Variations on a Theme

In the Red Room, Variation One

I am now in a new painting class, Painting in Series. This feels like a personal gift - just what I need. As I wrote several times in the past, I have been struggling with finding a voice and a direction. This class specifically addresses these issues. My assignment is to create at least five paintings on a theme, repeat some elements, and explore where this process takes me.  

When I knew I would be taking this class I began to think about what I wanted to paint, and think and think. Outside my window, flowers are blooming in a riot of colors and shapes. In my sketchbooks, I find dozens of random drawings of flowers, my photography features flowers and plants from every place I have ever visited, and from the gorgeous gardens of my green-thumbed neighbors. The paintings I have done that seem to get the most positive attention are of flowers - was this my theme? And how about abstraction?

In our first class, Illa Guttman (teacher extraordinaire) provided at set of criteria to follow when determining a theme. The list included this statement, "when working in series, Paint what you like best because ... one needs a strong emotional attachment to the subject matter.  ...  It's really great if the subject continuously feeds your emotions and makes you feel good. Plus you never get bored with a subject if you always paint what you like best." I guess that was my answer - I am never bored with flowers. So, how to begin.

First, find a title. Then, the list says to "find an obsession." I did, day and night, pencil in hand or staring at the clouds. I considered how to simplify flower shapes. I drew the flowers I saw, seeking geometric shapes that would allow me to simplify the images. Then I began to play with shapes alone to build them into flowers, nextI tried putting them together in different ways. One other criteria I kept in mind was the size and shape of the paintings I was going to create. And always, I was thinking about color. Finally, several decisions made, and an open mind to what might appear on the canvas, I began to paint - combining all these ideas, and listening to the small voice in my head that keeps repeating "red walls." 

So, my series is called Variations on a Theme: In the Red Room. This is the first of three paintings I have completed. Is it 16"x20" on canvas in acrylics. More to come .... 

A Good Time was had by All

Two paintings

This last series of Dynamic Abstract classes was the most fun of all so far. I loved the chance to really explore the work of several artists - some old favorites, some new to me. I am seeing even familiar works with new eyes as I learn more about abstraction. I especially enjoyed the strong color palette that was part of each week's assignment.

I think another reason I enjoyed this class so much is that I am finally I am beginning to move through my "idiot child" phase into a place of greater confidence - or maybe it is just that I am giving myself permission to just learn and accept the work, good, bad, ugly or beautiful, as it comes. And, to recognize the pure pleasure that comes simply from the act of putting color and line on canvas.

One thing is for sure though, painting (like my other vocation, writing) can be somewhat isolating. So, the chance to meet and work with other artists in my classes adds not only pleasure and fun, but yet another teacher to learn from, another set of eyes to critique - and this class was particularly rich in  inspiring others.

Most of all, the chance to work with Illa Guttman is a privilege - and a pleasure. Thanks Illa for a especially fun class. See you all next week.

Finding my Voice

Pastel on Black

Acrylics, pastel, markers, pens, color blocks, simple lines, abstract, art deco, painterly, graphical. Which way do I work? What do I want to do? Do I want to paint or draw, free form or delineated shapes? Lines or blobs, loose or structured?

The walls of my studio are crowded with the many and varied images I have created since I started to paint in acrylics this fall. There are  abstract faces, flows and stripes of vivid color, wild bright flowers,  mysterious forests, lovely girls in pretty dresses, symmetrical patterns and subtle geometrics. I also see drawings, pastels, line images and complicated symmetrical patterns.

What I can not yet see is a theme ... what DO I paint? What is my style? What do I want to say? Will I learn to say it? Will others want to see it? Will I feel good enough about my work to show it?

Classes help - every week another artist to study and think about, another technique or concept to consider and incorporate. Every class brings another artist to fall in love with, a new idea to marvel at or a color that compels me. Every class makes me  think, THIS is the way I want to work, and every week I realize how much I do not know, how much I can not do, and how much I want to learn.
Lately though, I am beginning to see some growth - an idea from one painting, a color combination, a technique I have learned, a style I particularly enjoy carrying over into my new work and shaping my choices. Last night I dreamed of bold sweeping lines, inspired by work I see in my classes, yet when I set out to work today, the image that I suddenly decided to draw was not lines at all, but loose, bright colored shapes - lights and darks, and not a painting, but a pastel. So, here it is, pastel on black paper, small and  square.

I am happy for today - the results are vibrant, the process was fun - and these are definitely MY colors, and those lines that have been so compelling to me lately? They are here too.  Is this a step to finding my own voice?

In name only

Name Game

I have been very busy lately. My weeks seem to fly by -  filled with planning and teaching and taking art classes.

My Saturdays have been fabulously filled by a painting class, Dynamic Abstracts with Illa Guttman at PCC. This class is six hours of feeling like a fool followed by the elation of actually creating a painting. Some weeks are better than others - and it is wonderful to be part of a group, and especially, to have such a wonderful teacher.

I am also planning to teach an abstract painting class for kids next week, Spring Break. I am ready - bursting with ideas to share and things to do. I find myself poring over books of paintings in the library and visiting galleries - just looking at how abstract artists work, thinking about ways to express what I want my students to know. All of this causes me to think of about lines and color and shapes in different ways, and to experiment with varied projects to see what results.

I will be teaching my students to create abstract images with tempera, and I use acrylic in my PCC class, and frequently in my own studio, yet, I often find myself returning to these line drawings. They are fun to do, relaxing, more accessible than paint and far neater, and they are a different way for me to explore flow, color, overlap, shapes and ... some kind of grace - maybe the unexpectedness of finding shapes and forms I do not plan - which somehow feels to me like the very heart of abstract expression.

This image is based on a painting project I did earlier this year - the lines are my name, written in different sizes and directions, always crossing, forming new shapes. It is 9x12 on watercolor paper, done with fine tip pens.

Playing

City Life

I am preparing a new class for a new, and older audience, so I have been considering ways to offer my students some accessible and fun projects that will encourage them to want to play with art, and make it a regular and enjoyable part of their lives.

In my own studio, I am still struggling to create strong abstract images with acrylics. To help, and to free my creative juices, I  am currently working through some of the exercises in a book, Painting Abstracts, by Rolina a Van Vliet. I have found the most success by following her suggestions for using lines to create interesting and dynamic compositions. She also has ideas for using different media to create with - and basically, if she mentions it, I have it somewhere in my collection of art supplies - my favorite toys.

So, this week's work has turned out to be a productive one. I played with some new techniques, tried out some new color pencils, and developed several project ideas that I think will please my new class. All this while having a fun and relaxing time being creative.

Next in Line(s)

The top image, (10x12 on heavy watercolor paper) combines marker with water color pencil and water to get a variety of textures.


The bottom is the same size, but done in a combination of color markers and color pencils. I especially enjoyed using lines to create shapes and motion, and then building color in cross hatches and overlays. Fun ...

Exploring Variations: Finding Ideas

Evening in the City 

In the last post, the image, Koi, was painted with a deliberate plan. The painting is for my son and his wife. He asked for something that somehow "went with" a beautiful Japanese image of a large orange Koi fish.  It was  easy to find my inspiration for this piece - colors, layout and size were all "givens."

This painting, though clearly related to the last in style and composition, began with no plan except a desire to play around with a pallette knife. I am currently reading and working through Painting Abstracts, by Rolina Van Vliet, considering the images, techniques and approaches. As a result of what I am learning in the book, I knew I wanted to combine larger areas with smaller ones - but had no vision of where I was going (I hate that.) I started by using the palette knife to lay down a multicolor layer, experimenting with textures, and combining light and dark,colors. Ugly - but an interesting background.

I am still enthralled by the abstract trees I've been painting; I love the outlines and individually defined shapes. Oh, and also, I have a great fat new brush that holds lots of paint and creates wonderful texture. So, using the new brush, and laying colors directly from the tube, I began to paint a pattern of squares. Soon the trees appeared, (good, I thought that was to be the plan) and then they went away.  A city scene appeared ... at least to me.

I so often struggle with knowing what to paint, especially when I am on my own and not in a class. But today's project, in which I did not stop when I hated the results, and just kept on messing around to see what would appear, is a success.

Not because it is beautiful (is it? I can't tell yet, but I know it gives me that good feeling) but because I allowed it take its own shape and I learned in the process. This is the reason I believe it is important to work regularly, and as often as possible, and to work with no particular outcome in mind. I find it so much more difficult now that I am working in the abstract mode - because in my more realistic working past, I always could find a photo to guide me. This is different - a photo can contain some of what I want to appear - but a lot is now needing to be drawn from imagination and abstraction.

What do you think? What is the best way to build skills? What inspires you to just jump in and paint? How do you handle "artist's block?"