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Here’s what’s hot tonight people….Orange Gallery has relocated to 290 City Centre Avenue in Ottawa, the nation’s capital happenin city!!

I go to Orange every time one of my two favorite artists are showing,  Dan Martelock and Andrea Stokes. Twice I haven’t been able to make it but now that the gallery is closer to home, I’m sure I won’t ever miss a show again.

See are my farty arty, artsy fartsy friends out tonight. I’m looking forward to a new era of amazing art at ORANGE

In my last blog I whined, complained, moaned about no inspiration or motivation. I forced my butt to the studio Tuesday night after a very stressful day at work. I pittered and pattered about my studio, just kind of forced myself to stay in the conversation of art.  I was cleaning my brushes in the common area where we clean brushes. I looked at to tiny paintings on the wall of this common area and wondered who had painted them and how long they had been there. Then my eye moved a few feet to the left and I saw this…a hook on the wall of the bathroom stall.

It was like an open invitation, a dare, a challenge and my mind quickly accepted!

I’m feeling quite uninspired these past two weeks. I’ve only managed to drag my ass into the studio twice a week and I’m feeling quite drained. Let’s brainstorm shall we? Tell me what you do to be inspired. What are your rituals to induce those creative juices to flow? Where do you draw energy from? Who or what inspires you?

I’ve accepted so many invitations to different art shows and gatherings etc. but can’t seem to muster up the energy or excitement to attend. I know I’m missing a lot of great vernisage but I just can’t seem to drag my ass out of the house. I think this might be the winter blahs and lord knows we’ve had a very hard cold winter..its still threatening to hang on for dear life. Or…….

I know I’m kind of waiting for my life to start anew again this month but that is just it, I’m waiting. Waiting is not at all inspirationall. So I wait and want, want and wait. I also pray that this lethargy ends when I get my space and place to myself again in the middle of the month.

No matter what the cause or reason for my inaction…even if I find out why…it won’t make a difference. What will make a difference is making a choice. I can be committed to bitching about it or I can be committed to doing something about it. The last choice is doing absolutely nothing about it but no bitching allowed. HMMMMMM. what shall I do?

I’m really praying hard for spring. The birds outside my bedroom window were very loud this morning. I’m hoping they know something I don’t know.

Everyone has a bucket list right?  All those crazy things you want to do, see, people you want to do, see. I have a bucket list of art galleries and museums that I simply must see before I leave this planet. These are not in order of preference or importance. They are all important and all a must see for me. What does your list look like?

1. The Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.  http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao

2. The Guggenheim in NYC, USA  http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york

3. The Louvre (of course), Paris, France   http://www.louvre.fr/en

4. The Tate Modern and Britain , London, UK  http://www.tate.org.uk/

5. The Getty, LA, USA  https://www.getty.edu/museum/

6. The Van Gogh, Amsterdam, Netherlands  http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?lang=nl

7.  The Klughaus, NYC, USA       http://www.klughaus.net/artists.html

8. The ARTIC, Art Institute of Chicago, USA   http://www.artic.edu/

9. The Vatican Museums   http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

10. SAAM/Rencwick, Washington, DC, USA   http://americanart.si.edu/

Do you think there’s a cost to using the exact words you know in your heart best describes your latest piece or do you leave that up to imagination of the beholder? This latest piece I’ve completed is called Mutha Fucka…but I don’t know if I’ll keep the name for fear of offending too many people. Then again…I am really tired of not expressing myself and this painting absolutely portrays what happens when one censors themselves. I could always just go with Mutha F*&^a but that really isn’t as effective is it? Gimme two cents yall.

Most artists, heck,  I think all artists, will tell you that painting helps them to express their emotions and what’s going on inside of them. Okay. That’s all fine and dandy but while painting those feelings can be cathartic and therapeutic, what happens when the person or persons become enlightened that they are the object of your self expression.

For instance, this is a painting I’m working on at the moment. It’s meant to convey the utter frustration and often anger I feel while dealing with someone who absolutely is trying my patience. I know I’ve done all I can do to help this person yet nothing seems to be moving forward and our relationship is suffering because of it. However, if this person knew the painting was about them, I think it would make matters worse and I would hurt this someone very badly.

How do you explain your art without hurting people you love? You know that eventually they are going to want to know or they may hear it along the grapevine what this piece is “really” about. How do you present it tactfully? Do you even explain it at all? People always want to know, what this piece is about, or what that piece means, or what is your motivation behind those pieces?

I think I kind of answered the question myself in just trying to explain this particular piece in my blog. You leave out names, you skirt around the actual issue and you hope that person never figures it out. But isn’t that just another form of suppressing my self expression before, during and after the situation exists?

I think I need to paint some more and more and more and not even try to explain . Just do and be, be and do and stand back and admire.

I’m also going to create a signature now.

gimme two cents, Justy