Return of the Prodigal Artist.

My last post was 9/29/12 because I volunteered my time to be the President of the Vero Beach Art Club. Here is my final newsletter message:

2012-2014 term as President and I am still standing!
     I want to express my appreciation to each of you that helped me through the last two years! I used to tell my students;
 " It takes more than one person to get me through the day" and that was so true with this venture.  In every way that I could think of I tried to express the Art Club's gratitude to each volunteer because you were part of the team that made it happen. I tried to deal with each issue as it came along but mainly I wanted to make the Club a kinder gentler place for all members to feel welcomed.
      I would like to acknowledge the hard work done by every prior President of the Vero Beach Art Club; each one was a building block for our future.  Though the improvements may have been subtle or bold they made it easier for the new President to serve the Art Club.  As time passes we do not remember which President did what but they were there and I salute you. 
It was not always fun and it took a lot of time but I never regretted serving the Art Club as an Officer on the Board of Directors. As always I have gained so much more than I have given and I am an enriched person because of my term as President. 

OK, now what; well I reinvent myself of course. 

My intent is to spend as much time I did as President on my art work. Finally I am seeing my style more clearly; I am a colorist, a painterly to abstracted expressionist. As I read my weekly Empty Easel newsletter I am researching how to go about this venture. It is my intent to do the following: 1. Make dairly art 2. Meditation 3. go to open studio 4 get back to blogging 4. take workshops  5. watch an art video daily 6 paint, paint paint.  There, I said it publically so now I must keep my word to myself. 

I'm back and I know what I want to be when I grow up so "watch me grow". 

A Creative Adventure Completed

In the spring of 2012 I bought a tin can of mystery objects from  MysteryBuild.com.  It just  seemed like it would be fun and I enjoy inventing somethin' out of nothin'.

The challenge was to create a scene that would depict a movie of my choice. That was my first hurdle; what  movie to pick?  An idea flashed into my mind at my most creative problem solving time; the quiet time just before I  fall asleep.

If I could only bottle that space/ time for when I really need it!

I posted a few photo clues in past blogs but did not want to give away the movie theme so I said no more about the matter. The Mystery Build is now on line for all to view and vote on, so I can now reveal the creation that I am so proud of.

Movie Choice: The Bird Cage.

Stage One: The building STUFF:

The only plan I had was to build a stage with the characters from the film dancing off stage to the song;.... "We are family....all my sisters and me". If only I knew how to add sound to this.

Starina

                                                                                                                                   
                                         

                                                                                

The Final Product.

It took hours and hours to do this but I truly enjoyed the adventure.

                 

         

     

SKETCHBOOK CHALLENGE

The theme for July is circles: I used colored inks to show the lights and shadows of a child's face. A friend said it looked like the kid was sick...thanks. Moving on.

MINI COLLAGE WORKSHOP

     Art Mundo had a summer workshop taught by Lee Whitridge where all you brought was an apron. There were four creative people and  bags of mixed media goodies that we used to create our  collages. Lee talked about design formats, tools, techniques that she uses and then summed it up with...there really aren't any rules; just have fun!

     
     I was able to finish one monochromatic collage using the diagonal design pattern. The background was fairly detailed so I kept the top layers very simple.

The second mini was four layers of minimal design so  I added a coin and a touch of Chinese red.
It was a good therapy session for me :)
                                                   

                                                                             

Painting WithYour Mind's Eye

Today I am going to try to talk about something esoteric and ethereal. It happens infrequently but it  is delicious when it does happen. I don't know why or how but sometime I "see" a painting on the canvas. I don't use my eyes  but instead I use my mind's eye. The shapes are in front of me and the paint flows without thinking or  a struggle.
   The best non art related example  that I can give is after my older brother passed away I visualized  him. He was walking down the hallway of his house to the kitchen for morning coffee. I felt the sound of the corduroy pants, the soft causal long sleeved shirt he wore on the weekends, his face, his hair and beard. His entire spiritual presence!                                 Wish you were here Tom, I still really miss you.

Obidos, Brazil

This painting of a church on a cliff just plain happened. Here are some other paintings that just flowed onto the canvas from my mind's eye. Even I can see a commonality of my style when I am painting from a place without critical boundaries.  Have you ever had such an experience?

Hills of Heather

Frozen Lake

Tourists in Italy

Progression of a Geometric Abstract Painting

              The color orange appealed to me that day and I had a vague idea of a painting in my head.  Clamp a canvas to the windmill easel and  get out the brushes!               

     One of my workshop instructors once said; "every painting goes through an ugly stage". As I kept painting I slipped into the same old trap,  too busy and more is  better. I have not worked through ugly to gorgeous yet.

     I  think the lesson to be learned  is that I only had a vague vision of my end product but I did not have a plan for this painting. Normally if I am in the "zone" a painting will flow Ala Prima but not this time.

To rectify my over worked and under interesting acrylic I began to delete shapes by painting white over the blocks that did not please me.

                                

My next thought was that I did not like much of anything in the painting so more white Gesso was added.

Painting is sometimes an exercise in problem solving so it will be interesting to see what I come up with.   I have been adding hand made paste papers to the blocks and am building the composition.

Finally this seems to be turning into a paste paper human form. I have given up any preconceived notion of what it should look like and am going for a whimsical whatever it chooses to become. What a plan!


Below is as far as I have been able to take this mixed media collage. It either is finished and I am a wonder to the art world  or it went down in flames!!
Wish someone would give me their opinion.
Thanks for reading and sharing my latest creative attempt.

                                                                                                      

        

THE BUSINESS SIDE OF ART

    

 

SNAIL TRAILS

     Today I attended a free workshop presented by Art Mundo in Ft. Pierce, Florida.  I actually got up early on a Saturday to listen to their speakers and it was time well spent!

     The founding group of artists saw a vision of a creative center that shares, teaches and fosters..setting artists up for success. Four years later Art Mundo has grown  and touched artist's lives for the better; but they have never wavered on their mission and do it with a warm welcome and a free spirit environment. 

   Although I have danced around the business aspect of marketing my art, I needed some concrete steps that I can take to jump start my job of making and selling art. Art book keeping, tax regulations, suggested web sites, blog sites, selling on Facebook. Artist statements, bio's, least expensive web sites to research and the final presentation of your work: framing. 

Well done and I thank you for truly sharing with an open heart!!

 Did I mention they presented this for free; coffee, doughnuts and handouts?