Winter, best time to get a coco and paint to great music!

I have tried for years to figure out when I am most creative. Turns out winter has to be it. The cold weather, the hot beverages, and music just bring this nostalgia part of my college days out. Looking out the massive windows in the studio, into what seemed an almost forest in the middle of the city. Westmount is still a beautiful old historical you could say wealthy area of Montreal, and it's where I went to College. Fall was equally beautiful there. And I also, think fall is a great time to reassess and plan new projects. I am a winter baby, maybe that has something to do with it, or that I am living in a big city, (Montreal, Quebec), and so my love for winter is welcomed in order for me to have this time to cocoon and process new ideas or old ones. With the exception of shovelling in a blizzard, it's beautiful to look at, Christmas would not be the same without the snow, and countless of other things would not be possible if we did not have this time of year. Besides, the air gets filtered and cleaned, and it's a time where I circulate the air inside to clear it out naturally. Works like a charm in a studio.

Today is a perfect example of this. It's minus 21 Celcius, the sun is out and the sky is crisp blue. I get very energetic on days like these, and the creativity just flows effortlessly. If it was not for the vast amounts of organzing I had to do today, I would solely focus on starting my new painting. I bought this contraption last fall to motivate me. I never had one all my life. It's a portable eisle. I got it from an estate sale at a good price and it's barely been used. It fits lots of tools and paints in the drawer, and has brass stoppers to adjust to any painting size no bigger than 24-28" if I am not mistaken. Once you finish a painting, you can actually carry it still wet without issues.
It's perfect to grab and go. Currently, I have this setup in the studio for me to paint my little paintings on. Why not? It's more practical than the larger eisle. Besides, like anything new to me, I have to get comfortable with it. I plan to do this shortly. I will post pictures of the paintings to come. I also encourage every artist to get one of these portable eisles not just for landscape or nature painters. Julian is a French company is supposedly making the best ones, but Mabef an Italian company, also makes great sturdy ones. I was looking into larger eisels and have found some impressive ones online. When the time is right, and I move, I will consider either building myself another eisel or getting one online with a pully system. I am thinking longterm, who wants to play tetris with their canvas that weighs a ton? not me! so this is something I will look into.

To end this post for today, I welcome everyone to join my social networks to stay tuned. I am most active on twitter so you can reach me there @studiocosentino.
 

the coming of the storm February 24th, 2012

I have the Italian news roaring in the background with some nothern piemontese woman rolling her r's and making me mad. For lack of time to get the remote to change this atrocity, I can but only get a glimpse through the kitchen door window, of the grey gloomy afternoon, showing signs of little snow flakes, lazily falling down. Not the kind of snow that will "stick" to the ground. I read on Mikki's Facebook page that signs of a serious storm are heading her way. She lives in VA Beach. Whatever happens to her, inevitably happens to us up here in Montreal, Canada hours later. Reminants of violent weather.
I am currently working on my website. For failure of finding a reliable individual to FINISH my websites, both my art one and the jewelry one- I took matters into my own hands. Why not? I do everything else. No matter how slowly it comes along, it will get done. That is what counts.
People are asking me, "So Rose, when is the next BIG show?" I just ponder over this question and can't even respond like when peanut butter makes your palette stick so much you can't even open your mouth if you tried. Hmmm...good question. I am not committing to any show right now. It's that time of an artist's life, where I feel I need to find myself again. Yes yes...self-destructive mode, brooding.... suffer in silence time. Nah. Just a time where changes have to develope and the body and mind require a time of reflection and peace. A time to just "catch up". I am entitled to it, that is what I tell myself to justify it. After all, the last two years have been nothing short of hellish. So why not? I am taking a leave of absence from everything.
Goodbye world... I will see you all soon :)