I am finding that the time I gained as a result of deciding to stop teaching and paint has not made me better at managing my time. I still give my time freely and squander it lavishly.  I wish I were an organized person. I am, however, finding that magic time of latenight frenzied worktime where I am in my own little universe of music and “quiet peace”. Tonight I finally finished sewing two 12 foot by 15 foot tarps together to create one giant backdrop for my favorite high school drama department, so it is now 15 foot by 24 feet. I never knew there was so much fabric! It was an experience. Now I have to grommit it and dye it. I have until 4 am I would say, because after that I turn into a pumpkin. Shew! I will post pictures after completing the process in a few hours.

Update: I sewed it together incorrectly and now have a 12×30 foot sky tarp :-). Back to the drawing board for me. I’ll do it tonight after my daughter’s violin lesson. Maybe late night also encourages tired mistakes ;-). I’ll post when done.

I am still walking on a cloud from this weekend when Purvis and Carlotta received the First Place Painting Award in the 34th Annual Raleigh Fine Art Society’s North Carolina Artist Exhibition juried by Mark Sloan, Director of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Charleston. Mr. Sloan gave a wonderful presentation and critique that has made me review my next few pieces again. I love that Mr. Sloan used the word ”intricate” describing this piece.  Not sure what to do with all my pent-up emotion. I ideated, painted, and learned how to use new social media for the last few days. I thought that now would be a good time to talk about Purvis and Carlotta.
I will reveal a little of the history of the work and my greater intent, but there are some things that I want to keep because I ultimately enjoy the ambiguity of the symbols. One of my past works was described as having “a slightly sinister air of mystery,”* I love that too :-). The interpretations are richer for the viewer if the connection to the work is personal.
My art comes from one of three places: family history, places I have been, and breaking the grid. I take these inspirations and superimpose a story. Purvis and Carlotta comes from a photograph I found in my Mom’s stash of family pictures. The original photograph dates from 1936 (my Mom’s was a copy from the 60′s) when my Mom’s oldest brother was about a year old and Granny and Papa, Mom’s parents, were together in Knightdale, NC visiting Granny’s sister Florence. Carlotta is Granny’s oldest sister and reportedly the “apple of Great Granddaddy’s eye.”  Great Granddaddy wanted Carlotta to teach, but Carlotta chose nursing and was a nurse at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh. For many years, Carlotta and Great Granddaddy were said to be at odds about her decision. Great Granddaddy eventually came around said Carlotta was good at what she did and had chosen the right profession. She never had children and purportedly had a very stern demeanor. Purvis was legally blind at one point and worked in the Radiology Department developing x-rays. Carlotta, it is told, helped him get the job and helped him receive treatment at Butner that restored some of his vision. Just cool little tidbits. The inspiration photograph is one of several taken that day of all the family.
This image attracted me because of the shadow on the tree, Carlotta’s expression, and Purvis’s proximity to Carlotta. I played up the shadow and removed a bit of visual clutter from the original and cropped the scene. I left the house for the setting of place, and I love the clothes! He reminds me of Jimmie Stewart with his slicked back hair, leather aviator jacket and towering height. She looks strong and in control. My palette consists of what I think of as colors from their time. I heightened some color for emphasis because, as I also stated before, this is my interpretation as an outsider to the actual event. It is my imposition of a story.  I think Carlotta looks irritated and Purvis somewhat intimidating, but the shadows tell a story of the truth of them as a married couple. Everyday, in their case that of the great depression, gives challenge and reason for unhappiness, but in the end love is the bond that keeps a couple intermingled and as one. Further, we have an impression of what people are like, but there is a greater truth that is not revealed in the flesh, but is none-the-less a truth. The pieces around are boards (planks), a hatchet blade, two bricks and stones. I will leave it up to you for your interpretation, but they are left and placed deliberately. I hope I revealed just enough, but not too much to keep the mystery and interest alive. This was one of my favorite pieces to work on. At one point Carlotta looked like George Washington on the dollar bill and at another Mona Lisa! I like to believe they were a very colorful couple :-). They were certainly contrasting!
If you have a comment, please e-mail me at nleeball@tippingpaintartists.com. I would love to hear from you!

*Juror’s Statement from Ann Dearsley-Vernon, NC State Fair Art & Photography Exhibition, 2007

It is a struggle, as an artist, to stop coming up with things to do and to just do them. I spend so much of my time generating and contemplating the pieces I want to do, that I never get to all the pieces I want done. I am spontaneous in ideas and deliberate in my execution. I have four three-ring binders and more sketchbooks of work to produce, but fewer pieces completed. That said, I also have about twenty in-progress pieces going at anyone time waiting to be remembered ;-). To keep the anxiety down, I have to remind myself that my art is just not produced in a quick fashion and that is how I work. One of my favorite artists, Edward Hopper, ideated for long periods of time before creating works, and my best pieces evolve over a couple of years. This makes for a hard living, but I am much more satisfied with the result.
I am creating my next few pieces from the phrase “Birds of a Feather” for exhibition with my artist group, Tipping Paint Artists.  ”Birds of a Feather Flock Together” is attributed to Plato and refers to the tendency of people with similar tastes and interest to come together. It could be positive, it could be negative, but we look for the similarities in our current contexts to find commonalities and to make connections. I like to think it goes beyond conscious attraction extending to everything around us.
I am approaching the works as commonalities of subject matter with a spark of something else. I have three works in progress, or ready to go. The nostalgic piece I am tentatively calling “Birds,” comes from a family stash photo and reminds me of the phrase “one of these things is not like the other.” A second piece exploring place looks at how the common is not so common anymore - its  a ”state of being” piece.  The last in progress work is a series of three works based on a shed I photographed near Seagrove, NC. I am creating a visual story with each painting – an illustrative frame :-). The commonality is the place; The change of time is the story. I’m 80% done with two of the pieces; The third is to come. I have the canvas out ready to go but have been unable to get going because of all the other ideas bouncing in my head.  Sometimes I wish I could just snap my fingers and have the idea complete itself. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way, so I’ll just have to see how much I can get out onto the canvas :-).

Tipping Paint Artists, have an upcoming, May-June, show at Hagersmith Architects on Martin Street in Raleigh.