Not really, but I thought it was funny. Simply put, and underpainting is the starter painting. It's where I establish composition, lights, darks, shadows, bone structure and the all important nose (where you can make or break a portrait of a dog, come to find out--Truman's nose was painted several times till I got it right).

It's important to note that I don't use a projector to get my underpainting. More and more artists use a projector to trace the photo onto the canvas, but I think that's cheating (really, I'm jealous--I don't have an opaque projector). I feel like if you want a perfect picture of your dog, take a photo. I am more interested in playing with the image with my brush. What comes out is a representation of your dog that is also art--yes, it looks like your dog, but it can also hold up by itself as a neat piece of art once your dog goes over the rainbow bridge. I think that's important so you can enjoy the painting for many years, not just 10-15 before you bawl every time you look at it!

I am painting this time on gesso board--a fiber board painted with gesso (that's what makes it white). I am LOVING the perfect surface and lack of canvas wiggle! I'm working with very watered-down acrylics; this allows me the freedom to mess up--it's not going to be hard to paint over! I study the photo, use pencil to get the most important details on the board, then begin with the paint. This took me about an hour (now I'm eating lunch--leftover chili). I'll go in later and start laying on the paint.

So this is the start! I'll try to post my progress if I can think of interesting things to say along the way :)

Am heavy on the Pthalo Blue/Cadmium Red/Diarylide Yellow!!

The plague has left the walls of my house so I am once again free to paint. Over the weekend, I took some time to walk down to Top in Woodinville to get some bread to go with my pot of soup on the stove (Top makes the best bread around, IMO--if anyone knows of better, let me know; I love bread!). On the way, I popped in some headphones to listen to some Janna Adams on my iPhone. What followed was nothing short of amazing!

So, I've been pondering a lot lately about Spiritual things; among them pretty much everything I was taught in all the churches I have been, everything I have been told by other Christians, attitudes I have seen, etc. Jesus, I don't question. But I do question things that seem to be, well, odd. Like how is it that Jesus said that we would do greater things than He did, and yet we see theologies that flat out say that's not possible, or not for this time. Or how much of Western Christianity lacks the color of it's roots where the East meets West. Another one I've struggled with is prayer. God first found me. He spoke loudly and with great joy directly to me 'Come on! Follow Me! Let's go on an adventure!!', and so prayer was kind of an on-going dialogue, like breathing. But then I was taught how to 'properly' pray, complete with lists and cursory time to 'listen', though I was told pretty much the only way I'd hear from God was the Bible (and I'm not knocking that--I do hear Him there, and I know others do, too!). But darn it, I KNEW there was something more!!

So I'll let you in on a dark secret. I stopped praying the way I was taught. Gone was the prerequisite time to sit and pray over a list of requests (though lists can be helpful, not knocking lists). Gone was the 'Dear Lord' beginning and the 'In Jesus' name, Amen' (replaced with Pap--it just fits! Read 'The Shack' and you'll understand). I simply sought to hear God. And be open to how He wanted to speak and interact with me. I had to let go of my 'training' for a while to stop being afraid I was doing something wrong and realize that as an individual, I may have a different way of working (certainly seems reasonable considering how odd I can be anyway). And indeed, I was right. All of a sudden, I could *see* prayer. I could, for lack of better term, visualize what I would have otherwise been babbling about, and with a whole lot more passion, get something done when I prayed. This went both ways--I'd see something I wanted to bring to God's attention, and He'd give me pictures right back! Suddenly, I was getting insight into people's lives that sort of freaked me out (later learned that was so I could pray for them more effectively) and I'd also get to 'see' what was going on in the atmosphere in places of corporate worship, and then paint it!! I could also just ask what God wanted to say to those people and paint that (gosh, some of my very best paintings came when I was least prepared!).

This whole thing when put together with painting is called 'Prophetic Painting', and it happens in some churches, though I'm sure many would plain call it 'weird' or 'something those wacky Charismatics do'. I call it finally understanding what everyone else seemed to be feeling in church! Singing is great, but singing *and* painting, well, that's Heaven!

So the painting I am working on came about on that walk I started out talking about. I sometimes listen to music when I pray and walk, and Janna Adams' album is a great one for that (she's on iTunes should you like to tune in to what's inspiring me this week). I began to pray. And then all of a sudden, it was like my head became connected to God by a CAT-3000+ wire or something. I found I could pray and receive answers and input about so many different things at once, I kinda sat back and went 'whoa!'. It was unlike any other prayer time, and the painting I am working on this week is what I saw that interaction look like.

It'll have a ton of paint and texture when done--doesn't look like it yet, but just wait. I think this one will require a pilgrimage to Daniel Smith for more colors as my favorite palette is a bit limited for this project (hence my title this week). I have to be a little more deliberate in my color choices than 'hmm, this tube is pretty full, lets use it!'. It'll also just look amazing on a wall with lighting as a piece of art--that it has such significance makes it even better! A lot of Prophetic Painters will do stuff that people in church will understand and it's obviously 'religious' art with the typical cross or lion or nails, or... That's great! We need painters of all kinds in this. I like to paint in a way that makes a painting pleasing to anyone, not just believers. The painting will always mean what I painted it to mean regardless of where it hangs and will be a blessing. My goal in Prophetic art is to just show the love of God, or some Truth He wants to share--but I like for people to stop and look for a while and wonder.

So, stay tuned! I'll probably have more to say as I go along!

It has killed me to not post about this painting for the past week!! For those of you who are new to my world, I love dogs. I've always had dogs and will always have them in my life. Just how I'm wired. Around the beginning of this year, I began to realize that our dog, Sabaka, a fluffy lab/retriever mix who we had had for 12 years, was beginning to really slow down with her age. I realized that she wouldn't be with us a whole lot longer, and began to think about the next dog we'd add to our family. I also decided that I didn't want to wait; I wanted to overlap dogs so we would never have that dreaded 'gap' of no dog. So, I began to dream, pulling Marc in on those dreams (he loves dogs, too, but probably could survive without one; he is of heartier stock than I).

Sabaka was about 65 pounds and when I said she was fluffy, that was an understatement! She had a very thick double coat worthy of the Russian Steppe! In my 1500 square foot house with a brown area rug (yeah, it would be white from time to time depending on my laziness with the vacuum). She was a lovely dog, though. Loved all of us and was an easy keeper. But after all of that hair, I was really ready to downsize to a nice, small, short haired dog. I was thinking pug, or I'd sacrifice the short hair part for a Pekingese, but Marc didn't want a dog that sounded like a pig, nor did he want a 'girlie dog'. Secretly, he has always held a torch for Boston Terriers. So I began to look at that breed as I also watched the dog shelter where I work for an appropriate small dog who coincidentally could handle a very grumpy old lady (Sabaka wasn't so into other dogs). There was a slight problem, though. Every time a dog came through that I thought might work, he or she would be adopted within 5 minutes of my shift ending! I wasn't' about to adopt a dog without my family and dog meeting him/her, so I found that the shelter wasn't a great option for our situation.

So I asked the behaviorist who works at the shelter if she could recommend a reputable Boston breeder. And she pointed me to Judy Brooks of Brooks Burnt Ridge Boston Terriers (http://www.brooksburntridgebostonterriers.com/index.html). I read Judy's website, looked at her dogs and gave her a call, thinking I could get more information and maybe get on a list for a future puppy. What started as an information-seeking call became a 90 minute chat and an invitation to come meet a puppy named 'Freddie' who she happened to have from a litter of 8! He sounded like he would fit into our family well, so on a snowy northwest March day, we drove 2 hours down to Onalaska, WA to check this little guy out.

We brought Freddie home that day! And he became my beloved Truman, subject of this painting.

After a few months, Sabaka lost her life to lung cancer. It broke Marc's heart to pieces and left a hole in our family that I didn't realize we'd have if she died. Truman became a picky eater as Sabaka would regulate his mealtimes by eating her meal while he watched, then leaving a morsel of food in her bowl for him which he'd eat and then begin his own meal. Without her steady presence, he was so lost! I thought he'd starve!

So I began thinking about adding a second dog, another Boston. Marc and I mulled this over for a while until we decided it would be a good thing--Truman needed another dog, and he and the girls needed a dog who would love them as Truman only has eyes for me. So I called up Judy again as she had a litter of puppies due who would be ready to go home in the fall. Then as summer progressed, Judy decided it was time to retire (a move that I hope is temporary) and so she would have a couple of her adults available to special homes. I emailed her to let her know I was fine with a pup or with an adult as I just want the right dog for our family. She let me know that Peggy Sue, Truman's mom, would work well for us, and I was just so honored to be considered for one of Judy's adults!

Long story short, I wanted to surprise Judy with a painting of a Boston. I know it was so hard for her to let Peggy Sue go to another family, and I wanted to give her something personal to thank her for allowing us to take home such a great girl!

So that is why I couldn't share the process of this painting last week--I picked up Peggy Sue with the family on Sunday and handed over the painting that now holds a proud place in Judy's home!

Interesting tidbits about that painting: I didn't use a stitch of black. I just used Pthalo Blue, an yelow umber of some kind (can't remember the exact name), Alizarin Crimson and some Titanium White for whiskers and such. I had the most fun just sketching it with my paintbrush, and acrylics worked very well for this project for their quick drying time. I wanted to acpture the frisson these dogs have around them, that undefinable energy and movement. Using the colors and techniques I did was very satisfying and created a different type of dog portrait that has gotten a lot of initial praise.

So that's my story--hope you like the painting as much as Judy and I do!

Fallen Leaves

Good morning! Today is my first official day back in the studio after a long summer hiatus with the kiddos (who had a tendency to yell out 'MOMMY!!' with the greatest urgency just as I'd get in the zone. So I took a break from painting). I stopped work on this beast and am now picking it back up in hopes to complete it this month.

A bit on how I figure out just what I want to paint. I go through life looking at my surroundings much like a Biblical scholar looks at scripture; contrary to what some pockets of humanity believe, the Bible was not uttered in King James English from the lips of God. It was written in Hebrew, Greek and some Aramaic. All languages with far more subtlety than our crude English allows. Much is lost in the translation and Biblical scholars always are looking at the original language to get the subtle meanings of what a text is saying

Like them, I'm always looking for the the subtle nuances in my surroundings--what makes that color? How many colors are in that shadow? Where would those lines go if they continued beyond that point? What would happen if I made that square/rounded/the opposite color? How does it look when I zoom in and blur my vision a tad? What is the pattern there? I'm always looking, and am always amazed at what I find! I get so much inspiration from just observing everything! It gets even more fun when I go all Holy Spirit--but that's for a different entry.

So the above painting was inspired by the leaves last fall. Seattle is not known for its leaves. We are better known for our giant evergreens, drizzle and most excellent coffee and salmon. I've never really been impressed by the leaves here, coming from a childhood in Upstate NY (THOSE are technicolor leaves). But last year, everything must've aligned right, or God wanted to have fun with me or something, our leaves were BRILLIANT! We have these huge maple leaves--like dinner plate size. And last fall, they were all this neon tangerine orange. I was spellbound most days. I began staring at the ground at the fallen leaves as I walked the kids to and from school, just to make sure I was indeed seeing that shade of leaves in Seattle. And as I did this, I began to trace the shapes with my eyes and study the curves and shadows the leaves made as they fell on top of one another and onto the dark pavement of the walking path. There were points, swoops, dark shadows and undulations in the leaf surfaces that were just so much fun to run over with my eyes! (Don't worry--these types of observations are constant, move rapidly into my brain and happen subconsciously as I carry on conversations. I didn't ignore my kids as I took this all in!).

So I went into my studio and got to painting. I originally did a small painting on a mica board to see if I could get out what I was seeing and feeling; I was in a painting class at that time and that small painting got really good feedback. So I decided to make it larger and play around with the color wheel a bit. Instead of working with tangerine orange and phthalo blue, I pulled out Cadium yellow and mixed a deep purple (opposites on the color wheel work well together for contrast). The structure of the leaves remained the same, but I found an opportunity to play with color and work on my palette skills and blending. It was also an interesting enough subject that I thought I could come up with 4-5 paintings in a similar vein to shop out to galleries at some point. I only had a canvas in a larger size, so I prepped it to get it as smooth as I could and set out painting.

So, that is the story behind today's work. It's leaves. I began to paint in acrylic due to my impatience, and switched to oils halfway through when I found the acrylics didn't have 'open' time enough to blend smoothly, even with additives.

So keep tuned in--I'll post the finished work in a better-quality photo. For works in progress, I'll just take pictures with my phone.

So this was a test! Have to see how intelligent I am, and it worked :)

might as well tell you about this painting. It's called 'Grace Like Rain' (couldn't stop humming the song the whole time because the process of laying in the paint was a lot like rain falling) and was pretty much an experiment with a palette knife and I think 4 colors. It's very textured and took forever--reminds me very much of Bill Cosby's sweaters in the '80's.

I made another to match using different colors and they hung for a while as a pair on my wall. Lots of people like them and can sit staring at them for hours. Who knew?

You can also see one of my college sketches in the background--evidence that yes, I can in fact draw!

Just a Beginning...

"Life lived in fear is a life half-lived" is a favorite quote of mine, immortalized by the characters of "Strictly Ballroom". It's in that spirit that I begin my life as a pseudo-blogger. I say that because my main purpose is to share my artwork and the processes I go through to make it (this is also a wicked easy way to have my own website!).

I haven't done this yet mainly out of fear--fear of looking too self-important, fear of nasty comments from family members who will inevitably find this little spot in cyberspace in their yearly Google of family names, fear that perhaps I'm really not an artist after all. But if I continue to allow them access to hurt me, I will never live. I will never find out where I might go.

So on we go.

A little background about me is in order, lest you feel a total stranger is foisting her world upon you. Art has always been a passion of mine. There is little else to do when you grow up in a small town in the shadows of 3 'brilliant' older siblings who excel at everything. We lived way out in the country, so I had a lot of time either sitting at home or riding in a car to various sibling sporting events from gymnastics to track. With all of that free time, I doodled and drew. One of my first 'sketchbooks' was a University of Illinois notebook my father brought back from a medical convention for me when I was 5. I immediately set out to fill it with all sorts of drawings from portraits of my mother (that made her upset because they looked so bad--hey, I was 5!) to copies of favorite story illustrations. That set me in motion. The next 13 years at home were spent either reading horse books or drawing horses (and yes, Mr. Squires, I did outgrow that!).

When I was applying for colleges, I really wanted to go to art school; however, my practical father refused to pay for such nonsense as I 'would never make a living' with art (said after viewing my sketchbook). So I quickly let go of that dream and enrolled at Virginia Tech to study English and become a high school teacher. Then I discovered I could take art classes! And so I did. And switched my major to History. The next 4 years sped by in a flurry of artist anatomy classes and late nights drawing bones and muscles. I loved every minute of studio time I could get! And I still wouldn't say I was an artist.

I married my dear husband Marc my senior year. It was he who gave me wings, though it took me many years to attempt to flex them. In our first years, I painted murals. Had I had a BFA, I could have made plenty of money to support myself (the confidence those letters would have brought would have made me more bold--those words my dad spoke to me echoed loudly for too many years). Then I went on 'vacation' with the birth of my two daughters. After a few years of being a zombie from sleepless nights and post-partum depression, Marc spent a summer of weekends building me a studio in the side yard, complete with skylights that open to vent the heat and let in light. He wanted me to use the wings he gave me and finally let myself soar!

And so I tentatively began painting on canvas, taking my first oil painting class. In that class, I was handed a palette knife and told to paint only with that for class one day. I painted a still life called 'Dead Fish and Lemons'. And I was hooked! The feel of oils slicking under that knife, the scent of linseed oil--I had to have more. And so I began to paint more, experimenting with abstract (something I used to sneer was for people who couldn't paint) and with painting the female figure.

Then came the ultimate epiphany! Through all of this, I have been a Christian. Active in Bible studies, actively seeking to do what God wanted me to do. The main problem was that I never felt like I fit in. I was always too loud or boisterous or colorful; I think outside of the box. And then I discovered that there are so many ways to worship God!!! Yes, singing along to amazing music in a church setting is a wonderful experience, but then I was exposed to this idea that I can PAINT during that time, too!! And I so tentatively began to listen to what God might have to say to me or the church and then began to paint what I heard or saw. And wow! It was like a blinding light turned on inside and what had been an exercise in 'fitting in' and 'following the rules' became a journey of amazing discovery of Life I never knew existed.

So back to this whole blog thing (whew--for not being a 'blogger' I just wrote a novel). I want to share what I'm doing. Share the process of how I think when I approach a new painting, share the actual painting process and show the final outcome. I need a definite place to send people who are interested in my work--so much easier to say 'amyrueter.com' than 'uh, you can email me?' to a stranger who wants to see more of what I do. Pieces you see here are available for sale, just contact me.

Feel free to post real questions or helpful comments. I love constructive criticism so long as it's actually helpful--'this sucks' doesn't fall into that realm, I'm afraid. So, let's get going! Kids are in school now, I have time to paint, and I look forward to posting stuff!