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| Hands and Feet, acrylic washes on watercolor paper by Phillip Hoyle Petroglyphs are found in groups like this painting of some in western Colorado. When I'm in a more literal mood, I paint groups of these rock carvings. |
My daughter loves to shop for office supplies. One of my friends loves to roam the aisles of hardware stores. Another one rarely goes by a clothing store without looking inside. My partner loves to find bargains at groceries and shopping clubs. I like shopping for art, but not going from gallery to gallery even though I have done my share of that kind of shopping. I’m not talking about going on line to find a painting or print to hang in a just-right place in house or apartment. I’m not talking about going to silent auctions hoping to pick up a bargain or stopping by the neighbor’s garage sale looking for an undiscovered masterpiece. I used to go alone but finally have found a friend who shares my specific love of art shopping. Sue and I go on shopping forays for art supplies, one of my favorite activities and the only kind of shopping I can easily embrace.
Preparation calls first for the making of a list. I keep a growing list on the counter behind my art table.
Set the date and hope I can make it.
On the day of a likely shopping trip, I gather coupons from the paper or on line just like Sue taught me.
I have a special factor: my hope she will be up to the next trip. Sometimes health factors limit her mobility.
One day I was looking around the locally owned Meiningers art supply store for a kind of pen I needed to finish some Artist Trading Cards. There I ran into Sue who immediately said, “Have you seen their sales?” Also shopping with Sue was Jan, another person who does art work and writing. As the three of us shopped, I realized I have an additional shopping partner! We had fun looking around and buying more things than we needed, at least I did so. While the shopping was pleasant, having Sue there served another purpose: she knows products, their use both from her teachers and from her years of using them often in surprising and experimental ways. She likes to teach what she knows.
You can imagine that now I have many more things to work with and a beginner’s knowledge of how to approach the things Sue has led me to. While digging deep into my drawers and boxes run across supplies I bought years ago and have never used. When that happens I evaluate if I can use the product right away, perhaps on some Artist Trading Cards. Then I open the package or bottle to see if it is still usable! I love the supplies I keep using and buying, and I so enjoy sorties to art stores to find replacements and brand new supplies: paints, pencils, paper, canvas, boards, lino-blocks, gouges and knives, replacement blades, mat board, new mixed-media papers, on and on. It’s almost like these things speak to me as I walk the aisles of the stores, and if they don’t, sometimes Sue or Jan will speak for them.
Have fun with art. I certainly am! AND I am anticipating another shopping trip this Friday!
Denver, 2014
I have a special factor: my hope she will be up to the next trip. Sometimes health factors limit her mobility.
One day I was looking around the locally owned Meiningers art supply store for a kind of pen I needed to finish some Artist Trading Cards. There I ran into Sue who immediately said, “Have you seen their sales?” Also shopping with Sue was Jan, another person who does art work and writing. As the three of us shopped, I realized I have an additional shopping partner! We had fun looking around and buying more things than we needed, at least I did so. While the shopping was pleasant, having Sue there served another purpose: she knows products, their use both from her teachers and from her years of using them often in surprising and experimental ways. She likes to teach what she knows.
You can imagine that now I have many more things to work with and a beginner’s knowledge of how to approach the things Sue has led me to. While digging deep into my drawers and boxes run across supplies I bought years ago and have never used. When that happens I evaluate if I can use the product right away, perhaps on some Artist Trading Cards. Then I open the package or bottle to see if it is still usable! I love the supplies I keep using and buying, and I so enjoy sorties to art stores to find replacements and brand new supplies: paints, pencils, paper, canvas, boards, lino-blocks, gouges and knives, replacement blades, mat board, new mixed-media papers, on and on. It’s almost like these things speak to me as I walk the aisles of the stores, and if they don’t, sometimes Sue or Jan will speak for them.
Have fun with art. I certainly am! AND I am anticipating another shopping trip this Friday!
Denver, 2014
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