Preparation begins

What? you say - Why is she posting such BORING pictures of empty walls?   Well, this is what my house looks like these days, as I prepare entries for the Michigan Water Color Society annual exhibition. It's been announced that this year's juror is Pat Dews, and the entries must be postmarked by February 11.

Recently my strongest tool for assessing a painting is familiarity.  I used to follow some artists' suggestion of hiding away a painting, then pulling it out to see it with new eyes.  Instead, I've been putting them, unsigned & unphotographed, into mats and frames, and hanging them where I see them often.  This has worked well for me, in that I'm finding out clearly which paintings can hold my interest, and not annoy me with small flaws.  Some fail both these tests, and eventually come out of the frames for corrections and sometimes complete reworkings. Others pass. The passing paintings get signed and  - currently - are stacking up for a trip to the incomparable Eric Law for photographing.

Once I get the results back from him, I'll look at the images to decide which ones are worthy of entering in the MWCS annual.
The down side you see here. Some very sadly empty walls for a while.