Experimenting

Well, I'm really frustrated now. I edited the image in photoshop so that the color looks true to the painting, but it does not translate onto this screen or my iBook using Preview. I guess I need to keep experimenting.

Longing for Spring

Spring is calling, drawing me into my studio to paint more water. This one has taken me a while, but I couldn't wait to get started on it. Now that I see it next to what I am typing, the colors seem off, which is very frustrating. The grasses should be very warm in color, but look gray.
Vacation is only a week away, with the list of painting ideas growing like the crocuses waiting to poke their heads through the melting snow. Hopefully my paintings won't have to wait as long.

"Summer's Flowing Into Fall" - Sold

Head in the clouds

Clouds have always fascinated me and I spend a good deal of my walks looking at the sky, bringing images like this one home to paint, but not lately. Temperatures have hovered just above zero and the wind has me walking head down with all but my eyes and nose covered in warm layers. Nevertheless, it feels so good to be out for long walks again, the best being just before Christmas in the middle of a beautiful snowfall, on my way to see the Nutcracker. It was magical, as was the performance.
I am back in my studio, after spending wonderful moments with family and friends over the holidays, and am working on a commissioned painting that I hope to complete before school begins again. It's a challenge painting for someone else, rather than choosing what speaks to me most, but worth it.
Let's hope that 2009 brings the changes we need - an end to war, caring for our planet, economic stability, and a president who has the intelligence, energy, and cool head with which to accomplish this. The 20th will be a day to celebrate!!!
Happy New Year.

Back at the easel #2

Hmmm. I'm still trying to figure out how to get images where I want them to be in my posts but have not been very successful, as you can see. In any case these two are from a hike in the White Mountains and kayaking on Grafton Pond, in New Hampshire.

Back at the easel

I love the morning and have felt decadent being able to lounge on the couch with my foot up, savoring my coffee and watching the birds dance on the branches outside my window, jockeying into position to reach the feeder. Many mornings have been grey so I can imagine the snow that will be gracing those branches fairly soon. With that in mind, I decided to play around with painting snow.

It feels so good to be in the studio, even if it is a temporary one. I may not have been physically active over the past two weeks, but I have been artistically busy reading, researching on line, and working on a few new, small paintings. I've been trying different surfaces (Richeson gator foam, and Wallis board) in relative sizes of 5" x 7" and 8" x 8". In all three cases I painted the surface with pastel brushed with either alcohol or turpenoid. The alcohol worked better, although I still found that the tooth filled up quickly on both surfaces, probably due to compensating for value adjustments. The turpenoid is thicker and created a shiny surface when the brush was too full. Each experiment was worth it, despite the frustration, so I am ready to work larger and try using lighter strokes.

Energy & the teaching artist

I've just read the most recent edition of Robert Genn's twice-weekly e-mail's written before boarding a flight to Kiev in which he refers to a quote by John Updike which says "I try to avoid teaching which takes a lot of your energy and makes you doubt yourself." I could immediately relate to the energy part, but wasn't quite sure about how it could make an artist doubt himself, until I read further.

Genn thinks that teaching can be "charming, for sure.....There's that terrific feeling you get when you see the lights come on in students' eyes. Watching improvement in others has to be one of the great highs. For those of us who love to spin knowledge, preparation itself opens up exciting new directions. Further, during delivery, the teacher finds out what she thinks by hearing what she has to say." 

This is true: when a student takes what you give him, runs with it and feels proud, there is no better feeling, and teachers do love sharing what they know. But many art students are insecure, afraid to make a mark, to take risks, or don't recognize their own abilities. These students take constant encouragement/pushing to take that leap in order to feel successful. Then there are all the others who, because of one reason or another (problems at home, learning difficulties, etc.) can't focus at all. Many teachers feel like the glue that holds kids together.

Genn has some insight into this: "But teaching takes a special kind of energy. Lots of it. Frankly, I don't know how they find it. Arriving home from the schoolroom, many of my art-teacher friends have to put their feet up and debrief with something like Vodka or the decorating of eggs. Exhausted, many have trouble getting to the studio. Like those undersized tubes of Ukrainian toothpaste, they are used up." (Painter's Keys Website)

It's as if all of your energy, ideas and knowledge have been drained from you. Rejuvenation is needed and may come from time with other artists to share experiences, etc. or from workshops to improve skills. This is when doubt can seep in, especially if you are new at calling yourself an "artist". Being a student again is a humbling experience, but an important one for all teachers. You expect yourself, or assume others do, to know everything about art because you are an art teacher but find yourself in a situation where other students have been working in a particular medium much longer than you. Now you are the one being critiqued again. Thank God the teacher voice in you tells you to keep trying, you're just learning.

Anyone for Vodka?

Welcome

I'm here recovering from surgery which keeps me home from teaching, but also provides me with the opportunity to connect with other artists, share some of my work, and eventually work in my temporary studio suited to my need to keep my foot elevated. I'm getting there!

I have been painting with pastels the past two years, when I have time away from my life as an art teacher, and have loved every moment of it, including the struggles and moments of self-doubt. Getting to know other artists and sharing with each other is an energizing process, as well as a great learning experience.

I welcome your thoughts and comments, as well as interest in my work.