Life has a habit of moving more quickly than we can keep up. Time keeps on marching forward – despite birthdays, holidays and deadlines. Happy second day of 2013! Can you believe 2012 is over? I certainly cannot. I thought that year was going to last forever. Well, I am starting the new year off right with a MOVE! I’m jumping ship and moving to south western PA where the coal is fresh and Pittsburgh is but a 45 minute drive away.
So… I have been more than a little bit busy lately. All of my painting is done until after the move. Whooo. That’s kind of a strange thing to say. So, now I am focusing on photographing all my work and because of that terrible, terrible process, I am going to give a few words of advice that were given to me, that I ignored, that I am paying the price for now.
1) Always remember that photographing your work is not fun. You never have time to photograph your work until suddenly you have to, like all undesirable tasks. Such as washing dishes or cleaning toilets. Photographing your work is like cleaning a toilet. Gross, but necessary.
2) Don’t be stupid and get stuck taking pictures of all your work at once, especially when you’re pressed for time. *This is EXACTLY* what I did. Do what I say, not what I do and you will be much happier than I am. Try to take pictures as you finish each piece.
3) Clear out a large space to work with. Shoving furniture, boxes and art supplies around while you’re trying to get the light even and the angle of the camera right makes an annoying situation that much worse. Be kind to yourself.
4) Use the proper equipment. Such as a tripod, good camera, as close to daylight-grade lighting as possible, a white or gray background (You will notice that I am working on a blue wall. Again, do as I say, not as I do and the heavens will smile down on you.)
My other task at hand is packing up all of my art supplies and prepping them for the 12 hour drive to their new home. AHHHH! I am happily only taking a few canvases with me, but traveling with things like a huge glass palette is still kind of nerve wracking.
Here is one tip for transporting your collection of paintbrushes:
Tape them to some cardboard!
And now I need to return to photographing work, because IT’S NEVER OVEEERRR 
Happy New Year!
You are an incredible artist with an amazing palette. I love looking at your work for hours and hours and hours. You are a talented woman Ms. Garp and Carnegie Mellon as well as all other grad schools will be at great loss not to have you!