You Always Have Your Art Practice

I was talking with an old friend who recently lost his job. He didn't know his next step in life and seemed a bit unsure of who he really was now. Sometimes life and work can swallow you up and spin you around. You may get to the point where you have to recalibrate in order to find out who you really are at different times in your life.


My friend said it was wonderful how I paint and draw and I could tell he longed for a constant like that. As insecure as art can be it was always a part of me I could never let go of. There were years when I pursued other things only getting in a few stolen moments with art as time permitted.


Recently I made the commitment to deepen my practice whether or not it turns out to be a career.
Art can be a constant in my life and  always a piece of who I am no matter how our crazy world decides to define me.

Ann Page Recent Sculptures & Drawings and Lecture "Blurring Boundries"

 

In her lecture before the show she started off by explaining what inspired her.  As an artist I loved this kind of thing. I love to hear the stories how pieces were made and how her past and present works evolved. Her work is very beautiful and intricate and looks like it may have been inspired by the ocean. Most of her pieces, especially her 3D printer made works kind of look a bit like coral. But that’s not the story behind them. She didn’t just set out just to make” beautiful” art.

This made me realize most of my own approach to making art is to find only beauty in things and showcasing that. After hearing Ann Pages lecture and seeking her work I am inspired to take an explorative and “let’s see what happens” leap of faith approach to art.  She not only finds the beauty in something simple and everyday things.  In the lecture she spoke about a piece inspired from as the small details in popcorn.  Page made it into an interesting pattern, a whole different creation!

Page’s small pieces dazzled me the most with their beauty.  I liked the multi cut out layered dimensions she created. When you look up close at these you see what looks like light amoeba like sketches that give the pieces more playful fun.  These appear at first to be something right out of a sketchbook, fun floaty lightly painted and very imaginative but from here lecture I learned there is more thought and depth to what she does. The multiple layers of her pieces really gave her work beautiful depth like a tiny microcosm you can look into. There is so much for the eye to see.  The foreground and background have wonderful  lattice  like cutouts that overlap and show deeper dimensions. It reminds me of something you might see while deep sea diving.

Ann Page had larger and similar pieces that showcased more prominently the cut out layered dimensions.  I really liked the multiple layers and the depth these showed.  They were less playful than the smaller ones. In a lot of ways the layers were in contrast of one another. I loved and hated this. In some pieces it seemed like they didn’t belong with another and it seemed jarring to the senses. Stepping back at the same time I could also see the meaning behind it and could enjoy the madness. She has water colored cutouts with what appeared to be photo shopped layers beneath that. There is an intense difference between the photo shopped layers and gentle watercolor cutouts.  All in all found the work interesting and indeed “Blurring Boundaries” of my own. 

Page also made tiny sculptures with a 3D printer! In her lecture she mentioned exploring this technology! How bold just to pick up a new technology and artistically see how far you could go with it! For myself I like to take a bunch of classes and explore alone for a long time with a new medium.  I feel freed as an artist by her  bold approach in this. Some of the coral like pieces were paired with small artworks with the ones mentioned above. This gave the work even more dimension and playfulness-a tiny world so intricate.

There were other interesting sculptures, ones made what appeared to be out of paper stacked on one another.  They looked something out of an old science fiction movie or like a light fixture of the 1960’s! I liked the delicacy the paper gave them.

The lecture “Blurring Boundaries” and the art show “Recent Sculptures & Drawings” opened my eyes to being more experimental in my own art. She also encouraged me to look deeper into my mundane life for ideas.  Ann Pages work is definitely an inspiration and a cue for me to go bold in my work.

Ann Page Recent Sculptures and Drawings

 

Drawing Lessons: The Blackboard

My grandparents had this old genuine slate chalkboard. When I was a kid Pop Pop would draw a picture on it for me whenever I visited.  I excitedly would run in to see my picture.  This made me feel really special.  Later on he would teach me how to draw the picture myself. I struggled but  learned to draw boats, houses, cars, dogs, cats etc.


Later on in life I fought the instinct to make art.  The pursuit of art making doesn't  guarantee reward. Shouldn't  I be doing something more practical with my time? But still this pull inside me calls me to do the work anyway. Now  I continue despite, connecting the past with the present and creating the future.

Reliving Childhood:A Return to the Source

Like a lot of girls I became obsessed with horses. I  devoured books about them and obsessively cut out pictures of every one I came across in magazines and newspapers. At I had the coolest trapper keeper notebook with one brilliantly displayed  on it. I must have drawn that gallant chestnut horse a thousand times until it was perfect.


I haven't thought about horses in a very long time. Now years later I am learning to draw animals. It was challenging at first but when we took a trip to the L.A. Equestrian Center things started to click.
The reuniting with my childhood passion was a doorway to  realizing my current artistic pursuits. My memory  of the shape of the legs and the muzzle came back like riding a bike.  It made my strokes bolder and I started to really enjoy the process.

Friendships and Inspiration

A good friend of my is an artist too. Our approach and work are complete opposite.
She approaches her work with quick bold strokes and confidence, me on the other hand sketch lightly timidly and second guess myself. Pastels and joy are the order of the day for her and me, I tend toward brooding shadows and black. In my work I lean toward realism and she paints in a delightfully dreamy way.
No ones work is better than the other just very different and we both  capture the essence of our subject matter.
When I see my friends work I am greatly inspired. Not only by the wonderfully crafted and dreamy  pieces but by her approach.  Seeing her dive in completely and boldly somehow frees me to do the same. Now when I look at my work I am less critical and welcome the unexpected.


Here a piece made by the brilliant Sara Cohen.

Drawing to the Beat Part 2:Surrender

After painting blindfolded this is what I ended up with.  It really does look like a dog. I entertained the possibility of something else but I just couldn't see past the dog. So surrendered to what  it was and ran with it.
It just so happens that I love dogs.  As an only child the family dogs were my best friend. In this piece I really focused on the eyes and capturing the soul the animal. The face of the dog monopolizes the canvas so I wanted to bring the viewer in deeper with the expression of the eyes.I created contrast by taking a so called tough dog breed, the rottweiler and gave it  a sensitive caring expression.

Here is the finished product!

I really love this chaotic technique. Like life, it's about making the most of the hand you are dealt with.
Much inspiration to you! Cheers

Drawing in the Light of the Moon

I didn't want to get out of my warm cozy bed.  It was one of those days when things seem overwhelming and I had a bit of a case of the blues. I just didn't feel like working on my art. Blame it on the moon.


Gently I enticed myself out of bed and got moving. I made a nurturing cup of tension tamer tea and put on my favorite internet radio show. Then I approached my drawing
.
Things seemed to get better as let myself flow with it. I made lines, dabbed pan pastel then erased and tweaked my work. The blood started pumping. As I strung the pieces together I felt more together.


This isn't a pull yourself up by your bootstraps approach but a gentle coaxing. One foot in front of the other instead overwhelming to do list. The actual doing of the work was healing. And when I looked up the sun was out and bright and I felt the same way too.




http://www.panpastel.com/


http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/herbal-teas/tension-tamer


http://www.ohotto.com/radio/soul_connexions/

Painting in the Dark to the Beat: A Journey to artistic freedom

Yesterday we ventured way out of our comfort zone.  Yep we painted blind folded.
Art supplies in hand, Anne Marie Karlsen (her work is excellent by the way check her out at
http://annemariekarlsen.com/Anne_Marie_Karlsen/projects.html) our shaman lead us on this journey




In the dark we were instructed to grab a handful of prismacolor pencils and to draw to the sounds of smooth  jazz. Then to work with pan pastel to some hip hop smudging to the beat. Lastly in painting whopping on globs of paint to some intense rap music! The process felt really good, cathartic even!




Blindfolds off I was greeted with what looked like a big black blob? Oh dear? What am I to make of this? I tried to dab some of the acrylic paint off. All control was gone. The piece had a life of its own?




We hung our work on the wall.  She pointed out flowers and faces in my cohorts swiggles and swirls and in my piece she pointed out a Rottweiler. Really? Where am I to take this? Is my work going to the dogs? (Sorry couldn't resist).


Our Shaman leader sheepishly confessed that this is the way she approaches most of her projects.


 Stay tuned to see the finished product...