Acrylic painting

Painting What You Sea

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2019-07-23 10.06.51

I often ask my students what subject matter they would like to paint and living in Rhode Island, of course the subject of ocean came up.

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Here is the tutorial I created on the subject.  The key to painting waves is to think of how the sun is hitting each and every wave.  There are dark areas and there are light areas.

I had to paint this painting twice for class.  Both came out a bit different.  One is more pastel and detailed and the other was created with a larger brush and bolder color.  If I painted it three more times, I could paint it three more different ways!

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This in there lies the key to finding one’s own artistic style.  I highly recommend trying the same subject matter multiple times.  As you become intimate with every nuance of an image, it becomes easier to manipulate.  You can make changes based on the insight you’ve gained.

The more you truly understand, the stronger your artistic muscle.

My new painting called “Close to Home”

/ becreativemary / 4 Comments

__2019-01-23 12.09.22

Let me show the progression of this painting before I start talking about it.

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I have this terrible affliction called insatiable stimulation.  What is this you ask?  

OK. I made this up but let me tell you the symptoms:  If my surroundings are not well-lit, sunny, happy, colorful and changing every 2-3 months I get agitated, depressed, restless and I want to physically move to a new home.  More poor husband.  Can you imagine your wife asking to move every 2-3 months?  He has learned to nod, smile and pretend he’s listening. I know he thinks I’m crazy and yet he still sticks around -God Bless em’.

So, it’s probably not realistic to move every 2 months.  I have had to create coping mechanisms to trick my system into thinking it’s in new surroundings without actually moving.  What I do is I gut my living room.  I empty it of everything and then I refill the room with whatever I own in a very different way.  For instance, this was my fireplace mantle at Christmas and this is what it looks like in January…

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I change the pillows, blankets, nick-knacks, table.  Everything.  And for about two months I lose that itch for new surroundings.

I tell you this long winded-story because it is the muse for my new painting.

I feel like I have kind-of run out of inspiration for a new room given my same-old tricks.  So I said to myself, “You’re an artist.  Create a new painting to give you inspiration for a new room”.  Duh, I can actually do this!

Now this new painting is a bit weird I know.  It’s incredibly bright.  A bit naive. And a bit wonky – (In a nutshell it’s me!). I had a hankering to cut paper like the artist Eric Carle of The Very Hungry Caterpillar child’s book.  Cutting paper is very physical and in reality it is carving away at negative space instead of creating a positive image.  Paper arranging allows you to move your composition around so that you can work on the spaces in-between images and make sure those spaces are just as interesting as your true subject matter.  Now when I say it’s me, what I mean is that it is incredibly personal.  I live in a little yellow house, the 4 birds represent my family unit, I am an avid gardener and environmental advocate, the two people represent the long hikes I take with my daughter and dead center is our lovely kitty-cat Willow.

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After painting all of the paper cut-outs, I truly had no idea what I wanted for the back-ground.  I sat with it for about a week and then I took a deep breath and decided to start with a grayscale under-painting.  My idea was to paint color over the under-painting but the black and white had so much energy to it I stopped.  It sort of reminds me of when the Wizard of Oz moves from B&W to color.  That is the most magical part of the movie. So I kept it black and white.  About 6 layers of varnish later and it’s one cohesive unit.

The painting is large. It’s 48 inches across.  It will be the focal point of my room.  But not until I become stir-crazy sometime in March.  I am content with my current living space, so I better not push it -LOL.

When that day comes, I will post a picture :)

 

Translucent vs Opaque Painting

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2019-01-15 09.04.07

My painting II class has resumed in the new year and our first lesson is a loose abstract play on translucency vs. opacity. Here is a little write-up I did on the project:

translucent vs. opaque

 

Where I find playing with loose shapes and a ton of water free and fun, a lot of my students panick at the idea.  Too funny.  I think the idea of having no control freaks us adults out, but very quickly it is a reminder that you can adjust and work with whatever comes your way.

Gosh, sometimes art is such a great metaphor for life isn’t it?  lol

So we got going.  In essence – “playing”.  Allowing the watercolor paint to flow where it wanted… and seeing what we could find to “pull out” of the painting.

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I started to hear comments about how it truly is easier to draw the negative space or contour of an image.  The focus is on the space between objects as opposed to the objects themselves. You use a different part of your brain which I’d imagine is the special part of the brain.  It feels different and is a great way to exercise that part which we don’t always use.

It was great to see how very different everyone’s artwork turned out.  Isn’t that another great thing about art?  You can all begin in the same place, but wind up in vastly different places.

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It was a successful class.  I could see I had challenged some people and took them out of their comfort zone.

We also discussed changing the opaque color.  What if it was white, taupe or green?  The different look you would get. Also, you could loosely paint with watercolor and after it dried, do another coat of watercolor as opposed to changing to acrylic.  The project is a great stepping stone into experimenting with mediums. How about gouache?

So if in these winter months you are looking for something to do, try it.  And send me a photo of what you come up with!

 

4 Paintings

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Here are the 4 paintings I forgot to photograph :) 3 of them are 12×16 and the smaller 11×14. All of them are acrylic paintings.

This one is of the clay cliffs of Block Island, RI.

Another Block Island painting, this is one of our favorite fields to sit and watch the sunset. Ok. We never sit. It’s more like hike!

There is a tiny little shed near my kids school in Kingston,RI. It’s bright white against the fields and trees. The white of the building always says “haunted” to me. I guess like the famous haunted “girl in the white dress”.

This is a view of the Island of Jamestown, RI from the mainland. The area where I live is blessed with both beautiful farmland and breathtaking seascapes. The juxtaposition of the two is a painters paradise!

My thoughts are to paint a bunch of 12×16 paintings. Reason being the size will allow me to work rather quickly. The more I make the more “gems” I will produce.

I’ve learned in pottery that not every pot comes out perfect. If I make 6 mugs, I can count on really loving 1 or 2. I call those the “gems”. With these four paintings there is only one true “gem” for me.

my favorite is this one. Other people may agree or disagree, but this painting meets my standards of what I deem a successful painting, a gem.

Ahhh…. I guess I am putting it out there (again :). My weakness.

Deep breath…. I have perfectionist issues…. Don’t judge me, we all have something! ;) This one is mine. Not my first mention of it, but I think it’s important to admit imperfections in ALL humans exist. I know I haven’t found that real-deal airbrush app for real-deal-life so until then, the first step to fixing anything is admitting it, one time or apparently twenty times….or maybe thirty for good measure.

I get it. I do. For instance, I’m new to pottery, I am gentle with myself, I know I have to put a ton of time in to master the art form. But with painting, I am not so forgiving with myself, even if I know I haven’t put In a spec of the time needed to master the art form. I create all sorts of stuff. I cross a wide range of mediums. And I feel no anxiety. No cares in the world. It’s all just play for me. Except for painting. Every insecurity and ounce of angst pours out of me. If I go even deeper, to find the source of my angst, it’s probably a childhood incongruent thought. I grew up in an art gallery surrounded by incredible talent. My childhood association with ART and SUCCESS was based on my observation of PAINTERS. As I sat there scribbling with my crayons, they were the unattainable in my mind. Natural talent. Just pure magic. Little me scribbles = big artists come in to frame their masterpieces. I could never be that good. Why did little Mary think that? Beats the shit out of me. I wish I could go back and shake it out of her!

So, in my 43rd year, I am finally putting the pieces together. All the “unattainable” artists I observed as a child with their perfect paintings, were get this -not perfect. What???? Really, they are my people now. I talk to them regularly. Did you know they have a garage full of duds they never show the world? Did you know they have to practice and practice and paint and paint until they find their gems?

Mind blowing. I know. I wish someone could have told me not every piece will be a masterpiece . Then I’d just need to find a way to get the last thirty years of my life back!

So that’s it. I am going to paint a lot this year. I am not going to craft and fill every hour working on craft shows. I am going to practice my heart out painting and heal my little inner-child. Who is going to come out of this year saying “I am not perfect, but I’m a darn hard worker. If you don’t believe me, check out my garage. It’s full. And there may even be some gems in there.”

Art Fest Prep

/ becreativemary / 6 Comments

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Finishing up…

Wrapping everything up. Loading the car. Trying to think of every little thing I might need for 16 hours out in a field with art. Ah, I always forget something!

I made these little prints based on the larger paintings framed below:

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So many more… I have little paintings hiding in every nook in cranny.  I hope I remember them all!

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The weather for the festival is predicted to be 80 degrees with an ocean breeze and low humidity.  That would be amazing especially after last year’s hurricane conditions which blew down tents and destroyed art.

I think I’m ready.

I’m exhausted from trying to create work for this show at the same time as being home with my kids for summer break.  Somehow Monday morning will come and I’ll catch up on a bit of rest… But for now, full steam ahead…

I’m off to the Narragansett Art Festival!!!

 

My Affordable Art Frenzy!

/ becreativemary / 7 Comments

_2016-06-20 16.45.21

The Narragansett Art Festival is coming up this weekend.

I’ve been sort of drifting for months in abstract painting la-la land, but about a week ago, I snapped out of it and started to work my butt off!

This art festival is right off the beach.  It’s a bit of an informal gathering.  People in flip-flops and sun hats.  I have found the average price point for sales during the event to be $250  or significantly lower.  This means don’t bring your giant formal work because you’ll be sitting there for 8 hours a day not selling anything!

With this in mind, I decided to embrace it and why not celebrate it?   How cool would it be if you could come home from an art festival with an original work of art for around $50 bucks?

So I snatched up about 20 mini frames ranging in size from 4×6 to 5×7 and I’ve been painting, painting, painting….

  My husband came up with the idea of $55 per painting or 2 for $100.  Here are some of the mini-paintings I will be selling during the event:

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It’s actually been a great exercise in painting.  I use a large brush, I try to work quickly and minimally.  It’s allowing me to practice acquiring an impressionistic style which in the age of photography is something I greatly value.

I have lots more to share.  I will try to photograph them as I scramble to get everything ready for this Saturday.

It’s feeling good :)