"You're Fired!" Thank Goodness!

"Huntley" one of my early pet portraits

If  you've ever been through this ordeal, you know that being fired from a job can be a humiliating and demoralizing experience. But, sometimes it turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to you. 

Right out of art school I got a job with a billboard company as a keyliner. As it turned out the job entailed more than that. My boss also gave me billboard design jobs to do along with the keylines for billboards. Keylines are boards that contain the type and artwork that are used by the painters when sizing up the designs onto huge billboard panels to be painted. Everything has to be accurate and precise because any tiny mistake on the keyline is magnified many times on the huge billboard panels. 

Designing and doing the layouts is much more exciting and rewarding. We were given a few guidelines, like the text to be included and the images wanted and then it was up to us to arrange everything in an eye catching design. A billboard has three seconds to grab the attention of drivers passing by. We used a type setting machine for the type and created color layouts of the designs using markers, just as I had been taught in art school. I loved working with markers.

There were only three of us in the art department in a tiny upstairs studio at Dingeman Advertising in Traverse City. We listened to NPR on the radio a lot, and I particularly remember one day listening to a reading of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" as we worked. It was one of those mesmerizing magic moments that you never forget. 

It came as a shock, then, when my boss's boss instructed her to fire me for being too slow. It wasn't that it wasn't deserved and that I hadn't been warned, but it was still a shock. 

It took me maybe half a day to get over the shock and to embrace a new way forward. Being fired gave me the freedom to do freelance design work which quickly broadened into a pet portrait business. 

When I returned to riding after a thirty year absence and bought a horse, pet portraits expanded into horse portraits. It wasn't long before I was creating equine fine art too, going to horse shows and horse expos with my booth and entering juried art shows. The rest is history, as they say. 

After several years of doing freelance design work, I realized it wasn't where my heart was nor where I was most skilled. I gave it up and concentrated on using my graphic design skills to design my  own marketing materials and a website for the fine art business. 

"Lavender Light" a college art still life

If I hadn't been fired all those years ago, all of this might not have happened, or at least it would have been delayed for who knows how long. So, today I am grateful for being let go from a job that I wasn't suited for in the first place. Today I celebrate my long career as a fine artist and occasional illustrator. 

Today I am fulfilled.

Sudan, Palomino Horse Painting

 

"Sudan" 24x24 inch oil painting

While I'm toiling away preparing tax stuff to send to the accountant, I've decided to share some of my older artwork and portrait work with you and share the stories behind them; good, bad and downright ugly. It should be fun. 

First up in the spotlight is "Sudan", one of the last commissioned portraits I accepted. Sudan was a nice looking palomino Arabian Quarter Horse cross gelding. His owner wanted me to depict him in his summer and winter coats since he turned much lighter in his winter woollies.

Although I got to see him in person, I didn't have my camera with me and had to rely on photos provided by the client; almost always a challenge. I was downstate visiting my elderly parents and didn't have the camera with me at the time.  

The most challenging part of the portrait was selecting the photos that were the best AND which worked together the best. Once I had the composition worked out, the painting went rather smoothly. It was delivered to the client on another downstate visit to my parents. 

 "Sudan" might not be up to my current painting standards, but it was one of my best at the time and for that deserves a bit of recognition. 

I hope you enjoy him, and thanks for stopping by. 

Glorious Glory; A Horse Painting Update

Here’s an update on the Glory painting. 

I have finished Glory herself except for the mane, forelock and eye and some touchups once the background is finalized. She is coming along nicely, and I’m very pleased so far. 

It’s always nerve wracking to paint when I haven’t been for a long time and my self confidence suffers terribly the longer it goes on. But, what I’m finding with Glory is that I’m going a lot on instinct. That tells me that I know a lot more than I think I do and haven’t lost much ability in the intervening time. 

In other words, I’m better than I think I am. And not as good as I’d like to be. 

For that matter is any artist ever as good as she’d like to be?