True To Yourself

Vault Of Heaven

It's been interesting exploring "poured painting" techniques.  I originally felt it was something I wanted to incorporate into my work as another textural element but branched out a little when my Grand-daughters asked to do some small canvases, emphasis on small canvases.  Larger canvases are much more challenging and the results unpredictable. I missed having more control over what went where and I missed moving paint with my brush my hands.  Still it has been quite the experiment and I learned some things.

I was fascinated with the way the paint and medium wove together making these glorious patterns and markings. It created the kind of liquid movement I had hoped it would and contrasts wonderfully with the textures of my under paintings.  I'll continue working with combining paint and resin as highlights and elements of my overall work.  

Like so many things I try, it amazes me how quickly, I find out what is going to work for me. It's instinctive I think, knowing what has that something that lights me up on the inside. There is a deep satisfaction when I'm working with the tools, mediums and techniques that fit my creative bent.  Like when I first used Gorilla Glue, we bonded straight away!  It's been that way with, well everything I've tried, I just knew what was a fit for me and what wasn't. 

I'm a very tactical person, I love the feel of the brush pushing paint, I love the contrasts that various elements create as I work. I love it when people reach out to run their fingers across the textures of my finished canvases, intimate and moving.

Now I have canvases that go sideways on me all the time, just as I did when doing a large pour on a big canvas (24x36")  I will spend countless hours finding my way through problem pieces until they work.  The difference with the large poured painting is, I didn't enjoy the process, it just didn't 'feel' right to me, there was nothing satisfying in it and there's no getting away from that for me.  It's all about what makes your inner world hum.  For some the liquid movement of pouring paint, tipping and tilting the canvas to see what patterns will emerge and the smooth, slick dried surface will be exactly right.  But this tactical, texture hungry artist knows that I'll be using it only as finishing touches on my textural pieces, sometimes.

Why am I going into all this, for one reason only... being true to yourself, is what creating art is all about.   Knowing when you're onto something that you need to keep working with to perfect and knowing when something just doesn't strike the right note with you will keep you from endless frustrations going down a road you were never suppose to go. It can derail you.

Maybe you're struggling with a medium that isn't working for you, the question is not so much 'what can I do about this?" as it is "do I want to do anything about this?"  The answer will help you define your artistic voice if you'll let it.