Today in the studio I really made some progress. I got to the end of a small bottle painting, I stained it and began to add some highlights, which give the bottles some three dimensionality. After that, I began to work on a large painting, which for some reason a few weeks ago, I decided to make completely blue. I wish I hadn't done that but am rolling with it at the moment. The small painting was bugging me because the more I looked at it, the more it felt subtley off. I wasn't sure if I should let it dry and add more stain, or wipe it clean and start over. After some deliberation, I decided to wipe it clean and start fresh. I wiped away all the highlights and restained it. So I was back where I started. A few of the earlier highlights I really liked, so I added just a touch in a few places. This made me realize why they had gone wrong the first time. The highlights in the bottle paintings need to be very subtle, almost unnoticeable. My work is becoming a delicate balance.

I am now taking an extra day off of work in order to devote more time to developing my career. I am very excited about it and think that it will free me up to work on my portfolio as well as give me time to meet with galleries and such. My goal is to work even less next year, but we will see how that goes.

One more thing: Shannon and I went to the book store on Sunday because she gets a large discount due to her new job at Lark Books. I looked at some art magazines and drank some coffee. I have not looked at art magazines in a long time. I used to look at them a lot back when I was in college and when I was younger. This time, I just felt like I wanted to see some art. A gallery would have been nice to go to but since there aren't many in my area, magazines would have to do. What I am leading up to is a small criticism. I know that these publishers of art magazines have to sell subscriptions, but give me a break. Just because the art is depressing and we get to see someone's wingwang, dosn't mean it's worth an article. I am not commenting on an one write up in particular, this is an overall generalization of most of the artists I saw covered in a majority of the art magazines I flipped through. I think that a lot of great art is being done by seasoned artists, who are being overlooked because they don't live in NYC and don't produce art that makes the viewer want to jump off the Empire State Building in despair. That's all.