Vintage Art

Time to hang this for awhile so that I can decide if it's truly done.  It has a very aged look to it, using a limited palette, Payne's Grey, Quinacridone Azo Gold, and from Nova Color, Fluorescent Purple. Who would think that fluorescent anything could have such a vintage look! (Note: they no longer carry the F Purple but have replaced it with Quinacridone Violet)

Been reading Steven Pressfield's new book Turning Pro. (author of The War of Art)  Just to explain he uses the terms Amateur and Pro to describe life lived outside of doing what you were designed to do and living from the centre of what you were shaped to do, The Pro. Interesting reading, here's a few morsels to chew on...

"When we turn pro, everything becomes simple. Our aim centres on the ordering of our days in such a way that we overcome the fears that have paralyzed us in the past. We now structure our hours not to flee from fear, but to confront it and overcome it."

"When we were amateurs, our life was about drama, about denial, and about distraction. Our days were simultaneously full to the bursting point and achingly, heartbreakingly empty.  But we are not amateurs any more. We are different and everyone in our lives sees it."

and this made me laugh, one line, one chapter,
"The amateur tweets. The pro works."

"Turning pro changes how we spend our time and with whom we spend it...We will have to choose between the life we want for our future and the life we have left behind...The essence of epiphanies is the stripping away of self-delusion. There is great power in this moment. Epiphanies hurt."

Marketing Our Work

Another art fair under this newbies belt, one more to go in September.  It's been a great experience with positive feedback and art being sold.

Jean and I had a great time at this last one, 'The Golden Unicorn Art Festival' is in the middle of lake cottage country so it was a festive, neighbourly kind of atmosphere.  People connecting up with fellow cottagers, chatting, browsing, eating wonderful home cooked yummies, listening to live entertainment and buying from the many artisans at the fair.  My hubby and I are looking forward to returning next year!

Jean went right out after out first fair and bought a new big pop up awning complete with add on sides for extra shade and problem weather.  Can you tell he is ready to do the local fair circuit with me next year! Got to love a guy who believes in you that much and who is a real people person.

Did a quick clean up in the studio so I could get started on some new pieces. Love it when the creative juices are flowing and the art is selling!  Oh and I managed to create a new spot on line for housing my art. I wanted to set something up to make things easier to purchase my art on line and this is the first step, I'll be adding the 'Buy Now' PayPal button in the future.  But for now I've simply created a new Dynamics View blog and linked it on the sidebar of Esynergy, 'My Art Gallery-Brenda Thebeau Abstracts'  in time the page tab at the top of my blog will be removed.  For those of us new to the on line art scene deciding on how best to present and sell our work is an ongoing exploration.  I wanted a site that used my name as the URL but didn't want to loose my current blog followers by switching to a completely new web hosting system. So this was my solution.  Now to get things sorted out and add the PayPal 'Buy Now' button, Marketing for the Technically challenged, that's me!

Art Fairs Here I Come!

Just a quick update on how my sister, Kellie and I fared at the art fair.

Though we got rained out in the afternoon, I did sell several pieces and Kel too. Considering we had to close up shop before you really get the most of your foot traffic, I'm happy with how it went.  So much so that I'm doing two more this weekend!

Friday, Art on the Boardwalk, put on by The McCain Art Gallery, you guessed it on the Florenceville-Bristol Boardwalk!  It's a 2 hour event so I felt I could take on the all day fair in Fosterville, NB, the Golden Unicorn Art Festival, this Sunday.

Though there were days, well every day, that the firbromyalgia took it's toll, I just pushed through and rested where I could, if I could, knowing that these kinds of opportunities don't come around often. And now that we are set up for exhibiting, it does get easier. I will however be preparing for next year months in advance!

Truth is, I could not do it without the continual help and support of my hubby, Jean.  He has been there with me every step, I don't think I could find anyone who believes in me more.  Kel got some photos of him doing what he does best, enjoying the people.  He's a people person all the way and attends the fairs with me, hanging out even telling people all that he knows about my art.  What a day!  And before I forget, the girls, my grand-daughters each sold a painting and bookmarks, so it was a positive experience all way around.  My greatest regret is that because of the rain and this being my first show, I wasn't able to have them stay for the day with me, perhaps next year!

I'm excited and been busy painting some new mixed media pieces, as the others sold. I also have another of Kel's truck pieces varnished and drying, just no photo as yet.  Then there is the new big abstract, 24 x 30"which I love and will hate to part with, well almost! (top of post) It was pure joy to just start flooding my canvas with paint, the tones are rich and deep just like I like then.

Okay, I've been cramming down my lunch while writing this, now it's time to get back at it! Looking forward to catching up with what everyone else has been doing in blogger land!

Creative Call

Feeling the crunch, last week before our first art fair.  I say our, because not only is it a first for Kellie and I, it's a first for my Grand-daughters.  At their Gramp's suggestion they wanted to put some small canvases and bookmarks in the fair too.  Needless to say, I've been busy helping them 'finish' them out. At 9 and 11 it's hard for them to comprehend just how long and hard you can work to get a piece to that finished state.  The table holds their offerings in various states of doneness, including a basket of bookmarks.

My sister, Kel's been pulling out all the stops too, can't wait to see her many framed and print offerings. Exciting times for the 'Graham' girls!  (I'm a Graham by birth, still am, often wish I could use my maiden name for my art, I feel so connected to my roots, the creative soul that I was as a kid)

"You and I when we're young--experience a calling. To art, to service, to honourable sacrifice. ...this calling is followed immediately by the apparition of RESISTANCE.  Fear.  Self-doubt.  Self-sabotage.

What makes this moment so soul-precarious is that most of us are unconscious of both our aspirations and our Resistance."  Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield

I'm working to complete a large piece, and another smaller mixed media piece.  This is just a snippet of the bigger abstract.  The creativity is flowing but boy my body is pushing back!  It's times like these that I think, darn this painting is worth a bundle for all the hours of pain and hard work to create it! Just saying ;-)

Resisting Resistance

This smaller piece was an experiment with aluminum foil.  Distressed, painted over with acrylics, then areas rubbed off to reveal the foiling again on the ridges and various areas, then covered again with translucent acrylics.  Of course I then had to do some crackling along with other detailing.  Overall it's quite a dramatic little piece, though the background blues are a little deeper in tone than what my camera shows.  Do you know I don't think I could get that same look again, it was such a forward, backwards kind of process, doubt if I could duplicate it to get the same colour results.  Art is such an interesting exploration.

I have to admit this was a hard one to complete, encountered all kinds of resistance as I struggled to do the work that would get me past the 'ugly.'  It pushes, but I push back. Again, I love what the process pulls from me. It connects me to the person I saw hints of when I was young, and I mean kid young!

"Resistance cannot be seen, heard, touched, or smelled. But it can be felt. We experience it as an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential.  Resistance is a repelling force. It's negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing 'the work.'  Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work."  Do The Work by Steven Pressfield

Don't Over Protect Your Work!

As many of you know getting ready for an Art Fair takes a lot of work, both in creating the art and designing your space, pricing, labelling and more.  Lot's to think about, especially as this is my first, a total newbie.  My sister Kellie is hard at work too, it's been great having her to bounce ideas off and just hold each other's hand as we prepare for our first art fair!

With that in mind, completed our first collaborative effort, Kel's truck photo and my mixed media interpretations.  My husband loves it, so I'm hoping someone at the fair will too! I've yet to get a good face on photo of it, but will try again in different lighting. (Alright snaps some pics outside in overcast sky, not bad)  Also finished the porch swing mixed-media, (first photo) I really like how this one came out.  Other things on the go and in various stages.

Bookmarks in the making, small canvases that the Grand-girlies are going to work on, for their part in the fair, it's turned into a family affair!

"Creation is motivated by truth and mystery. If you overprotect your work, there is no room for genuine inspiration.  Be intrigued. Be curious. Nothing bad can come from an honest response to your intuition.  No matter what you paint, creation is benevolent. Under every little fear, there is a revelation, an insight waiting to happen." Michele Cassou

Got to remember that when I'm passing through the 'uglies' and wondering how things will go at the art fair!

Abstract Distraction

It's been a full week of painting, really happy with the pieces I'm working on, which is always a good thing.

The large teal piece is going well and I'm close to being done, here's a detailed shot of one of my fav parts of the painting.  Also love the vintage look to this 20 x 24".

I should have a good representation of what I do for the Dooryard Art Festival Market, that my sister, Kellie and I are participating in.  We are excited and nervous all at the same time as neither one of us have been in an art fair.  It's a collaboration, which began with her offering me moral support by coming to help me with the fair, and then kind of grew into putting some of her photographs on display as well.  I love having sisters!

This last photo is a mixed-media piece using my blogging friend's photo, Frances Robinson. She has been kind enough to permit me to use some of her photos in my work, her images really speak to me.

I also plan on creating a mixed-media piece using some of Kellie's photos, why I never thought of it sooner I'll never know! But if I can manage it time wise there will be some pieces at the fair :-)

"...as strange as it seems, when artists paint, they tend to forget that life cannot be infused into the canvas by manipulating colors and shapes. They forget that the breath of life arises spontaneously only when the work is done from the heart and soul, in humility and surrender." Michele Cassou

Dealing With The 'Uglies!'

As you can see I have a couple of canvases in the works. Nice sizes, 24x30" and a 20x24".  I like to post pictures of the various stages of ugly that a painting can pass through before it's done.  Reminds me that all is not lovely from the start, kind of like us!

Thing is about 'uglies' you can get bogged down right there if you're not careful.  You're thinking mind plays tricks on you pushing you to despair that you will ever get through to a better place.  The doubts can press in hard when your in the middle of dealing with  'the uglies' and you stop seeing the potential that's just waiting for the right elements to bring it forward.

"The great gift of creativity is that it does not let you mimic life in a satisfactory way. It forces you to really explore the truly vibrant within you."  Michele Cassou

That's why I love the process of creating so much, it allows me to explore those deeper places, express my struggles on canvas passing through the uglies to get to what is vibrant within me, within all of us.

The Creative Climb

Quick update from my messy but happily productive loft.

Finally put the finishing touches on these two pieces. (Window photo used with permission by photographer, Frances Robinson) Have a few more smalls in various states of doneness. And  two medium to larger canvases that are prepped and waiting to come to life with paint.

The week has challenged my creativity, overwhelmed my body by times but deepened my spirit and sense of self.  It's an amazing thing what happens when you create.

"You want to arrive at the top of the mountain, but you don't want to climb! Creation is a complete experience with many phases and cycles."  Michele Cassou

Enjoyed some time in artist, Jeane Myers's painting shed this week.  Love this woman's spirit. You can see the recorded session on her sidebar, but don't delay she doesn't leave them there long :-)

And a large painting sold at Klub Soda this week, yeah!

Check it out!

Flat Surfaces Pitfall

If you could see my loft studio right now, you'd wonder what blew through here!  Every available flat surface has stuff strung all over it!  Canvases drying, canvases partly finished, those finished and awaiting being safely packed away until the art fair or shipping, and mixed-media painting supplies everywhere.  I know what I'll be doing in the next little while.

It's funny, my husband and I joke about his problem with flat surfaces, if it's flat he will set something down on it then wonder where he left it :-)  Here I am with every flat surface obscured by art related stuff.  Not enough hours, and in my case not enough health to keep it cleared, until today I just can't create in the chaos anymore.  That's another interesting thing about we humans. Some of us need things very clean in order to feel right in our own skin, not me by the way.  Others require a little more lived in and then there are those that can thrive when everything is out and in sight around them.  Quirks, you got to love them, it's what makes life interesting.

Read this at random in a book I'm thinking of reading, (bought it second hand)


"...a deep, inner yearning to express themselves, plus persistence!  Without persistence, they could never have overcome their inhibitions, their doubts and fears, long enough to permit their true inner selves to function...a matter of patient, quiet, firm, dogged work.  Please believe me when I say that your success depends not so much upon technical training, as upon your personal growth, your adaption to the learning process and your ability to let yourself go!" The Creative Way To Paint by David Friend

Having trouble getting a photo that shows the colours accurately but this gives you an idea.  6 more little pieces to add to my mountain theme, plus a larger mixed-media piece and more being prepped but not shown.

Hope you are having a great weekend!