Same old same old

 Yeah, so much for retirement. I wish.

All I do is paint to keep up with an even more limited schedule for next year. Its like nothing has changed except I feel I am under more pressure to get together some inventory.  I am basically trying to get my head above water. 

That is pretty much my life. So if this is what it is, then I am going to go through with my smaller schedule for this year and then in '23 really cut back to just a couple shows. Period. It is so much fun to do the shows, but it consumes your life. My life needs to be about staying in rhythm and doin good work. I am in good rhythm now, and that is all that matters.

Katie and I are writing a book about our lives being artists. We are writing everyday and seeing where that takes us. Writing about your life seems to be an ego thing, which we do not want at all, in any way shape our form. People have asked us to write a book for years and so we hope to. Hopefully our lives can inspire somebody to quit their job and follow their dreams, or at least be comfortable not going along with the hot mess that is our culture. If I know one thing, it is what it is to be an artist. Wish us luck.

Feel free to ask about work or whatever as usual, I am resigned to this for 10 more months. Thanks again to everyone who helped us have such a wonderful 2021. I know that I am truly blessed.

Keeping this one for myself

 I have zero large paintings left!!! Not on me to sell, and not at the gallery either. Amazingly people have been telling me they follow my blog, and yes I want to retire. I just had the best month of my life professionally, I am going out on top. It feels really good to have worked so hard and had things go so well, and for Katie too. I am incredibly honored by all the people that support me. I truly enjoy the great vast majority of people that I meet, I am so lucky to have such real and honest conversations with people. Art has opened so many doors for me. Thank you.

This feels like a time to reevaluate what my goals are and what I want to do. Since I have no more large paintings to sell, it is a great time to start over or move on. Experiment. Play. Who knows maybe I end up doing the same old thing anyways, just less of it. I don't know yet. The only thing I seem to be capable of is just being myself, which, is oddly very difficult for most people. I will be doing the shows I won awards at next year to fulfill my professional obligations. But I think that is it for me next year.

I do know that I DON'T want to jack up the price of my large paintings. I want people like me or my friends to be able to afford my work. It doesn't matter to me about the money, the work already seems to be ridiculously expensive. I know I want to work on restoring my house and farm, and I know Katie and I will enjoy doing that.

My Grandma, who is my hero, turns 97 this week. She is still sharp as a tack and lives at home. It is imperative for me to spend more time with her. She is one of my best friends and I call her every night. I owe her more time and I will deeply regret it if I don't do that.

I have one commission I agreed to do months ago and then that is it. I will not sell anybody any large paintings the rest of this year. Period. Hopefully I get back to work and will sell again next year. I have a couple small paintings left, and I am sure I will paint a few more of those this year( I can't help myself).

No matter what happened this year, I was not going to sell this one. I have been so busy I haven't framed it. My wife and I need to hang some of artwork up in our own house for once!

I will keep painting, just at my own pace.  

Thanks again to everyone who supported me, despite COVID 19 this year.

Last show of the year

 By some miracle I found this in the attic, and forgot to bring it to my last show. So I am bringing it to Louisville tomorrow...   my last show of the year!!!

It was spring up on the ridge. That seems so long ago.

Very very very busy

 I have never worked so hard before. I think I have had like 2 days off this summer! The other side of it is that I get to do something I love. All day. Everyday. A little more balance would be welcome...

So I am telling people I am retiring after this show season. I refuse to live my life like a merry-go-round any longer. I love a lot of things in my life, so after this year I am only going to do a couple shows and not travel as far. Period. 

Anyways my painting here is in the current issue of Plein Air magazine!!!

Champions of the World

 I did this painting yesterday to say I painted this on the day the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Championship. This is the first championship for the city in my lifetime. my head is spinning.

Milwaukee has meant a lot to me throughout me life. I have lived, worked, went to school or kept an apartment in Milwaukee for almost all my entire adult life. Having grown up in a town that called Milwaukee a place for f@ggots and n*ggers (something I heard in high school and more than once), I have come to realize I have more in common with Milwaukee than where I grew up. Even though we have this wonderful farm 40 miles from downtown Milwaukee, we feel still our hometown is Milwaukee. Living in a rural area that is, at times, anti-Milwaukee, anti-liberal arts culture, anti-brown people has been sometimes exasperating, and makes me question why I live here. I wish we as a country could better appreciate the positive things in both rural and urban areas. Most rural people have much more in common with city folk than they realize. And vice-versa. All I can do is try my hardest to be positive and do good work. I am proud of this painting, this barn which we preserved and the land we didn't allow to get built up. I am also very proud of Milwaukee and enjoyed the hell out of them winning it all last night. Perhaps partying like it was 1971 wasn't the smartest thing...   Queen's We Are The Champions has never sounded so good to me.

Bucks in 6!

Good News... mercifully

 So good news. Yesterday we had our first art festival again since 2019. Chicago opened up the day we were setting up and we were the first festival in the city of Chicago since covid shut things down. Seeing old friends and familiar faces was better than I imagined. Seeing people out and happy was good for all I think. People seemed really engaged and celebratory. It truly was a great moment. I am glad I got vaccinated, glad I never got covid, and glad to have been part of the group that was there in Chicago and I am glad to see "the common good" is alive and well!

The rainy landscape is a recent painting from Vernon County. It sold at the show in Chicago, I was sad to see it leave. That was a good Andy Fletcher, for whatever that is worth or means.

The sunrise painting is of our farm. I had to get up at 4AM for a few days to paint. Lets just say usually I hit my stride around 10PM, 4AM is just not who I am, but it felt good. 

*Bonus good news. The sunrise painting won first prize at the Cedarburg Plein Air Event/Contest. The painting was purchased by the Cedarburg Art Museum. Quite a few couple of days indeed.

Back to work...

 

April 21 2021

 Soooo... we had a crazy weather day and I was able to paint for most of the day.

I have only seen this a couple other times in late spring. The day is just a sequence of snow squalls and sunshine in between. Truly fascinating. If I was younger I would not have been patient or experienced enough to pull this off. It would go from white-out to sunny seemingly within an hour and then back again.The first 12 paintings are from 4/21. I got up the next morning, 4/22 and painted one more before the snow melted. That better be the last of the snow scenes! That was a fun day.