Tag: painter

What about summer will you miss?

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Fall is here.

The temperature has dropped from 80 degrees to 60 degrees.

It it always a bit of a transition from summer to Autumn.

There will be no more swimming at the beach.

The short and t-shirt weather is done.

No more watermelon on a hot day.

No more grilling brats and hot dogs on the BBQ,

No more sitting around the campfire solving all the worlds problems

and roasting a marshmallow.

All volleyball and badminton is done.

And there will be no more tenting and camping.

No more fishing.

No more lazy summer days.

Now…it is time we hunker down.

Harvest…what we reap.

Enjoy…the spoils of your labor.

And get ready for the hard winter to come.

What about summer will you miss?

Do You Feel Guilty for Being an Artist?

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By Marion Bobby-Evans

Painting Expert

Do you ever feel guilty for your creativity? For being an artist or painter, for enjoying what you do so much, rather than working in a ‘normal’ or ‘sensible’ job? Have you ever been told you’ll never make a living from your painting, that it’s suitable only as a hobby? That there’s no real use for artists in society, unlike for doctors, lawyers, engineers? There was a lengthy discussion on creativity and guilt on the Painting Forum, the highlights of which are collated here for easy reading. The general consensus is that you need “a hide like a water buffalo to be an artist”, must learn to ignore the comments of other (non-creative) people, and have no reason to feel guilty about your creativity.

“It always amazes me: people who don’t know their butt from their elbow, sound soauthoritative and say the most damaging things like art is not real work and other gems like that … If you gave them a brush and a canvas, after a few hours of trying to paint something discernible, they would be begging for help or stop altogether. I actually saw that happen in real life with my Italian painting teacher. Someone on the street was taunting him saying that art was easy and that he could do that too if he wanted. My teacher then shoved a couple of brushes into this person’s arms with a canvas and he turned into a miserable little worm and slithered away.” — Victor

“I don’t feel guilty for being a painter, but I do feel disappointed about my low output in finished paintings … I feel upset about having the ability to paint and not fulfilling my purpose in this field. I know that there is more to life than painting, but, painting adds so much more to life. I believe the mind of an artistic person can be full of frustration because the desire to create is always there but the ability to work, for many reasons, is snuffed out.” –Brian

“I wanted to make a living by drawing, but didn’t see it as practical. I did need new jobs skills, however, and went to a technical school. There I took drafting. I could draw all day and be paid big money. I also took classes in commercial art. The teacher there emphasized it was possible to make a living at art. You just had to approach it as a business. She also said you were an artist even if you chose not to make a living at it. It was not the paying of money that made you an artist. Yes, it was better to get paid, but not necessary. If you wanted to keep it separate, and do something else for money, fine, but if you do want to make a living at it you do have to be practical and a little ruthless. She worked for many years as an executive in an insurance company making a lot of money, but it was not enough. She decided to get serious about art. But she, like many of us needed those years in the world to create the internal environment that allowed her to persue art. Time spent doing other things is not necessarily wasted. Only if we waste what we learned.” –Starrpoint.

“I feel guilty when I DON’T create.” –Carol

“The only guilt I have is that I didn’t recognize my own creativity years ago when I did my first couple of paintings and didn’t continue on. But better late than never. We only have one run around the block … why not enjoy it? … I have always encouraged my children to follow the arts, regardless of what type of art it is, I think it is important for the human spirit to be able to express yourself no matter whether it’s through painting, writing, music, etc. And no one should ever feel guilty about that.” –Tootsiecat

“No one expects to know math or any other subject before they start to learn, but we are all expected to be great artist without any effort. It comes hand and hand with the idea that artist don’t work. It is work.. We have to learn. It is very hard work. Talent is only the beginning! Its what you do with the talent that counts, and you cannot tell by looking at someone if they can paint, play an instrument, etc. Artist are not popped out in a mold, one size fit all.”–Starrpoint.

“I’m always conscious of time and I do feel guilty when I don’t create also. Luckily, I have a good excuse because I’m always doing something useful and I’m usually thinking about painting anyway, even when I’m just relaxing … I feel like it is a 24/7 thing, I need to be thinking and talking about painting or relating what I see to painting.” –Victor

“I worked for nearly 30 years in various engineering, design and R&D departments. Let me tell you, all the really good ones had plenty of artists in them. Being an artist is being creative. If you don’t think it takes the soul of an artist to come up with a creative solution to the needs of society, you don’t understand the question. Bridges, buildings, roads, the fabric of our world needs artists. Some work with paint, or stone or steel, others work with math, sound and genes. No, I don’t feel guilty about being as artist, as such. I feel guilty that I have created so little when the world needs so much.” –Starrpoint.

I always enjoy a good mystery.

       Okay I was procrastinating and painting up to the last-minute until I had to pick up my son from preschool finally as I’m flying out the door I realize I can’t find the car keys. Now I always keep my keys in my purse but today we switched cars and one of the two sets of keys that we made broke so we are sharing one key until we get another one made.  So the key is not in my purse or on the key rack…where it always is.  It’s not on the island, the peninsula, the computer table or my daughters detective drawer. Now this is a desk drawer that my daughter secretly store things from time to time I have found many things Wal-Mart cards, Q-tips, money, jewelry and empty candy wrappers I was thinking and hoping it was a sure place but not this time 

 So in a panic I call my husband at work and ask do you have the car keys? Do you know where they are? Knowing that if my husband had the keys it wouldn’t have helped the situation anyways because he was a bit of a trout away. In bewilderment I said okay I’ll let you go. What are you going to do he asks? Calculating it was too far to walk there the only thing I can do call Mom. Not a hard choice just an embarrassing one. 

So next I call Mom and her line is busy I call again and busy still. So I call my sister who is staying with Mom at this time. Is Mom on the phone? Yes. I’ll have her call you back. No… I need to talk to her right away.  So I can hear in the background and she’s trying to wrap it up but still keeps talking so I ask my sister to talk to this other person whom we both know just for a while so I can tell Mom of my predicament.  As I quickly tell my story she says that my niece is here too. Great! Can she go pick up my son at school for me? I don’t see why not.

I make the necessary phone calls arrange everything and a half hour later my son gets a ride home. Words and thoughts are exchanged and my niece explains why she is home and confesses of being under a lot of stress about something and so we talk for a while and I listen.  

Not long after my husband suddenly arrives home probably because of something I said. Together we search the whole house from top to bottom and as we are looking we are trying to recall who drove the car last, where did we go lately and basically trying to decide who’s at fault here. I know we’re terrible. Our search was futile no key found.

Although were befuddled we still have one last hope our daughter who is still at school. We pick her up and on the way home ask the proverbial question. Did you take the keys? She responds positively with yes I seen those keys. I’ve never seen her bee line to anything so fast and so sure. I was so relieved and silent all I could say was awesome. How they got there I didn’t care. What was important was the mystery was solved. I always enjoy a good mystery.

Looking back before taking that leaping forward.

    As a passionate or most times obsessed artist I always have to reflect back on what I painted in the past and relate it to what’s on my plate now.  I earnestly try to strive for a higher level of execution or thought. Having said that  I still believe that ‘ I myself do nothing the holy spirit accomplishes all through me.’ William Blake. I went back to 2010 in an earlier blog but felt the need to go back one more year to 2009. Great things happened that year sometimes it never hurts to relive and relearn. I started the year out working on some portraitures. My top 10 for 2009. 

1)   Oil painting portrait 24″ x 36″  ‘Deana and Reid’

2)   Oil painting portrait 24″ x 30″  ‘Jeff and Gloria’

3)   I lined up an art show at  ‘ The Dance Works gallery’ 

4)   Grava gallery: put on display “Layla” throughout the summer.


5)   Co-written and published 1st e-book.

6)   Finished a nude figure painting in oils 30″ x 40″ for sale $2,500.

7)   Worked on series for up coming show: Started (2) large  paintings 24″ x 30″ called soul-searching and finished up the 11″ x 14″ smaller version of soul-searching.

8)   August/pool party at The lighthouse: Displayed and delivered portraitures.

9)   October: Gallery night opening at The Dance Works art gallery. 

10)  Flew to North Carolina for a wedding stayed at the Hilton. Took a lot of photographs plan to do a large painting of the boardwalk. I have new ideas about flying. Thank God it was only an hour flight! 

 

Why you should frame your art.

There are two reasons why we have art frames on paintings. They can protect art, of course, but most importantly they can aid to their attractiveness on display.

Since the very early days of painting, frames have served to enhance the visual beauty of art. Pictures were hung on walls and they became furnishings. The first frames were often works of art themselves. They were large and elaborately carved and decorated wooden frames. There was a practical reason also. The frame framed the picture. In other words, it created a boundary that enclosed the image and separated it physically from the surrounding wall.

As the idea of paintings as furniture began to spread, the frame became such an essential element of the entire package that the art was not considered complete until it was framed. The frame often time was more art than the painting itself. The framer was an artist in his own right. One part of his art was the carving and decoration of the frame and another was the matching of frame and picture to create a harmonious whole.

Framing changed dramatically with the introduction of lithographs and prints. These were either original works or copies of works printed on paper rather than actual paintings on canvas. Little was understood about preservation at first and although the art prints were being framed in a similar fashion to oil paintings at first, it was soon realized that certain protection was needed. It also became common to use colored matting to frame the image inside the wooden external frame.

As the lithograph or print became more and more popular, the art of modern framing was developed. The external frame became more than just a frame for the image, but also the platform that allowed glass to cover and protect the image and matting to enhance and create an inner frame. The use of matting inside the outer frame became another art form. Colors in the mats themselves were matched to colors in the art work to create a unified visual image. The mats, the image, the glass, and even protective backing and mounting material was all held together by the frame.

Today, the major reason for the use of frames with art is still the original one. The frame isolates the art from the surrounding environment making it a unified piece. With prints, the frame still serves as a platform for the glass, backing, and matting. Of course, the major reason for a frame from a practical point of view is that we have become so used to them that no hanging picture would look natural without one.

Aazdak Alisimo writes about art framing for ArtFramingGalleries.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aazdak_Alisimo

visit my website at http://www.cedarlodgeportraitstudio.com

Boo Radley lives across the street.

 

It’s that time of the year. When my daughter who will stand at the corner of the lot peering across the street for long periods of time according to my watch shivering and whispering to her little brother who  follows her around faithfully. It reminds me every time of the book To Kill a Mockingbird you know the part where Scout and Jem would wait to see if Boo Radley would come out of the house. Not that this house looked run down, overgrown or there were any rumors circulating about the neighbors that I care to mention, but instead the haunting decorum of Halloween that they displayed in their front yard religiously ever year antagonizing my daughter as she looks to see and not see at the same time. At night it only got brighter as she peaks through the curtains. I’m sure the neighbors were amused and look forward to her curiosity every year.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was a coming-of-age novel told from the point of view of an adult looking back at her childhood something I keep wanting to do myself.  Scout was 9 years old an age I remember very well and she was, as the saying goes, ‘wise beyond her years’. Another familiar line ‘Roaming freely all day, coming home only for meals or the bathroom.’ An era we will only remember as a child and never repeat.

 

Summer meant lazy days of sleeping in, sun tanned from head to foot and dirty feet.

Photo by almostfinnishWe had some really amazing days here. The temperatures reached up into the near 80’s and there was a warm zephyr that blew our hairs around in delight. And then there’s this smell of the earth rejuvenating you know that wet mosey damp soil smell that always wisps past us for that first time in a matter of seconds. For me it’s a nostalgic smell, a reminiscent smell, and a smell that keeps bringing me back to my youth. Most of my greatest memories are collected within a smell like the smell of lemons, gas cans, musty old basements, an old paperback book, foggy nights and with that hint of alewife in the air.

So I have been thinking about telling my story as I remember it. It’s about a place and time. There are no antagonists and no sidewalks. Although we battle nature and growing up. Some periphiral characters seem to come to light as we tell the stories amongst ourselves.

More importantly, along with writing, I’ve started a series of paintings originating and departing from some photographs taken during my recent return to the old farmhouse, duck pen, silo, and the trees we sit under or swing from.

As a child, I would lay in bed at night and a warm breeze would blow into the room and the shear curtains would slowly rise and fall. The lights outside would sometimes reflect on the curtains making them more white than ever. I would lay there wide awake, observant and listening to the quietness, maybe a cricket, a whippoorwill, a frog on occasion but my thoughts made me distant to all.  As my mind wandered an old familiar smell passed in front of me it was always sudden and it was always a surprise. Spring was here I wanted to remember this smell and this moment forever. It also brought on a longing as I remembered the anticipation and the excitement that was to come not only was it spring but that school too would soon be over.

When school was out it meant summer was about to begin.  Summer meant lazy days of sleeping in late, being sun tanned from head to foot and bare feet. Summer meant ice cream, watermelon and that smell of fresh cut grass. We would go to town occasionally for a trip but mostly it was long filled days of exploring through the woods and dragging along a red wagon, a coffee can or a butterfly net. We spontaneously created and built these things beyond our imaginations and never to be seen. Our life was of great adventure and our minds full of wonder and possibilites.

Sometimes my sanity is more important than my art.

I like to think I eat sleep and breathe art but in reality it is like the last thing I get to do on my list. Tuesday and Thursday are my two big days if these days fall through so does the whole week.

Last Thursday I invested all my time in just cleaning brushes and my palettes. My theory in the past was to just buy new paint brushes when I ran out of clean ones. But instead of throwing brushes away I kept them and now I have a gazillion brushes and when I paint I use a gazillion brushes. So I’m trying to stand back and analyze my predicament. Clean up time should be short and sweet.
My whole way of thinking has changed. Although I am painting more and better my time to paint is less. I really don’t need a lot of time to paint. A solid one, two, three hours can be sufficient.

As for this Tuesday well everyone was out of the house which is unusual. As much as I wanted to busy myself. I stopped and got breakfast and a coffee with three creams. I just came back and enjoyed a nice solitaire breakfast for a change and caught up with some stuff. Sometimes my sanity is more important than my art.

It is late and I have been painting. The room smells of turpentine and oil paint and it is a welcoming smell. I have too many canvases in process and unfinished hence the name ‘almostfinnish’ and some that are just taking up space so I need to take serious measures to be able to differentiate from ‘has potential’ to ‘hopeless’. How many times in the past has an artist painted over their paintings???? Is there too many times?

One thing I don’t have is a shortage of supplies so if a few canvases end up in the trash I’ll be okay.

It’s spring break here for us. Ten days all together. So my quest is to try to finish up some paintings sitting in limbo.