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"Colorado Dreaming" 2010
ACRYLIC ON 8" X 8" X 1.5" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS 

SOLD
Gelson collection, Baltimore, MD
 
My very first Daily Painting. Done in a day and a half. Yippee!  

For your viewing pleasure, this brand new Daily Painting combines my love of Colorado and fall's changing leaves, with my longtime affection for old VW micro buses.  

" An artist must find peace with selfishly, sometimes, letting the fences go unmended." ~Jenna Millward Corkill ©

I once asked my friend and painter, Carl Rice Embrey, how he found time to paint. First of all, he's definitely not producing a painting a day. His masterpieces sometimes take 800 hours. I can't even wrap my head around that! For one thing, my AAADD* would never let me work on a single canvas for 80 hours, let alone 800. My head would explode! But, thank goodness, Carl can do it.

His beautiful paintings regularly sell for 5 figures. He paints rural Texas, especially in and around a little town called Hamilton. His detail is phenomenal, his paintings are amazing!

Carl told me you have to stop worrying about mending the fences. I guess what this old Texan was saying is you have to be OK with letting the chores go sometimes, to indulge your artistic nature.

 I follow a few artist's blogs that astound me with their ability to produce a painting a day. 

A painting a day! Really? How do they do it?

For one thing, they're making time to paint, and the lucky ones, who can finish a painting in just a few hours, don't struggle at all with a painting a day. For others who, like me, don't paint as quickly, we sometimes have to let a few chores, a few fences go unmended,  if we want to get a painting done start to finish in one day.

So a few days ago, I challenged myself to try a one day painting. Get in there and stay in there 'til done. "Colorado Dreaming" was the result of this challenge. OK, it took a wee bit more than a day (an extra hour on day two), but it was fun, and I finished.

So, I'm thinking this painting a day idea might be a way for me to learn how to balance studio with home. An exercise of sorts on being a bit selfish for painting's sake, on being OK with letting a few chores go unattended for a day. Finding a balance. A way to give my painting my undivided attention on a regular basis. I don't expect that I'll be finishing a painting a day, but I'm sure I'll be painting more. And who knows, I might surprise myself.

Wish me luck!

AAADD* - Age Acquired Attention Deficit Disorder :O)

" Do not take for granted, each opportunity to stop and smell a rose."
~ Jenna Millward Corkill ©


©
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"Forever Autumn"1997
Detail of 22" round Art Glass Panel
178 glass pieces...with small faceted Topaz jewels in flower's circular center.

I have fallen in love with my studio again.

Two years ago, I lost my sense of smell. Suddenly. Completely.
The cause could have been a side effect of a nasty med I had taken for a stomach issue at the time, or my chronic sinusitis. No telling, but after that first scentless year, I sadly resolved myself to the fact that it was probably gone for good.

Gone for good!? My sense of smell! The, makes food taste better and, lets you know when the dog needs a bath, sense? Forever lost, the smells that trigger a sense of well being, happiness, warm memories? Fresh coffee brewing, cookies baking, a favorite soap, a freshly bathed baby, the smell of glazing dap and paint? Yep, gone, along with all of life's other little aroma therapies I now desperately wished I hadn't taken for granted. Yep, it was gone, and after two years of not being able to smell anything, I figured, definitely gone for good.

Then, unexpectedly, about two months ago, I caught a brief whiff of my morning coffee brewing! It was fleeting, but I definitely smelled it! Delicious! Through out that week, other scents would surprise me briefly and I began to cautiously hope that maybe, just maybe, the mysterious loss of smell might just as mysteriously, be coming back.

Happily, now almost everyday, I notice a new smell that I'd thought was lost forever.

Yesterday, when I walked into my studio, one of those long lost favorite smells was waiting for me. Glazing dap! Paint! Turpentine! That unique, blended, workshop smell that an Art Glass/Painting studio developes over time. Delicious! Dizzying! Heaven!

And a perfect reason to feature one of my Art Glass panels and my studio today.

My studio is a good size, 14' x 18', with half of it occupied by my art glass... 3 work benches, several glass storage bins filled with small to good size sheets of glass, tools, light tables and such. I haven't worked on any new art glass in the last 6 years, but I can't seem to bring myself to say I'm done with that form of expression. If and when I do, I'll have a heck of a painting studio, with tons of room, but for now I'm OK with being a little cramped in here.

I simply love the smell of my cozy studio and every single time I walk back in there, I feel peaceful... and thankful, for the gift of smell, which I will never take for granted again.


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This photo shows the amazing glow that my art glass panel "Forever Autumn", produces when the afternoon sun begins to set behind it... the entire studio is filled with brilliant red, orange and gold streaks....it is truly breathtaking and one of my favorite times of day to be in my studio. If you look closely at my easel you can see I was working on 'NIGHT NIGHT LITTLE SIS' at the time I took this picture.

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"Aurora Borealis"2005
ACRYLIC ON 24" X 36" X 3/4" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS
SOLD
Stork collection, Klamath Falls, Oregon

One of my abstract adventures. I really love the colors on this and I sure enjoyed having this one hanging around before it sold.

I could look at it for long periods of time and see different things each time.
I mostly got lost in slices of mini ocean sunsets, but sometimes I saw a colorful woven blanket, folded roman shade like.

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"Cabo San Lucas"2004
ACRYLIC ON 14" X 18" X 3/4" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS
SOLD
Private collection, Tulsa, OK

"Nature is a revelation of God; Art a revelation of man."
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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"Peace~Richie and Me"
ACRYLIC ON 24" X 36" X 1.5" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS

~A work in progress~

My brother Richard came to visit from Durango last week. He comes down a couple of times a year and we just play and have fun the whole time he's here.

He's 9 years older than me and in 1966, when he was just 21 years old, he petitioned the courts of Dade County, Florida to become the legal guardian of both me (12 yrs old) and my little brother, Geoff (11 yrs old), rescuing us from what would probably have been many more years in Kendall, Florida's state run home for children. Our parents were hopeless alcoholics, and couldn't care for us, so the state stepped in when we were little and placed us in the dependent section of Kendall. We were there 6 years before Richie was able to get custody of us.

He's not just my brother, but a papa of sorts. I can't thank him enough for the sacrifices he made at such a young age to take on the likes of Geoff and me. We were a lot to handle and he was awesome to take on the task. I will never be able to thank him enough.

This painting is taken from an old snapshot of me sitting on his shoulders the week I turned 18 in February 1972. I'm shooting a couple of peace signs, but it sort of looks like I'm giving him rabbit ears. I am also pleased that captured for posterity will be my favorite shirt with the peace sign zipper pull, and Richard's flowered shirt. Our clothes back then were so cool! Funny, it's all back in style now.

I am once again using the Indian Yellow/Thio Violet wash technique seen in 'Tornado Road', 'View from a VW', and 'First Lesson'.

I really think most of the painting is done, except the skin tones. They are still just under- painted. I will bring out more of our features as I brighten our skin tones to the proper shades seen under full sunlight. I've also got a bit more to do on our clothes, but they're close.

I am going to leave quite a bit of this painting rough. I am liking the abstract quality of the sky and trees and although it looks unfinished, I like it. I also like how the warm washed canvas is peeking though, leaving a neat glow around my hair and our clothes. I'm not changing it. I'm thinking the rough sketched look of the background will be a neat contrast to the bit more finished look of Richie and me. We'll see. I may change my mind, but for now, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :O)

I'm hoping to find time to finish this painting next week. Let me know by a click on the 'like it' button below if you're following this one, and I'll make it a point to stay on task. I am so easily distracted by other things, but perhaps your interest will help get this finished.

Thanks for visiting!

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"Glorious Gloriosa"2006
ACRYLIC ON 24" X 30" X 3/4" GALLERY STRETCHED CANVAS
Unframed, sides painted black, hanging hardware installed, ready to hang.
$900  Fall special sale- now only $475
$50 US shipping via USPS Priority Mail, delivered to your door within a week.
($100 International shipping, delivery times vary)
Contact me at jennacorkill@cox.net with any questions.
 

Wake up your walls!

Contemporary fun! Dramatic, bold! I love zooming in for a closer look at a flower's center. There's a wonderful symmetry to be found there. This oversized flower is sure to make a statement in any room and the warm fall colors are perfect for this time of year. Painted with many layers of colored glazes including rust, red, orange, gold and purple, this is a beautiful painting.

I have mixed feelings about selling this painting, as I've really enjoyed having it hanging around these last few years. It's looked great in our living room but I guess now it's time for someone else to enjoy it.