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Wednesday 21 May 2014

This One is Going On My Wall!

 
Hello everyone!
 
Yes I have been doing some art almost everyday!  Hurray!  Most of it has been in my sketchbook but I did complete another lesson from Soul Food at community thrive
 
This lesson came from Mitsi.  She had me painting in a style so foreign to me that I was uncomfortable for most of the painting.  But you know, it was a good kind of uncomfortable actually, and with all the art I have been doing this year, the most important lesson I have learned is to not give in to that inner critic, to the monkey on the back, to the duke of deception whispering in your ear that your work is stupid and you should quit (I'm stealing these monikers for that voice in the head from other smart artists  - Quinn McDonald, Danny Gregory and Cat Bennett).  KEEP WORKING IT!  Chances are you will like it in the end.  If not, as Roz Stendahl says, you will have learned something and you had fun!
 
Another thing I learned while doing this painting is that I don't know when to stop adding to the background.  I really, really wanted to leave some white space, and I had these two great spray paint colors by Molotow - Dare Orange and Grasshopper Green - but I covered most all of it up - the white space and the spray paint.  I was quite devastated for awhile about the whole thing. 
 
After a few days when I had a couple of hours early one morning, I figured it was time to finish the piece.  The figures are outlined with charcoal and colored in with oil pastels.  Most of the white features are from sketches cut from ordinary computer paper, except for the dog's eyes - white acrylic paint - and the dog's teeth - liquid paper (for correcting spelling mistakes) from my desk drawer. 
 
I literally had no idea what I was doing, and no end goal in mind.  Mitsi encouraged us to put symbols and marks that had meaning to us, to use what we had on hand, to think about people in our lives and to pour our thoughts out onto the canvas. 
 
I had no symbols and marks to pull from because I'd never really thought about that much before, and I sure was working hard at figuring out how to use the art supplies, never mind thinking about people and my feelings.  Finally, getting frustrated and crotchety and lost, I let go at trying to figure out HOW to do this painting and just LET the painting happen. 
 
I started thinking about important people in my life - about my family - and halleluia the painting started to click!  My creatures became happy looking (believe me - at one point they were extremely dismal) and it felt good to be working.  I even threw in a couple of symbols (two stick figures representing my two children and a couple of elongated numeral fours symbolizing the four human members of my family).
 
The faces are weird.  The colors are funky.  I fell in love with this picture.  Then I realized why.  This is a portrait of MY FAMILY! 
 
And that is why this picture is going on my wall!
 
 
 
 
 
As for my sketchbook, I haven't taken any pictures of my work yet, but I'll get some done and when I do, I'll share it with you.
 
Thanks for dropping by!
 
xox

1 comment :

  1. I could see that on my wall! Intriguing and with a great sense of emotion -- you have immortalized your subjects!

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