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Another physical art show cancelled. We hear it over and over again. Covid continues to lead the news and dampen all revenue sources for Artists. Here at Ed Dixon Galleries, the owner has balanced this loss by adding fun enjoyable "Virtual shows". Rightfully called Joyful. This little show is sure to provide a smile or two. I am noticing more and more physical galleries adding these shows. Keeping their own followers interest and engagement. Keeping artists feeling a little found. Although these months seemed to be letting loose with new art optimism. I fear we are back again, where we were. This remains our challenge. Best wishes my colleagues.

We are all at home, hiding from the "virus". Maybe cooking more food than one can eat. All locked up and surrendering another celebration. Will we all look back and know better, regretting the loss of time? People have lost family members and have not seen them for months. What regrets are they left with. In 2009 my mother died; I still regret not speaking to her that very last time. These regrets will never abate. The older you get the more regrets one carries. Can one ever not carry burdens? They remain into our full lifetime, do they continue through eternity.
Today I was reminded, in my early meditation of "Christ on the Cross". What a gift this meditation was. No matter our regrets and mistakes, sins, of ours and our fathers, we have no way out of it on our own. No Reparations, or payback will ever be enough, ever! Christ on the cross is our only redemption. The only payback good enough, to absolve our regrets, our mistakes. What a wonderful gift that we have. Something I need to remember and appreciate. No more regrets. I'll live the very best I can with the Gifts that I have. Appreciating and enjoying each minute. I am thankful and hope not to forget this, even on this less than busy Thanksgiving.
Best Thanksgiving Wishes.
Patty

2020 has been a crazy year. It has been a long time since the whole world had to pull together and experience the same thing, at the same time. This in itself is incredible. Our mind and body go from fear to hope and back again. We worry about Europe, then worry about ourselves. We see people actually become crazed, justifying burning buildings and destroying property. This happens all over the world. What a twist, what an upsetting time. Is it all science, or is there some spiritual powers at work?

As an artist the work, the life style of spending great periods of time alone, should seem to be easy in a lockdown attitude. The reality is that things are rather difficult. Artists have a great deal of heart, they take in their surroundings and interactions to make a painting, inspire their work, and be energized. Marketing the work, means marketing themselves. People want to see the art of people they know in contemporary art. Although the painting may be done in solitude, 60% of their inspiration and sale is done in and around real people contacts. Yes sale, artists must sale, to pay for #1 art supplies, but artists are real people too and have to pay for rent, utilities, taxes, and food. We don’t invest much in clothing or frilly things.

I don’t think that I have created anything spectacular this year. I have although created around covid-19 a bit. These pieces have a lot of emotion, but I am not sure they will ever be number one in my gallery.

Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Covid together
Grateful Sunflowers
Newlyweds 2020
Patron St. Thomas More

2020 brings a unity that has not ever happened in our life times. It is interesting how some use this, to make devisions and contrasts that tend to diminish this opportunity. I hope that once again, art shows a picture of unification, hope, prayer and being one human race.

Patty Donoghue

Let's see this piece has traveled up and down this downtown 4 times now and it surely can find its permanent home soon. Its first venue closed on a whim. It was getting great reviews but then suddenly the Restaurant gallery that had been open for 20 years closed. I did have a contract in place and was able to retrieve it , but I only had 6 hours to get it out of there. Did I tell you, it is too large to fit in my car.
Its next stop was @Sfeer&company a popup furniture store, where thankfully the owner let me place it and this location was only a block from the restaurant. Yes it went down 4th street again. Then it went to @kindrendSpirts for the summer months. #AntoninaWhaples the owner, Graciously adopted it and placed it in her retail stores and gallery. This time it traveled past @mellowmushroom @crabshack @jimmyjohns @cvs and the bus station, to get there on Trade Street. This week I was able to secure a Solo Show at a brewery venue; @footnotesandcoctails where the show will be up for 2 months. I am elated to get the holiday parties! Then again the painting was carried up the streets of downtown to rest in its new venue for a while. We were blessed with a sunny day and more accommodating citizens supporting its trip. So this "documented" travel was a pleasure.

This piece is for sell and its purchase would take a good burden off of this artist.

I forgot to mention I bought the canvas half price from Hobby Lobby just to realize I could not get it home. It took me 3 days to get someone to help me or to..... "ask for help". Shipping, oh no, that had a $200.00 + oversized surcharge. Why so large, you ask? Well that is another story. This darling piece started out as a commission piece for a very large space in a home. At almost completion, the buyer reneged altering funds for a new baby instead. I am all for that, but still. Another big lesson learned.

Artist life is wonderful, but extremely challenging with problems around every corner. Like; do I buy a new car? or Do I just limit my creations to those that will fit in mine? Since I am an artist, I guess I should op for the first and get a lot better at asking for help. Ha!

What really should the Studio mean to the Artist creativity?

I was so lucky to get to spend a month in a home of a coastal friend. I painted every day on their back porch. I did not want to in anyway compromise their beautiful home in which they had entrusted to me. So a 99 degree screened in porch seemed ok by me. I loved it and spent hours and hours working there. I would bring in completed pieces so that they would have a better place to dry, but I was cranking them out. I am wondering if my productivity had as much to do with my colorful coastal surroundings or possibly the heat making me delirious to a more creative state of mind. It may be the fact that I had very little else to consume my energy. The pressure to support another human being; AKA my spouse, was absent, but there was also a bit of a pressure to get things done in the short timeframe that I had. I brought with me nearly 20 canvas's and a conglomerate of oil and acrylic paints. No plans or ideas, just a little pressure to get paint on those surfaces.

My home studio is in the basement of an 80 year old house. You can imagine this-maybe. Think of your grandma's or great grandmas basement. That is it. It is private, with not a lot of distractions. I love it when I am working there. I play music and podcasts. I have the slightest fear of getting locked in it and I don't really get any natural light. I have produced some beauties in this space. Maybe it is not the space but the household responsibilities that continue to occupy one side of my brain. I procrastinate going down there, but once I am there, happiness consumes me. The pressure then is not to get the paintings done, it is more what else should I really be doing?

I probably should not be overthinking this. I mean, it is turning into a reason not to go down those stairs. This is the studio I have and until this changes or more opportunities present it is "my space". I am a full time artist with work to get done. I love this life and truly appreciate it. Maybe missing the coast and the new friends I made is really what is going on. Lets play some Bob Dillan and Paint Patty Paint!

This month I had the tremendous opportunity to participate in an “Art Retreat”. This was a retreat of my own making, this is how it happened. My very dear sister in law asked that I come and enjoy her beach home and take care of her house and walk and feed her pet and be sure the house is cared for while she went away for 3 weeks. I jumped on this and it became a very productive art retreat.
The change of scenery made for such a motivating time. Artists need to change their view every once in a while especially when the typical view is the concrete block walls of a home basement studio. This new studio was a screened in porch. It was very hot but the view was grand. I emerged in the surrounding and sought out on facebook artist comrades and area tennis players so that I could live my life socially as I spent bulks of time painting. You should take a look at the water birds and the beach scenes that emerged from my time there.
https://patty-donoghue.pixels.com/
I have been back for 4 days now and I have not yet painted a thing. Oh no I say! But I have some new Beach friends encouraging coastal pieces. I have a few more birds to paint and at least 2 more beach scenes before the salt air is out of my lungs. I wonder how long I have. I will be painting and I hope I keep seaside in my heart for a little longer.
What a grand “Art Retreat”. #artretreat #coastalart #beachfriends #newstudio #motivatingfriends #housesetting

Calling myself and "Artist" and deciding to follow that path was a huge decision. I spent the previous year attending local art events and local gallery. It seems that most artists have a difficult time accepting and calling themselves an "Artist" for the first time. It is such a vulnerable place to throw your art out there and hope someone likes it. Lots of questions of doubt and concern come to the surface. It's a little easier to present it like a hobby; "I am a________ and also do art" - wink wink. Well, I took that step full throttle January of this year. People were impressed by my dive and I was impressed with the encouragement from friends and family. It seems that a lot of people have a talent that they may not give in to and certainly admire someone that will.
I have learned a lot this year and made tons of mistakes. I am still learning; thank you to the many that have provided guidance. This has been quite a process and I hope to share some of those lessons in this blog. For now, I need to get going as there is so much to do.

December 23,2018
It has been 1 year since I claimed the “Artist” title. I have shown my art, I have sold my art and I understand that with this accomplished- I can keep this title! Through the year I have learned so much; everyday there is something new. Here are some of the things that I have learned:
• Everyone has different tastes, I can now guess who will like a piece and who may not say anything. My work is all over the place with the only reoccurring theme, colorful. The support though is immense and oh so appreciated.
• Get paid before you ship a product. In talking about paid Sam and Jane taught me about Paypal, and I learned to do Square on my own. I have a shipping account now and a scale to weigh packages. Those who have made purchases or shared my content- I thank you so much for supporting my path.
• I learned that no matter how hard you work as an artist and it is never stops, sometimes family thinks that you played all day. Speaking about Family- they also are the most honest critics and really your best supporters. You know who you are- kiss, kiss, hug, hug.
• Other artists are not a threat as I so shallowly thought: they are some of the best supporters you will find. They share the difficulties, lessons and rewards. We get to cheer each other on and it means a lot from them when you are an admirer of their work. You also make a lot of friends through the social media outlets and share some devastating or joyful events. As an artist the emotions can play out in your art and move you toward new techniques or inspired pieces.
• I learned a lot about framing and mounting art, thank you u-tube. 40lb test fishing line and of course learning fishing knots was a trick I learned to replace expensive framing wire. Sticking to standard size paint surfaces saves time and money. Recycled frames are great options that some really appreciate.
• Social Media was something I had to learn as well. With help from Chuck #greenpointtattoo and Hendall #killedeerpottery, I learned Instagram and went from 0 followers in March to 960 today. I hope to reach 1000 before year end. @donoghuepatty. In addition to this I have toyed with twitter, pinterest and have 3 sites to sell my prints and products. I just figured out how to get them on FB. Social medial takes a lot of time but is necessary. Through the online presentations I have had to learn how to video and make high definition scans of my paintings. I purchased a good camera and got coaching from Louislena and learned of the high def scanner free at the library from Sue.
• I learned to price my work and have bravely and publicly displayed my art in 6 shows and hosted one private home show. I so appreciate the friends that came out to show support, and Bryce who made it so easy. The local art community #associatedartists and #Sawtooth are 2 places where I found support and social outlets this year.
• For every success there are a bunch of mistakes and trials. As an artist you are your own product developer, purchasing agent, marketing director and salesperson. No one to delegate to or to clean up a mess. I learned that it is all you, baby.
There is a lot more that I learned, like a 48” canvas will not fit in my car and non yellowing products, yellow and glazes freeze. No matter, I’ll keep learning. I dream about my art, I pray about the art and I truly do appreciate this opportunity to do art everyday. This has been a fantastic year and I look forward toward another, with some education on my back and KD along with Fans to carry me through, it is going to be something. THANK YOU!!