Month: September 2012

It’s Friday, and maybe this weekend you have time for some art reading. I found the brief paragraphs about each of the featured artists interesting and informative. Here’s the link to the article – by G. Fernandez in “theartwolf.com”  

Yesterday’s blog post talked about life being lived thoughtfully. Today I will take those same points, and apply them to making art. /  1. Think about your strengths. What aspects of art do you do particularly well? Set aside time to practice and concentrate on your strengths so that they really shine. /  2. Think about your weaknesses. Trying to improve in these areas is a good plan, but also be aware that you can likely create art that minimizes the impact of your weaknesses. For example: if line work is not your strength, concentrate on making paintings that are filled with dynamic shapes and colours. /  3. Think about art that you really admire. Identify as precisely as you can what aspects of that art you love, and then apply this learning to your own work. We all stand on the shoulders of the great creative minds that have gone before us. /  4. Expose yourself to a variety of art. This can happen at galleries, art clubs, in books, online, or in art class. Learn to appreciate diverse approaches to art that are different than your own. /  5. Put in your alone time. Nothing can replace the time you put in practicing your art. In the case of painters, that would mean time alone painting. It makes no difference if you are working in a fancy studio or on a card table in the corner of your bedroom – practice lots. You need to create a lot of art to have a hope of creating some truly great art eventually. Even the greats were beginners once. /  I hope that this list will encourage you on your artistic journey. Your comments are welcome. What would you add  to this list that I have missed? 

Life happens fast. Really fast. And it seems that the older you get, the faster time goes. How do we respond to that? For those who want some measure of contentment at the end of each day, part of the answer is to live thoughtfully. What does that look like – the thoughtful life? Here are some things that I would put on that list: 1. Think about your strengths. Figure out where you need to be to use your strengths to be of the most benefit – for yourself and for others. Work on making your strengths even stronger. Work on blessing more people because we don’t go through this life as an island. The old Simon and Garfunkel song had that one wrong. /  2. Think about your weaknesses. How much do they hold you back? If not at all, perhaps they don’t matter. But if they are holding you back from being the best you can be, then you need to think about working on overcoming. Be courageous, even if it’s in baby steps. Think about what those baby steps would look like. /  3. Think about those you admire who touch your life, and why you admire them. Encourage them. Do you want to learn to be more like them? /  4. Connect with those who have very different views and ways than your own. Listen to and respect them. It’s too easy to connect only with those who think the same. Make your life richer by seeing that there are many diverse ways of journeying through this world. /  5. This one is so essential. If you can only remember one out of this list, pick this one because the others are not likely to happen without it. Regularly seek the silence. In our world every minute can be filled with texts and emails, entertainment, work, and constant mind numbing input. How will you find time to think about your life unless you make a very intentional effort to do so? /  More and more I am convinced that if we don’t think hard about our life, time will run us over with all the subtlety of a windshield meeting a bug. For myself, as I struggle to apply the above points in my own life, I have found 2 actions particularly helpful – reading and praying. I highly recommend both. In tomorrow’s blog, I’ll look at how these 5 points can be applied to creating art as well. What do you think? What have I missed about living thoughtfully that you would add to this list? Your comments are most welcome. 

I am happy to introduce to you Carol Meredith. You can read about her art journey, and see some of her painting here on my website: “Featured Art Student“. / Painting by Carol Meredith 

This one is for artists: What do you get when you cook Raw Sienna paint? (You can comment below.) 

This is an older painting of mine that was painted “under the influence” of Group of Seven work. That simply means I had been studying their colours and techniques. It bothers me that the horizon is splitting the canvas almost 50/50 – that’s a no no! However, I do like the the glowing sky and the tree shapes. Maybe I’ll re- invent this painting in class in October. Your comments are welcome. 

“When I paint, I am not aware of what I am doing.” Jackson Pollock – I agree with this quote. It’s common that the creative mode makes artists oblivious to anything else in the world. Winston Churchill said that when painting all your worries disappear and, “Time stands respectfully aside.” However, I tend to be an advocate for also have times of stepping back from your painting and consciously analysing what is happening. This helps so much with all aspects of composition and colour. Am I being too bold by saying – I think Jackson Pollock should have stepped back more often? What do you think? – Painting by Jackson Pollock