Abstract Art

Abstract Art Book Just Published

I've been trying to put together an abstract art book of my paintings for a while now, without going into a huge expense and still getting a quality product.  I tried Lulu.com, but their formatting for a photo book did not work for my square abstract paintings.

Finally an artist friend sent me to Blurb.com, where I was able to find the formatting tool I needed.  You can download Blurb's bookmaking software for free, modify the formatting all you want and put together your book on your own computer.  Then, when you're satisfied, you upload it to Blurb's website and order as few as one copy or as many as you want. 

I made my book on premium paper, which is recommended for a fine art book.  Books are available in a soft cover or with two hard cover options.  Here's my book:

A Year of Making Art, Day 201: Print-on-Demand

November 6, 2007  Day 201

We had a good artists' meeting last night, and got to see Andy's new photography studio (see Cascadilla Photography).  Everyone discussed their art trail experiences, as well as updates on exhibitions and other opportunities.

I still have my little gynecological problem, but couldn't get into a doctor's office, so I waited 4 1/2 hours this morning at the walk-in clinic.  I read Under the Tuscan Sun while I was waiting, so the time passed pleasantly.  Also, when I finally saw the doctor, it turned out that my problem is a minor one, so all in all, it was worth the wait.

Why do I always assume a fatal disease when anything goes wrong?!

I just finished my drawing, which feels like it might have a tad too much color:

  Drawing #206  12" x 9"

Now I have to get ready to go out for a drink with the other writers who will appear on a panel with me Thursday night to talk about self-publishing.  I have published books both ways--with traditional publishers, and on my own with print-on-demand (see  The Bipolar Dementia Art Chronicles).  Each kind of publishing has its advantages and disatvantages.  That's what we'll talk about.

(Note:  There is a gap between the dates I'm writing and posting in order to give me time to get ahead.)

A Year of Making Art, Day 144: Anxious?

September 10, 2007  Day 144

Today is Elsie Stoessel's birthday.  She was my ex-mother-in-law, and a great lady:  a lover of books, art and nature.  She always stood by me and Blixy, and I chronicle her last years in my memoir, The Bipolar Dementia Art Chronicles. 

I didn't understand why I felt anxious this morning, but just realized it's because I am the leader of tonight's book group discussion on The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer.  It was a great book and my sister Laura will go with me.  The meeting is at my friend and neighbor's house, so all in all, this should be low-stress.  Should be.

In this morning's drawing, I used my favorite combination of reds to purple and orange, creating an egg-like shape filled with bright patterns.  A new set of calligraphy pens is arriving this week with 42 colors, so I'm looking forward to having more shades to work with.

  Drawing #146  11" x 14"

It's a gray day here, wet and muddy since it rained most of yesterday.  Laura and I got in a walk when it slowed down, and then we all watched Federer beat Jokovitch in the US Open tennis final.

(Note:  There is a gap between the dates I'm writing and posting in order to give me time to get ahead in case we travel and I'm not able to post.)

A Year of Making Art: Day 6

4/25/07 Day 6

Facing the blank drawing paper again, I decided to use a smaller piece of paper, downsizing from 9" x 12" to 6" x 8". 

I just started reading a book Blixy gave me: The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic.  A few of the great ideas I found in it so far:

Rule #6, which is, "Don't take yourself so d***ed seriously!"  This is my favorite, because I am always taking myself too seriously. 

Another good one is:  Contribute, as in "make a contribution."  The point of this one is that instead of pressure concepts like "winning" and "being first," making a contribution is a lot less stressful.  I don't need to paint a masterpiece, all I need to do is to make a contribution.

Well, I have a long way to go in changing my basic attitude about life and what I'm doing with my work.  But I think this book might help nudge me in a better direction.

Here's the drawing I made today:

  Drawing #5

This morning I got an email from my New York gallery, Monkdogz Urban Art, where I'll be in a group show this June.  They want me to send Night at the Improv, a painting that I've already sold.  However, that's the image they put in their Gallery Guide announcement, and in a new marketing brochure they're having printed.  I had told Bob Hogge, the gallery director, that this painting was sold a couple months ago, but I guess he forgot.

I wrote and told them the painting was no longer available, but then I got the idea that I should paint another one like it.  I often do that on a commission basis when someone wants a painting that is already sold.  I use the same style and colors to create the new one, which will not be a duplicate, but in the same family.

So that's what I did next.  I printed out a photo of Night at the Improv and used it as a guide to start painting.  It won't be easy to imitate because it is extremely improvisational, airy and light, and the things I did in it should not necessarily have worked except that they all came together in the right way.  There's no guarantee the new one will work the same way, but I am doing two canvasses in order to double the chances.

  Night at the Improv

The other problem is that the original was 60" x 60" and I'm working on 44" x 44" canvasses.  There is no way I'm going to pay to ship a 60" x 60" canvas to New York.  In fact, I'm not even painting that size any more.  I ordered stretchers 30" x 60" and will paint diptyches in order to get the 60" x 60" overall dimensions. 

I used to be able to ship these large paintings via DHL Express, but they stopped taking them.  Now I either have to pack them as freight (expensive wooden boxing) or ship them via Fedex freight as an oversized box.  This costs several hundred dollars either way.

(Note:  There is a gap between the dates I'm writing and posting because I had to give myself time to get ahead in case we travel and I'm not able to post.)

The Bipolar Dementia Art Chronicles

The memoir I've been working on for five years is finally in print.  I have published books in the past with Regnery & Company, Fearon Publishers, Watson-Guptill, and others.  I've even had an agent.  But it's gotten a lot harder to find agents and publishers today, and I got tired of sending out query letters and waiting months for a reply. 

After some research, I found Booklocker.Com and decided to publish my book with them through POD (print on demand) and ebook (a pdf format file which is downloaded from the internet and read with Adobe Reader software).  I am very happy with the results--my book looks like any other paperback you might find at Amazon or Borders.  I'm also thrilled with the cover design they did for me:

In this book I struggle to make art in spite of ongoing depression and the overwhelming responsibility of managing the lives of my father and ex-mother-in-law as they age, and their mental and physical health deteriorates.

If you are interested in the life of an artist, issues of depression and bipolar disorder, or the challenges of caregiving for elderly parents, I think you will find this book a moving account of one woman's experience with all three.

Lynne Taetzsch's issues of aging parents, sibling conflict, depression, bipolar disorder, sandwich generations, health care bureaucracies and facilities, the creative instinct, the meaning of life, and the possibility of happiness will touch a wide readership in our times. Told with quiet humor and insight, her memoir is both healing and compulsively readable. --Pamela Evans, Evans Editorial Services.

The book is available through Booklocker.Com.  It can also be ordered from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or any other bookstore.

de Kooning--An American Master

I just finished reading de Kooning, An American Master by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan.  This is a big book, at 631 pages without the notes, and it covers every aspect of de Kooning's life and his art, including the lives of his wife Elaine de Kooning, and his friends and contemporaries such as Jackson Pollock, Rothko, Franz Kline, and others.  The book provides a fascinating look into the beginnings of the New York School of painting or "action painting."  The name that stuck, however, was "abstract expressionism."

I had been an admirer of de Kooning's work long before I read this book.  I always loved his lush brushstrokes, the confident looseness of his compositions, and his courageous use of color.  But I had known nothing about his life.  Learning of his difficult childhood in Holland and very hard beginnings in the US after stowing away on a freighter at age twenty-two to get here, his ongoing struggles with depression, artist's blocks and alcohol were understandable. 

But de Kooning always put his art first, and that's what saved him and gave his work its strength.  His stubborness cost him, when he refused to give Peggy Guggenheim a painting to put in a show she was organizing and therefore probably delayed his acceptance in the art world.  But his stubborness also saved him from lavishly following the trend of the day.  When the official art world moved on from abstract expressionism to pop art and conceptual art, de Kooning refused to follow.  He went in his own direction in spite of poor reviews and a loss of following among younger artists. That's not an easy thing to do once you've had the limelight in a big way, and de Kooning did. 

De Kooning's example helps strengthen my own resolve to paint what I must, not what is fashionable.  His work habits and singlemindedness are an inspiration, while his humor and playfulness remind me not to take myself or the world too seriously. 

If you have an interest in art and artists, I highly recommend de Kooning, An American Master.