The Artwork of Lynn Ponto-Peterson

Daily Blog? 

OK I am too busy for that, how about when ever I get the little guy to sleep, and the horses fed, and a few free minutes to myself blog ;o)

February 8, 2008

I had started a blog on my old art page and will be re-vamping my entire web site as soon as I get a minute to do it. As those who know me will attest I am so busy that looking at other artist's web sites and blogs makes me depressed. I don't know how they do it! But I do have a lot in my life right now and moving to the Ozark Mountains has had it's challenges.  Here is a bit or a starter. I doubt I can type this much on a regular basis but it will give you all an idea of what we have done this year and why I am so behind on my painting plans.

First we bought a wild piece of land which is somewhat horizontally challenged. With a small herd of Morgan horses we built a barn (which we had a construction company do the shell only) We back filled it in and built 14 stalls just my husband and I along with 1200 feet of fencing and a smaller run in barn with two stalls. Then we started working on the interior of our log frame home. It was rough and bug infested when we moved in. It had one partial bathroom and nothing was sealed so the first thing I did was seal everything so we would no longer have insect visitors and then we started putting up knotty pine and started the kitchen. I have always wanted to design my own dream cabin. It is a rather large for us 2400 sq. ft. cabin in the woods but I am having a great time picking out the appliances and doing it all ourselves. My husband let me go with the kitchen, it is my baby and I hung my cabinets and did all the crown molding, EVERYTHING ourselves. I wanted a trout fishing theme since we both love fishing so much and we are so close to the White river, the best trout spot in the world! I thought Joe would freak when I told him I wanted a tin ceiling. I use to go to this lovely restaurant in Woodstock, Illinois where I grew up that had this gorgeous tin ceiling. It was warm and gave off this luminous glow. It reminds me of home and winter nights going out with friends and family. I also laid granite tile on my counter which was a first for me. When all was said and done I got the kitchen of my dreams for very little money. A lot of HARD work and long nights away from my drawing table but all we have left is the tile floor, back splash, framing work on the island, pendant lights and trim work and it is done. So now you all know what I have been up to this past year ;o) We have our family room almost done and the downstairs bedroom and laundry/pantry. I have bought so many Carl Brender's prints over the years and prints of trout, I am so excited to fill this home with artwork I love from other artists.

I have been so down lately because I have not had time to paint. Isn't that why we moved here in the first place? and here is it a year since we sold all we owned and made this move south. We made this giant leap for Joe to be able to heal and take things slower from his car accident (Almost killed by a drunk driver who hit him head on going 85 miles and hour! Yes, miracle he is with us today!) and for me to be able to afford to paint full time. All I have done is work on this farm and house and it is getting discouraging BUT what little I have been able to paint just makes me more and more excited about the future.

My first attempts at art shows was extremely exciting to me. I won first in realism and second in opaque watercolor with two paintings I entered one in each show. It was a surprise and has given me much needed confidence. I am very hard on myself and my work. It is so personal and such a part of who I am that it is hard to explain how important it is to me. I was born knowing I was an artist and born loving animals and nature so the two are the fiber of my being and life without the two is not life for me.

I am almost finished with a wolf and raven idea I have had for a long time. I was so happy with the wolf at first but as the painting progressed I pushed myself too hard. I think I can do better and I guess this is how an artist evolves and grows. I can sure tell that my calling is miniature art because this 5 x 7.5 nearly killed me. I paint with a 20/0 brush for all my detail work. It was a rough one for me but I learned a lot from this work. Now on to the next. This will be finished today I still have some rock work and finishing details to go and I will dress it with mat and frame and hopefully it will find a good home.

This brings me to the subject of Miniature Art. I started loving this art form when I was introduced to miniature Russian Lacquer Boxes from my dear friend Terry Raidford while working for her as an artist in her professional photography studio in Rockford, Illinois. We would go together to shows and small private sales all over Chicago and she would buy and I would drool and study the detailed little jewels every minute I could. This is what I was meant to do. I do love to paint larger works every once in a while but miniature painting is where my heart truly is.

I have read much fascinating writings about Miniature Art from other artists who know much more then I on the subject and I must say that I have always believed that to confine the creation of artwork into a rule book is like trying to harness the wind. I have my own opinions on what is miniature art and what is not but I more passionately believe that Art is an expression of individuality for each artist and I deeply respect and honor that. I guess I am an optimist in that I feel all art is grand no matter what the form or technique and that every artist goes on their own journey of expression, growth, and learning. If I were to have any gripe in my observance of the art world over the years it would have to be that I wish there were more appreciation of realism and perhaps that is what draws me to miniature art and the wonderful people I have met involved with it. When ever there is passion and people there are sure to be differences of opinion. I am no longer a debater these days after fighting in the trenches with horse registries for 10 years and getting pretty burnt by it, but now a true introvert who would rather hide in my studio and just create. My time is so rare and precious to me these days, also I have not located that proverbial money tree yet so I wish I could travel to all the shows and self promote my work more, perhaps down the road. For now I am in the honeymoon stage with my new "full time dream come true job" and doubt I will leave the studio for a while ;o)

Now that our house is somewhat livable I am back to work. I am so excited about the upcoming miniature shows.

I have made the very hard decision to give up my graphic design so I can concentrate more on my artwork. This was so hard for me because I enjoy creating magazine ads for my clients. Something about Photoshop is like painting with pixels. I enjoy collaging photos and trying to creating a masterpiece in each ad I do. This was my latest ads one of which is on the back cover of the Morgan Horse Magazine this past month. I will miss this part of my life but right now I am having a hard time keeping up.

All for now back to work ;o)

Lynn