So much has happened in the last few months and I’ve procrastinated writing about it. In this and the next few posts, I’ll update you on the following topics: (I’ll conme back and add links for each after I finish writing the articles)

• Thoughts on the Online Open Studio in August (this post)
• Mural is Completed
• Painting Demonstrations on My YouTube Channel
• Holding the Moment, San Jose Exhibition
• KALEID Gallery Holiday Art Sale – HARK
• Art Sales Via KALEID
• New Small Paintings Available
• Happy Drippy Zinnias and Some Drippy Circles

Thoughts on the Online Open Studio

As you may recall, in August I participated, along with 8 other artists, in the first ever online open studio sponsored by Visual Philosophy Studios. Considering we had only nine artists participating, the range of amazing artwork on display was staggering and inspiring. We had print making, pop art, blacksmithing, sculpture, painting, partrait painting, fiber arts, and more. There was a little something for everyone. 

The reason we held out own online open studio is because Silicon Valley Open Studios cancelled their annual in-person open studios for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. They tried mightily to find a workable path to holding open studios, but with the first lockdown lasting through May and then another spike in cases in July, they finally decided it wasn’t going to happen in 2020.

My contribution to the open studio included participating in an artists’ discussion, Facebook live and Instagram live art demonstrations, and the creation of a new YouTube channel so that I could upload additional art demonstrations for anyone to view at their leisure. I conducted my portion of the open studio from my home rather than in my art studio because I wanted to be able to to talk on camera without wearing a mask. I worked on three 18×24 inch canvases. Two were already prepped with the first stages of laying color and interesting marks to the canvases (the prepping can be viewed in two of my YouTube videos, prepping example one and prepping example two). I applied the first layers of sky and greenery to these canvases during the live videos. I did mark making on the third canvas.

Here’s an image of one of the canvases after the live painting sessions:

I learned A LOT about video making, and it was a humbling experience. I have a new respect for people who produce a lot of videos, either live or pre-recorded. So many different skills are needed. I learned that sound quality makes a big difference and background noise can wreak havoc on your video, and the muffled sound of your voice from talking through a mask is not all that video-friendly. Camera angle is hard to get right. It seems nearly impossible to paint and at the same time check on live comments, especially since I get so messy and can’t touch anything. How do other artists do that and make it look so natural and easy?

I had a lot more fun participating in this online open studio and being in videos than I expected to, and I’ll continue to use what I’ve learned to create more YouTube videos and Facebook and Instagram live videos. My nephew convinced me to sign up on Twitch, and it made me wonder if anyone would be interested in doing live paint-along videos? Maybe I’ll even give that a try.