With help, I’m making blogging progress
Koshersalaami was kind enough to give me some tips, and Alan stepped in and gave me a few more…so maybe this will publish as I hope it will.
Hello Old Friends, I’ve missed you! Insta and FB are poor substitutes for the kind of communication a good blog can do. It’s been a long time since I made a blog post. I hope this means I’m back with you.
I’m doing okay, and so is the BLP. We are looking forward to 2021 for so many reasons.
I’m still teaching at OC, but cutting down my course load. I’ve been teaching online only since the Time of Corona, and that’s actually worked out pretty well. It turns out you CAN have a class make art together on zoom!
I’ve done a whole lot of painting since last we blogged together. If you remember, I did a series of paintings about barns a couple of years ago. In 2019 it was shoes. This year has been about flowers.
In between have been a number of still life works and as always, landscapes. All this practice seems to be working for me.
I’m also now on the board of directors for the art gallery I belong to- President, in fact- and believe me, that was not something I asked for. Who in their right mind would want that job? I was nominated, it was seconded, voted on by the rest of the board, and there it was. I could have turned it down, but everyone has to take their turn, and I guess it’s just mine. It’s very time and energy consuming, and a lot like herding cats (artists are a breed unto themselves, ammirite?). Even though my term doesn’t officially start until January 2021, the last President handed the reins to me in November. So I’m up to my eyeballs in administrative and other work for some events that will take place over the next couple of months. After that things should calm down a bit.
Back to painting. I haven’t actually held a brush since the beginning of October but I did make 85 paintings this year before that. Once the upcoming gallery events are over at the end of February, I will get back into it again.
Alan Milner
12/15/2020 @ 11:42 pm
Okay, you’re getting it. This time, the only thing you didn’t get just right was the category. This wasn’t really your mistake but rather something I have to figure out a fix for.
When you post an article but you do not select a category yourself, the system automatically chooses the “uncategorized” category. The “uncategorized” category is not included in the categories that appear on the home page so you won’t see it there and since we don’t have an “uncategorized” page, it won’t appear anywhere else either.
I set it up that way so that you have to select a valid category to publish but as I said, that’s more my problem to fix. All you have to do to make sure this doesn’t happen to you is to simply CHOOSE YOUR CATEGORY before you do anything else. In fact, when you try to save a draft it is supposed to demand that you choose a category.
This is great. You are helping me to find the things that will trip other people up.
Thank you.
Jonna Connelly
12/16/2020 @ 10:05 am
Welcome! It’s good to see you here. Love that rose.
12/16/2020 @ 11:19 am
Rose, these look great on a bigger screen. The blooms seem lit from within and the color is so delicate. The tiny Instagram scale doesn’t show that as well on the small screen, not to trash Instagram. The volume of art it delivers to my daily feed is work I’d not normally see, like William Wegman (photographer) who’s been posting quirky pages from his sketchbook.
Do you follow Susan Creamer, used to be on Open? She’s been producing some beautiful work during the shut down, gorgeous watercolors of figures and portraits with intricate border treatments.She uses ig kinda like a blog, usually posts comments that are longer and reveal interesting details about the pieces, and their backstories. The other day, she posted a painting and said it was the best one she’d ever done, and it just might be. Check her out if you haven’t already
Rose Guastella
12/17/2020 @ 9:26 pm
Little by little, here. I do like Insta but it’s not the same as the kind of conversations we can have on a blogging site. I went and followed Susan, sent her a note. I hope she remembers me and doesn’t think I’m some weird random stalker.
jpHart
12/16/2020 @ 11:54 pm
James Hogden
8:42 PM (2 hours ago)
to me
W
00
W
! now I’ve got egg on my Jerry Garcia half-windsor knotted tie from Marshall Fields (paisley) the orange moss roses so neon bright whoa ‘neath my blue blue lamps~~~as I’d attempted to buy works from Ms. Guastella many years ago & got distracted as my S.0. Letti had misfiled our soft-serve tech manual and next predawn the wind shear disintegrated the willow on the hill.
Unless it was lightning…FessUN
Serial coo-dews on the floribunda white rose!
@ Al know that last week I bought that imaged Hunter Green tuxedo just to wear. Silk and lace Utews!!
Now if Murphy’s Law settles civilized I’ll be able to avatar premier in appropos duds. (Big Chill sublimable here everywhere thar for everybody yesterday. Breaking News microw fish is spelled micro-hyphen-fiche yeah UBETCHA and asperand Atlas Mugged frothed cream she came on like a scheme emojing that aqua abacus (sound over WATER WATER GOOD CLEAN WATER) the days and night ’till GOOD FRIDAY twenty-twenty-loneliest-number EQUALITY, EQUINOX, equinOMseen0 EQuator (exaggerated Bar{}solo{}nian arm swoop we all know that balcony) what that I must bench press mine Merriam-Webster’s whilst Notre Dame smolders (the Burroughs Indian in every FAIL SAFED snort story writer ought read SHORT SORTIE swoop sc oo px da loop vertical don’t think of a photo op at triple arms’ length foximity to the fuselage William Burroughs wood have juiced wafe. And if U think I’m going to fine fine find the italics key on this jukebox once upon a dimly LITeral coroner (priestly wind-flapped ankle length coat) pen and Indian blotched squish INK but no: i dont know why asterisk from Iam stern dam acronyms Y acronyms are capitalized and if i persist in construing young at hart limericks to arse smart spelT~ck~ ILL lapse innah what iam dying to a VO ID. OK0K non verbal steel cords. Prezoom i glitch Caddy’s SXT hath a mid*night*blue rag top.
Like seven words as well as seven seas seven vowels even half dozen plus WON sandpipER(s)
I’ll never be bored and rip the cord.
!…Many thanks…!
More por favor.
[xturns on garage fan and begins blues harp work on Sad-Eyed 7adies of the LO;} landx]
Rose Guastella
12/17/2020 @ 9:27 pm
Thank you, JPHart. Your comments made me smile.
Myriad
12/17/2020 @ 7:24 pm
Great to see you here – yeah, blog need.
Gorgeous rose, with lovely shadings. I see what you mean about a mixed black background.
Hope the stint as prez doesn’t alienate and discourage and depress you and turn you off all artists and art for a loonnnggg time.
Rose Guastella
12/17/2020 @ 9:30 pm
haha! Not a chance. Turns out I like bossing folks around, at least once in a while, so I’m good. Actually I like seeing things come together and I have some ability to help make that happen. Luckily my Veep is as determined as I am to help bring the gallery into the digital age- and she’s about half my age and has tons of energy.
It will be fine, I think.
koshersalaami
12/18/2020 @ 1:02 pm
Love the rose