I had told myself when I started this blog that I would post an update weekly. Well, last week was challenging on so many levels that I didn’t post. I was sick. I was hacked. I spent far too much time on hold trying to clear all the issues resulting from the hack.
I’m back in my studio this week. I painfully finished Production Week with the Mastery Program and produced eight paintings!
Finally – exciting news! A winery in Walla Walla Washington is going to display my art for two months this summer. I’m so excited!
Production Week
Back in My Studio, I gave myself several days off after getting stuck in a rut doing the initial preparation for Production Week paintings. At that time, I had no idea how to move forward. My coach, Heather, advised me to break the paintings down into two series of four so that’s the approach I followed.
I had been toying with the concept of aging and the different phases of a woman’s life. I wanted to capture the Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetype in my art. Four of the paintings used this approach. The other four, I went with the wine theme I had used for my portfolio pieces.
I started working assembly-line style adding the shadow areas to all the pieces. These are the pieces displayed in my garage. Wait – one’s missing! I found one of the challenges to working on eight paintings at once is that it’s too easy to miss one. In this case, one of the smaller canvases was on the easel behind a larger canvas. I had to go back and mix more flesh-toned paint.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2560" height="1920" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3341-scaled.jpg" alt="Paintings done assembly style showing women's faces." class="wp-image-7070" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3341-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3341-300x225.jpg 300w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3341-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3341-768x576.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3341-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3341-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
I then worked on each series of four separately in my studio in the house. The Maiden, Mother, Crone archetypes are represented by the phasers of the moon. I decided to adorn each one with the appropriate moon phase as jewelry. I then used collage to add the Luna moths as they seemed appropriate. In the end, I wasn’t too happy with the addition of the jewelry, but I did like the effect of the moths.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2560" height="1920" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3343-scaled.jpg" alt="Maiden, Mother, Crone paintings done with acrylic paint and collate. " class="wp-image-7071" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3343-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3343-300x225.jpg 300w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3343-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3343-768x576.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3343-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3343-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
For the paintings with the wine theme, I made stencils in the shape of a wine bottle and one in the shape of a wine glass. I added faces peering out of wine glasses in three of the paintings. I’m pretty pleased with them and see how maybe a few could be added to my portfolio by just developing them a little more.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3354-scaled.jpg" alt="Four paintings of women with wine bottles and glasses. " class="wp-image-7072" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3354-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3354-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3354-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3354-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_3354-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
HACKED!#@$!
I woke up Monday morning to the beginning of hell week. At first, I wasn’t feeling well. I had a headache and was nauseated. Then, I started getting texts about a new line that was added to my cell service and the purchase of a new iPhone, plus an international calling service.
I thought the hack was limited to my cell phone but soon found out it spread into our back accounts and PayPal. I actually think PayPal was the start of the hack.
Bottom line, I lost a good deal of the week between being sick and waiting on hold for hours to work through the hack issues. I found out these hackers were sophisticated enough to gain access to y email and changed the rules such that emails from my bank and other businesses that warned me of the suspicious activity were going straight to trash, not the junk file.
Lessons Learned
I can make art under conditions that are far from ideal, not without challenges. I learned it’s acceptable to use shortcuts such as stencils to speed up the painting. I learned about creating my own collage pieces using a printer and tracing paper. I learned the pieces need to be sealed or the ink runs.
I learned that the world of hacking is very invasive and scary. I’m sure I will continue to deal with the fallout. Right now my PayPal account is suspended and I’m not sure I want to go through the steps to reactivate it. That could affect my ability to continue this blog. Please let me know if you find my posts to be of value to you.
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