The Procrastinartery

Kicking off 2012 with Art Exhibits

2012-01-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! December was full of family and holiday projects (more on that later) but I started off the new year by prepping 24(!) paintings for a show. I'll be exhibiting my paintings at three local libraries- two months at each of the Loudoun County libraries. I will have to follow up at each of the libraries to make sure I'm on the rotation. That should take my art til June and give me all this exposure that I have been somewhat shy about. But I figure it's local, free, very few limitations, and a way to make my art visible. I'll leave a price list at the desk but am trying not to have any expectations. I'm very excited to actually see a large body of my work up in one space. I was surprised at the amount of space available at the first library so that's how I ended up prepping 24 paintings to hang.

I have to admit I went cheap on some of the frame jobs. Partly because it costs so much more to do odd sizes, partly because timing, and partly because larger pieces can take a huge chunk of money when I have no clue whether anything will sell. I've worked in custom framing before and the mat, glass, backing, and frame can cost way over double the price of the artwork. Not to mention it takes over a month for most places to do your order since they are usually so backed up.

One place I guarantee has about a week to two week turn around and has the best prices and quality is the shop my friend owns: Frameworks in Falls Church, VA. Also my watercolor instructors have used an online service that they've recommended called West Charlton Frame Company. I've tried them and loved them and they have watercolor sizes and mat and framing recommendations as well as free shipping!

So I have listed both the unframed price as well as the package deal for each picture, keeping in consideration whether it was a nicer framing job or a cheapie.

In addition, I have two pieces in the student art show at Art Square where I've taken art classes. Which reminds me I better sign up for that art workshop on aquaboard that I've been wanting to do for months. Now that things have slowed down a little, I should be able to get back to some of my art.

If you're interested in any of my pieces, please email me! Better yet, come out to Loudoun County, VA and see the art in person!

One last exhibit entry I'm working on is for the National Museum of Animals and Society's Souls Awakened exhibit. Haven't finished with it yet but it's due end of the month. I am hoping to get my daughter to enter a piece for this one too because it's about an animal that has touched our lives. She has some art and she's getting into writing so it would be a lovely thing for her to participate in since they allow minors with parental consent.

Cool Weather Craftiness

2011-11-07T02:23:00.000-08:00

November has snuck into town and brought along a little sunshine. October actually went roaring out with an early one-day snowstorm in parts of Virginia. We got pretty decent amount of packing snow so of course we made a snowman, but not your typical one. My daughter requested a chinchilla (Diego's influence) and so we created a snow chinchilla!

Then we did a little more sculpting, except with soft pretzel dough! I made a spiderweb at my daughter's request.

Eating your own sculpture is much better than watching it melt, although I wouldn't tell artist Andrew Goldsworthy that.

And with any Halloween, there is the subtractive sculpting of pumpkin carving!Tried a new technique this year and also had my daughter transform her cute little orange gourd into a cute little black bat (idea from Family Fun bat-o-lanterns).

My pumpkin was inspired by an image of creative pumpkin ideas. And we got a 35lb giant this year! After gutting, it weighed the same as my five year old.

Of course, this whole last leg of October/fall has been crafty/creative for me because when my daughter stated she wanted to be the tin woodman (can you tell we've been reading the Wizard of Oz?), I took up the challenge and decided to make her costume this year! The crazy thing was I don't have a working sewing machine so I hand-sewed everything and most was from scratch! Let's see, we have the tinman's heart,

his (or actually in this case her) ax, her oil can,

her hat, and of course her tin outfit. I have to say, I was a little motivated by the nice, silver fabric remnant I spotted at the local Joanne fabric store. I searched the Internet and found some very nice homemade as well as manufactured tinman costumes so I used those as guides. No, I did not use any pattern. I don't actually know how to use a sewing pattern (and am currently taking a sewing class that may teach me how to read a pattern) and I had a vague idea of using a store-bought grey sweat suit as the base of the costume.

I never did get out to the store to search for a sweat suit in my daughter's size and ended up finding a pair of my old grey sweats, tracing a pair of her leggings, adding a half inch sewing allowance and somehow managing to make a pair of sweats that actually fit her (except the waist which I had to safety pin since I hadn't figured out how to do the elastic waistband and ran out of time anyhow). I added in some silver spray painted cardboard cuffs as well as a portion of an air duct connector pipe (boy, did my daughter enjoy playing with the leftover connector!) at the knees and the pants were ready.

I had trouble figuring out how to attach the pieces to make them stay though because the connector is basically a thin metal coil wrapped in some tinfoil so the thread kept tearing through the foil. After a Halloween party, I finally just taped it with packing tape after multiple repairs.

The top was loosely based on a rectangular cardboard shape for the neck/shoulder piece and the sleeves were cut based on one of my daughter's shirts. Since the elbow connectors made it difficult to dress, I had the arm sleeves detachable and added velcro to attach them at the shoulder. More parts to dressing, but much easier than trying to find armholes in a somewhat inflexible garment. I added a fabric bowtie with a hidden snap button behind it and a bell for a button to hold the front of the shirt together (no, I haven't learned how to do proper button holes either!) Shoes were spray-painted silver and I never did figure out a more comfortable way for the funnel shaped metal piece to fit on my daughter's head. She went without it most of Halloween and wore it for a few photos. Next time (hah!), maybe a stiff felt hat would work best for comfort, especially for kids. I debated about silver facepaint, but I'm not sure I wanted to deal with that hassle, not to mention she's rather young to be wearing make up (I want her as chemical-free as possible and even though a lot of face paint is non-toxic, it still contains tons of chemicals). After initially asking for silver face paint, she didn't mention it again so I left it alone. I'm pretty proud of the homemade tin woodman costume, however rustic it is and it was "cool" enough for my daughter to wear trick-or-treating with her boy friend ;)

As I mentioned earlier, I'm also taking a sewing class. I'm learning some basic sewing machine mechanics as well as sewing skills. Only had two weeks and I've completed a pillow. The class actually gave me a bit of confidence to work on the costume, even though I didn't get to use the sewing machine for the costume. I've got a whole imaginary list of sewing projects I want to do. It's exciting! Clearly, my creativity has been funneled into textile arts lately.

I did enjoy my watercolor plein air workshop with Christine Lashley

but am not too proud of the paintings themselves. Par for the course since plein air usually means not enough time for me to work. I get too caught up in details so working on location is a bit stressful and the final product is not as aesthetically pleasing to me as work I've done in studio, where I have more time. Nevertheless, I took some wonderful photos of Harper's Ferry and had a wonderful child-less day outdoors painting.

I'm not sure which of the numerous arts and crafts projects vying for my attention will be up next but I'll be sure to photograph and post them up here.

Back-bLogged

2011-10-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

I guess I have fallen down on the job... and I need to make up for it by writing an extra long post with lots of pictures! As usual, things are happening here but I haven't been updating. Trying to keep up with our summer CSA (community supported agriculture) produce, explorations in the kitchen, summer reunions at the new campus of the GWU art therapy department, birthday party preps (for my daughter as well as for her friends), summer trips, and art classes has been keeping me preoccupied.

I got a piece accepted in the local juried "Something Hot" show again this year and was thrilled even though I wasn't quite sure what the juror was looking for (even after his art critique). I chose the hot colors of fall as the weather is cooling. I like the irony of an image of a cooler season for a "Something Hot" art show summer theme.

I realized I never posted photos from my Catherine Hillis class so I best get to that before I forget...

This is my small, postcard size image of Florence (Catherine had brought in some photo copies of a photo she took in Italy during her painting abroad class). The printer had run low on some ink and the colors were a little skewed and the details limited but that worked somewhat to my advantage since I enjoy working in the purples and shadowy colors. I started small because it wasn't my image, I hadn't painted in a while and wasn't sure where I was going with it, and I hadn't taken a class with Catherine before (just a few workshops) so I was feeling out my comfort zone. Turned out a cute little piece that Catherine called "A gem!"

Catherine worked through lessons fairly fast for me, the turtle, so I did not really get many completed paintings in our short summer session. I did manage to work on a still life using more negative painting and attempting a different technique she had demonstrated. I was also using a hot pressed paper which is fairly smooth and takes the watercolors differently than cold press, which tends to have "tooth" or texture. Catherine admits that hot press is a challenge for her with her style of painting but suggested I try out yupo paper and aquaboard sometime to see if it works well with my paintings.

Anyhow, here's the image of the still life I photographed since I knew the flowers would wilt long before I could finish the painting. I worked and finally finished the watercolor and was pleased with my experiment (image below the photo).

And of course, I attended my daughter's Art In Hand class which was just as much fun for me to explore like a child. Like Picasso said “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” One way is to take a great children's art classes! It was challenging to watch my daughter play with materials without getting my hands into them as well! One of the most beautiful playful explorations was the blocks of ice and eye droppers of paint colors. Here are some of the class ice paintings:

We basically froze a container of water overnight (well the class met once a week so we checked our containers the following week). Then we added some salt to the big blocks of ice
to see it start to melt.

Then we added eye droppers filled with paint colors which ran into the grooves of the melting ice.

The resulting blocks of melting ice were absolutely beautiful and a continuing process of melting. It was an art and science lesson in one since the kids could watch the continuing process of erosion and melt. Reminds me a little of Andy Goldsworthy's naturalist art that allows the effects of nature to continue altering the art.

As the ice continued to melt, the salt bore grooves and the paint seeped into those little tunnels. Fascinating for those of us who enjoy the process as well as the product.

In addition, the paper around the tubs of melting ice were well decorated with previous splatters of paint and continued to gain additional layers of color as the kids dripped here and there. These drop cloths were pieces of art themselves. They were basically plastic lined paper, similar to a tablecloth.

This last photo is a picture of my proud artist and her collage a la Eric Carle's Mr Seahorse. Her seahorses are camouflaged well!

As I mentioned earlier, we also had birthday parties which means we usually did some hand made wrapping paper and hand made cards if we had the time. My daughter decorates the paper and helps wrap the gift and I have recently begun doing cut out cards. This one was one of my favorites:

We also had my daughter's fifth birthday party to prepare and this year I was crazy enough to attempt my first homemade pinata! She wanted a dinosaur themed party so we created one of her favorite dinosaurs (I'm sure you'll be able to guess what type it is from the photo).

Triceratops! Good thing it wasn't a Bracchiosaurus (her other favorite!)

Let me tell you, a pinata from scratch takes a few weeks! I found a personal website online that described the step-by-step of pinata-making and had her grandkids helping in the process so I figured this would be a neat project to try. A couple pointers though:

If you're doing a flour mixture for the glue, add some salt so it doesn't reek!
Make sure you start it at least three weeks ahead so each of the layers will thoroughly dry, especially if you're in a damp, wet climate. We used the hairdryer a little bit.

One last big event over the summer was the GW art therapy department's party. I bumped into folks I hadn't seen in a while and caught up with some that had moved out of the area. And one of my biggest idols and mentor during my journey to becoming an art therapist came across the country (The AATA conference was in DC this year so the reunion party at GW was HUGE). It was great to see how well the program is doing and hear about the beginning of the program and personal stories about the pioneers in the art therapy field. Linda Gantt (one of the first alums of the program) read a letter from Katherine Williams, former director of GW's art therapy department that was a wonderful view of the initial buds of the program.

Below are my friends Megan Robb, Lynne Harris, myself, and Tiffany Tsai:

Me with my first internship supervisor, my mentor, work colleague, and friend, Steve Thomas:

So summer was busy and full, but I squeezed in some art time here and there. Of course I could be better about creating and writing but that's understood. This lengthy post should go a little ways towards making up for the months of absence on here.

Back with Brush

2011-07-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Took a little breather to go to NYC with family in June and then again with in-laws for the 4th of July so the arting was a little slowed down for those periods. I did check out the MOMA in NY (and saw Cy Twombly's (RIP) sculptures as well as 5pointz (gorgeous graffiti) in Long Island City, NY.

But now I'm back and taking my watercolor course with Catherine Hillis. I've got a couple paintings in the works (Catherine's got a different theme for each week so I'm jumping around a bit because I don't want to miss anything). I did finish a postcard size watercolor of Venice that turned out to be "a gem" (Catherine's description) and I am very pleased with it.

Also started a plein air painting at a friend's house and will have to finish based on photos and memory.

I have a pencil sketch of a family friend and plan to do it up in watercolor to see how rusty my portrait painting has gotten.

I began a watercolor portrait of a couple kids I know and am holding my breath to see how it turns out since I've been super reluctant to do portraits (so much more challenging and more work than landscapes in my view, especially since I thoroughly enjoy painting landscapes).

I've also picked up a couple art books with exercises in drawing and image transfers that I'm excited to try.

But, alas, there is always the issue of time and energy. Summer is such a busy time with a garden to tend, fresh CSA veggies that need to be fixed and eaten, full time at home with the Girl (four year olds are busy little bees!), family and travel, and outdoor play and swimming of course. At least the days are longer! I have been wielding a different brush at home, too, as I worked on some home improvement projects. Thank goodness for art classes!

We've also been enjoying an Art in Hand class for my daughter. Keep your fingers crossed that they'll need me as an instructor next year for our local community center!

Next post will have pictures, I promise!

OIWP painting and ATCs

2011-05-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

A couple more completed projects. I've been working on another watercolor landscape at my open studio nights (I get away from the house to paint when I don't have painting classes because I'm distracted by little and big Rs, housework, FB, books, etc when I'm at home). This one I'm very pleased about- it's Olde Izaak Walton Park (yep, that's the olde waye of spelling!) It took a few sessions to paint but I had a class and workshop that postponed my work on it. I'm finding my own pace and it's nice having no time pressure to finish.

And of course my alphabet ATCs. We're nearly at the end of the monthly alphabet swap! Here's V (villain and vintage were the themes)...

...and W for Wings. The W ones will be shipped off soon (I promise Barbara!)

Speaking of Wings, I'll have to remember to participate in the Butterfly Project in honor of all the children who suffered during the holocaust.

Kids Arts and Crafts

2011-05-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

The past month or so I've been cruising the kids art blogs and doing some crafts with my daughter and the kids I do art lessons with... We'll be moving to messier art projects too!

The best one so far has been the Chocolate Muffin Tree blog's flower collage.

First little r and I collected flower petals from the ground, leaves, helicopter seeds (maple seeds), etc. and I flattened them between phone book pages (stacked a handful of books on top too). Then we took a box, I cut out windows from each of the sides with an exacto knife, and went hunting for my contact paper. When I found it, I cut the appropriate size sheet and attached it to the inside of the box with the sticky-side out then let little r pick out her found objects to collage on the sticky contact paper. She peeled another rectangle of contact paper to fit the outside of the box window and attached it on top of the collage. We did this for five sides of the box and left the last side open. Then we played- she stuck her face inside the box, we stuck the box over a light bulb, we put the box up to the window and it glowed with natural light, I looked in the box and she smashed her face up to the contact paper collage window and really got a kick out of that! She also had her stuffed animals play inside and around the box. It was a whole lot of fun!

Apparently Tinkerlab issued a cardboard box challenge and a whole bunch of bloggers shared their great ideas, including this one. What an awesome way to spread and encourage creativity!

Some others have included:

Cinco de Mayo clothespin doll from Kaboose

Kundin Family's marble painted eggs

There are so many other projects to do as well! I love looking through wonderful blogs that stir up all these creative ideas. I've got a list started so hopefully I'll be able to remember all the ones that we're interested in trying out.

This all stems from researching child-led and play-based learning- I'm on an education kick right now and educating myself about early education. I love the whole idea of reggio emilia approach and am working with my mom's group to do a trial run of an outdoor education/forest school approach and have even dipped into some homeschooling and unschooling approaches to get inspiration. There are a lot of bloggers out there sharing all the wonderful creative activities they are doing with their kids and I've spent hours perusing their sites.

Spring Flowers Painting Push

2011-05-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just need a good push to get me back on track again. It's the whole inertia thing- an object in motion stays in motion and and an object at rest stays at rest. That sums me up pretty nicely. So I need The Force! Signing up for classes and workshops does that for me, plus the added benefit of the expertise of the instructor and support of the other art students.

I signed up for a day of painting plein air but the weather did not want to cooperate initially. It rained with flash flooding and tornado watch so we ended up indoors painting from still life amongst Christine Lashley's gorgeous gallery watercolor and oil paintings. Pretty cozy and inspiring actually. Here's the still life we were working from and I'm still working on that watercolor so it's not up yet. Maybe I'll snap a shot, part-way done.

The weather was gracious enough to clear up after lunch so we headed over to a local nursery to paint. I had some difficulty finding a "spot". I took some photos and finally decided, what the heck, why not do a close up of flowers? It's a nursery after all! I was tempted by the pottery display, a windmill, a cabin-like building on a distant hill, a white metal chair... but not enough to sit and paint it. Plus, time was ticking with only two hours to paint. So I sat in front of flowers in my favorite tones.

Now that I think on it, pansies are sort of a timely thing as well. They bloom for a little bit and they are annuals so they're gone by next year. They are small and non-threatening and exactly what I needed.

I decided to ditch the watercolor pad and attempt another water-soluble oil. For those painters who are interested, sometimes I call them water-based oils but they are not actually. They are oils that are devised to cooperate with water so I can wash with water vs using strong chemical solvents. I haven't touched regular oils since before my pregnancy (that stuff's toxic, you know. And I worried about the fumes in a house with kids and dog). I never really got sold on acrylics but maybe I never gave them a good chance. Anyway, the water-soluble oils still have the same properties and there are water-soluble mediums I could use with them if I felt like indulging. The paint does dry a little quicker than regular oils but not as fast or plastic as acrylics. I like them so far.

I used a small 8x10 canvas board in my little portable thumb-box easel (non-threatening and manageable in that amount of limited time). I sweated a little when the sun came out and appreciated the cool breeze when it ducked behind the clouds. I sat on my portable painter's stool as it's legs dug grooves into the soft, wet gravel and I painted only the flowers. I didn't really want any indication of location. Just the flowers as the focus. And I surprised and pleased myself at how it came out, considering it was such a limited palette (only six tubes of paint since I was "trying out" the water soluble oils and wasn't sure how much I wanted to invest in it).

Sure I could be critical because I see some flaws but I sort of like how it's a painting about being outdoors, staring at that batch of flowers in that moment. If I touch it up too much, I feel like I might sully the original, fresh feel of painting on location. I took lots of liberties with color and shape because the actual flowers were pretty well segregated by color (as you can see in the photo of the pansies) but I wanted to spread a little more interest and the yellow and rose did it. Not too shabby for my second oil in ages.

I have since then attended an open studio to work on another landscape watercolor painting of a local building in our town. I plan on continuing the weekly open studios and have signed up for a summer watercolor class- gotta stay in motion! When I need a break from the watercolor, I think I'll dip into the oils again. It's nice to have a change of pace and especially nice to be back in painting motion.

Happy Belated Earth Day!

2011-04-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

I have several unrelated topics today...

I finally finished mailing my postcards for the Art Therapy Without Borders international postcard exchange (and I even received confirmation from someone on the other side of the world that my postcard arrived!)

Today a friend posted a link to Little Free Radical and I love the products this SAHM makes! Check out her giveaways this month and don't forget her Etsy store. Beautiful work and if my daughter were younger, I'd want to get her something from here.

Also, been on several different themes with spring and spring break with my daughter.

We've been doing lots of reading about eggs which led me to a book review or two as well as trying out some arts and crafts like the marbeled egg painting (which our paper mache eggs didn't turn out as well as the one on the Kundin Family blog) and tissue paper mache eggs from the Chocolate Muffin Tree blog. Not to mention the local egg hunts since it is Easter season.

Of course, we also touched on dinosaurs and got one of those hatch-a-dino eggs from the craft store as well as a handful of books. The dino thing is a longer term interest even though I'm not half as interested as my daughter is right now.

We also did a brief exploration into caterpillars/cocoons and moths and butterflies where I was fascinated to learn about the banded woolly bear caterpillar (which turns into an Isabella tiger moth) and I discovered a wonderful nature resource: Marcia Bonta, a naturalist writer. This exploration luckily coincided with a butterfly art activity at the library.

And of course, with the sun out more, we've taken to playing in the dirt. I organized a planting in town for the parks and rec department as well been digging up my own yard and trying to figure out where to plant trees. Eggs, cocoons, and seeds... hmmmm... there's something preparing to emerge; maybe my own creativity will burst forth in sudden growth spurt.

Between postcards, eggs, book reviews, planting, and spring break, I really haven't touched my paintbrushes. Next week though, I'll be heading out for a day of painting at one of Christine Lashley's workshops and open studios will be resuming.

Tea and Umbrella ATCs

2011-04-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

The last couple months artist trading card swaps were themed "Tea for Two" and "U for Umbrella". We're coming closer to the end of the alphabet and I think I only missed a couple months. It should be neat to put together the whole sequence at the end and see how the set looks.

These have been fun and a great way to try out different techniques for some of my bigger works. Plus, I get back some wonderful cards from other artists! The deadline does tend to sneak up on me though but my host is so great about reminding me by asking me if I'm still playing!

Starting with Rands and the psychology behind creative procrastination

2011-04-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

I really like what Rands has to say about starting. The procrastination, laziness, etc may have a purpose and may be part of the preparation process for us to start our projects. Rands discusses breaking down his own creative starting process and figuring out what exactly he is doing instead of working. I really like that he points out that the projects we set are not easy otherwise they'd be done already. The preparation that we're doing may seem unrelated but they are helping us problem solve solutions and allowing a mental break so that we can ultimately be more creative with our solutions.

Apparently, taking a break is a pretty common study in creativity as Lyndi Smith outlines several works that promote taking breaks to nurture creativity including Graham Wallace's The Art of Thought (which describe phases like "preparation" and "incubation" periods of creativity), Flora Beeftink's and Wendelien Van Erde's experiments on breaks interruptions, and Todd Henry's Accidental Creative podcast.

Psycasm also blogs about incubation and breaks in "How to Trick Yourself Creative".

Timi Gustafson also sites the company Google as the most innovative because of their company policy allows "free time projects" because it optimizes creativity. In Gustafson's article The Importance of Taking Breaks
, he states, "By giving its employees time to daydream, fantasize, experiment or simply rest, Google taps into the ingenuity and creativity of its people and utilizes them for its own benefits."

In conclusion, procrastination is all part and parcel of building creativity. Except it sounds more productive if I call it my "preparation" or "incubation" period.

Creativity Article

2011-03-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Creativity Crisis article discusses a gradual decline of creativity in America's kids and how the Torrance Creativity index may be an even better indicator of lifetime achievement than IQ scores.

Here's a snippet from the article:

"Those who came up with more good ideas on Torrance’s tasks grew up to be entrepreneurs, inventors, college presidents, authors, doctors, diplomats, and software developers. Jonathan Plucker of Indiana University recently reanalyzed Torrance’s data. The correlation to lifetime creative accomplishment was more than three times stronger for childhood creativity than childhood IQ.

Like intelligence tests, Torrance’s test—a 90-minute series of discrete tasks, administered by a psychologist—has been taken by millions worldwide in 50 languages. Yet there is one crucial difference between IQ and CQ scores. With intelligence, there is a phenomenon called the Flynn effect—each generation, scores go up about 10 points. Enriched environments are making kids smarter. With creativity, a reverse trend has just been identified and is being reported for the first time here: American creativity scores are falling."

Documentaries and Bios

2011-03-12T06:53:00.000-08:00

One of my friends once told me that she heard somewhere that once you hit your thirties, you start reading more biographies and autobiographies. As if we hit a period of our lives that we are suddenly interested about the great details of others' lives. Maybe age brings a progressive curiosity about people and events more and more outside our personal circle of experience and self interest. Or perhaps it feeds our egocentricity and is part and parcel of midlife crises in seeing how individuals leave their mark on the world and what others remember of them so we can get our own ideas about what marks we have left on the world. Whatever the case, I have found myself more interested in biographies and documentaries when I generally prefer fiction over nonfiction.

One day, I checked out a book on Wang Yani, the Chinese child artist who painted monkeys with such skill that she had worldwide exhibits before she even hit her teens. She has pictures from as young as age 3 hanging in exhibits or collections such as the Sackler Gallery. She uses the free style of Chinese painting and experts are astounded about how she naturally grasped what usually takes years and years of intensive studies and copying masters' works. Traditionally, Chinese artists don't (or aren't allowed to) come into their own style and become masters until they hit their 70's or older so it is quite a phenomenon that a young girl can paint with such skill without any traditional training. And then I looked at her birthdate and she was born a year ahead of me! Which led me to search for her current works and I found she has moved into colorful abstracts. Her monkeys are what will stand out in my mind and from the difficulty in finding her current works online, it appears her earlier works may also be more popular to the general public.

My art instructor also recommended Burton Silverman and lent his book Breaking the Rules of Watercolor to me about a watercolor artist who struggled with the medium his entire career (Makes me feel a little better to know a successful professional artist battled it out regularly with watercolors) and would keep coming back to it trying new techniques. He paints watercolor on bristol plate, which allows for erasure and reapplication without marring the surface. He is a well-known portrait/figure artist and he painted watercolors like he painted oils. Although I was supposed to be focusing on his techniques and reading through the step-by-steps, I was instead riveted by his biography and his life experiences which included painting with people whose names are now only known on watercolor products and brands.

I also sat down with my husband one weekend and watched two documentaries when I normally prefer books over movies. Communication through the arts is a key element in both films.

The first was about a woman who organized a musical with autistic children. It focused on primarily five children with varying presentations and their families and followed the process to the final performance. I found the movie Autism: the Musical amazing and very inspiring, breaking some stereotypes and allowing the kids to shine.

The second movie we watched was about Banksy the anonymous UK street artist and several other popular street artists. Exit Through the Gift Shop reminded me of the fictional movie Wild Style (a hip hop focus on graffiti which had authentic hip hop and graffiti artists in it) even though they are drastically different. The art and forms of expression are related and inspiring in a myriad of ways.

Although I'm not a movie reviewer, I enjoyed both these films and would not hesitate to recommend them to any arts-minded individual or group.

Although these bios and documentaries seem more like diversions, I feel like they are actually supplementing my creative process. Somewhere inside my brain, the wheels and cogs are churning this new information and eventually it will be processed into the work I do. Right now, it appears only a surface connection about creativity and the arts but I think the brain may juggle numerous seemingly unrelated things to incorporate later. And speaking of brain art (sort of), I briefly delved into interesting brain-related imagery (like fMRIs) like this as well as more scientific neurological articles. Ok, enough tangents- enough for a brain to soak up for now.

Cloud Studies: Sapa and Halong, Vietnam

2011-03-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, my watercolor class lesson focused on skies and clouds. I pulled out a couple photos from last summer's trip to Vietnam and did a couple watercolor studies. They were enjoyable and turned out well, which seems to be the trend lately with my "studies" and "exercises". There is so much less pressure when it's just a study and I have to play mind games with myself when I gear up to do a "real" painting. In the meantime, these are fun to do and the product was a lovely surprise so i guess I'll have to keep painting "studies".

Winter River

2011-02-28T22:02:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the snowy river watercolor painting. Although it's different from the small study, I like it just as well. Since it's a larger size, it has more details such as the geese and trees but I attempted to keep the general feel and the colors the same as the small study I did several weeks ago. I found it more challenging to do the larger one, not only due to the greater attention to detail but also because I have to be purposeful in my techniques. I can't just slosh everything on and hope it turns out the way I expect.

Having a small study (above) to work from gives me a clearer goal of what I want and each stroke has to be done with intent while still trying to avoid overworking the watercolor. In some ways it is less fresh since it is less spontaneous which has always been one of the reasons I'm reluctant to paint "repeats" of a subject. Then again, I think about Claude Monet and his numerous paintings of the same subject and I argue with myself about the benefits of painting the same subject matter over and over. You become an expert in it and you perfect your technique as well as find different ways to paint the same image. There are ways to get a near duplicate image but if that's what you want, why not just get it color copied? For me, each one will be unique but I hope to catch the same mood. Using a study gives me an opportunity to draft what I want and adjust in the bigger rendition. The study allows me some spontaneity and experimenting so that I can come in with a plan of action. Sometimes I do like the study a lot more but this time I feel like I succeeded with the larger version as well as with the draft. The larger one definitely is not as loose but I managed to adjust the colors to what I wanted (shifts of cool and warm, values of dark, medium, and light) while still keeping the painting clean. I struggled a little with the trees but am satisfied with how they ended up.

I have another snow/tree scene that I want to paint. I was driving down a wooded road and got my husband to take pictures of the tall trees snow-coated on one side as the sun had partially melted the recent snow. We'll see if I get around to that project before spring hits. Once the weather changes, I'm not sure I'll be in the mood to paint snow scenes. But maybe summer will inspire me like Mel Torme and Bob Wells with their wishful thinking as they wrote The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) in the sweltering heat of summer.

Resist in my Goals

2011-02-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

I signed up for a 14 Secrets group project to select some goal words for the year and created three art cards to be a part of a group "Vision Card Deck". The vision cards are similar to a New Year's resolution with a more specific emphasis on the visual and artistic. It took me some time to decide which words to select and in the end I came up with "fire", "focus", and "finish". Synonyms of those words would have worked well but I liked the alliteration when I grouped them together. Along with my vision word images, I added a little poetic description of each one before emailing the files off to Becky, the organizer/host. Huge thanks go to Becky for sizing all the cards, adding borders, putting the descriptions on the back of the cards, sending us back a lovely Vision Words Deck for 2011, and most importantly: helping me get my artistic priorities straight!

A Flame, a Passion,
A Creative Desire;
That's what I mean
for the goal word FIRE.

Clearly Fire is about inspiration, motivation, and creation. I want to make sure that creating and making art is primary this year. I want to produce and paint and constantly be making or thinking of making things. My weakness is my inertia so once I get moving, the easier it will be to stay in motion. The more I create, the easier it will be to keep the creativity flowing. Also I want to keep the fire burning, keep feeding it so that I can feel excited about a project long after the exciting newness of an idea has faded. Ideas abound but I want to have enough energy to put those ideas into action and nurture them into existence.

Mindfulness, Concentration,
A Lack of Distraction;
My goal word FOCUS
put into action.

Once an idea has been born, I need to consistently nurture it and guide it to develop into something bigger. Keeping that idea in mind and growing it means I need to give it appropriate attention. Focus for me has been challenging as I've gotten more involved in a variety of unrelated projects. It becomes harder and harder to keep my mind on one task when it feels like a million things are knocking on the door. This word could easily have been "discipline" because that's what I need to battle all the distractions in my life. My mind and heart are often pulled in different directions and I want to make it a priority to focus on the creative- the new ideas sprouting. I want to make and keep an appointment with my creative Muse and pay complete attention to her as we tend to our ideas. And to make it a regular date, weekly if that's all I can manage but gradually increasing art time so that my routine can eventually incorporate art into every day. This task may be one of my harder ones because it really means I need to eliminate smaller distractions so I can pay more attention to painting.

Follow-through, Completion
Closure of Projects;
Celebrating the FINISH,
A time to Reflect.

When I've nurtured and guided an idea as much as I can, I want to see it bloom in a garden of other creations. Not all seeds will sprout and not all ideas will germinate but the ones that do, I aim to gather as much fruit as possible so I can create a new garden that cycles through another season of growth. Often, I have every intention of finishing this project or that one but have abandoned it as some distraction has come along to divert my attention. (Clearly the fire died out, I forgot to water my ideas, and they've wilted from neglect). By finishing I can finally have closure and celebrate the completion of a creative season instead of fearing or procrastinating the end. An ending means I can begin something new. As each season ends, a new one will begin and the cycle of creation and growth continues. I will have learned and grown along with my ideas. I've painted and created long enough to know that if I quit in the middle when things are looking rough or not as pleasing then I won't reach the part that is so fulfilling. I've found that many paintings/projects have an "ugly" phase or a place where there is struggle to force it into what I imagined it should be. The struggle is the tough part but the things that we work hardest for are the ones that will be most valuable. The struggle is where I will learn the most and I can take pride when my hard work yields fruit.

Funny enough, as I was thinking and working on my vision words, I had recently had a lesson in my watercolor class about using wax resist in watercolor paintings. Instead of using it in some of the watercolors at the time, I found it appropriate for the vision word images. Only after I had completed my cards did I think about the subconscious "resistance" to my goals and the use of wax resist in my goal cards. I do resist each of those goals (self-sabotage) but that's precisely why they are so important to focus on this year. And maybe next year! Even though they appeared to be merely an exercise, they have deep meaning and they will help me focus on my art through the year.

L'il arts 'n' crafts

2011-02-24T18:59:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of myself because I made my first crocheted hat and bootie set for my friend Amy's baby shower. And I was fairly pleased with the results of my first attempt. I used a fuzzy, soft baby yarn that was difficult to count stitches but I still managed to follow the patterns. Sort of. I actually combined several patterns from and sprinkled in some of my own creativity. I combined the patterns from "Crochet From the Heart" and "Easy to Crochet Cute Clothes for Kids".

I even managed to complete the set and a watercolor card in one week!

The reward was going to the most fun baby shower I have ever attended. I even won a prize for the game pinning the sperm on the egg!

Landscape Studies

2011-02-02T07:46:00.001-08:00

Watercolor class is going well even if we did get snowed out of the first two classes. Almost got iced out of this last class but the weather warmed up enough that it was just a little wet.

Although I miss painting a solid three hour block, it's worth the trade-off to get guidance from someone who knows so much about the way watercolor works and who can teach it so articulately. Christine Lashley can clearly explain why certain colors work well together and how to adjust a painting to suit your desires. The actual doing and work to achieve the goal is up to us, the students, but understanding the concepts and techniques is half the battle and that's what she gives us.

So even though I work a bit slowly and have been working on studies or sketches versus the bigger painting, I feel very productive and stimulated to think about the process of how to paint the image I desire.

We worked on mixing good greens and trees/landscapes the first class. I deviated a bit because I wasn't ready to shift gears into greens. My forte is in the purples and reds. But green is a necessary lesson because the tube greens are not representative of the natural greens we see. So I compromised and did sort of complementary colors in my study. The first study (top) was on sketch paper (something really liberating about working on crappy paper vs expensive watercolor paper!) The sketch paper doesn't soak the water up and the colors kind of sit on top of the page a bit and mingle.

That led me to the second sketch (above) on student grade watercolor paper (I hesitate to paint on expensive watercolor paper when I'm not truly invested in the image/painting). This second image went more towards the purple range so not necessarily complementary colors but definitely roaming into secondary colors. The effect I was shooting for was the hazy, soft-focus that I got from the sketch paper study. So I did more of a wet-on-wet. I really like that dreamy quality. Both sketches were interesting but not really worth it for me to do a final painting from them. Fun exercises and it let me dip my feet back into the class setting. (Painting amongst others as an introvert can be a little distracting, no matter the number of classes I've taken).

The second class was appropriately about snow. Plenty of it on the ground outside and I did take some lovely pictures but my printer is basically out of ink so I didn't get around to buying ink and printing them. So I worked from one of Christine's many reference photos. I selected a lovely image of a river and snow. I skipped out on the snowy branches thing since that would probably be too time-consuming for me to do during a class but the river image attracted me. I worked out a sketch on the student grade paper and really liked it a lot. So much I began to do a bigger painting on the more expensive paper! So it's a work in progress and not yet photographed but I hope to get in some painting time before next class since the next lesson is on sky.

We're moving along at a fast clip but this way I'm learning tons, working on a bunch of ideas, and definitely painting more overall. And it's great to have critiques and an instructor with such experience and knowledge!

Last Year's Watercolors

2011-01-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

I kept meaning to post a couple more images of finished watercolors. I had begun a small study of my daughter splashing in a pool and intended to do a larger one but I liked the small one so much, I haven't gotten around to doing a larger portrait. This was my first foray into using masking fluid to keep the white of the paper. In keeping with the class at the time, I did color studies (which was tedious but really helped coordinate the colors), facial feature studies (also tedious but good practice), as well as some stamping techniques (which was the most fun I had during that class). All in all, I was extremely pleased with the small study but just got so tired of working on this one image that I haven't done the larger version. Plus, there's a lot of comfort in working small. I am considering exploring miniature paintings. In my copious amounts of spare time (note the sarcasm). Well, I'll put it on my list for this year.

Also, I did finish the fall trees painting I began plein-air. I worked from the photo reference and finished the trees in studio and am pretty pleased with that one as well. The negative painting is not as evident in the finished piece but it was an enjoyable process. I considered getting a little more splashy with the tree foliage but decided to leave it. I could see a looser rendition with splashy techniques but don't plan on doing another one just yet. Maybe next fall.

I've already started in on a landscape painting from a reference photo taken in Vietnam. That's the current watercolor project but certainly not the only project in the works. I'm also attempting a couple more small-scale portraits to see if I'm just as successful. I may have to do a bunch of tedious exercises in order to achieve the same feeling of satisfaction though. Ugh. I have to push myself over that laziness roadblock and do what needs doing to make it good. No one said art is easy (well, at least it's not easy for me.) There are occasional spurts of inspiration and flow where things just happen to fall together, but that's rare. Painting is a lot of work and that's why it can be tough to get motivated.

Snowflakes

2011-01-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

When playing and working with kids, it's hard not to dip into the arts and crafts projects that I enjoyed so much as a child. And why should I resist, especially if I'm trying to recover that sense of uninihbited carefree creativity that children are naturally inclined towards? Even Picasso encouraged learning to paint like a child again. So it shouldn't be a surprise that I found a lovely snowflake design to cut into one of my watercolor coffee filters.

Go ahead, you know you want to do one. Grab a coffee filter, paper, some cheap (or expensive) watercolor paints, and a pair of scissors.
Put the coffee filter on the paper (because the paint will soak through and leave a lovely print as well!).
Brush water all over the coffee filter.
Dip your brush in paint and let the water spread the paint on your filter
Add colors randomly until your filter is full of color.
Do a few more while you set the first to dry (should take a couple hours to dry)

When dry, peel filter off background paper
Fold the filter in half, then half again, then thirds. Make sure to line up edges as closely as possible.
(optional) sketch out shapes you will cut out of your filter
Hold bottom corner with one hand and cut out shapes (diamonds, triangles, hearts) along the fold edges, leaving a space between shapes.
Unfold to see what your snowflake looks like

Hang in windows, cut and paste on cards, collage etc. Enjoy!

Oh, Is it January Already?

2011-01-10T20:18:00.000-08:00

Welcome, 2011! There's something so energizing about a new year and the illusion of a fresh start. I have numerous creative goals for the year but it's more important how well I follow through with my plans. I tend to be fairly unrealistic about what I can get done but why not shoot for the moon, right? Just like that quote:

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” -Les Brown

Although many may list out their goals for public consumption, I'm a little shy and a bit superstitious. Sometimes if I say too much, I feel like I'll shoot myself in the foot instead of shooting for the moon. Sorry to disappoint but as I achieve the things I aim for, I'll be sure to post here.

I will say that I am nearing completion of another of my watercolors. And I'm signed up for another Christine Lashley watercolor course. So I expect I'll be off to a productive 8 week start for the year!

On the therapy front, I am meeting with a client monthly for individual art therapy sessions. I'm a little bit nervous and a little bit excited about it. It's a little too soon to determine how well it's going. I'll be learning more about art therapy and autism as this is my third case with someone from the autistic spectrum disorders. I'm especially appreciative of the Internet and LinkedIn and all the wonderful subgroups and discussions there as resources.

Related to art therapy, the local art therapy chapter has asked me to assist them with renovating their website. The due date is in a couple months so I'll be working diligently to give the old site a facelift (which, sadly, never got updated after I had redone it and finished my board term as their web person several years ago. Somewhat understandable as the board is made up entirely of volunteers from the art therapy community.)

There a are several other pots on the stove but nothing's done cooking yet. Just perusing the recipes and ingredients but I have a feeling this year will be a delicious one!

Finishing and Missing

2010-12-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

December has arrived all too soon! I've missed a couple deadlines (a couple projects that I wanted to do but hadn't gotten around to) but I've also been wrapping up a couple projects. The whole idea was to get interested and motivated so I signed up for a bunch of optional, loosely deadlined projects knowing that it would get my creative juices flowing even if I didn't make the optional deadlines. The online projects gave me a structure while still allowing me the freedom of what and when to create. I have to say that I hadn't counted on a bunch of things interrupting my art time but that I also feel like I'm in a constant creative process, even if it's just my mind turning over different possibilities and ideas. I always have intentions to eventually get around to doing the projects but I doubt all the ideas and intentions come to fruition. I think having so many ideas is better than having none when it comes to precious art time. So, although I'm disappointed I didn't get the Tribute to Nick Bantock postcards out or the Van Gogh painting challenge, these are both ideas that I can follow through with later. The things I have been working on include a few watercolor paintings (almost finished with the plein air trees and started a beach landscape- photos to come), the 14 Secrets Alphabet ATC swap, and an Empathy Monster doll.

I finished up my empathy Monster for the Art, Heart, & Healing ecourse. My daughter adores little Em Monster and she even told Daddy that Em Monster doesn't have a mouth because she doesn't talk. The monster also has big ears so that she can listen. That doll sure made an impact! It was definitely a labor of love- all hand-designed (loosely based on Tam's pattern) and hand-sewn since I don't have a working sewing machine.

I still have a couple projects started but as yet unfinished from that course. There are instructions for an art journal spread, an altered board book with photo transfer and celebration pages, as well as a healing invitation angel. I've got some ideas floating around but it takes me a bit to put them into motion. It has been a wonderful course and Tam is absolutely fantastic so check it out Willowing (which has a bunch of creative projects and challenges) if you have a chance.

Sark

2010-11-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

Sark had her Inner Critics Arrested!

Watercolor Workshop: Works in Progress

2010-11-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was perfectly lovely for a plein air watercolor workshop. I drove up to Round Hill to take my second workshop with Catherine Hillis who is a successful artist and wonderful instructor. We had a lesson in values in landscape which helps simplify the dark and lights in an image to four basic values. As with every rule, there are exceptions but it helped us see where we needed to focus on in terms of differentiating values.

The first day we painted the pond near the picnic area, attempting to include some fall color in our paintings. Although I'm not finished with the first day's painting yet, here's a sneak preview:

I have to work on a few adjustments like smoothing the water and working on value and transitions with the trees and reflection.

The second day we had a lesson on painting skies, grass, trees, and color mixing to reduce intensity. Then we drove out to Yellow Schoolhouse Road because one of the students generously offered up her yard with gorgeous views. I worked on a grouping of trees behind a stone wall and the shadows they cast on the lawn. I was intrigued by the idea of painting in the negative space this time and really enjoyed working against the natural inclination. Instead of painting the objects, I painted the space around the objects. Now I'm trying to decide how light or dark I want to make the tree trunks and branches. Catherine suggested pale washes but I am not sure if that will stand out. I may do something similar to my purple trees from Balboa Park- I think I named the painting "Roots". Either way, I need to work on value again in the foliage because the contrast with the negative spaces will help the trunks pop out. Here's where I'm at currently (apologies for the annoying angle on the photo):

I'm very pleased with the three plus hours work on this painting thus far and plan to look into more negative painting after finishing this one. The light and shadows had changed drastically by the time we were wrapping up the outdoor session so I snapped another photo for reference.

Thanks Catherine, for a completely enjoyable watercolor weekend!

Art Therapy without Borders International Postcard Exchange

2010-11-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

Have received three lovely postcards and the one I sent to ATWB is now also posted.

Projects Update

2010-11-12T08:34:00.001-08:00

I finished painting my mandalas and cut them into the small postcard size for the Art Therapy Without Borders International Postcard Exchange. They were very relaxing to paint, using coffee filters and watercolor, a technique developed by my former co-worker Claudia (who is a huge fan of Jung and Mari). I lost touch with her after she moved but still think of her everytime I use the coffee filters with watercolors. The outside of the mandala has a paler wash of watercolor and some salt treatment to create some texture. I have covered about half of them with contact paper (to protect the watercolor- brushed off the salt first!) but still need to run out and get more contact paper as well as write out majority of the 27 cards. The postcards received by ATWB can be seen on their Facebook page Here are a few of my cards:

I did manage to send off my P is for Pumpkin ATCs on time and received four wonderful pieces in return. I have yet to get working on Q. Still deciding on what to do for Q. So many possiblities- quiet, queen, quirky, quick, queasy, quilt...

Although I started on my Artist Journey preparations and my Art, Heart, & Healing free class, I've fallen behind. I think I'm behind by a few weeks. I hope I'll be able to get caught back up soon. I have a slight reluctance to get into these projects because they are more fantastic (which I love!) but I'm a little less confident about my ability to create fantastic art. I'm not loose enough or don't follow through with enough conviction to make it convincing. I guess I need to convince myself first!

Been balancing it out with a little more traditional art though. I went to an open studio painting session this past Tuesday and drew and painted for three hours straight. Well, I got up to peek at the the other artists' works and get paper towels but it was some solid drawing and painting time! Working from a landscape photo from one of Vietnam's beaches. Yes, I have a longing for the beach, any beach. I'll have a chance to see one soon but not a long enough stay to paint any plein air. I felt good after that open studio and plan on repeating that experience!

This weekend will be devoted to a watercolor workshop so I'll see if I can be equally productive all weekend long.

Swaps and Projects

2010-10-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

Juggling a couple art projects this fall... I'm still doing my alphabet ATC swap with my 14 Secrets Yahoo group (also check out the blog) The most recent ATC swaps are N for Nautical, O for Orange or Off-to-school, and P for Pumpkin.

I also received a wonderful Bottle of Fun in the mail- a bottle jammed packed with various odds and ends for art projects and swaps that I can pull out items I want and add more goodies for others. The stuff I pull out I'll make into a mail art gift for the person who sent the bottle to me. I mailed off the bottle last week and it's quite an interesting piece to sail through the postal waters. A lady standing in line asked if it would mail ok and I said yes, it arrived safely to 7 or so people thus far and has gone to Canada and back as well. She was inspired to pack a plastic bottle with candy to send to her college student.

Along the swap lines, I signed up Art Therapy without Borders International Postcard Swap -supposed to be 6 for 6 related to art therapy.

I also agreed to take an imaginary year long artist's journey on Art Angelix. I'll be traveling without commitment so I am not required to post and can follow along with all the prompts, tutorials etc without feeling pressured. I think I'll be inspired to do some of the activities but not obligated to keep up or post. Considering my time commitments, I felt this was best since it is stretched over the course of a year and sounds very involved. Many of my 14 Secrets colleagues are signed up in the "guild" and have devoted planning and time to creating before any prompts even have come up. One day when my life doesn't revolve completely around my four year old's schedule, I hope to be able to play as intensely as they do.

In the meantime, I'm still debating whether these swaps and online projects are distracting me from my own painting development. It is hard to say because these feed my soul and the painting hasn't reached that point yet. My painting is supremely satisfying when I achieve a product I like but it is so easy to get caught up in technique and focus on that instead of the internal growth. I'm exploring a looser style but I still lean more towards realism.

I also plan on entering the Tribute to Nick Bantock postcard competition. It looks like such an awesome project and I have a feeling it will line up well with my artist's journey project.

I'm probably also going to take the Heart of Art free online course starting mid October.

I'd like to take another weekend watercolor workshop in November.

Overbooking myself, most likely but they all sound like such delicious projects that I really can't help myself. I hope to get in a lot of art time within the next few months!

Disappointment

2010-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Just finished my 6 week watercolor class and it was a bit disappointing. I learned some good techniques but didn't really create much. A couple small studies in preparation for a bigger painting that I will probably never paint. I felt like I just got pieces and it never all came together. It's too much like my own process and too likely to keep me stuck in the forever-starting-but-never-finishing pattern. I need a different style to force me to push on through and finish up work. Slowing down and separating into so many fractured parts only keeps me in my indecisive, procrastinator's purgatory. I can see how it can help a new student learn how to watercolor but spending a class doing exercises and not much painting was very frustrating and joyless for me. Not only was there a mismatch between her teaching style and my learning style but she was also focused in the opposite direction of the style I want to paint. I want to become looser with my watercolor and more fluid whereas her own personal style and the techniques she taught were geared toward a really tight and precise composition. Everything is very exact where I want surprises and happy accidents in my watercolors. Not that I didn't learn some splashy techniques but that the class was not very enjoyable or fulfilling for my creative expectations. Live and learn, I guess. I'm thinking of doing a weekend workshop with a woman I've taken before who might be a better fit. Sigh...

Art for Poplar Spring Silent Auction

2010-10-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we attended the Poplar Spring Farm Sanctuary's Open House and both of my watercolor animal portraits sold.

Simon the rooster was especially popular and I got many comments how people knew exactly which chicken was in the portrait!

Art Swaps and Classes

2010-10-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

Juggling a couple art projects this fall... I'm still doing my alphabet ATC swap with my 14 Secrets Yahoo group (also check out the 14 Secrets blog) The most recent one is O for Orange or Off-to-school.

Signed up for a watercolor class and am getting the feeling it's not the right match for me. Bummer.

Summer Pierre's Artist in the Nursery Interviews

2010-09-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

My 14 Secrets group posted Summer Pierre's art blog. She is starting Artist in the Nursery interviews with artistic parents and how they balance the creative process with the parenting process. Exactly what many artistic moms and dads struggle with, including myself!

I just recently talked to my friend Cheyenne about how she finds time to work on her paintings and how mommyhood devours your identity, especially if you stay at home. It's always a challenge and it's taking me some time to find some discipline to get to it but I see the direction I'm heading. A couple detours along the way should make for a great adventure!

Sheep

2010-09-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

My watercolor that was accepted in the Something Hot Juried show. It will be available at the Poplar Spring Farm Sanctuary Open House silent Auction on Sunday September 26, 2010

Something Hot, and Something Not

2010-08-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

So I entered the watercolor of my sister (and at the encouragement of my weekend workshop instructor Catherine Hillis) in the 9th annual Something Hot regional juried show today. I felt it was a very good technical piece and my classmates as well as the instructor liked it. I also worked on a painting yesterday for about 3 hrs and entered that watercolor too. One of them made it in the show! Yep, the one that I did yesterday! It's based on a photo taken at Poplar Spring Farm Sanctuary and I was thinking that, I'd just put it up in the Silent Auction (I put in a couple things for their annual fundraiser). This year, I probably have enough that I can print out some sets of farm cards to donate. The watercolor that got into the Something Hot show might sell though. People like that type of thing, I think. If it does sell, I guess I'll paint another one for the farm. All the paintings had to be priced to sell for this show and a 30% commission is taken. I'm not too keen about commissions but I understand that that is how a gallery survives. That and the classes and donations. It takes a lot to put up a show so they earn the commission. Also, it was a unique experience in that they have the juror do a critique of works accepted in the show.

The show was juried by a local professor/artist artist/professor Anthony Barham who is originally from England (love that British accent!) and went piece by piece and critiqued all the works accepted in the show tonight. It was very interesting to see all the works that were selected and the variety of styles and levels. It was especially enlightening to have a juror who wasn't afraid to face the crowd and say why certain pieces were accepted and how the piece could be improved. I overheard a woman talking to him and the gallery director afterwards and asking if she could take her piece home and repaint it since he gave her so much to do to improve her painting! I've never heard of someone getting accepted in a show and then taking the painting back to redo it! What if you botch it and you lose the original something that got it in the show in the first place?! Just paint another one with all the corrections or paint a new image with all the pointers in mind! I don't know if they let her or not.

Some pieces were chosen on personal taste, space available, suitability of theme, and others stumped me and seemed to stump Barham why he liked them. He was honest that about it in saying he wasn't sure why he liked a piece but that it grew on him. I liked that he wasn't too elitist and didn't cut someone out because their technical style could use some work. Also, he selected a variety of mediums- there was a terracotta piece, a bronze, a batik, a quilt, many oils, a few photographs, and a handful of watercolors. He did state that it was all about the learning process for him and he encouraged people to learn even from teachers who may not seem to have anything to offer them.

I saw several of my fellow watercolorists in the crowd and met a nice couple who enjoy painting classes and educational experiences. They didn't enter anything in the show but they went purely for intellectual purposes and to view the art. I love that! They recommended several oil painting instructors and told me I really need to get back into oils because Kurt Schwarz and Michael Davis are fabulous instructors and they also told me I should sign up for a workshop with Maggie Siner (they were already registered). Not sure if I'm ready for oils yet. I don't think I have the time yet to devote to it. Also, I am not certain what I'm going to do about the fumes and chemicals involved in oil painting. At least I know there are options though when I am ready to go back to oils.

I am very pleased with where I'm at with my watercolors. Sure, there's always room for improvement but I'm feeling more and more confident about my watercolor skills and getting into a juried show is one step closer to getting into a watercolor society, should I want to go that route!

Who is She?

2010-08-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

One of the members of my 14 Secrets group mentioned a muse swap and talked about wanting to trade muses some days and it got me to thinking about who mine was and what she was like... sad that I have never really gotten to know her. I'm sure that's hurt and pissed her off and explains those kicks in the arse I feel now and again

So who is my Muse? What is she like? So far, this is what I know of her (one day we'll have to sit down for a nice cup of tea so I can get to know her better):

She is...

1. finicky- so picky about what she likes and doesn't like that it makes it tough to start for fear of offending her (but I'm learning that if I can start and plow through, there is a point where she's suddenly looking over my shoulder with interest and bursting to give me her opinions)

2. sporadic- she lazes about for days and suddenly she gets a bee up her bonnet and has to do everything now, now, now! She scurries and hurries and is in a flurry to do it all and get it done while she's in the mood to do it and she drags me along for the ride.

3. sleepy- she loves to nap! Gotta shaker her awake sometimes. She mumbles and returns to her dreams or jerks awake, stumbling around for a while before her brain catches up

4. an idea gatherer- she brings a basket to pick ideas for a bouquet. She wanders the hillsides jumping from one patch of lovely ideas to another. Sometimes her basket overflows or she loses some ideas along the way. Some wilt and others may be longer lasting. Sometimes she likes to grow her own ideas from seed, watering, nurturing, watching as they bloom. Always she likes her space filled with vases and jars overflowing with lusciously colorful ideas and it's difficult to toss them out even when they've withered.

Maybe it's time to wake her and offer her a cup of tea and a new idea...

Watercolor Weekend

2010-08-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I took a workshop with a new instructor Catherine Hillis and it lived up to all my expectations. Not only was the instructor very personable with a great reputation and lots of professional experience, but she was able to be very encouraging while also honestly giving constructive criticism and teaching us what makes a good picture. I learned from the demo and was able to apply it in my painting and I also completed a very successful painting over the course of two days. I love the piece I just finished and my success was reinforced by Catherine who told me it needed to go into a show (and to price it at some outrageous amount like $55,000 so I can keep it and if it does sell, it'll pay for another trip and I can paint a new one). Can you see my smile?! I know, you'd rather see the painting:

There are still a couple things I want to fix like the angle of one of her eyes but for the most part it just needs my signature and a frame. This is based on a photo of my sister (who likes to brag about her "guns") and I feel it captures how I feel about her- superstrong (physically and emotionally), I-can-do-anything/overcome-anything attitude. We were in Phu Quoc, Vietnam and I am so happy that she went to the country of our ancestors and became more connected to our roots. I have a lot of admiration for my tough (and stubborn) younger sister and maybe that shows in the art.

We had a critique at the end of the second day of the workshop (I'm pro-critique even if they give me a little social anxiety). Most of the other students had taken a class or more with Catherine and they were all very friendly and were at varying stages of their watercolor development. I love that diversity and it makes for a fun and non-threatening environment. Anyhow, I got plenty of positive comments (I'll take any ego-stroking, thank you!) and then one woman gave me the best comment I've ever received in an art critique. She told me the big rock in my picture looked like a big testicle! From my art therapy and any psych background, I couldn't resist laughing and just leaving the thing hanging there exactly the way it is! And with my sister's sense of humor, I'm sure she'd appreciate all the Freudian thoughts bouncing in my brain. So many inappropriate jokes and it altered the lens I was viewing my art through to include all the subconscious stuff that I learned in art therapy. Usually I don't therapize my own work but this could be done in such a fun manner that I think this art critique was one of the best I've participated in.

Although I'd love to take classes regularly with Catherine, my schedule won't work with when she offers her class this fall. I'm going to stay connected though and see if I can find another watercolor artist to learn from. I was a little concerned that finding another teacher was going to be difficult after being so satisfied with the one I had. I thought it would be hard to find someone who could juggle that balance of encouraging, constructive criticism, compatible teaching/learning styles, and help me produce work that I am happy with. I know, in any class, I can take something from it, whether it is a new technique or a good painting but I am hoping for a class that will offer me everything I want. Why not shoot for it all, right?

So in keeping with my workshop, I'm going to try to "paint every day" as recommended by Catherine. Thanks to Catherine, my fellow students, and Art Square for a wonderful experience!

Summer Break

2010-07-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

Well it's been another long dry spell but I'm viewing it as my incubation period. So much has happened in June that needed to be processed and is waiting to emerge in my art. The biggest events revolved around trips and goodbyes.

Amina, our beloved furry and first daughter, passed away mid June. We thought she had been recovering from a chronic condition so it was a bit shocking to us when she was suddenly gone. She was my first dog and my first close up view of death and grief. Sure I'd had relatives pass away but not someone I lived with day in, day out who was such an integral part of our lives. I take comfort in knowing she's out of pain even if the leave-taking was a painful thing for us, her family. A while back a native American referred to death as the "journey home" which struck a chord for me. She took her journey as I prepared for mine back to my country of birth: Vietnam.

My trip was a combination of distraction, escape, renewal, reunion, and discovery. I left my husband and daughter with my in-laws as substitute moms and I flew out to meet my mom, sister, brother, and family friend in Vietnam for 20 days. We traveled all over the country and I took over 1600 photos (still weeding through and uploading to flickr)! Of course I took a bunch of reference photos for paintings later.

One of the main things that sticks out to me is the "small" family reunion consisting of about 50 people (out of the 130+ in the the North) to celebrate the anniversary of an ancestors' death. Every death anniversary is celebrated with a gathering of family members, eating, drinking, photos, and catching up with relatives. It's so amazing to think about the connections we have when I have grown up thinking I had such a small family.

Not only that but the fact that death anniversaries are a time of celebration and reconnecting with the family still alive as well as paying respects to ancestors who have passed. It makes the circle of life and death so much more intimate- the people of Vietnam keep the memories of their dead alive through celebrations such as these and ancestor worship. I can't tell you how many great aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins I met but it sure made me feel a lot closer to my deceased grandfather who I have never met! I also was able to visit my grandparents' funeral urns in one of the temples in Can Tho, Vietnam as well as the one in my family's home so I could formally pay my respects to their spirits at their altar. These things all make me feel closer to my family, present and in the here-after.

This barely touches on all the experiences of June and as I review my digital photos, I am continuing to process my travel experiences in the country of my birth.

Now that I have returned home, I am attempting to get back into a routine (including painting and posting more regularly). Keep your eyes peeled for things popping up here!

Conversation on Creativity

2010-05-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

I was just emailing with a mommy friend about creativity and she asked me how I stayed creative while also doing all the home and mommy stuff. I wonder about that myself but once I started replying I found my list ended up quite extensive! Here's what I included:

I started an art journal hoping to bring it along everywhere and sketch or whatever when ideas or inspiration strike. Of course, I always forget to bring it but as long as I have pen/pencils and paper around I don't actually need a journal. Today at the vet's waiting room, I did a colored pencil drawing of Amina while my daughter did her own drawing and coloring
I definitely check out lots of different types of creative books to get inspired and help my daughter as well as myself stay creative.
I sometimes take an evening class or workshop (just last week!) with the local arts community (gotta depend on hubby to watch the kids for that but he figures if it helps me stay sane, it'll benefit the whole family).
One of the ways I tried to stay creative is by joining an online art swap group to help me do small creative things and be exposed to others' creativity. Anyone's welcome to join and it's basically up to you what you sign up for or not. They are a great group of artists- a lot of whom are art therapists or friends of art therapists. The yahoo group is 14_Secrets and the blog is http://14secretsforahappyartistslife.blogspot.com/
I find that the artist trading cards (ATCs) are easy and small enough to do even when I'm at my busiest. I haven't gotten much inspiration for painting out of them but they help keep me thinking creatively and seeing how others take inspiration from a theme. And the deadlines help structure me because I'd be a total slacker otherwise.
Doing creative projects with my 3 year old and encouraging her own creativity. Sometimes we can sit side by side and paint or draw. She likes seeing some of my art. We developed boundaries early on so she knows she's not allowed to paint on mommy's stuff. Some things we work together but some we work on separate pieces and share materials. Most of the time I'm too distracted with her around to do any art so I have to wait until she's with my husband, at school, or in bed. But sometimes we have our very own studio session and it's so nice to create beside your daughter.
I started an art blog to help me stay motivated on painting. It sometimes helps but it also can take up some time that I could use to paint or do some other art project.
Some days I let the household things slide. Some days I let the art slide. I think that scheduling an "artist's date" where you go do something arts related just for yourself helps. Or setting a specific time every week like an appointment with yourself to do art. I haven't been consistent with that but one of my goals is to eventually move to time every day to do art.
and this one I forgot when I emailed my friend back but it's a very important one: staying in contact with other creative folks who encourage, support, and have dialogue about creativity and art-making! Just like my email exchanges with my friend.

More Amina

2010-04-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

A couple more watercolors this morning of Amina. She's been on some meds so she's developing a potbelly as a side effect. I exaggerated it just a wee bit in the second image. As for the effect on her fur in the second picture, that's salt while the watercolor was still wet. It soaks up the paint and leaves these beautiful speckles that work perfectly for the blue ticking in Amina's coat.

Finishing up

2010-04-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

The month has flown by but I'm managing to keep my hands creating and there are always things simmering. I've been so pleased with myself for keeping up with my 750words and it's been helpful in storing all the excess that my brain produces. I've actually brainstormed some art ideas on there and kind of organized my thoughts over what I want to get done. Although I am nowhere near ready to share my creative writing, I've been sharpening my skills on there with bursts of fiction, some poetry, and just plain journaling. It's my addiction because I'm eager to get to it everyday but I want to make sure that I have a straight stretch of uninterrupted time (which was the recommendation in the book Artist's Way too) to write my 750. This is so much more doable than Morning Pages was for me. I tend to be an evening writer and it helps clear out the clutter that has accumulated in my head during the day. Gives me a fresh feeling to put all that junk somewhere. To-do lists, venting, planning, nostalgic reminiscing has all gone into my 750. I really should export them but there's something nice about not having them in hard copy and not looking them over because my own desire would be to nitpick the details and reread my entries to correct or edit them. Somehow, I think that will take away the therapeutic value I'm getting from them. Then again, my to-do lists are probably worth printing out. Of course, sometimes it's jumbled amidst the fiction and venting so maybe it's better left alone.

But beyond the writing, I finally got up the nerve to open up my brand new water based oil paints and crack open my brand new thumb box "pochade" to paint a little oil painting outside last Tuesday. It's a picture of the pink blooming tree in my neighbors yard. A very spring inspired piece. Good thing I got it before the thunderstorm and rain of this week! No idea what or when I'm gonna paint next.

I'm also working on my jester/joker ATCs and will be swapping those out this week and sending them off. Did some ink and oil pastel sketches in my sketchbook to get some ideas. I also did some funny animal sketches in oil pastel the other night. I don't know why but I was feeling a bit silly and just did the legs of a couple animals standing upright. No thought to proper anatomy or anything, just letting it out. Funny though.

I will snap my photo of the ATCs when they're all done and ready to fly.

And in the kitchen, I did have a bit of fun thanks to the preschool. They were planning on doing edible worms in dirt for earthday last Thursday and asked if I could bring in Rasine's vegan foods. I found some vegan gummi worms at the local healthfood store as well as chocolate soy pudding. Regular Oreos are vegan-safe so all I added was vegan chocolate sprinkles. It was especially fun watching all the 4 and 5 year olds making their dirt cups and arguing with the teacher about it being pudding and not mud. Adults totally forget how to tap into all that energy. I was taken aback that the kids were already forgetting how to tap into their imagination; but maybe it was more the joy of correcting an adult rather than lack of imagination on their parts. Anyhow, the worms in dirt turned out so well that when I got home my daughter and I made some extra cups for guests that came over that day (and they thoroughly enjoyed it).

WHO has been slacking?

2010-04-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

Yup, It's been a long time since I've blogged. So I've got a lot to catch up on! I have been getting my doses of writing on 750words.com but that's quite a different thing than blogging. It's been a great way to do some creative writing and brain dumping. I just ramble and it's fine.

So let me hop around a little to catch up...

Two nights ago I finished crocheting that owl pictured above. It was given to a friend as a baby shower gift but I was so proud of myself for whipping that up (in time- it was a last minute finish of course!) It's definitely my most creative crochet project. I had looked for some patterns but didn't find any one thing so I just started crocheting and working things out as I went along. I used one pattern from a book to get the beak and another from another book to do the wings, and then I "winged it" for the body. And I added a tiny container filled with rice to make a rattle inside the stuffing of the owl. Unique and quite lovable! I think I'd like to do a repeat but knowing myself, I may not get around to it. It's funny that once I complete a project, I have fantasies of mass producing it and giving them as presents or selling them on Etsy but in reality, once I've completed it, I feel an urge to move on to something completely new and different. Like I've already climbed that mountain and it's time for a different challenge. I never really saw myself as the restless sort but I guess there are just so many good and fun ideas out there that I want to try and not so much time so why limit myself? We'll see if I get a chance to make another one.

Another creative outlet for me lately has been in the kitchen. I decorated my husband's homemade vegan mini donuts for a Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale event. They were so cute and adorable and tasty too! All for a good cause.

I think there's something to be said about an art that nourishes. If done right, I've heard cooking has real therapeutic value in that it appeals to or stimulates so many senses. I try to use a lot of different color ingredients (love the Teriyaki stir fry we made last night with red bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, snap peas, and golden fried tofu). Then there's the washing, chopping, and pouring that satisfies the tactile senses. The sounds of ingredients frying or even the chopping rhythm can be a cooking music of sorts (although we sometimes put music on as we're cooking). The olfactory is stimulated for hours if the house is filled with the scents of good food. And last but not least the stimulating tastes on the tongue when you're finally enjoying the meal. So, yes, indeed, I've been utilizing my creativity a bit in the kitchen. Some days, like anything else, you come up blank and blocked. So nice to be inspired by cookbooks or cravings or the Internet! There's always a way.

The picture below is of the onion tart that I made last week. I thought I had a tart crust but after I had caramelized the onions I realized I had a sweet crust rather than savory crust (onions on graham cracker crust would have been disgusting to me and my family but maybe I should have been daring and tried it... Nahhh.) So I had a moment's dilemma where I considered scrapping the onion tart. But then I remembered we had a recipe for a quick batch of delicious buttermilk biscuits. So I whipped it up and flattened a few round shapes to pile onions and homemade Parmesan topping on it and viola: an onion tart! Actually several personal sized tarts as well as a handful of regular biscuits. Turned out pretty good and I used my creativity as well as problem solving skills to get out of that corner.

But two-dimensional art-wise I've had a handful of small projects only. I haven't built in time for myself to paint. It's hard for me to keep a schedule and structure so that's why I usually sign up for a painting class to keep me painting at least weekly. Unfortunately, the last class I signed up for got canceled so I'm left high and dry. I really need to dive back in but the longer I'm away from it, the harder it is to return to it. I also get too distracted by all these other interesting things I want to or need to do and don't get around to painting. I don't know exactly why but maybe there's a nice little adrenaline rush when you do things spontaneously or last minute. And a challenge. There's always some crises going on at home and some reason I can't get to it but part of me knows there's a part of me that is resistant. Because it's work after all. Anyone who tells you it's all fun and games is not being true. Painting is work if you do it right and like anything, you have to work to be good at it and you have to work to get it to turn out like you envision it. Maybe it comes easy for a handful of people but more likely the more you do it, the easier it gets. Now that I've pep talked myself a bit, I better get the momentum going. I've got plenty of things swirling inside and I just need to get started putting them down.

I did create an art journal for myself a couple weeks ago because I felt like I wasn't being authentic as I want in art. A part of me is afraid to put it out there and afraid of the criticism or being found lacking. I figure an art journal has only my eyes and only my criticism (which is hard enough to bear! Get back voice of negativity!) and I can work on more personal issues/events or brainstorm ideas for canvases or projects. The journal is made from a 2001 hardback day-planner book that was passed on to me. I covered it and started a couple pages. I worked a couple images in oil pastel which assuages some of the desire to get back to oil painting while also tantalizing me with the thickness of color. A couple collages but as in blogging, I'm also irregular in journaling. I even "lost" my journal in my house for a couple days (a subconscious self-sabotage?)

Coincidentally, my friend Christine sent me a book about art journaling and it's got fabulous art journal pages that people all over the world have submitted. Beautiful and very inspiring. Looking at others' art definitely feeds some creative sprouts in me and gives me ideas for growing new pieces. I think I forget sometimes to look at other people's art and that it will inspire my own work. It's like my visual and emotional reaction to the input my eyes have delivered to my brain and heart.

That's why I really enjoy doing art swaps with my 14 Secrets group. They are wonderfully supportive of artistic and creative endeavors and the swaps are inspiring. Seeing a theme interpreted many different ways exemplifies the diversity in the group as well as the creativity. I'm in charge of hosting a series of artist's trading card (ATC) swaps and it was great fun to receive all this art mail and send it all back out. The ATC swap I just completed was I for Iridescence and I made it an egg theme as well since it was right around Easter. Here are my ATCs before I swapped them out:

And finally, I managed to go to my juried art exhibit reception at George Washington University's Art Therapy Dept (new building since I graduated). They had rescheduled since the first reception was during a blizzard. I'll go pick up my piece within the next week or two. Also will pick up my art at the AATA office (I think I loaned them 3 pieces and since it's around the corner from GW, it'll be nice to get everything back at the same time. So nice of them to hang my art for so long but there's an empty spot on my family room wall).

Wagon Ridng and Writing

2010-03-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

Art is on the docket for tomorrow. NO EXCUSES. I've fallen off the wagon again so I need to catch it and jump back on. So much harder to catch it after falling behind so far. It's easier if I imagine it a little red wagon. Much less threatening too. My original image of it is one of those covered wagons they used to use to cross the US. Dusty, brown, full of trials and tribulations. But the little red wagon is so much more appealing and playful. Yep, I want to catch the right wagon, the one that let's my little kid side go for a wonderful ride on a sunny day.

Lately, I've been tapping back into my writing and discovering I love it. I started 750words.com and I end up writing about a thousand words a day. Mind dump as Ryan calls it but it completely frees me to meander through my thoughts and pull out ideas, feelings, and subconscious stuff. It's different than a blog because it really can be totally private as a diary should be. And Buster, who runs it, designed a site that encourages, rewards, and keeps stats on your entries. Privately, if you like, of course. I've been 11 days at it and still going strong. I never thought I could keep up such a routine but the site makes it easy with reminders but not nagging. I have a feeling I could go back through my entries and use parts of them in my art and my life. I've already made a huge tough decision by working it through in my head and through an entry. It amazed me how calm I felt after being so anxious about this really tough decision I had to make. I really can't thank Buster enough.

Gotta go so I can catch that little red wagon early tomorrow!

On My Mind and Under the Dirt

2010-03-12T00:37:00.000-08:00

Got a lot of things on my mind lately. One of which is Amina since her stomach issues hadn't resolved. We actually hit a crisis last weekend so it's not surprising to find myself doing a couple more watercolors of her after another dry spell. One is looser, more a warm up or a study done very quickly.

The other was done in February sometime and has a more finished feel. A tighter drawing and composition and it was when I had more than 20 minutes to paint. Uninterrupted time definitely makes a difference! It's a little off on the perspective and I shortened her nose but it's definitely her facial expression and easily recognizable.

I suppose I would enjoy doing pet portraiture. A living, breathing being makes it a little challenging and more lively than a still life. They're pretty fun and the color can be loosely interpreted. Yeah, I'm all about those purples and blues. Not surprising.

I haven't been doing much watercolor lately and I'd like to change that. I did a few color studies and fooling around with abstract images but nothing meaty enough to make me feel satsified. I feel a little stymied. Not sure whether it's just so much going on day-to-day or whether there's some other issues adding to the procrastination.

I have started an art journal but if I follow my usual pattern, I'll work sporadically in that and then bemoan the fact that I didn't utilize it fully and didn't apply myself to it. Maybe it's like what Eric Maisel says in his book Creativity for Life that I need to assess whether I have the love and passion to bet this type of artist. I think I have some talent and some knowledge. It's a question of heart and as Maisel says (paraphrased), if one doesn't spend or make enough time for one's art, perhaps there is not enough passion for this particular art. It might be better to seek out an activity that one is more passionate about. Of course I have other interests that definitely distract me from my painting. But perhaps it is merely doubt that preys on me now. I sometimes have felt that I have no message in my paintings. It's a frustratingly empty feeling. I want to avoid it yet if I want to be more authentic, I know I need to work through it. So that's why I started the journal (well actually two- one is messy oil pastel and the other is for pen/pencil and easy travel and clean up). I want to use the journal(s) to work out some of my creative issues, to capture snapshots of memorable moments, to note aesthetically pleasing sights, to stimulate ideas, and to motivate me to keep creating. The oil pastel is to loosen me up and free me. The other is for moments when I can't or don't want to get too messy.

As for issues, I am working my way through Susan O'Doherty's Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued and it is encouraging to read about women artists who are working through their issues at all stages of life. It's especially validating to start the chapter about how being a mother interrupts and changes your creativity positively and negatively. I need to stop avoiding and try to work through it so it can strengthen me and I can strengthen my art. I have a message but it's buried beneath the fear and worry. I bury the fear and worry so I have no message in my art. Perhaps it's time to dig up all the dirt and take a look at what is buried there.

Wise Words from Sark

2010-02-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

Thought this was appropriate from Sark's book Living Juicy: Daily Morsels for Your Creative Soul:

You can unlearn Procrastination just as you learned it.

I notice how we inundate ourselves with huge goals and then berate ourselves when they don't occur. Remember that procrastination is rooted in over functioning and low self-esteem. What a doomed combination! Procrastinators are also tremendous perfectionists and relentless rehearsers. They rehearse over and over in their mind how they're going to do it perfectly- then when they do nothing- it doesn't disturb their perfect vision!

(this is me! I am practicing doing instead of rehearsing)

Pickin' Up the Slack

2010-02-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

Yeah, been slacking again but I feel a bit revived and am looking forward to this burst of energy/inspiration. I worked on a couple small watercolor paintings of a chicken today. Simple and pleasing. Maybe the enjoyment is in the simplicity. I'm not done with them yet so no images yet.

After Christmas, I had a secret project but now I can reveal since I just gave it to my sis-in-law. She had wanted a painting of her grandmother's NJ shore house that they used to visit every summer. I never considered myself adept at architectural images but it wasn't too shabby!

I actually found a frame that fit and an acid free mat that I trimmed to fit the frame so all I had to do was purchase the glass. She LOVED it and I am pleased with how it turned out. I forgot to photograph it hanging on her guest room wall (shore/beach theme) but I'll be back down there soon enough. She's got two of my paintings now- one an oil that I had done years back based on her photo of the Shenandoah Valley- they recently custom-built an awesome frame for it and hung it in their freshly painted office.

(photo courtesy of Stacey Guilfoy)

I still love it and it was from their first trip there so it's got nice sentimental as well as aesthetic value for them.

I hadn't considered it before but I probably have a lot of paintings in private collections (read: friends and families homes). I remember doing a few commissions over the years. I wish I kept better records. There was a koi painting, I've got a couple framed at my parents-in-laws home, my college roommate has my watercolor pig painting from my first explorations in watercolor, my mom and dad have some of my work, my photo of the college art building was sold at my undergraduate student show, a few high school friends have some of my paintings, a couple former co-worker friends of my husband's have a couple of my oils... and who knows what else I've lost track of? It's funny how the art has slowly drifted out.

I've got a whole closet full of stuff from over the years (some are awful and some are not too bad) but I suppose that's pretty normal for most creative folks. I remember an art exhibit that revealed the artist had amassed and stored years and years of work under her bed and it wasn't until after her death that they discovered how much amazing art she had created. She made them for herself with no intention of showing it to the world yet somehow the world got to see them. I love the idea of such pure art for art's sake. No compromising to please the rest of the world.

I'm in the middle of reading a book about how women tend to be "people pleasers" and many times, that hinders our creativity. The book is called Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativty by Susan O'Doherty. She's a psychotherapist who had training in drama therapy so it's fascinating to me from the art therapy perspective as well. Although I agree with feminist philosophy, I have not read up or researched it as O'Doherty has done. She makes me want to learn more about women's studies and understand better how our society stifles women consciously and subconsciously. I guess it has not been that long since women's liberation and even so, equality has not arrived. But I digress. It does have some to do with creating and believing in myself as an artist but I am still a work in progress.

Dog Day

2010-01-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

So I meant to post this for the previous post but my fingers and mind clearly had another agenda.

This past week, I was undecided what to paint and was getting a little frustrated at my indecision. I finally thought, Amina (my bluetick coonhound)! She's a great subject! Always fun to paint. I can get back to some other stuff on my agenda later. I did a quick study (above) which turned out rather nice and then the second image (below) was more refined but still loose enough to be fun. Sometimes when I'm so focused on the details, I get really tight during the painting and it becomes more "work". The looser paintings are more forgiving if there's a splash or drip of paint where I didn't plan it or if the water runs more or blooms appear.

Growing Creativity

2010-01-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

Some days I don't know what to paint and tend to meander aimlessly trying to find a direction. Sometimes it's perfectly fine to float along until you bump into something to work on. Other times it drives me up the wall. I attribute it to my indecisive nature and find that a class structure prevents the indecisive bumbling.

But perhaps it's all part and parcel of the creative process. There are times when your mind is gathering up ideas that have yet to be planted. Or maybe they are seedlings in the cold earth, needing just a little more heat to burst past that top layer of resistance. Other times, there are so many ideas that it's hard to cull out the ones to focus on first. And there are productive times where the harvest is abundant and the ideas have come to full fruition. We all want to focus on that last part but I think often I forget the other parts of the cycle are just as important. In one of my grad school classes, we talked of the "incubation period" where there seems to be very little happening on the surface. When we emerge from that quiet, contemplative time, it seems that ideas are simmering and rearing to go. After that class, I've been more tolerant of my own unproductive periods. I have more faith that eventually I'll get back to the easel.

Is it so surprising then that things seem fresh again when we pick the paintbrush back up? I am still surprised sometimes at what a long dormant period brings forth. The productivity after the shorter periods still give me a jolt of pleasure and motivation but the shocker seems to be after a long period away. It seems to reinforce procrastination and my poor habits! It's no excuse, just an observation about my own process.

This sporadic way of working is against everything every creative book recommends. I've been reading several books that talk about getting into a routine of creating every day and "practice makes perfect" and other similar ideas. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron (quite a popular book for all types of artists) practices morning pages and other exercises to keep your creativity honed. And I truly want to find myself there at some point. For now, it's good enough if I can get in some art-making a couple times a week. I'll bump it up if I can maintain that schedule and maybe one day I'll take Ms. Cameron up on her Morning Pages. For now, I have spurts of blogging and spurts of painting so you just have to keep your eyes open!

Procrastinator's Excuses

2010-01-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you're dying to hear all the reasons I haven't posted any paintings on my blog in months...

Framing for art show

Christmas shopping

Christmas cards

Wrapping

Packing

Traveling- away from studio (yes, I do have travel supplies, no, I did not use them

Family

Sickness

New Year's Goals (that's a whole other list)

But that doesn't mean I haven't been creative- just not painting as much. Here's the rest of the excuses:

Working on my updated website (still a work in progrress)

Crocheting

First book review

Reading (not just children's books but books on creativity and techniques as well as some unrelated topics)

I swear I am working on stuff. Just a little distracted. I have been painting and will eventually post the images. Today, in fact, I'm experimenting with splatter and wetter techniques. It's a little messy but I'm just playing. In the process of orgaizing, one has to hit a stage of messiness. I'm right smack in the middle of that, as my studio will attest!

Holiday Greetings

2009-12-30T11:20:00.001-08:00

Vineyard Views- the Reception

2009-12-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

The day opened cold and foggy with a sprinkle of rain. It was reminiscent of the first day of the plein air workshop and I was glad I included some of the paintings from that day in the exhibit. Of course I was running around trying to fix up the hummus snack plate, get dressed, and get the three year old dressed. I tried not to poke my eyes out trying to put in my contacts. Of course the little buggers didn't want to go in since I was in a rush. And before I rushed out the door, I had to fix some pigtails.

Even with the chilly weather and nerves, it was a good showing and enjoyable to see all the work hanging in such a beautiful setting. And it was great to have the family and friends see the final result. I wasn't sure if I would get it all done but I have to say I'm proud of myself for making that push and putting those pieces in the show. It will come down in few weeks and it will be on to another endeavor!

Vineyard Views

2009-12-08T17:51:00.000-08:00

"Vineyard Views" at Hillsborough Winery
A winery-themed show featuring original watercolors and oils created on-site (plein-air) and also studio work

The exhibit runs December 13 - January 18, 2010.
Opening Reception: Sunday, Dec. 13th, 1-4

I've been prepping like crazy for the plein air workshop-turned-show for the past couple weeks. I found out that I could submit more than two pieces in the student show at the vineyard this month so I tried to fix up what I could to be presentable and I think I'm finally finished with the handful of pieces. Apparently a lot of people only wanted to put up one painting. I figure if I'm gonna go for it, I might as well put in as many as I can since it's rare that there's a show with little limitations. I had a goal at the beginning of the year to enter into some art shows. I got in the GW Art Therapy juried show (which will be a longer show and reception will be in January) and this vineyard student show.

For Vineyard Views, I'm using three of the images I painted during the workshop but I worked from photo references for two more paintings. One small water-based oil and the rest watercolor. Not too shabby. I'll post them after the show reception so there will be a little suspense and element of surprise!

For some reason, I've been finding that I hit my painting stride after midnight. I won't tell you what time I got to bed on the nights I was painting. Yeah, strange schedule to keep especially since I have to be up when my daughter's up.

Framing was a compromise in the sense that I went as cheap as possible (and it still ain't cheap!) since I don't know if anything will sell and if they do, many people reframe. Acid free matting of course but the backing is just what came with the frame. Yes, I'm a miserable excuse for a former picture framer. I know all the rules and I broke a bunch but I figure if I get them back, I'll take them out of the frames and reuse the mat and frames for another painting. Or maybe I'll try them in a different exhibit before taking them out of their temporary non-acid free home. I figure if they sell, people want to pay for the art not the frame. If they don't sell, I don't want to invest a bundle in a bunch of frame jobs I don't plan on hanging in the house. I wanted to go to my former employer's frameshop but I didn't have the time to travel out to get it done. It's the busy season as well. I think this time, it helped knowing that I was painting for an exhibit because I generally have difficulty parting with the paintings. I'm prepared to part with them but also ok if I get them back because I like them. And I figure I'll try to find a different location to exhibit them as a set.

I worry a bit about my style being so focused on mastering technique now and it ends up more realism than anything else but then I figure, I am where I am. It's taken me three years of watercolor classes off and on before feeling confident enough to put it out there for this show. It may not be to everyone's tastes but I've come a long way from that watercolor class three years ago!

Anyhow, delivery is tomorrow and Thursday so I better get the labels on the back and pop that last painting in the mat and frame.

Show Acceptance

2009-11-21T16:18:00.000-08:00

So I got accepted into the GWU Art Therapy program's juried art exhibition Encounter Culture: The Culturally Responsive Art Therapist. It is juried by Matt Sesow, a self-taught artist living in Washington, DC. "Matt travels and paints extensively; he exhibits nationally and internationally, and his work has illustrated many publications. Hear an interview and watch him work

Important details:
Reception, Saturday, January 30, 4-6pm

On Exhibit December 12, 2009 – April 16, 2010
413 John Carlyle Ave., Suite 250
Art Therapy Program Studio
Alexandria, VA

Now all I have to do is get the picture framed, decide on whether I want to sell and at what price, fill out the insurance form, and drop off the art.

Plein Air Workshop

2009-11-20T17:06:00.000-08:00

I did my two-day plein air (outdoors) watercolor workshop at Hillsborough Winery and it was FANTASTIC! The first day was rainy and cold. But the fog was absolutely amazing to paint! And before it started pouring, I sat outside working on my first little landscape. When I started noticing drops of water diluting my painting, I packed it up and headed indoors. Surprisingly, that first painting wasn't ruined even if it was a bit washed out (literally as well as color-wise). But as Christine, the instructor put it, "It was a group project with Mother Nature!"

My second one was inside the winery looking through the windows at the scenic views. I'm not big into buildings but there's something very attractive about barns and silos. We ate lunch and some partook of the wine tasting while waiting to see if the rain would stop. We glanced out the window after lunch and our landscape had disappeared beneath a fog that was white and transparent as a wall! No view to paint so we had a critique of the paintings we had finished or were working on. The fog eventually receded, gradually revealing the countryside like a gift being slowly unveiled. And the rain paused long enough for us to take some photos for references for later paintings. That one was too big to scan and I've got to wait for daylight to take a decent photo of it before posting it up here.

The discussion during the critique was about how just being in a place to experience the atmosphere and see it in person makes all the difference in how we perceive and portray an image of it on paper or canvas. Photos are nice as references but it doesn't do the real thing justice and there are drawbacks to using just a photo. You can lose the mood and the overall view.

After working so realistically, I had to unwind so I picked out the brightest colors and laid down a lot of water to create the most vivacious and reckless landscape I could. It's all bold tones and loose strokes as well as lots of water and pigment. Fantasy. I have a couple touch-ups to do before I post that one.

The second day was a nice contrast since it was sunny with fast-moving clouds that created illusive shadows and quick spotlights. It was still chilly and when the sun was hidden behind a cloud and a breeze whipped by, it was numbingly cold. But it was outside all day except for the brief lunch break. I began a small watercolor but stopped for the water-based oil painting demo and lost a little bit of my initial energy.

The demo was wonderful and made me want to get back to oils again. It emphasized some similarities to watercolors as well as dramatic differences. Working darks first (my first inclination) and then the lights. In watercolor, it's a struggle for me to do the lighter tones first. I want to jump into the shadows first. And I am not always successful at saving the white of the paper (as you are supposed to do in watercolor). I like the thickness of the oils and how you can shove them around a bit but yet they are fluid. I hadn't tried water-based oils but that would resolve my oil painting hiatus since I stopped doing oils 3 years ago due to the fumes and chemicals. Didn't want to expose my baby. Now there's another option. A way to get back to it. And working the small size is manageable since it will dry in a day or two. I chose watercolors partly because the fast drying time and convenience, and partly because the challenge of the media.

But back to my first (and only) watercolor on the second day of the workshop. It was Ok. I got some of the colors and landscape I wanted but the small size felt really restrictive to me, especially in such a wet media. Manageable, but limiting. I mean, it's a panoramic view and here I am with an undersized piece of paper. And my camera battery died so no photo references for today. Ah well. Got enough to work from and it's not too far to drive back. So after I finished working on the disappointingly small watercolor, we took lunch inside to warm up and re-energize. Then back out to paint.

For the second painting, I tried out Christine's "Thumb box" pochade (a portable oil painting easel/case) which was 6"x 8". Yes, I worked even SMALLER! But in this case, it was better all around because here was thick, solid color that I could shove around and get a feel again for oils. It was lovely returning to it, like greeting a long-lost friend. Some awkward moments but we knew each other so we hung out and had a marvelous time. I finished the mini-oil in 2 hours and am quite pleased with it. I will scan it when it dries and then I'll post it.

I am convinced that I need to buy and try the water-based oils. After three years of watercolor, I'm sure it has affected my oil painting. It's just a question of discovering how and rediscovering the media. Why not acrylic, you ask? I am not sure why I never got hooked on acrylic. I'm not sure if it's just a mental prejudice or whether the plastic look and was a turn-off and vaguely disquieting, like when you know something is off in a relationshop but can't quite put a finger on it or how to fix it. Either way, I suppose I could have experimented more with acrylic. Still can. But oils are so elite! How many masters painted with acrylics vs oils? And water-soluble oils are so convenient with all the feel of oils. Or close enough.

So there you have it. A terrific two-day workshop that has revved me up and energized me to do more painting. And a renewal of friendship with oil painting! I am so tempted to sign up for a plein-air class but it is a heck of a long drive. And the times may be an issue. I'll have to see what I can work out. I have to say, Christine Lashley is phenomenal and I have enjoyed all her classes and have learned so much from her teaching techniques and guidance.

Oh, yeah, there's going to be a show at Hillsborough Winery called "Vineyard Views" from December 13, 2009- January 18, 2010. The opening reception date has not been firmed up yet but I will post it when it is. I am planning on putting two pieces in the show and hope to have painted more between now and then.

Roots and Rocks

2009-11-08T18:30:00.000-08:00

I feel like my painting process is either feast or famine. I have yet to find the middle path. Perhaps a lot of my life is like that- extremes rather than a consistency. I have spoken to some who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, where extremes have ruled their life and they have mentioned the boredom that comes when their moods and lives are leveled out. Although there is security and consistency, the excitement and extra creativity dries up. I can relate to the urge to make your life more exciting by pitting the extremes next to each other. The contrasts always bring vivid color and depth to the composition. But at what cost? There must be a way to harness that energy and excitement while steadily pulling the creativity cart. It reminds me of an article I read a while back about a kid who was on medication for his ADHD but it hampered his creativity and energy so he would frequently go off his medications to feel more of life. He and his family and doctor finally came to a compromise where he was on medication during the week so he could focus for school but on the weekends he was med-free so he could be his creative and active self. Not the solution for everyone but apparently it worked for him and reminds us that it is so important to find a solution that we are satisfied with so we can be happy in our skins.

I don't necessarily think that taking a little "vacation" from painting is a bad thing. If anything, it can be very rejuvenating and it gives time for ideas to incubate. It's not as if I shut out the rest of the world when I pause my painting. I took a drive up to the vineyard where my art workshop will be held in a couple weeks and took a bunch of photos that will help me get started or that I can use as reference photos after the workshop. I also took some photos at a local duck pond that I think may be good for a painting or two. So I've got all these ducks lined up and I just need to start feeding them...

I hit a mini-splurge of creativity tonight and sketched a couple ideas as well as finished my tree picture. (The left side is filled in now so it finally looks finished instead of forgotten.)

I need a little distance so I can decide whether it needs to be cropped or stay as is. The benefits of cropping include un-centering it (for some reason I dislike the centered and symmetrical composition- I like an image slightly off-balance) and cropping out any overpainting I might have done. It's like final editing but can be done with a matt vs permanently chopping off part of the image. This one's going to be entered in a show and if it gets in, I'll post the show details.

In addition, I painted a mini-tree picture. There's something about those tree roots that let me paint looser and more enjoyably. I guess because it's inanimate and impersonal in a way. I have liberty to play with the colors and deviate from the orginal. The way the shadows and highlights fall give me the skeleton of a value study and the color is merely the outer skin of the image. Good bone structure can alleviate any color blemishes. The little one is just as pleasing to me as the bigger one but it was quicker to execute. It was practically an exercise since it's about 5.5 x 8.5 inches. A baby in comparison with the other tree picture. I have another tree waiting in the wings to be painted. Hope to get to that one this week.

My second rock/family painting that I'm working on has been put on hold. I think it actually precipitated my drought of work for the past week or so. With family images, I think a part of it is the psychology behind the relationships. Not that I am having any issues with my family at present but that there's a lot of baggage associated with images of the people who are related to you and have lived with you. And if you botch their face or something, there's an unspoken question of whether your subconscious is trying to tell you something. The process has quite a bit of punch behind painting a portrait of someone with whom you have a relationship. So you could say, there's a bit more pressure to paint it right. Well, at least that's the way it seems to work for me. But I can't resist painting some of them. And struggling with the frustrations when they haven't come out the way I expected. I have found a loophole, especially with the last rock picture: distance. For me for some reason, (with painting and family) I find distance makes it much easier to bear all the real or imagined pressures. It's easy to blur those details that can be so frustrating. Of course this is a challenge because I especially enjoy painting close ups! Yes, I like making life easier on myself.

But getting back to that painting that is on hold. I'm going to have to face the music soon and just take my chances. What is life or painting without risk? My internal dialogue usually goes something like this:

"Ok, don't mess it up. You can do it. Really, you can do it! If it gets messed up, you can always paint another one. I know, it takes time to paint another one. Well, you can fix it. You've learned some tricks to 'erase' watercolor mistakes. Or cover it up. Yeah, it's no big deal. It's just some paper and paint. If this one doesn't come out, it'll be a study and the next one will be better. They always are. Just do it!"

Sometimes that works and sometimes it sits and waits for a day where I feel like superwoman or am fed up with my internal debate. It's rather like standing at the high dive and looking down. If you wait too long, you lose your nerve and it becomes harder and harder to jump. But if you don't look and you just keep going, you find you've ended up in the pool and are swimming towards the ladder with adrenaline rushing in your ears. Maybe some water up the nose but you know to hold your nose next time. So, yeah, has this motivated me to paint that picture yet? Maybe. I'll let you know when it's done.

More ATCs

2009-10-27T00:38:00.000-07:00

Just sent off another batch of artist's trading cards (ATCs). Although the theme was "D is for Drawing", I couldn't resist adding the seasonal element.

I've been slacking again, of course, but I am working on another watercolor and have ideas for some more. I've felt myself tense back up and can tell that painting is more work than fun. Sometimes it comes so easily and I can play a bit but other times it's a struggle. I keep coming back to the exercise metaphor. The more you do it, the looser your muscles get so it feels easier. After a couple days without a workout, I feel stiff and sore and it's tough to want to go back to training. And I'm pretty poor at self-discipline. It's strange to find myself being more impulsive and moody about my painting time. Perhaps that's why I cling to a class to structure my time for art as well as focus my creative energies and ideas.

I'm excited to sign up for a plein air workshop in November. Working on site should be interesting since it's been years since I've painted outdoors. And November is freezing! Nothing like experiencing the elements and subject up close and personal!

While I wait for the workshop, I think I'll have to schedule appointments for myself in order to plug in time to paint. And the holidays are coming so I better get to it- there are always a million projects I want to do for the holidays and of course I can only get around to maybe a quarter of them. Gotta restructure my time for my workouts to get the paint circulating again.

Rockin' It

2009-10-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

I took a bit of time off since I was running around with various appointments for eyes, the daughter, eyes again, and eyes some more. Still have more eye appointments eating up my art time and energy but I've gotten a bit done yesterday. The appointments are all between regular errands, cooking, mom's group stuff, etc. Thank goodness the transition to preschool is going well for my daughter. Those three hours pass all too quickly!

I've been taking the fall session of watercolor classes with Christine Lashley and next week is the last one (bummer!). I've got to find another regular art time/motivator til Spring. I'm hoping to go to my instructor's plein air workshop in November (painting on location in the friggin' cold!). We'll see if it pans out.

After my spurt of productivity, I fizzled but I am starting to work a little steadier. When the project is fresh, I feel the drive to get to work. Christine had told me I should do some more along the lines of the tree picture (which still needs some finishing touches but I'm a bit stumped- harhar) and also some more rocks and water maybe. So I pulled a couple old photos of me and my mom on a rocky California beach (I'll have to ask my dad which one). At Christine's prompting and the lesson on value, I did a value study. Several, in fact. Here's the current one I'm working on:

The point of the value study is to simplify and group the details into large blocky ("chunky" as Christine says) shapes so I can see where the eye focuses and make sure the composition holds interest. It helps to place the darks and lights before going back through to focus on the details. I did the study, started the final painting, forgot to check the study, went back to the photo and got sucked into the details, and had to go back through and "fix" the painting by returning to the study. Watercolors are erasable to a certain extent but sometimes shadows remain. It depends on the pigment and the paper. I got close to finishing it yesterday and now need to do some final touches. I'm not certain about the sky and weather it needs to go darker but I need to take a breather from this painting for a bit. I'll solicit some critiques from a couple people including Christine before calling it done. Here's the pre-finished image.

Can you spot me and my mom in there? I love that the people are almost unnoticeable but show the proportion of the rocks. The painting is not too shabby and maybe show-worthy but I still feel like there are so many imperfections. I still want to keep tweaking and don't know if I'm doing more damage than good. This is one of those paintings that doesn't really feel like it has a finish because there's so much I could continue to do to it. At what point is it considered finished? I have a tendency to overwork a piece so I have to be wary. As always, I put my trust in my instructor, who will be gone til spring, except for a workshop. Woe is me!

Another One

2009-09-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

While Rasine was in preschool today, I started and just about finished this watercolor. I'm early this year since I donate a work of art for the Poplar Spring Farm Sanctuary open house silent auction every October. (Our friend has a wonderful blog with stories from the farm by an awesome photographer) The goat is Sammy but I'm not sure which sheep is next to him. Last year I did a watercolor of Opal the turkey. I'm pretty pleased with this one but I had a great photo reference so that really helps. I've found that working from a black and white enlarged photocopy of the original photo gives me a good idea of values and then I can play with the colors as much as I want. When I work from color photos, I tend to get stuck in trying to get everything to match the photo but there are limitations to working from photos. They get flattened and sometimes the color is leeched out. The lighting can be off and that makes all the difference.

For instance, take the photo of my watercolor (above): I had taken a photo of it with daylight before I went to class which represented the colors well. Then I went to class, added and adjusted some things based on my instructor's suggestions and wanted to take a final photo tonight. Since there wasn't daylight, I had to use the flash which washed out the colors so I had to go back through the photo program and adjust the colors on the computer. It still probably isn't accurate but that's the limitations of viewing art on the computer. But you get the general idea of how the art looks.I just remembered I still have a pastel of Simon the rooster that I haven't finished from last year. One day I'll finish it off and get it to the farm. Pastels are tougher to deal with though since they flake and the color fades a bit. A pastel painting instructor I had told me never to spray because it changes the colors. Of course, she uses professional grade pastels so they are less flaky than the cheap brands and therefore need less spraying. (FYI, a cheap way to "fix" a pastel is to use a hairspray like Aquanet instead of the expensive art fixatives)

But back to my art binge- I'm hitting a groove and feeling great about it! Art high! I am very happy to be out of the procrastinator's rut for the moment. And Ryan believes this last painting is probably the best farm picture I've done thus far. I'll have to go back and compare. It's hard to compare though because they are all different subjects. Last year I focused on the birds (a rooster and Opal the turkey).

This watercolor of Bucky, the goat, is the first painting I did for the farm in 2004. I think I took a year off when Rasine was born. I can't find anything between 2004 and 2008 but I know I did a portrait of a sheep and a horse in oils or acrylics but I must not have taken a photo because I can't find it in my files. (There's also a watercolor of a purple horse but I haven't located that image either.) That was the year I decided watercolor was the way to go since it dried quicker and materials were less expensive. I think my watercolors have gotten a little lighter and looser (credit goes to Christine Lashley who focuses on fresh style of watercolors and has helped me get looser with my painting).

I looked through my portfolio and realized I've been taking her classes for two years now. Sometimes I've missed a session but I've taken all the ones offered by her in my town. I didn't realize it had been that long. Not only is she a great artist, she's a fantastic instructor who has allowed me to try different techniques and gain confidence in my own developing work and style. The best thing about her classes is that I can set my own pace and do my own thing if I want. The demos are wonderful but I like the freedom to basically do an "independent study" during class.

Speaking of Christine and class, she gave me some pointers on finishing touches on those other paintings so there may a few minor alterations from the photos in the last post. If there's any major changes, I'll post new photos of the art.

I was perusing some of the Art Calendar events and may be ready for entering some art in juried competitions. Ahhhh, the anxiety! Christine's been gently encouraging and she sent me an article that will be useful when I start entering. There's a high chance of rejection so don't be surprised if I drag my feet sending in some entries. So many good excuses not to enter... Yep, I'm pretty intimidated about competing with other artists and professional artists.

On a different note, I checked back in with the new American Art Therapy Association (AATA) office about the three paintings I loaned them to exhibit in their Alexandria office and they told me they'd love to borrow them for a while longer. Guess they are enjoying them! I don't need them back really and it's good exposure for me if people see them.

Finally Finished

2009-09-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

Last night I actually worked on finishing several watercolor paintings. Sometimes I'm organized enough to have written the date that I started a particular painting. I realized one of the paintings (the persimmons) I finished last night took a year to finish! I started working in watercolor because I figure it was faster and less fumes but at this rate, the "faster" doesn't apply. I had actually stopped working on it and tucked it away when the initial drive died. I lost the energy and put it away for fear of ruining it. Now I wish I had taken a picture of the midway point where I stopped a year ago, for comparison's sake. I had looked at it several times these past few months but finally worked up the nerve to take the risk of messing it up. And at first I thought I had botched it. It's funny how there's an ugly phase before the picture is transformed into something complete. At least with me, I struggle through a phase of painting that feels very ugly and frustrating. Not that I'm always striving for beauty but more that the picture is not going in the direction I want it to. I have to wrestle with it to get it to submit to my will. And with watercolor, it is easy to overwork something. There eventually comes a point of no return when you cannot "fix" the image.

I have recently gotten an itch to do some oils. I was tempted to sign up for an oil painting class but the supplies list intimidated me. Not that I don't have most of the stuff but just going through and seeing what was good or not seemed overwhelming. Well, maybe that's just the excuse to delay a little more. I am finding my comfort zone with the watercolors and am afraid to leave it. I think I'm starting to develop a "voice" with my watercolors. I've always felt a little like I didn't have a style that stood out enough so now that I'm getting more comfortable and experimenting a little more, I think I'm finding what techniques feel most like me. And if I switch over to oils, I feel like I'll have to deal with the transition and lose the comfort or ease of painting that I've found with the watercolors. I've hit my stride in watercolors and am feeling that painter's high! I cannot give up my confidence so soon but I know I need to keep expanding and delve back into the oils again. Perhaps my watercolor painting experiences will enhance my oil painting skills. But if I don't try, I won't know. I figure I'll grab my courage this year and take the plunge.

As for my other paintings, I had one that I started and finished within a week. A matter of days actually and probably a record for me! Sometimes you get in the flow and you gotta go with it. (If I'm not careful, I'll have to rename my blog since I seem to be getting a handle on this procrastination thing!) I wish that I would get in that groove more often than not. The painting is strong but based on another artist's work (Susan Shatter), so it is not an original. I'll have to paint a similar subject (rocks and water) but with my own images. It's a great one for value and contrast. I really love high contrast.

My tree painting is probably the largest watercolor I've done and based on a photo I took in San Diego at Balboa Park. I am still deciding whether I overworked it. It's tough for me to leave white space and my watercolor instructor suggested I leave some of the skeleton (the pencil sketches) showing and a large section unpainted. It was like a compulsion to keep adding color and I had to make myself put the brush down so I wouldn't fill up the page. I'll get my instructor's opinion this week- she has a ton of experience and I trust her knowledge and instinct of watercolors and composition.

I also dragged a painting out that I was working on several months ago. It's based on Ryan's photo of my undergrad art building, Melcher's at night. There is a glow around the building and everything else is dark or reflecting the light. The photo is wonderful and I learned how to do lights with this painting. I kept thinking it was finished and kept having to go back to add more color, make it darker in areas, touch up things that were bothering me like crooked columns, etc. The paper handled the layers of water and paint but I've managed to get a really neat looking texture because the numerous times I added another layer of color. Sort of suede or velour-like. Once again, it's the contrast that I love. The dark sidled up right next to the bright light. Makes a real glow similar to luminism or Thomas Kincaid's windows (without the gingerbread house). It was a good day's work and finishing all those paintings gave me a glow!

The Little Things and the Little People

2009-09-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some smaller projects (art stamps, ATCs, thank you cards) and that has filled some of the creative space. They are such intimate things since you can hold them easily in your hand and there's something very appealing and liberating about creating art in that size. The thank you's have actually been a joint effort (I enlisted Rasine since they are thanks for her birthday gifts)- I'd sketch the gift items in ink pen and she would color them in. Somehow, she suddenly learned how to color in the lines! What skill for a 2 year old (at least to a mom's eyes)! I realized how much I've conformed when I feel the urge to tell her to match up the correct colors. I restrain myself because right now, she is creative and free with no expectations about what her art should look like. It is with the expectations and inner critic for my own art as well as hers. I am consciously suppressing the urge to tell her how to create. She knows naturally as all children seem to.

The funny thing is that as she watches me draw the images, she tells me that I'm doing such a good job! How funny to hear the words from my daughter that I used to wish from my parents. We all long for approval and it seems to count most in the school years. Approval and encouragement lead to confidence I believe. If my daughter is parroting my words, then I hope it means that I'm offering enough to help her build her self-esteem so she doesn't have as many self-doubts as I do. Circles and reflections... I've heard that it's hard to raise a self confident child if you are not confident yourself. I have hopes that the creative process will help me iron out some of that challenge. The more I do, the more confidence I will have in my self.

And here again, I have to analyze my reasons for not signing up yet for that fall art class. I know I use the classes as a way to discipline and structure my scattered mind and it affords me much-needed art time. It helps to be away from the distractions of home. So I guess I better get myself in gear for the school year!

Distractions & Additions to the Portfolio

2009-08-10T18:44:00.001-07:00

Haven't gotten myself back to the drawing board, so to speak. I could make excuses and say I've been out of town more than in but I know I could be carrying along some supplies and at least working on a daily journal. Why don't I? Hmmm... LAZY. Well, it's not like I'm not busy doing other things but it's that I'm not making any art time. I've been working on some little projects. Crafts and distractions for the most part. (I have yet to sign up for another art class- which will get my butt back in gear.) So let's see what's been substituting in my creative space...

I'm almost finished with a weekend crochet project- a puppy dog that ended up twice as big as the original size because I didn't have the right sized hook. Cute and there are some mistakes but I think I can fix it with the next go-round. Of course, the drive to do another has waned since the first got finished. I lack some follow-through or maybe the interest wanes since I have achieved the bulk of the challenge.

I've started doing homemade wrapping paper and card with my daughter for the numerous birthday parties we attend. It's raw and fun and cute with the toddler doing some painting or coloring and me cutting and placing. I think I've settled on a good and simple design to use for birthday wrap in general. Yeah it takes some time and people may be careless with wrapping paper but it's an enjoyable project for me and the girl and the artsy/sentimental types appreciate it.

I'm contemplating a stamp project. Another distraction but an opportunity that I had missed last year. Making my own art stamps. How fun! How neat to add them to everything. And swapping them with my art swap group would give me plenty of different stamps. Gotta hurry though if I want to play. I work pretty well under pressure though- if I don't have that push then it might not get finished! Guess I'll stop contemplating and go get something done.

2009-07-27T19:05:00.001-07:00

Here I am again with a million things on my to-do list, wondering when I will jump back into the creative process. I know I should stop thinking about it and just do it. The longer I sit contemplating, the harder it is to actually get started. Even though I know this, each night that I have some time to myself, I still find myself sitting like a lump instead of reaching for the brush. I frustrate myself. I keep asking myself if it's because I really don't want to do it? Is it the mere idea that I like? But no, I enjoy working on paintings and I enjoy the learning process and I like seeing the product. So it is merely laziness. Or back to that self-sabotage. One day soon, I'm gonna kick it's ass.

Since my class has ended, I need to find a way to motivate myself to sit down and get to work. I have several motivators keeping me creative on some different fronts but I need to find something for my painting. The other things are stop-gap measures and smaller creative acts that maybe distract me from the main course. One of them is participating in my art swaps. Just got involved in an Artist's Trading Card (ATC) swap that starts with A is for Art. I'm sending that out this week. I really enjoyed playing on a small scale and they are fun little pieces. It's been nearly ready for a week. What is this force that keeps dragging my heels? Am in in some kind of tar pit? I think it may be the separation anxiety. Even though they are only little pieces and I photograph or scan them for my records, I have a hard time saying goodbye to them and putting them through the mail. Isn't that silly? The same thing has happened with some sets of watercolor cards I'm sending a friend. I have duplicates. I have the sets in the boxes for months now. I dug up the letter I started in March and finished that novella off. Now it's waiting to be taped up, addressed, and dropped to the post office. Why the heck is it still sitting in my house, taking up precious studio space and lingering in the back burner of my brain where I keep having to check on it to make sure it hasn't burned?! I am determined it will go out before August begins. Ahhhh a deadline. I gave myself a deadline. How many times have I done that in order to get myself whipped into shape? I have no discipline. But that doesn't stop me from trying to better myself. I still have hope that I can improve.

Back to the ATCs- they are joyful little breaths of creativity. I am excited that in some part of my brain, the ideas are simmering for the rest of the alphabet (I think B is for Blue and C is for Color). I have faith that the person who is hosting this swap will send some art back my way. Yes, I have had several art exchanges where I have never received my art. How heartbreaking to put in so much work and get nothing back in return. Adds to the separation anxiety. But if you never let your children go into the world, you do yourself and your babies a disservice. Art is created to be viewed! Sure one part is all about the creative process but the other part is about the witness. The witness, too, is a critical part of art therapy. So the whole art swap is fashioned in a way that motivates me to create and get it out there.

I'm hoping to find things like that which will help me stay motivated. I'd like to get into some juried shows so I need to step up, check out deadlines, keep creating, keep putting my art out there. A goal of mine is to become a member of a watercolor society. So many opportunities for creative exchanges! Of course, most societies require acceptance into three juried shows so that's where I sit spinning my wheels. I guess I ought to invest in that Art Calendar that everyone recommends so that I can find the juried shows. Each additional step feels like a hurdle that slows down my sprint. Of course I didn't expect it to be easy. And certainly, it's not really a race but I feel time ticking as each year passes and my goal is still in the distance somewhere.

I am happy to say that I got off my butt and put some art in the new American Art Therapy Association Office. They needed art for a month's display. I deliberated a long time on which pieces and am pretty pleased with my choices. I chose a landscape watercolor, a watercolor portrait of the girls, and an abstract in oils. Unfortunately, we'll be out of town for the opening reception so I won't get to see the pieces hung up on the walls. That's alright since I know what they look like and now other people will get a chance to see them.

Now that I'm getting more of my stuff out there, it's enough of a motivation to start getting my website up to date. I swear, that site is so old that there must be mold growing around it. The art on there is from a few years back and I need to add my newer stuff. I can feel it shaping up! Got my photos on Flickr in sets and the next thing is to get the programming so that it will grab those photos as I upload them and automatically put them on my website. I'm so lucky to have a web savvy hubby to walk me through the process a few times (since sometimes my computer literacy is questionable)! This project has been waiting in the wings a while and I think it's creeping closer to actualization- very exciting! The more that I accomplish, the more I am motivated to keep plugging away at my long-term projects. I've always had weak finishes but I'm starting to fix that. I've got to be my own cheer leader as well as my own tough-love coach. Who else knows me better to know what I need to push me across those finish lines?

2009-06-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Took a two week vacation from watercolors even though I had planned to do some work on a piece. Well, class starts tomorrow and there's a reason I signed up- it keeps me painting. I know myself and if I don't sign up for a time focused entirely on art, I won't get around to it. I love doing painting but who knows why sitting around reading a good story or cooking up a new recipe always trumps working on art. Perhaps because it's still work. And at heart, I am lazy. If I think on it too much, it won't get done. I just need to jump in.

How frustrating to feel that I'm constantly self-sabotaging. What the heck am I afraid of? Not failure since I'm clearly failing if I'm not even doing it. It must be a fear of success. If I actually made a name for myself and became a professional artist, I would feel pressured to live up to all these expectations, real or imagined. And I have major performance anxiety. I envy those successful artists but at the same time, a part of me is relieved it's not me catering to a client or the Public.

Where do I want to go with it then? Experimentation perhaps. An enjoyable hobby certainly. But then I feel I am not living up to my potential. Shouldn't I have a passion, a drive to paint/create? I have a passion for reading and sometimes wish I could transfer that to the art studio. I enjoy painting but do not feel drawn into the art studio constantly. Perhaps painting is the wrong media? Actually, I feel I have an addiction to reading. If an activity is productive, it is labeled a passion or drive but when it is not as obviously productive or lucrative it seems to be considered a vice. So how would I make my vice into a productive thing? I could edit. I could write but I have a gut feeling I'm not a writer. At least not in the genres I love most.

I suppose I had a passion for art therapy. Being close to those who create and helping them to find a creative outlet. Although I'm introverted, I really enjoyed working in the helping field as an art therapist. Not as much performance anxiety since it's an indirect performance through the clients. Speaking of art therapy and writing, I got published! Well, I'm a co-author in an article in the Art Therapy Journal. I'm the one with the least amount of letters after my name. No, I'm not going to be chasing down anymore degrees. Guess I'll have to settle on being a co-author. That satisfies me though. I have pride in that and in working with a group. That's enough for me right now so why do I question myself and wonder about the expectations (real or imagined) that I should shoot for something bigger? I don't strive to go that direction. I want to do my own thing. But that circles back again to what my own thing is. Well, I suppose I'll eventually work it out but it can wait for another day.

Blood Flow Finally

2009-04-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about this for over a year and tonight (this morning), spur-of-the-moment, just jumped in to set the ball rolling. Made up a title on the spot and I'm finally going to try to put life into this idea. A million artists out there blogging about their art but that's ok because this is for me mainly (ok a small part of me is screaming "look at me! I'm special!"). This is going to be a battlefield, a waiting room, a delivery room, and a cemetary. I'm going to fight with myself, hold myself back, struggle to escape myself, and break free of myself to create what wants to be created. I'm my own worst enemy, my companion, and protector on this journey. There will be lots of time that nothing seems to be happening. But after those lulls, eventually something will emerge. Perhaps it will be still born and need to be buried. Here, it will be acknowledged. Perhaps it will be a survivor and I can nurture and feed it until it can stand on it's own. Here, I will introduce it to the world (even as a small part of me wants to hide it and shelter it) and the world to it. Whatever comes, this is the first breath of oxygen and I can feel the little beat. Perhaps tomorrow I will paint.