Learning & Time Management

As I have gotten to know Michele better these past few weeks I have learned a lot about her as a person, and as an artist. Michele is very organized and schedules her time to make sure she gets everything done that she set out to do. She told me she needs to complete roughly 40 paintings between now and the 18^th of August for a group exhibition. When talking to her this past week she said she usually works in this way by “having periods of nothingness and then work work work”. She referred to this as her process, which she doesn’t like but in the end she always gets everything done to perfection. I also asked her about stress management and how she makes time in her busy life to manage making art with work and other priorities. Something I am struggling with right now. She explained her strategies of making lots of lists as well as having a large calendar to plan things out. Both ways of working are things she’s done since being a student at the University. It was nice to know that a professional artist struggles in some of the same ways I do. Despite her doubts and challenges in the past and today, she still has become extraordinarily successful. As an artist and in life.

Lately, I have also been preparing her newest panels for the upcoming group exhibition I previously mentioned. They vary in size from very little to medium sized, which was a nice break for my hands from the large ones I did. It’s the same process of evenly coating the GAC twice per surface, sanding them all down, painting the sides, and doing a final third coat. Except this time Michele explained the wood may be a different brand because it is very rough, so I had to sand once more. This was not because of how I prepared them, but it was interesting hearing about how businesses are not always reliable in producing the exact products you want or need for your work.

After doing all of this it was time to tape the sides and back, so paint doesn’t get on them making the piece look sloppy. Michele showed me the exact way of using green frog tape to neatly line the side’s edges so the surface is clean. And then blue masking tape to cover the back evenly, which overlaps the green tape meeting close to the middle. Although the tape will be removed after the piece is done it is very important for Michele’s work to keep its clean linear elements.

Also, I finally finished the color wall which I’m happy to say, and new paints will be added to a miscellaneous paper in the future. Just have to hang it now!