Alaskan Artist - Elise Tomlinson
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07/16/2006: "Potboilers anyone?"


Last night I dreampt there was a large room and starting on one end was a painting with very intense colors, and each proceding painting was a little less saturated until there was one half way round with colors so light they were practically transparent... then the painting after it had slightly more color until it arrived back at the beginning. It was like colors doing the wave at a football game and each painting had a vaugely threaded narrative theme.

I've wanted to try something it before...like colors at different times of the day, morning light, afternoon, late afternoon, early evening, night, pre-dawn....only, not the same image, different subject matters, just each one viewed from a particular time of day. I just don't know exactly what or how I want to do it. I have sooooo many preliminary sketches of soooo many different directions I could go in so I'm going to work it out on very small panels first, potboilers as Rob once called them:

"Potboiler: an artistic work created for the sole purpose of making money quickly or to maintain a steady income for the artist, thus implying that artistic values were subordinate to saleability." Though I beg to differ...these wouldn't be small for the purpose of saleability but as a means of working out a larger series in a managable size to see if it's going to work. It looked amazing in my head but...

On a different note, my sister in South Dakota called me to tell me it was 116 F in Pierre today! I saw the map of the US, red everywhere temps in the high 90s and 100s. And here in Juneau it was what? Around 52 degrees or so.? I'm glad it wasn't that hot here though I could have used a touch of sun.


Replies: 14 Comments

on Monday, July 17th, Kasia said

116F? How many Celsius degrees is that?
Ha- the idea of pictures doing the wave - I love it:)

on Monday, July 17th, Judy Vars said

Hi Elise,
Yea,SLC Utah where I am from is hot, hot, hot.
Your idea sounds awesome and I cant wait to see what you're working on now.

on Monday, July 17th, Elise said

Hey Kasia, 116 fahrenheit is about 46.7 Celsius! What has the temperature been like in Sochaczew?

And Judy, I'm glad you like my idea, I'm not sure when I'll be ready to share but at least I'm painting again.
;)

on Monday, July 17th, Kasia said

For two weeks it felt like Sahara desert! Hot and dry - about 40 - 42 Celsius. For three days now it has been so much better but still no rain. I feel so sorry for all the trees and plants. Too much sunshine makes me crazy.

on Monday, July 17th, berry bowman connell said

Near hundred here, but, I LOVE IT!
Just writin' with a Floridian gettin storms
in, and she's out on the porch listenning
to the storm come up...

Ah.....
And me? I'm stuck in a building with AC, drat!

But, the saving grace is, I'm painting a backdrop
fer the local vacation bible school
and it's fun t'paint no matter what the condition!
Cold? Hot? Bring it on!
Just lemmee PAINT!

Two things though about what ya said.
Dang! I gotta do some of
them potboilers thingies!
Heck yeah! I'm kind'a working on one
in m'head as I work.
See, the theme fer the VBS is something
about south of the border, and they
gave me a picture of a fake
Mexican village to recreate on
the backdrop, 4'x8' panels
of well stretched canvas, but, too many years of paint
and I'm guessin' this'll be the end of'em
but, on my own, I figures a good decor
item for the walls would be
I dunno, snake plants in a curve topped window, like a yucca or something.

Quick t'paint, almost too easy, but
then every one so far has been different.

OK, so I'm paintin' a potboiler!
Artists have t'eat, too.

OK, then, about the dream.
Not that this is similar, but, beware of the
thing if it is....I had a dream
of a car painted with brushstrokes,
(yeah. So?)
And it was so very vivid. Yellow/white in the front
slowly vignetting to bright red/orange in back
truly a cool lookin' thing fer a car, and it
was sailin!
I MEAN SAILING! along the highway!

I never could get the color gig going on that as I saw it in m'dream.
Not that I can't blend yellow/white
into orange/red.
Just couldn't ever get what I saw in m'dream, whichj is a completely different thing.

Maybe I quit tryn too soon? Nah. Did junk the car I was doin it to,
but, I've come t'realize, at least with
m'self....
some of the colors I see in m'head
don't exist.

Just don't exist.

Kind'a like Bach. He always thought that
A (440 cycles per second, true pitch)
was blue, but, could never find
THAT color blue anywhere.

on Monday, July 17th, berry bowman connell said

dang! I do go on
about things,
sometimes, eh?

on Monday, July 17th, willow said

Elise, have you seen the film, "Off the Map?" There is a great painting in that movie! I liked the concept. I don't want to tell you exactly what it is, just in case you haven't seen it yet.

And isn't it great when creative ideas come to you in your dremas at night? I love it!

on Monday, July 17th, willow said

"dremas" = dream drama (or it could be just a typo!)

on Monday, July 17th, Elise said

Hey Kasia, I love the sun but I'm glad we're not having hot days like everywhere else because no one here has air conditioning.

As for painting things as we see them in our mind, well, it's never as good...I know that...but for getting general ideas it's helpful.

I haven't seen "Off the Map" Willow, do you think I'd like it? I'll see if I can rent it.

on Monday, July 17th, Cody said

It's a dry heat, see.

on Monday, July 17th, Elise said

I see Cody, all I can say is that in Juneau it's a wet cold...see?
:P

on Tuesday, July 18th, Cody said

I see. That's Juneau for you--always trying to be different. What's wrong with being wet hot like every other rain forrest?

Must be because of the heavy concentration of artists within the area. :P

on Tuesday, July 18th, Daniel said

"Off the Map" is one of those films that you can watch over and over again.

The following is my favorite quote from the movie:
"You know, I really admire you, Mr. Grodin. More than any man I've ever met. You don't have a penny in the bank, no life insurance, no credit. But your house is all paid for, you got four years worth of food stored away, three years worth of firewood, stockpiles of clothes, beautiful wife, great kid. Your life is yours. I think you're a genius."

That line pretty much sums up the mood of the film. Everyone should see this film, at least twice.

on Tuesday, July 18th, Elise said

ha Cody! So, all the hot air we artists let off goes up and causes condensation which produces rain? Good theory!

oh, and thanks Daniel, I guess I'll have to rent "Off the map" now...