Art Festivals Anyone?

Lots of elements went into this piece, from crackle paste to fibrous paper to rusted pieces of metal.  I love the earthiness of it and when my daughter in law saw it she said it looked like it was on fire, thus the name.

I'm working to build a sizeable and diverse collection of my work for up coming art festivals and events.  The Dooryard Art Festival is one that I look forward to again this year.  It's an amazing few days celebrating the arts in all it's forms from visual to musical and we have a lot here in the Marintimes! Beginning Wednesday evening, Aug 8th to Aug 10th.  The Dooryard Marketplace running from 9am-3pm Saturday, Aug 10,  look for me under the bright blue tent, along with a great variety of other very talented artisans!

The other event I look forward to being part of again this summer is The Golden Unicorn Arts Festival in Fosterville, August 18th from 11am-4pm. Jean and I had such a great time last year we can't wait to return!  It's lake country with 'cottagers' coming out to visit, enjoy the great food, entertainment and of course check out the diverse art forms represented that day.

Well, time to get back to creating!

Inner Rhythm

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Progress, finally.  I've turned a corner with some improvements in my health that are allowing me more studio time which feels wonderful.  Life with chronic pain and illness is all about rhythm, finding the way through the more intense times, narrowing your focus and output. There is no such thing as balance in my world, nothing is ever equal or balanced, instead it's all about handling the pendulum swings and reaching for the inner rhythm that keeps me sane and engaged.

Something Shaun McNiff said in "Trust The Process" really sums up my how I feel,

"Trusting the process is based on a belief that something valuable will emerge when we step into the unknown. There are elements of surrender and letting go which have more to do with flexibility and the ability to change direction, than with defeat and annihilation. The ego is willing to relinquish its plans and expectations in order to receive an unanticipated result. Experienced creators are able to step aside and relax in order to advance."

Oddly enough living with the debilitating effects of fibromyalgia prepared me to explore as an artist in a free and uninhibited way.  And the process of creating has helped me to express and find deep satisfaction and joy in my life despite its pain and limitations.  I see "The Designers" hand in all of it and that fills my tanks to overflowing!

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Here's to life's inner rhythms and the joy of expression through creativity!  Perfectly imperfect!

Making Marketing Work For You

 This little duo is off to a decent start. Got the background done, collage elements drying, now I'm looking at finessing all those details and elements that bring it fully to life.  I really like the design concept and I can see myself playing with this idea more.  I did an underpainting of iridescent pearl so everything has a wonderful glow to it.  Lots of decisions to make yet I'm afraid.

When I've not been down and out this month I've been reading, working hard at gaining some marketing skills and determining what my best options are.  That's really the key, gaining the knowledge but then taking a hard look at the many variables that will affect you're marketing strategies.  There's the usual things to consider, costs, expertise, best venues, then there are the personal ones, like where you live, the options open to you, what your target audience is and as in my case what will my health issues allow me to do.  (That last one is huge for me, darn it!)

Jack White writes:

"Do your homework. Everyday I see artist frozen solid from the fear

of rejection. They put themselves in un-win-able situations and fret because they got

turned down. I preach as loud as old circuit riding preacher, "Know the gallery

before you make an appointment. Know what the shows want before you try to rent

tent space."   Fear of trying is more egregious than trying and failing. Failure is not

an option.  Never take things personal. I chose to pay no attention to the negative comments

and rush to the next store. I knew the more rejections the closer I was to a sale. I

knew the percentage was getting better with each rejection. Did their words sting?

Does a rooster crow? Of course their cutting words stung, but I couldn't take them

personally, because if I did, I'd toss in the towel. I would give up."

"Fear of losing what you have can either freeze or motivate you to action"

Love this man's writing and attitude!

Intuitive Approach to Art

Prepping canvases this week getting ready to paint, everything seems to be moving in slow motion this month!

On another front, abstract artist, Maxine Masterfield, who's work has inspired me from the beginning, celebrated 6 decades of creating art and will celebrate her 80th birthday this year.  Now that's a legacy worth leaving.  Not only do I love her work, I love her attitude and spirit.  From her book "Painting the Spirit of Nature"

"I've never felt that any artist could improve on nature, but I've always felt compelled to interpret visually how nature has inspired and fascinated me with its beauty. Creating art that reflects the beauty of nature and the feelings it generates within you, is possible without years of study. My method of painting is for those who are not interested in drawing detailed pictures of what they see and can photograph.  And my tools are whatever will create the image of a feeling or experience...

"I always felt resistant to the instructions that preached a strict adherence to traditional methods I did not feel comfortable with...It is only by being inventive and trying unusual tools that I survived as an artist."

And this quote allied me to her spirit more than anything else :-)  She was on a panel with  a famous traditional artist and as she listened to him critique various works...

"But after a while I found myself defending the very works he voiced the strongest objections to. He was fighting to preserve the tight subjectivity that artist were taught for eons all over the world, while I was encouraging a free, intuitive approach to art that exceeded these conservative perimeters to reach out for a more sensuous and exciting reality."

Seeing as I got such a late start in beginning to paint, this is my fourth year, I am hoping that I will be  painting when I'm 80 as Maxine is, what a woman, what an artist!

In Search of A Name

This one has been in the works for weeks now, it's been hard going, maybe it's holiday recovery, or January brain freeze, but whatever the reason I struggled to get this piece to a happy place that is pretty much done!  But I have no idea what to call it.  The blue/green reminds me of opals, but the overall design has the feel of the cosmos to me.  Suggestions welcomed!

24x50" Acrylics & Ink on Gallery Canvas

Had a rough start to the new year as I've talked about in previous posts, but things may be smoothing out a little now.  And as always, I've got my nose into a number of books, one being "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri.  Henri's words encourage me, perhaps they will you too,

"The work of the art student is no light matter. Few have the courage and stamina to see it through."

"Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them."

"The brush stroke at the moment of contact carries inevitably the exact state of being of the artist at that exact moment..."

And I love this :-)

"For an artist to be interesting to us he must have been interesting to himself."

Makes me chuckle, so note to self, if I'm bored with me, then I expect my art will be boring too!

Hope all you interesting people out there are having a great weekend.

The World of Re-Do's!

Oh my the eternal world of re-do!  From talking to and reading other artist blogs, it seems the world of re-do exists for all of us.  We all land there from time to time, staying longer than we care to. I can't help but ask, what puts me there?  What makes us come back to a painting and know it's just not connecting. So we study and consider and layer in more elements, textures and colour.  Building, building, building.  In the end these are the paintings that make you dig deeper, exert more energy and wind up being truly one of a kinds, because you couldn't repeat the multi layered steps, ever!

Some of the re-do's come months later, you make some changes, find those missing connecting points and you know, this piece will find a home now.  I'm hoping that will be the case for these once I've completed the re-dos!

The first one is a redo of a 24x24 I had done just before Christmas, I didn't like the bottom portion and so set out to see how I could work around the add on elements and change out the bottom portion.  I think it's going to work.  I've done a number of these, similar but different each time, all of them have found good homes.

The other is just a small piece of a much larger two piece work.  The milky film over the blue is crackle, I added the blue and gold paper for contrast, but found it overwhelmed the painting, so I'm working to tone it down, make it less prominent and blend with the rest of the painting more.

"Repeats signal substance rather than dullness." Michele Cassou

2013 Is Kicking!

2013 is kicking my butt! 

I see so many of you off and running into the new year, being very productive and full of goals and inspiration. So inspiring. 

I've run into a road block with my health, price I pay for having a very full calendar and lots of fun. Life with fibromyalgia has to be managed or you wind up, like me, with pain flare ups beyond the usual, cycles of migraines and that wall of fatigue I've never gotten use to.

I've been in recovering mode so things are moving slowly! 

I do have a couple of larger pieces on the go, but nothing new to show for my efforts just yet. Pictured here is a two piece covered in metallic paint as an under painting.  Something new I want to try, we will see how it goes. There's so much I need and want to be working on, but I've yet to find a way to make it all happen when living with fibro and chronic pain. 

We all face challenges. Things that loom large and threaten our progress. I share some of mine because I know that when life knocks you around it's always good to know we are not alone.

 Pressfield has been at it again, in a new book he speaks further about the things that block our creative efforts, calling it Resistance: 

"Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double cross you...resistance is always lying and always full of shit."  Do the work by Steven pressfield 

Christmas Surprises!

 I love partnering with clients to create surprise gifts for their loved ones!  And I'm delighted when the recipient of the surprise loves the piece!  This was one of the pieces and I have to tell you, I would have loved to hang it on my wall :-)  It's 20x72" and makes quite a statement.  

As you can see, there is lots of textures in golden and rusty brown tones, with metallic accents.

 "Intertwined" was a hit with my client and her Mom who she gave it to and I am loving the macro shots I managed to take before it left the loft!  It's been a busy week, lots of family and ongoing fun happening, so I'm not painting or seeing much of blogger land for that matter.  Hope everyone out there has had a good Christmas and like me still having a chance to enjoy family and lots of togetherness. 

Painting With Meaning

Christmas has always been about family for us.  God has graced me with a family I adore, and this Christmas I created this little piece in honour of my nieces boy, Tyler.  Nine years ago Nov 21st Tyler came into this world and our family plunged into a battle for life.  Tyler was born with two holes in his heart and was missing an artery.  His liver was also compromised.  Tubes, wires, and needles were a constant part of his world.

While our family wept and prayed and believed for his life, Tyler fought to stay with us.  Within 6 months Tyler underwent open heart surgery to repair the two holes and have the 4th artery built by skilled surgeons hands.  And our family rallied around one another, believing the verse given by God to his Aunt Kellie, Psalms 118:17 became our mantra, "Tyler Austin, you shall not die, but live, and tell of the works of the Lord."

Well, it's nine years later and he has delighted us with his fighting spirit. The devotion of his Mom and Dad, Wendy and Chris, fills my heart.  Tyler is champion, he has overcome so much, being Downs & Autistic he has yet to verbally declare what God has done for him, but his very being proclaims it daily!  He's now in school, with wonderful teachers aids he has learned to do so many things, he amazes me.

So from my family to yours, I wish you the joy of one another's presence, the laughter of shared moments and memories and courage to hold to one another come what may!  May the peace of God surround you.    Merry Christmas!

The Practical & The Creative

Did up a few desk calendars using macro shots of some of my art, kind of a test run just to see how it might look.  They turned out pretty good, thanks to Vista Print!  Completed the last of my holiday commissioned pieces and started a couple of new things, just because I love painting daily!

I've been both challenged and encouraged reading Jack White's books (e-downloads) on marketing ourselves and our art.  He's pragmatic and enthusiastic at the same time and he's given me clarity about some things I've been doing instinctively. Now I have words for some of my decision making!  What I love about Jack is that he has and is successfully advancing his own and his wife's art career with the principals he shares in his books.  It's not just theory with him, it's life.

"Whitesim: Your art is only worth what people will pay for it! This is one field that you are not paid by the hour. People pay for what they perceive to be the value of the art piece.
The public decides on what art sells for.  I can set the prices, but the collectors make the ultimate decision.  It took me a few years to listen to what they were saying...I finally realized that I had to listen to what the majority of buyers wanted to pay for my art and adjust my prices to fit their requirements, or not sell very much."

I'm not sure how much of an "art career" I'm trying to build, my goals are a little more short sighted.  I want to paint, to continue to explore and develop my abilities and that means I paint every day. For me, when the completed canvases begin to stock pile, I begin to slow down with my painting practice. I guess it's how I was raised, "waste not want not," the practical and the creative within me.

Then there's David DuChemin's wise words from his book, Vision Mongers:

"Make no mistake about it running a business is hard work. A labor of love is no less labor...By all means, whistle and enjoy it.  It's your calling, after all. You should love it. But you still have to put in the hours and log the time. These dreams aren't going to chase themselves."

So there you have it, from some guys who know what they're talking about.  Whistling away here in the loft, how about you!