Influencing Your Art

I want to share with you a book I completed reading yesterday. And if you have been reading this blog for a few months, then you have already heard about it.Catching the Light is written by Susan Pope. You know Susan, she is our very own Sukipoet. I have to tell you this book was a real page turner for me. I just had to see what this young woman was going to choose for herself. She had so many obstacles to overcome, but behind it all she was drawn to her art. And Susan shows how she used her life to influence what she so loved doing. This book is so well written and draws you into the location and into the lives of the characters. In addition, an underlying message is how we come across people who influence so many parts of our life even after they have gone from it. I highly recommend you locate a copy of Catching the Light...I know it has become a treasure for me. And thank you so much, Suki, for such a beautiful gift and such a beautiful message. You are an inspiration in so many ways.

And I have something else for you to play with this weekend. You don't have anything else to do, right? Take a look at this image:
It looks like some people at MOMA, right? Well it is not! This is a sketch of mine...a lowly sketch you have already seen on this blog before. I used an online service called Dumpr where I uploaded this sketch to be placed in this setting! This kind of thing has been making its way around the blog world, so you probably have seen it on other blogs. My apologies to the blogger who made the recommendation, I can't remember the blog I first saw it.

One of the things I thought was so interesting is how you can use something like a sketch to get an idea of how that might translate into a larger painting. For example, I think this looks better as a painting than it does than a sketch...I had no idea it would translate that way.

Dumpr has some other fun things to play with on their site, too. Some of them you have to pay for, but these I am showing are free. One of the toys I have had great fun with is the Amazing Circles feature. See what a photograph of a red tulip translated into with that feature:
So now, here are a few fun things to do this weekend. I really hope you have so much fun and enjoy reading and playing with images...believe me, when you read Suki's book, you will want to get in there and do some serious creating!

Have Fun!

Remembering September 11, 2001

(this is an AP photo provided by CNN)

Today we remember all of those who died on this day seven years ago. This is an image from the Pentagon, the site closest to my home. But we do not forget those lost in New York at the World Trade Center where so many died and in Pennsylvania in that lone field where the hijackers were overtaken by passengers. Let us remember how important peace is in this world.

I Finally Found It...

I did not plan to post today, but now I can't resist.

First of all, this is a little gift to you. I did a few of these when I was in Montana as bookmarks. You can print this and use it as a bookmark if you like. If you print it on watercolor paper it will be stable enough. I used Inktense Pencils for these little doodles.

Now, what I am so excited about... You might remember some months ago I asked if anyone knew of an easel which would expose the edges of a canvas and would turn to give access to not only the front of the canvas, but also the edges. I had seen these used on a BBC show called "Art School" several years ago. Well, I have found that easel! It is called the Windmill Easel! And that is just how it works, too! If you visit this site, you can see some videos and an explanation of how it works.

While I am not sure it is currently in my budget, I plan on exploring them further. Anyway, I feel very excited to have found this product. I had written Chelsea College of Art in London (as that is where the program was filmed), however I did not hear back from them. So this was a great treat for me.

Does anyone own one of these easels? Do you like it? Does it work as it is supposed to work? Do you think it looks like a good product? Would you like to own one?

You Just Never Know...

The Heart 9x12 inches Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

You may remember seeing this painting before, but I have a story to tell you about it. I was never crazy about this piece and really considered it a test. It was hanging out in my corner of shame waiting for me to do something else with it when it was spotted by a woman visiting me. She said, "I really must ask you about this painting." Now she had seen a lot of my paintings and never asked much about them. Of course I said it was mainly a test canvas and there was not a lot to really tell about it as I was trying out some techniques. She said how much she loved this painting and how it resonated with her. Of course I had to ask more. So here is the story.

She is a nurse and during some of her training she was called in the middle of the night to come to the hospital to observe a heart transplant. While many parts of that process was miraculous to her, one of the things which stood out was the lack of blood in the heart...it was white! Pure white!

Apparently this painting was a perfect example of her experience that night during the heart transplant. With her story, the painting came quickly out of the corner of shame. She now owns the painting.

You just never know what is going to be meaningful to someone. I am glad this painting was meaningful to her. Interesting isn't it?

Now, this brings me to another somewhat related topic. I read this article which talks about a study done showing art classes helps teach physicians to better diagnose illnesses. Sad, though, isn't it that we have to introduce physicians to the arts in medical school! Shouldn't this be happening all along? Oh, I forgot, you probably can't test for that very well! When in the world did we let go of a balanced education? I suppose it is when we decided intuition wasn't good enough to follow...oh, I am getting on my soapbox now!

So I am interested in your thoughts.... on do you ever know?...and do you think it is sad we have to backtrack on arts education?

Tiny Bits, Daydreaming and Unfinished work!

Some of you may have seen these on the work surface (read: bed) of my mobile studio in Vermont. Well, this is how they turned out. I quite possibly will add some clear glazing, but photographing them now is easier than with the glaze. These are 4 x 4 inch canvases...so tiny for me. I also have some 4 x 12 inch canvases I might place along side these for a complete look, but for now this is the way they have turned out. They are all acrylic and have no name...but I am sure that will come. :)

Today Suki asked if we leave our art unfinished and if that bothered us that it would be sitting there needing to be completed. For me, leaving it there for me to contemplate is not a problem...it will either tell me what it needs to have happen or I will paint over it in time. I actually have two paintings in progress right now which have not been touched for close to 2 months (so sad for me). But as I was thinking about this, I recalled an article I read about daydreaming. The article, not surprising to many, talked about the importance of having the time to daydream. But I thought how much unfinished work is like daydreaming or it encourages daydreaming...clearly depending on how you approach it.

What do you think? Is unfinished work like daydreaming? Or does having unfinished work stimulate you to daydream?

Mobile Art and Looking Forward...

Since I am moving slowly back into my life here at home, I thought I would share with you some of the bits of "mobile art" I did while I was away. I did not have paint with me when in Montana, but I did take paint when I went to Vermont (easier to take paint when you drive).
This is a 10x10 inch canvas. I had a very limited number of paints with me, so I was bound to using what I had. That was fun, though. I did have to purchase titanium white, if you remember I did forget that one. I have no idea what this is about. There is a part of me which thinks it may be a response to all of the green in Vermont as well as the hint of those fabulous colors of the autumn maple leaves.

Sorry about the skewed photo of this canvas. I really need to set myself up again and get some good photographing done. This is a 10x12 inch canvas. I have to say I very much missed working large and think that must be the movement difference. Can you see that here? I think I really wanted to dance. Again, I was limited to the paint I had on hand there and this is something which came out on it's own.

I did a lot of doodling and worked with the inktense pencils and charcoal while I was gone. I will share some of those as time goes on. Hopefully, next week, I will be able to find a bit of time to get back into my studio...I hope so, anyway.

Do you think the autumn will provide you some additional time for your art?

Have a Great Weekend!

Eastern US Mountains vs Western US Mountains

In Vermont, the mountains are very different from the ones on the west coast...the Rocky Mountains. These are older, smaller and more rounded mountains. Westerners (US westerners) might just call these "hills".
This is a view from the inn where I was staying...you can see it is a bit hazy there. There is a lot more moisture in the air in Vermont to be sure.

Here it is a clearer day and you can see the soft roundness of these mountains better.
And you can just have a seat and enjoy the view, if you like...and can tolerate the misquotes.
I just liked the burst of lavender among all of this green.
This is a view of the area around the cross-roads in the village of Plainfield. I like the stone wall.

So this is the end of Vermont photos. By Thursday, I hope to have some art to show you!

How was your weekend? I really hope to begin doing a better job of getting around to visiting all of you very soon.