But It Didn't Rain!

 A Chilly Fall Paint Out Weekend

Last weekend was FRESH 2020, a plein air paint out that I signed up for in September. Typically this Paint Out is in June but this year it was postponed/rescheduled to the first weekend in October. The weekend before it was 80s and sunny --oh I would have loved that weather for a paint out. 

Orange Pop 8x10

Right before our paint out there was a cold snap, the coldest weather of the Fall with FROST warnings! I wore thermals, layers, fingerless gloves, handwarmers, scarf and hat yet still my hand and bum were cold! Days started in the low 40s and it was chilly and breezy at the park--Brrrr!!!!!!! But it didn't rain and there were no bugs.

While I didn't like the weather,  I did love the pop of fall colors so that I could add touches of red orange and yellow to my typically green trees. The first day I struggled (which I did not like as I had prepared)-- I have been painting one hour 8x10 plein air paintings for weeks now. I'd assumed that quick paintings would really help me get the paint down at this event. I started with a 9x12 canvas and it took me some time to get the canvas covered--admittedly it was a complex scene of multiple trees, and a shoreline with water reflection. Still, I didn't like that it took me awhile to get the painting down--have I mentioned how cold and breezy it was? At the end of the day, because I was waiting for another painter, I took out a 5x7 canvas and did a quick sky painting. The sky painting was fast and fun with tons of wet paint on the clouds. Framing the cloud painting was tough as it was wet wet with tons of paint!

The next day dawned frosty and super chilly-- it was ridiculously cold when we started painting. However, I was more inspired because there was a fabulous orange tree reflection in the water and I loved that. The orange tree against the dark trees with orange reflection really spoke to me. 

In the afternoon I turned my chair and decided to paint a colorful island. I really liked the orange and red trees against the green trees and blue waters. I felt good about this painting too, particularly the reflections. This painting I did not put into this show, but I have entered it into another show (only 3 paintings could be entered in this event).

The critical keys to surviving this cold weather paint out included daytime layers, hot soups at home with hot tea followed by warm showers before bed... We artists can be thankful that despite the cold, it did not rain on us! Of course this coming weekend the weather will be back in the 70s-- I'm off to plein air paint! Yay sunshine and warmth!

Kudos to my fellow FRESH plein air art friends, you did some amazing works! All of the wonderful FRESH paint out paintings  can be seen here, take a look! 

http://milfordvfaa.org/fresh2020/

Ordinary Days of Beauty

With all of our vacations and travels cancelled this year we have been spending time alone at home.  I believe we all need little breaks from work - days that we stop and breathe, stepping away from computers and social media, even if its just one day. This fall my husband had to take 'use or lose' vacation days--and due to COVID we spent them at home.  In these odd times with restaurants closed and not many places to go, we decided to spend our ordinary day, a Monday, at the park. 

The weather cooperated and we spent the afternoon in the sunshine. I packed a picnic lunch and then I set up my painting gear while my hubby set up his hammock. My husband would read/nap and I would paint. It was sunny cool and lovely. Since it was a school day, it was not crowded - we had wonderful quiet lake space to ourselves.

For many artists, myself included, painting is reflective, calming and meditative -- that is so very true particularly when the weather cooperates for plein air. Once I get all my plein air gear set up and get the paints laid out, I feel a calm zen take over. 

What I loved in this composition is the lone yellow tree--the one bright among the greens. The yellow reflection in the water was so very colorful and appealing, it caught my eye right away. I also loved that I could add depth to the painting with the dark trees in the background and the water which recedes behind the peninsula. 

As you know, lately I have been doing timed paintings. I set my one hour timer for this 8x10 painting.  I am happy with the results of this one hour painting. When outside and in my calm zone, I can really "see" the colors and shapes. Here, the focal point is easy--hello colorful yellow tree. The rest of the trees and water are the supporting players. Sky and trees and water reflections are not boring subjects yet. 

This was a beautiful tech-free day full of quality time with my husband and my easel--I am thankful for every moment in these ordinary days of beauty.

 

Introspection and Creative Challenges

 

Three One Hour Sunset Paintings

Lately my art friends and I have been sharing our art via Zoom meetings. In the last meeting, I proudly shared a larger painting that I had worked on over multiple days. I worked on this particular painting in the studio and was happy with the outcome-- the tree reflections, clouds in the sky,  trees on the shore-- I felt I captured it all.  Might this particular painting be show worthy? Imagine my surprise when my fellow artists Oohed and Ahhed-- but not over my studio painting but over a one hour plein air painting. This signaled that I had some introspection to do -- are my more painterly and less planned paintings are more appealing? Perhaps I need to focus more on those? One hour verses the 10+ hours of work leaves me questioning myself. Where should I dedicate my time and effort?  

I decided to put away my studio paintings and instead focus on one hour studies. I set my phone timer once I am set up (paint out, brushes ready, canvas on easel) and the countdown begins! I try to put down the paint quickly--laying out masses of color, typically darks first. And then I work into the masses and try to build up to the details. If I want a few minutes more I set another 10 minutes; although, often I let the painting end when the timer goes off. 

What I like about the small paintings is that they are not time consuming. I like to see how far I can get in an hour. How much paint and composition I can get down on the canvas? There is no second guessing when you only have an hour to paint. I think I will continue these little quick studies for a bit.  Someday I will have to get back to studio painting and larger painting--that is in the back of my mind. 

I painted the three sunsets over three different days. I chose the sunsets as they are photos of the same place the same night within a few minutes of each other. I really love how the color brightens in the last painting. Sometimes it is nice to get to know a subject and for me lately it's all about sunsets.

Just Look Around

 Finding Art Inspiration Where You Can

Summer Petunias 9x12

I was ill the other day and it was completely unexpected; I was down and out--definitely unable to paint. My heart was broken because it would have been an ideal plein air day (70s sunny) and alas I was stuck in bed!

Needless to say, the next day I was feeling better. I was determined to paint although I did not want to push myself, I had to take it easy. Sunny and cool it was another lovely summer day, just gorgeous, I had to paint outside. I thought about going to the green space in my neighborhood but the lawn and maintenance guys were there--those blowers are loud!

Ultimately, I just wanted to paint outside, to enjoy the sunshine. In the cool morning, I had sat outside on my back deck enjoying my coffee and the quiet. I have flower boxes along the back deck filled with light and bright flowers and I am on a greenbelt (lush trees). I just had to look around, my subject matter was there all along. 

I set up my art stuff on my deck table. A tabletop easel, a paper palette and my plein air backpack (brushes paint etc). I was ready to go! With my patio umbrella my easel (and I) could be in the shade. I painted my flowers-those hot pink and pale yellow petunias against the dark greens of the trees. The flowers were lit by sunlight and the dark trees behind really helped bring the bright flowers forward. I was so thrilled to be painting--to be painting outside on this glorious summer day. 

I didn't get the opportunity to go to the park or to find the perfect plein air location but that is not what mattered on this day. This day was about the beauty of painting outside and finding that bit of joy. 

Maybe we all need to hit pause and Just Look Around--inspiration could be closer thank we think.

Mid Year Art Goal Check In

It's July Already!

Tin Can Delight 11x14

The last few days I have not felt like painting, so I thought I would do some art admin and review my 2020 Art Goals. We are about halfway through the year, and I am surprised at how far along I am with my 2020 Art Goals-Yay! I would have thought with staying home and with the COVID, that I would be behind--but I actually feel that I am ahead.

Big Goals that I can mark as completed:

1. Review old artwork and make a Shutterfly book of unsuccessful works (not my best works) that I can let go of-- then trash/paint over the works/canvases.
2. Take a Workshop with an Aspire To Artist

The first completed goal helps me with art organization. I took a 2 foot stack of canvases and condensed them down to a quarter inch book-- this goal took some time but felt good to complete. It felt good to get that space back in the basement. 

The second goal was actually beneficial to me in multiple ways plus the COVID actually helped me get access to a national artist (One of My 'Aspire To Artists'). I identified that I wanted to study with one national artist who lives far from where I live. Pre-Covid for the art workshop I had planned on flying in, renting a car and staying in a hotel--the COVID changed those plans!  In Covid times, this wonderful national artist reached out to me and shared that she was starting online classes via Zoom, her workshop was ON, Online! I was hesitant; however, the class ended up being wonderful and I loved the instructor--and I signed up for the next class too! 

The Take a Workshop with an Aspire To Artist Goal benefited me in multiple ways:

I learned 

• how to paint skies and sky gradation
• how to paint clouds
• how to paint trees (to really look at the character of the tree)
• how to paint reflections

I have been plein air painting and landscape painting for years, but never had training as specific as this. It was incredibly valuable for me to learn the colors in the sky and the colors in the clouds. I have been wanting to learn how to paint clouds forever and until now could not get advice on how to do it. Also the class homework kept me in the studio painting (another goal) and with sky and clouds I used more paint--which was a goal for many years! I went through 200 ML white tube of paint in the class, so definitely I reached the USE MORE PAINT goal. I found all of this to be valuable and I feel that I am a better painter for it. And I learned it all online!

Goal that is in progress:

Enter Contests/Shows

One issue with the COVID is that my "from life" model sessions were cancelled-so I am automatically producing less portraits/paintings each week. I tried to paint from photos but I am not able to paint from a photo right now... I went through a serious struggle/not getting any good paintings in April and March --and then the COVID hit. Frustration city!

 So once again signing up for an art workshop online really helped me--the work I produced in class was good, better than what I had attempted on my own. The downside was that the work I produced in class cannot be entered into shows or competitions. The class helped me to get my creative and art motivation back as well as a strong desire to paint my own works.

Sadly, I didn't feel that I had a new fresh work to enter in the recent AIS Show and the deadline passed. Ugh! More recently, I did attempt to enter another national show (I just got my rejection notice). Now I am back painting again and feel that I have more works that are show ready. I am going to try to enter an online show this week and perhaps a regional show in August. I will get back on track with this and start entering more shows.

Dear Artists, now is the time to review your goals. And, if you are an artist friend of mine, you know that I have encouraged you to make goals earlier this year (January). What were your goals? Have you reviewed them lately? Take a look back and see what area you can work on and/or to think about how to adapt those goals for these times. Print them out, update them or mark them complete and think about the remaining goals as you move forward! You've Got this!

She's At It Again, Volume 2

Joy of Brushstrokes 

Purple & Pink Background

About a year ago, I got art declutter inspiration from my art figure instructor. For a recap, I had hundreds of portrait artworks taking up so much space! Her suggestion (and I love it) was to create a book of those images and then toss the paintings. I did it and then tossed a 3 foot pile of paintings-- that was about a year ago. Lately the clutter has been driving me crazy again--time to go through the process one more time!

The purpose of the book, volume 2, is the same as volume 1--to find joy in brushstrokes as I review my past works. This was a challenge for me as there were some paintings I was less than happy with. I really had to tell myself to look for the positive, to find the good IN EACH PAINTING. What I noticed about these particular works was that I had an interest in patterned backgrounds and those were often the best parts of the paintings! I really liked an orange and blue background and a deep purple with pink background...I think I need to continue along the fun background path...

Once again keeping track of paintings is extremely helpful with notes. That way I could look at my description and thumbnail sketch and compare it to the actual painting. I placed the paintings in order and went through to cull them out. Once I had my stack of paintings that I felt I could let go of, I documented them with my iphone--taking photos of the full painting and zooming in on the parts I liked whether it be background, brushstroke or eye detail. Then I got the images uploaded to my computer and then to Shutterfly. Yep its a process and takes a bit of time, but the end result is worth it.

Beautiful shirt pattern/strokes here!

Once I was in Shutterfly, I chose to make a book, an 8.5 x 11. Then I added in my images to the book pages. I chose to use about two images per painting, one of the full painting, one for the close up. And, I chose about 4 images per page in the book. I went to advanced editing so that I could control the image size and put borders on the edges of the paintings. Once I had all of the images placed in the book, I went back through and typed in an assessment of each painting, identifying in writing the joy. Lastly, I added my title on the cover, "The Joy of Brushstrokes vol 2". I did a final preview and then placed my book order! My advice--you can start your book anytime--but wait for a sale to place the order--a 40 -50% off really makes a big difference in book price. This book was about 25 pages and included 40 paintings. I am hoping it arrives next week!

Now that I have the book ordered, the next time the trash comes I can toss my 40 paintings. Bye bye 2 foot stack of paintings, hello 1/4 inch book! Storage savings abound!

Steps to Let Go:

1. Review paintings
2. Stack the keepers and the not keepers
3. Photograph the not keepers (full images and close ups)
4. Organize photos on your computer
5. Create a photobook (I used Shutterfly)
6. Toss or paint over the not keeper paintings

Follow Your Heart

Making Tough Choices

Summer Reflections, 9x12

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I was taking several Zoom Art Classes these last few months. While the online classes were beneficial for me, I can attest that 'Zoom Fatigue' is real. Artists don't belong in front of the computer for extended periods of time! In class I was painting and creating (Yay!)-- but not from my own references (Boo!).  Ultimately, I had to tell two Instructors that I will not be taking more classes right now because I feel the need to go out and  make my own art. In my heart, my soul -- I feel strongly that I need to paint for ME-- from my references/with my own eyes from life! I feel this pull, this need, this desire--I've gotta do this!

To be clear, the classes were going well and I was learning -plus the instructors were amazing, giving, incredibly talented. My decision was not a refection of the instructors or classes but instead something I felt in my heart (good sunny weather outside may have also influenced this decision). The classes with one instructor fill quickly and leaving would mean losing my coveted spot in the class. Potentially this means that when I want to return (thinking Fall), the spot might not be open, class could be full. I had several discussions about this with my husband, and ultimately we both agreed that I need to give up the classes and fulfill my need paint on my own.

The classes have given me structure and have helped me to grow as an artist and now I must take that knowledge and apply it to my art. And, I plan to keep going into the studio on those class dates, using that time to paint and be creative.

Twice now, since my decision,  I have gone outside to plein air paint, and both times I feel more confident and honestly a little happier. Summer Reflections was created En Plein Air arlier this week when I went to the park- sunny and 70s, no complaints here. I am happy with the painting, I feel that I have learned so much about sky and reflections and now I am processing it all. While this painting is not perfect, I do think there are some great attributes as far as color, composition and reflections.

The classes have really worked for helping me grow and motivating me as an artist-- now it is time to apply all of that knowledge. For those who are perhaps hesitating, take a hard look inward and reflect.  I think it will be okay if you go out on your own for a bit. As for me, I say, "Lookout world!"