Rooster Update

The Wood Street Rooster has found not one, but two hens. It is hilarious to hear then clucking around the neighborhood. So, there are three "chickens" roaming the streets of Georgetown, crossing the street, searching front yards for food, and the Rooster, still crowing every grey dawn.

Rainy Day - Bad Light

I have tried repeatedly to paint today, but the light is horrible in the studio, and I have a lot on my mind. These are trying times for all artists. It is imperative to focus on the "bigger picture", and not become bogged down in the economic rhetoric.

Actually, I have a very optimistic outlook for the future of art. This is my life sentence, not a passing whim. I will continue to create works of art, regardless of the outcome. This is faith, and this is life. Never giving up, always stepping forward.

Wood Street Rooster + Wife

The Wood Street Rooster now, and I have no idea how this happened, found a hen. Downtown Georgetown, a rooster and hen roam, cluck, crow and eat I don't know what. I thought it was a smaller rooster, but, it is a hen. They cross the busy street together, they are emotionally attached. Less crowing during the day, but at grey dawn, it begins. This guy has been around all summer, where did the hen come from, should I start looking for eggs??

Art - Interpretation, not replication

It is almost the last week of September and it is still hot and humid. I always get a burst of artistic energy when fall emerges. I waited long enough and began my fall push early. The summer was a portrait trial. I became obsessed with portraiture and produced (I believe) some good work. My mantra has been "Interpretation, not replication".

The philosophy of art is not as important as creating art. Protecting one's creative process from external annoyances and focusing on work without becoming shut off from the outside world is a precarious balancing act.

The process of receiving monetary reward versus creating for the sake of satisfying one's growth in the craft. The push - pull of exhuberance and flat lining. Putting on the blinders and working without looking to the right or the left, or behind - only forward.

Artist's are human! We come away from the easel, messy and sometimes confused, but always hopeful. We are not superheroes. The work is hard, intense, but satisfying. This is a way of life, using the gift to create that one canvas that will be unforgettable. That one canvas that will make all of the work, the nights where dreams create brush strokes, mix colors, leaving us exhausted in the early morning hours, a gift to be remembered, appreciated and honored.

The Best Summer Project

I have been working with a local after school program for the last two years. This was the first summer there were funds available for an art project. The children created clay tiles, using the theme, "You Reap What You Sow", (they are beginning a greenhouse project) as the focus. The tiles (30) will be mounted side by side as a major piece of art, to be displayed at various venues in the area. It is rewarding to see children swept away by their artistic accomplishments. I will post the finished project when it is framed.,

Wood Street Rooster

A rooster has become a fixed icon in my neighborhood, a city block from the town's main street. Of course he begins crowing before sunrise, and continues every thirty seconds to a minute until dusk. I found it annoying a month ago, but have become used to it, using the volume of his vocals to gage his proximity. I have encountered him in my driveway, that scared the willies out of me, I do not have a fondness for chickens. My blue point Siamese, Zelda Fitzgerald, treats him with ennui. I do know for certain that the chicken does cross the road, and that one doesn't lay eggs. However he makes it across and back again is a mystery, but it shatters the myth that chickens are stupid beasts. Maybe he is just sprints very well, and is stupid!!! A rooster rescue society does not exist, so I guess we, my neighbors and I, are stuck with him. Someone tried to catch him in June, using a bed sheet, and a trail of corn ---- didn't work.

Summer Art

The summer has been prolific, in producing paintings, as well as teaching . I have been experimenting, and challenging myself nonstop. Even took time out to rearrange the studio, but not thoroughly clean it. I don't seem to produce well if things are in order, I tend to spend most of my time trying to keep it in order, it is fruitless, I am a creative slob.

Spring is just around the corner

What a week. A virus on my computer has kept me busy, trying to clean it out, I think I was successful. Spring is just around the corner. Teaching, creating, but no housework. I need a good wife, I have been saying that for years. Not an option for a heterosexual female.

New painting on easal. Have two days to work on it. Will begin a new business relationship this month.

Later

Selling Art

Of course, my paintings are for sale. I have a website: www.jeanhannastudio.com, if you would care to see more of my work. If you are interested, please contact me through my email address. I accept commission work. I will post new work on my blog.

An Artist's Life in Small Town USA

I hope to enlighten and share my art and thoughts about my art and life in this small southern town. Art is truly a way of life. When the muse strikes, nothing else matters. When you dream about your work, waking up before daylight to attack the canvas is normal.

The winter is usually a period of prolific paintings, but not this year. I have begun to hold on to the work longer than usual, refining, thinking, second thinking, not wanting to leave the easel. I believe that I am on an upward learning curve, and when I am on that road, the work is better, but it is harder to part with the paintings.

So spring fever has hit me hard. For the last two weeks, I have not been able to paint anything but florals, and that is particularly unusual. I am known for hard hitting, bright, colorful landscapes, but I am ready for spring, my spirit is pouring onto the canvases, and that does sound a tad cheesy, but we do paint our desires.

Up Date: 2011:  Realized that it is not my job to enlighten, this is a fruitless effort in my part of the world.  It is up to the individual to accept and desire enlightenment.  It is only my job to offer the vehicle!