When I decided to forgo our live workshops, Kelley said she was interested in the subject of plein air painting. As you may or may not know I was an avid plein air painter for many years. It was my most popular class. I got to the point where I was invited to present at a plein air convention... this is where I looked around and thought: "I am NOT a plein air painter, I'm over it!" It may have been the culture there, the cosplay of wearing outdoor gear in a convention center, the demos from photos which absolutely do not convey anything about painting outdoors. And the fact that Eric Rhoads, an organizer asked me to come up to his room and pose for him. My response was "I think YOU would probably be the one posing if ANYONE was, as I am a presenter here!" 🤢 After that it was so interesting - my plein air classes just stopped filling. I moved toward portraiture and those classes became popular. I learned SO MUCH from plein air painting. It is the gun slingingest type of painting. You have to make choices and stick with them - hemming and hawing will get you nowhere. While also adapting to the changes inherent in the 'least static subject you can choose to paint from life'. My creative problem solving skills were born with plein air painting. It was also very good for claiming my creativity out loud in the world. At first I was shy to be so seen, but soon I just WAS an artist out in the world. If anyone wants to engage in a conversation about this subject we can do it in the comments. Kelley asked: "I would love information about how you approach site selection, and any other tidbits or helpful hints." Answer: I would choose places I liked to be in. Views I'd seen and admired going about my life. Often times if I was teaching I chose spots that a group could easily disappear into without too much interruption from the public. A restroom is handy! Harder for female anatomy to pee in a bush in certain settings (urban). My mood and energy levels came into it. Sometimes it was nice to pick a place I could walk to. But I was happy to get up early and take a long drive if the location held big inspiration.

@robyn-west-1585 I was thinking about your technical issues the whole dog walk. Though I do think you have and will figure/d it out.. I can try to give you more support. If you have pics of the process so far post them. I'll tell you what i would have done to make things flow easier.

Congratulations to Kim for getting accepted into a residency, to Robyn for being pursued by past collectors for more work, and to Deb for breaking through limiting beliefs about self worth into a phase of freedom and empowerment! And thank you for listening to my own commission situation mid-processing, that was vulnerable for me and a very good exercise. I realize I don't like to share until I have figured out the answers. That being in community is difficult for me. It's hard to show up messy, but I am working on holding myself in the discomfort of being seen in the fullness of being human. And you are providing me with a safe space. Thanks to all who came to the meeting! If you listen later feel free to share any insights or questions. -FF

Art school. MFAs. The academic system. I was just chatting with Robyn about it. About how a friend of mine just got hired as a sculpture professor though they are a photographer..... but they are alumni. I have some frustration about this. Over the years I have been parallel on my path to friends who chose the academic route for their artist journey. I have cultivated my curiosity about the differences in our paths, believing that there are many ways to be an artist (human really). I have come to see the systems in the art world, academia being a big one- as doing something other than art. I think artists survive within and throughout the systems but that it breeds other creatures as well. Anyhow. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Here's a blog article featuring my work from a few years back.

Basically the apex of my existence thus far. Hope it’s ok to share here, I am immensely, immensely proud (and immensely, immensely exhausted!). I have big feelings I can’t name and I can’t stop crying! Even this last year has been inordinately challenging and to still have achieved this is taking a lot of processing. (My phone’s camera likes to be “helpful” so the temperatures are all over, but I hope you can get the gist of it.)