Under pressure....

Today's effort... an 8x10" oil on masonite painting of boats, taken at Rockport, MA at the same time and place as I took the picture I worked from on the "Rockport Skiffs" tapestry (which is the one that was stolen.) I don't like this image as much as the other one, but didn't want to do the same one again.

I am starting to feel the 'pressure' of being a full-time artist. For the most part, I have always chosen when and if to take on deadlines. And of course, that is also true this time, but, having signed a year's contract to keep a gallery space filled, I feel the need to keep working. One reason is that, being a relatively new painter, I do not have a stockpile of paintings to draw from. Most of what I have done that is 'good enough' will be hung on June 1st. But the contarct says that, if a piece sells, I am to fill it's spot with another one immediately. Since oils take awhile to dry (several weeks, minimum) I need to be creating a bit of a reserve, 'just in case'... I suspect that if any sell over the summer, with the huge number of tourists that will be coming and going through there, it will be the small ones. So I am working to get a bit ahead on those. But I definately do not have a reserve of larger pieces, so I need to work a bit on those, too. They take longer to paint, and they also seem to take longer to dry, for some reason (I must pile more paint on them.)

Anyway, it is interesting to be in this position. The only time I have felt this kind of pressure to produce in tapestry was when working on a commission. But even that is different, because the design is already chosen before the work begins, and I am only creating one 'thing.' This pressure to create something new and different pretty much every day is wild! It is making me use creative muscles that are somewhat sore from disuse!

And we still have company, and are going to one JUCO game daily, too. Life... and baseball... must go on.