Publisher's Notes

I said that I would blog my way through the design process and this was week one.  Since I had a very busy week meeting other deadlines I wasn’t able to get much done with this new project.  However, most times when I get something in my mind that I want to paint or am hired to paint, I begin by thinking about it.  Seriously.  While I’m working on other things, I mull the next assignment over in my mind, going from one thought to another and brainstorming about how I want things to come together.   The thoughts keep snowballing until I come up with a good idea of how I want to tackle the design. 

This is what I did during the past week, hoping to get to more concrete things in the coming week.   Here are some of the things that I pondered.  I decided to gather various coffee and tea elements that I have in my house and work from a real still-life set up; Items such as a teapot and teabags, coffee beans, mugs, a creamer & sugar, etc.   My first thought was to intermix the coffee elements with the tea elements so the two favorites weave together.   But as I continued brainstorming I envisioned a double raised panel board, one panel with a tea still-life on it and the other with a coffee still-life on it.  One board - two paintings.   Then during the week while talking with a friend that is an antique dealer, I told her about my design idea and she mentioned that she had quite a few antique items that are coffee and tea related.  She was willing to loan me some, so my thoughts went to putting together a still-life of antique coffee and tea items because her items are so unique.  But they are also rather primitive and mostly made of grey tin and I really wanted to have more color in this painting, since I would be sharing the process with you.   So I decided to save that idea and possibly design a different painting later using just the antique items.   That brings me back to a still-life design of mixed coffee and tea items.  So, this week’s assignment for myself is to pull my items together and set up the still-life.  If all goes well, next week I’ll be telling you about the final design sketch.    ........putting pencil to paper......Tracy

I am a big fan of coffee.  There is nothing like a hot cup of coffee in the morning while I watch the sun rising.  Or as a warm sweet & creamy ending to a great dinner with friends.   I definately like tea too.  I have found a favorite in peppermint tea.  I don't have to add anything to it except hot water, making it calorie free.    I usually drink tea in the evening.  During the cold months Vic and I have a cup of tea together an hour or so after dinner.  It seems to settle the stomach and sends a signal to my brain that eating has ended for the day.      Earlier today, as I was sitting and contemplating making myself another cup of coffee, I realized that I haven't designed or painted anything with coffee or tea as part of the subject composition.   So, I came up with an idea and I want to include you in it.  Over several weeks, I'm going to work on a new design that centers around these two wonderful brews.   I have a few other deadlines that I am working on right now so it may take a while to get this new idea put together, but my plan is to share the whole process with you as I go.   From start to finish, I'll keep you up to date on what steps I have taken and how things are going.    Grab a cup of your favorite coffee or tea and join me!  Steam, infuse, percolate, drip, steep, brew and.......... let's get painting.........Tracy

In addition to painting, I really like to read.  In fact, I often borrow audio books from my Library and listen to them while I paint.  It gives me an opportunity to cover a lot more books than I could if I only sat to read at night.    When I listen to books during the day, I can handle any subject and any type of book.  But when I sit to read, it has to be something that really grabs my attention.  (Probably because I'm usually so tired when I actually have a chance to sit and read.)    Combine the creativity of painting and the imagination from hearing stories, stir in the interviewing and writing of articles for newspapers, sprinkle in a love for words and finally fold in all the experiences of teaching painting classes.  When you look at that recipe, it really isn't any surprise that my next venture would be writing a book about a decorative painting class. 

While writing my book called Paint Chips, I have had such fun thinking through each personality and the different life backgrounds that each one would have.  Some were "kinda" modeled after real people, but none are exactly any one that I know.   It was too much fun to dream up some of the personalities and combine them with ages and life stages.  I have hundreds more in my mind but I have to restrain myself from adding any more to the current story line.  If I add any more the Readers won't be able to keep up with who is who.  LOL    So far, there are already 7 women in the class, along with one teacher, each of their families and an outside friend.    And since the Readers can't sit and read the book all at once but instead have to wait between chapters, I'm sure that there is some confusion already.  But I have had so much fun putting this book together.   There were times when I sat and dreamt about things that I wanted to do or experience, or I considered events that others have told me that they went through and these things began to weave themselves into the storyline. 

Today I released Chapter Six of the book.  You can find it on the CLUB page of my website .    I hope Paint Chips is entertaining and that Readers are able to identify with one or more of the characters and maybe even some of their experiences.  Especially as we get further into the book.    Maybe it will make some think differently about their own teacher or cause someone to see beyond a hard exterior and reach out to a fellow classmate.  

Apply your creativity....use your imagination...........    Tracy