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Keep up with the latest art and adventures from Rene Shoemaker Art!

Getting ready for San Francisco

The author Seth Godin tells me to tell you where I am going when I write to you. It's easy enough for me to think I've told you where I am going, but here it is again:

I am on a journey to a successful art career.

The problem with the word "successful" is that the definition changes all of the time!!!!! Take a look! What you thought success was yesterday, last week, last month, last year is different that what success is this year!

Yikes!

Right now, as you know, my version of success is to finish up the artwork for my upcoming exhibition that opens in San Francisco in 32 days.

Am I counting the days?

You bet I am!

I invite you into my studio to see what the work looks like right now:

The big frame holds a 7 ft silk that is in the process of becoming a painting. The wood stove keeps me warm - needed during the cool summer days!

Some people call this "the blank page." I call it: "work in progress." The process I use is a bit time-consuming but very rewarding:

Stretched silk on a wooden frame 12 inches square, with a blue drawing of a Paris courtyard in preparation for painting. Another ink drawing is by its side waiting its turn.

The silk is stretched taut to allow for even application of the dye.

I am uninclined to show you the completed work until the exhibition opens, but here is a detail from "Amsterdam & 79th St, NYC (study).

My blackboard keeps me focused and on track. The checkmarks mean that work is finished and ready to hang.

*****

To help keep us calm and centered, I'd like to share this inspiring location that I am lucky enough to be able to walk to every day:

Ahhh, a little bit of beauty every day.

Keep creating!

-René

What is Silk Painting?

Silk painting is a form of art.

[All art begins with a good cup of coffee.]

Silk painting is colorful, expressive, textural, and fascinating.

Silk painting is a bit like watercolor painting, which almost everyone can envision, understand, and recognize when they see it.

Silk is sumptuous.

Unlike oil painting, where the paint sits on the primed canvas (which is treated to NOT let the paint soak into the canvas fabric), silk dyes soak into the silk; when the brush touches the silk, the dye magically spreads and moves, and takes on a life of its own. Then, upon setting* the dye, the dye becomes one with the silk on a molecular level.

[I thoroughly enjoy what I do.]

The colors are luminous.
The colors are magnificent.
The colors are rich.
The fabric is luxurious.

And depending on the type of silk we use, the dye color is lustrous (as on charmeuse), or it can be absorbed into the silk and become matte (as on organza).

The types of silk I use, and am using for the San Francisco exhibit, are:

Charmeuse
Twill
Broadcloth
Habotai
Chiffon
Crepe de Chine
Pongee
Noil
Shangtung
Organza
Taffeta

The types of dye I am using are:

​Jacquard Red Label dyes ​
and
​Jacquard Acid dyes​

I cannot share my images until the exhibit opens, but here is a very small detail so that you can see the sumptuousness of the silk and the luminous dye

I am using this new exhibition to stretch my imagination and use more silk types and more kinds of dyes—in fact, I am experimenting while I am creating/making. (Usually I am too concerned about doing what has worked in the past, creating what I think is good. This time, I want to interact more with the audience. I want to learn what you like, and which art and art type you respond to; not only the image, but the usage of the dyes and silks.)

When you enroll in one of my silk painting classes, you will learn all this and more.

Tell me, What is your favorite subject matter? What would you like to create? What would you like to paint?

I am setting up the curriculum for the silk painting class in the French château now; your help is invaluable.

Soon I will discuss mixing the dyes and creating colors with you in an upcoming newsletter.

*setting - We set the dye, usually, by steaming the painted silk upon completion. The steam creates an environment of heat and moisture that lets the fiber easily absorb the dye, and the dye molecules can bond with the silk molecules. As a non-scientist, I find this idea fascinating, and have a clear image in my head of the molecules dancing together once they bond.

[Wouldn't you like to own one of my paintings?]

***

Learn silk painting here:

July 23-25, 2024 are the workshop dates for San Francisco. You can click on this link to learn more and to sign up​

September 12-17, 2024, are the château workshop dates in France. Click here for that link : https://www.manorandmaker.com/maker/2024-silkpainting

Detail of 'View from the Clock Tower "- Finished and for sale in my shop

Many thanks,

-René

A Day in The Life

In my last post I promised you a look into my process while in France; here we go!  (select any image to enlarge)

I wake up about 6am when I have art projects going. It’s easy to get up that early; the bedroom windows face the rising sun, and those windows are wide open almost all of the time (no bug screens necessary here!!!).

rene_waking view5.jpg

My well-loved planner and a favorite spot :)

and another view

Bonjour!

My dog Dexter climbs up the stairs while I am descending; he gets extra snooze time with my husband Harvey while I get quiet time, which is very important to my creative process.

Stretch, drink tea, plan my day using my paper-based journal, a beloved vintage Franklin Planner. 

I try to stay away from turning on the iPhone or computer, so that my head stays clear.

. . .

Begin work. Again, I try to stay away from the computer and start working on my art right away. If there is a silk stretched and ready to be painted, that’s what I do first. And/or mix colors, because that process is long; when I create a color, I put the new color on a test grid, and then I need to wait until the dye is completely dry to really see what the color is! That often leads to a new adjustment of the color, another drying spell, etc etc - you get the picture.

 

Today's visitor, la vache, is the domesticated pet of a neighbor; when not at home with her, it is often seen wandering the village

Navigate to the studio. To get there, I walk out my front door, turn right and go up the stone steps into the studio. I think it was these very same outdoor steps that made me fall in love with this house immediately when I first saw it.

The steps to my studio.

Outside my studio window with Ganesh.

After at least an hour of creative work, I eat breakfast with Harvey and we go on a walk with Dexter all together. Here we have the option of walking down the Roman road (really!), a footpath that goes through forest and tree-lined fields with cows and hay, or “around the block” (I’ve always been fascinated that the French language has no word for block). This route goes toward a lake and past more fields with mama cows and baby cows and hawks and sparrows, past a castle, then returning to our house. Yet another route is down the road to Léon le Franc - what is now a tractor path that used to be a major foot thoroughfare to the village 2.5 km away - and we love how descriptive the names around here can be!

This is at the corner of my village; if I turn left I am following the Roman road. The woman who lives in the house you see here takes care of the little plot of land on the corner; the poppies are so beautiful here and seeing them always make me happy.

"around the block"

Dexter

Back home, drink tea, and back to the studio. I have work organized and lined up, both on my table and in my head. I try to make between 15 - 20 new pieces of art for each solo exhibit I hang, and that's what I'm working on now. I design, wax, and paint about 3 silks at a time, so as one is drying I can apply the resist to another, etc etc. When I am working on a large (6 ft long) silk, the banner material will take up my entire work table, so I concentrate on one of those at a time. Also, because the smaller works need to be delivered to the framer, and he needs time to measure, prepare, and cut the frame molding (called “baguettes” - the same word as the typically French loaf of bread!), I create the small works first.

Testing the dyes in my studio to capture the very colors I'm looking for.

Beginning the resist process using wax to draw with.

Here I am standing at the door to my studio looking out. That's my yard in the background.

I hold the artwork outside the door so I can see what the colors look like in the daylight and in the sun.

the set-up

In a very un-French way, we eat lunch about 2pm. The French lunch break is 12-2, and all the stores and businesses close during that time — very wise! After lunch I often sit in the yard and soak up some sunshine while doing hand-sewing or reading and remind myself how lucky I am to be here. And then drink a cup of coffee and move back into the studio.

A large part of the process is patience. And coffee. This is a new artwork for my next exhibition in August, inspired by the town of Aubusson. I look forward to sharing more about this soon... 

Break in routine. The outdoor Felletin Market happens every Friday morning, and it is very lively and a great place for socializing. We buy our vegetables, meat, and olives there, and on Saturdays the Aubusson Market is available; our cheese, bread and fruit come from this market. On Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, the Ressourcerie -- the Habitat-for-Humanity-type second-hand shop, is open and this is where we buy almost everything that we need for our house. We visit there once or twice a week.

Once a week, usually on Friday, I set up the steamer for setting the dyes on the art that I have made that week. The silk steams for 1 hour, but the whole process of preparing and washing and ironing afterwards takes about 4 hours total. I have learned not to leave the steaming until the last minute!

For working on the computer, I try to take it in chunks later in the day, setting a timer so I won’t get lost in the fog of the Internet and social media. The internet is unbelievably speedy here! I answer emails, write blog posts, do photoshop work, and check in with family and friends. And search for new places to exhibit my art.

I take another long walk with the dog towards the end of the day, and never plan on accomplishing anything after dinner - the process is long and the good French wine slows me down. If we are having my favorite (anything “bubbly”/champagne-style) I totally write off the whole evening because I tend to just want to sit in the yard while sipping bubbly with Harvey and Dexter and stare at the sky, the beautiful setting sun, the stars that appear, and the rising moon.

Bed about 11.

 
 

- René Shoemaker, Juchefaux, St Maixant. June 30, 2018

Does it even need a caption? Arc en ciel.

The house that is attached to our friend Madeleine's house in a nearby village. It is so beautiful! We were eating dinner in her yard and drinking champagne to celebrate my birthday when I captured this view...

Our sunset.

Look at that moon!

The moon with planet on my Mother's Birthday which was June 21st.



 

PS - A friend in America just commented: “You are so prolific in France!” Yes, I am making the artwork - but now how do I SELL it?!?! - this is the mystery I am seeking to unravel. Send me your ideas and advice, please! And check out my shop, let me know what you'd like to see there...