Flying by The Seat of Your Art Pants..Malibu Art Association Demo...

You really are flying by the seat of your Ralph Lauren pants and Jimmy Choo shoes (yeah, right!) when doing public demos - as was this one for the Malibu Art Association in CA, a great group of artists and my third appearance for them.

You never quite know what to expect. How will the room be (acoustics), how will the audience questions be (artists can ask questions that really make you stop in your painting demo tracks and have to think!), how will the light be? What will I forget to take? Will I be 'on' my game that day?

I try to prepare as best I can, taking my own lights, extension cords, chairs, backdrops, props. etc. double checking everything with a list....yes, I have learned the hard way. Demos are never just the two or three hours you are there. There is prep. work. And it is hell if you forget the zinc white or the model.

This demo was of a friend of mine who I have known since she was five so pressure was there too as you want do to something half decent - not just a stunt kinda thing

AS it turned out the room acoustics were not good and it really IS hard to shout as you paint, I discovered. Some demos do microphones, some do not. Remember, your back is to the audience as you paint. Not easy. My time was also cut short by 15 minutes suddenly at the end due to unforeseen circumstances in the room booking. But that 15 minutes of demo 'finish" time is worth about three hours of solid gold in normal art time.

So I go what I got being reminded why it does take certain 'energy' and most of all training in life painting to do these things. I am always grateful and honored to be asked to share my work and approach and the art folks at MAA were a delight as usual.