Category: Reflections

This is the most fun art class ever. Have students do the worst painting possible. Use the ugliest colors they can even imagine and do the worst drawing they can come up with. If you do that, it is like jumping off a bridge. You cannot do art like that unless you  really let go. . Just try it. And guess what . There is no ugly color. the only UGLY color is probably a blend of colors trying to be ugly but it won’t be. It will be different. It won’t be possible. You will find that same color you made somewhere in the world

You will probably find the pictures to be interesting. Interesting is good, It is better than the same old thing that you are already skilled at.

It is absolutely freeing to do this. Because you don’t have any pressure mentally to do a good painting . You will be better.

I let my granddaughter come into the studio and paint half the painting. She was thrilled. i did not know what she would do, but the more she saw that I wasn’t judging her, she just splashed the paint all over with abandon. . i finished the painting and sold it and she knows she helped me do it.

playing around can be totally exciting and relaxing at the same time.

People want to be able to categorize things, so they can understand how to talk about it with some clarity. The problem is every person is unique and so the number of categories is astronomical.

When I got married, My husband and I had a Japanese/French theme to our wedding. We both liked qualities of both countries and couldn’t decide which so we had both.  Kimonos were our wedding attire, Sushi and Pate and marinated Sea Monster Vegetables, Blueberry Cheesecake , French baguettes,  and truffles.  Swans . We had swans too. Floating in a swimming pool. The flowers were orchids and the music was John Phillip Souza since it was close to the fourth of July. So actually our THEME was also included Hawaiian and American .  Oh yes we had a Amish thrown in there too for music. The wedding invitation  was in French and English .

So we made our own melange up for that day.

Thats the great thing about people. New combinations happen all the time.

Instead of trying to blend in and fit in to be accepted by others, we should all strive to be as different as possible. Do you on steroids. “Unique You is what I want to see”

It is a great feeling to know that whatever your particular bent is , Is the one people really will enjoy. WE put that fit in thing on ourselves. Nobody really wants conformity in personalities, But most people act like that is the case.

Innovation is important for everyone.

I am always happier to meet a relaxed person who is doing something a little differently. It makes life so much more enjoyable to have a little surprise thrown in every so often.

In fact his whole thought is related to painting. Every great painting has a little something off in it. A little something the wrong perspective or odd color or peculiar. That is what makes it GREAT.

 

 

I saw an artist Ken Greenes’ work and it was the kind of work that moved me to want to talk about it here. He is not holding back and that  inspires me to do the same.

The bold (understatement) paint strokes just ooze life and power and freedom .

You really can’t paint like that unless you are like that. Every artwork has something to offer that somebody needs. That is why you are attracted to a particular piece of work. The language of art speaks to the deepest need in us.

You will buy what you need.

Kens work is like diving into the emotion of the land. It pulls me into the fields waving in the wind and the color of the sky is smeared all over my being. It enters my pores and becomes part of my body. It is as if his paintings are breathing and pulsing life into a at first glance static in reality , but he finds the joy there that is unbounded.

His portraits are the same way. I really want to know the people he is painting as they seem infinitely alive to me too. If you are tired or starving for something like vibrancy in your life then his work should be in your home.

It makes me want to open a gallery and show his work just so I could be around it awhile and give others an opportunity to own something that would feed them everyday like these paintings do.

He gave me permission to post one of his paintings here but I would advise you to look him up and check out his work. You will not be sorry you did.

I am reading a book called “The Simple Life.” By simple they mean getting rid of things that are hindering your mission in life. Just the act  of creating a life mission statement is valuable to clarify where you want to be and what you want to accomplish before you die.

To ask that question begs another, How do you set out to do that mission statement? What kind of energy does it take to get from point A to Point B. This step is going to demand every once of strength to get started because we naturally don’t even want to get off the couch. The book likens it to launching a rocket. 80 percent of fuel is spent on blast off.  This is helpful to learn this as a lot of people WAIT to be inspired. I did not want to do this 40 day blog thing. . It is way easier for me to knock a blog or two out occasionally instead of in a row.

Then is Alignment . Recalibrate, adjust , rethink throw off hinderances.

Then Focus .

A simple beautiful plan to make a path in this world that becomes  a stream..

You don’t want to let that stream get dammed up and then have the water spill all over like a flood plain, thwarting the purpose . You want to be a stream that flows easily. I recommend this book. It applies to everyone, not just artists or businesses. Everyone who breathes has to have a plan or if you just let things happen nothing , nothing much does.

Clarifying is hard, movement is hard, alignment is hard  but focus is not hard if you have the first three. I usually don’t think this way but it does seem like a good plan.

What I am realizing is that is the easy road and therefore the one taken the most . So back to square one. on Day 15 back to square one. I am resetting.

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Roots are the place you will make art  from. Even if you hate your background because it was hard, It IS the place you will paint from. Trying to run away from it or deny it will only make it worse. Embracing it will make it powerful.

“Embracing your dragons,” some have called it. I loathed my background when I was a young adult because it was so unsophisticated and normal and boring.

What a laugh that I had all this goodness poured out and I twisted it. Big Cities were more IMPORTANT than small towns in my book.

I could not see how you could ever be an artist or a poet in a town like mine.

Of course you never appreciate your roots when you are young. You have to have a perspective from down the road a bit.

Every kind of beginning can be used for something wonderful , but only if you embrace it and draw the gifts it has to offer. People who have survived hardship are stronger than me , That is a gift. Strength is a gift.

My gift was transparency and intuition . I got transparency from a safe and sound upbringing.   But I did not know it at the time.