I am taking more time for art these days, immersing myself in creativity and expression. I have become a regular attendee at the Riverside Collective open studio night in Saxapahaw on Monday nights. There I get to connect with fellow artists and share inspiration. Learning new things in this environment has been inspiring; each session is filled with fresh ideas and techniques that I can take home to my studio. Painting more has not only enhanced my skills but has also provided a much-needed escape from daily stresses. I’ve recently taken up pastels in addition to my watercolors, and while they are challenging, they offer unique challenges that I find rewarding. The process of blending colors and experimenting with textures in pastels is an adventure that keeps surprising me. Check out the new pages with recent works, as I have posted pieces that reflect this journey and the growth I’ve experienced as an artist.
Beginning – Again
Three and a half years is a long time, longer when there is a pandemic in the middle of it. But as Barbara Sher says in her 2019 book: “It’s Only Too Late If You don’t Start Now”, it’s never too late to start over, so that’s what I’m doing – I’m starting over. It feels like the right time to start again as I’m getting tired of not completing things I start (I can hear friends of mine saying, “It’s about time!”). I hope to use this site to feature interesting things I’ve read, places I’ve been, and art that I have seen or produced. Yesterday, I was at the Alamance Artisans Art Extravaganza, and once again got inspired by the artists there, so I am beginning again.
Beginning
noun
1. the point in time at which something starts
“they arrived at the beginning of December”
synonyms: dawn, genesis, outset, start, inception, debut
adjective
1. new or inexperienced
“he was a beginning painter”
synonym: newbie
I remember watching Vic Braden’s PBS series ‘Tennis for the Future’ during the summer when I was a kid. I never got very good at tennis as a result, but something he said stuck with me. I’m paraphrasing here: “Enjoy being a beginner, because it is the only time you hit the ball and nobody knows where it’s going.” By which, I think he means that when you are beginning to learn something like tennis, don’t beat your self up when the ball doesn’t go where you intend it to go. Don’t have expectations, do the work, enjoy the process, you’ll get better.
Meditation teachers say the same thing; when you notice you are not following your breath gently, non-judgmentally, bring your attention back to your breath.
It’s all great advice. I wish I could remember and apply it when I start a new project. Instead I look at the page, canvas, or garden plot and start expecting great things to happen, which of course they don’t. Working at it doesn’t get me very far; it’s only when I leave the expectations behind that good things happen – ‘happy accidents’ as Bob Ross said. I bet it would be more fun too.
Children’s Art
When I was a kid in Iowa City, I would take the bus downtown to pay the newspaper for the papers I delivered that week. I’d take the money I made to the bookstore and look at the art prints. In those days they had prints of classic works printed on heavy card stock, with little ridges that were supposed to be brush strokes. I fell in love with a print of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Wheat Field with Cypress” painting, I loved the yellow color of the wheat against the blue cloud-filled sky, and the way he created the forms, but it was way more than I made in one week as a paperboy, so I saved my paper route money for two months until I had the money to buy it. I went to the bookstore every week to look at it, until I had the money to buy it. It hung in my room for years.
The original painting is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and I’ve got a link to the Wikipedia article about the painting below.
Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_Field_with_Cypresses
Relaunch
I’ve decided on a direction for this site – finally! So I’ve deleted my first post and am just starting over. I’ve just finished reading ‘Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative’ by Austin Kleon (good book by the way, you should read it) and I am ‘stealing’ some of his ideas about how to use this site. Going forward I will be posting comments on things that interest me, links to art and other topics that amaze and/or inspire me, and from time to time, some of my own work.