Author: Cheryl

 

With 14 years of teaching art behind me, I have reached a few conclusions. Every art student wants to become a better artist. Some students have more teachable spirits, and that’s a real bonus for them. However, the instructor also needs to work hard on communicating art skills to each student at their own individual level. Yet there is one thing that the teacher cannot do. They cannot put in the brush time for the student. Lately when looking at art that I consider to be exemplary, I am just so aware – those artists have put in a lot of brush time. And that’s what I’m doing over here this week! How about you? Are you putting in some brush time? It matters if you really want to grow your art to the next level. 

Here is an amazing quote about the meaning of art: “…even from the concentration camps, we have poetry, we have music, we have visual art; it wasn’t just this one fanatic…many, many people created art. Why? Well, in a place where people are only focused on survival, on the bare necessities, the obvious conclusion is that art must be, somehow, essential for life. The camps were without money, without hope, without commerce, without recreation, without basic respect, but they were not without art. Art is part of survival: art is part of the human spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways in which we say, “I am alive, and my life has meaning.” Karl Paulnak (thanks to Fr. Ivan Moody) 

Such an enjoyable afternoon yesterday with the Brush and Palette Club doing art critiques for them! Thanks for inviting me. And now anyone can have me critique paintings too, by email. After you have clicked the “buy now” button in the right column of this page, and paid for the number of paintings you would like critiqued, you simply email a photo of your painting(s) to [email protected]. (You don’t need a Paypal account, just a credit card to do this.) I will respond by email with a detailed critique of your painting – both strengths and weaknesses. It’s a great way to grow your art. 

Thanks to ArtProMotivate for the quote: 

Happy to show you the latest landscape. It has collaged gemstones – tiger’s eye and quartze. Not yet for sale. 

I can be pretty goal oriented at times. Some might call it self motivated. Others might call it driven. It is what it is, and many of you know that right now and for the next few months I am to be focussing on my painting. My family and friends are wonderfully understanding and help me to find that fine thin line between being a happy hermit artist, and a happy hearted human who still has some vague idea of how to relate to other people that they love.  So, the art time is happening! Not meeting my goals everyday, but many days I do, and that’s life. Aaaaaand… I’ve just come up with a completely different out of the box creative project I really want to work on! It’s secret for now. But now I have to figure out how to chase this beguiling new fluff bum without losing too much time from my painting time. Should all dilemmas be so very pleasant. Wishing you all the best in chasing your ducks. (And thanks to Sue Fitzmaurice Author for the quote and image.) 

Wishing each one of you a warm and wonderful weekend. Hope you find some creative time! (Acrylic painting “Wind in the Hills”, private collection.) 

I am happy to have my painting “That’s What Lets The Light In” accepted for the Art from the Heart show at Westland Gallery in Wortley Village. Hope you can come to the opening on Friday January 30th at 7:30 pm. There will be a lot of wonderful art from local artists. 

As I work to grow my art, I am pondering what techniques really push the creativity button for me. One tip can be summarized in three small words: make a mess. Starting with a lot of mixed up or messy colour and then working with it gives me results that frequently turn out better than carefully planned painting. Especially when working with acrylic or oil, I can just keep layering to bring a mess into some sort of shape and form that is exciting and pleasing to the eye. Actually, now I’m thinking about it, I also like approaching watercolour this way, and if need be I can switch to layering with fluid acrylics later. It takes a bit of courage to do this, plus a certain amount of willingness to accept that the painting can look awful for quite awhile – you just keep layering until it works. Today’s creativity tip for you: make a mess!