Art With Purpose

 "Where are you going with your art?" is a question a fellow artist asked me recently.  Would you have had a ready answer?  It's been my experience that I, like many artists, can be unsure of how to answer that simple-sounding question.  

There is much to consider:  What subjects are we drawn to?  What mediums are our chosen mediums and which others do we want to explore?  How do we balance using our time for learning and developing artistic skills?  How much more time should we spend with fellow artists to network and support one another?  How do we go about sharing, marketing, selling our own art if that interests us?

My own answer to her question was that at the moment I'm making paintings on a topic that is important to me:  WISDOM.  This subject came to the forefront after mind mapping on paper about my life and what I value.  I do believe if we create art about what interests us most then we will be fulfilled as artists.  So taking the time to figure out and document life experiences and values gives me a treasure trove of subjects for my art.  Plus I can return to this document and mine it for future art subjects that are meaningful. Thank you to Louise Fletcher for showing me how to apply to my art the mind mapping process I had previously only used in my engineering work.

My first Wisdom piece is a large open painting on canvas.  An open painting is a place to experiment.  Open paintings can have many layers and evolve again and again.  I started into this painting with these key ideas from the mind map for how wisdom can be represented.  This serves as a "compass" I can check with as I work.

I started the painting with bright happy colors and free marks, recalling feelings of childhood.  Layered over that are darker, sharper objects that interfere with all of that happy color.  Contrasting with those layers of darkness is a beautiful light. It guides and it is present if one looks up and seeks after it.  

Pictured below are mocked up concepts on paper to see if I want to replicate them on the canvas.  And I journal what I like and what I don't like as I work so I can make adjustments to get the feel I want.

In addition to the work shown above, I like to have other paintings going simultaneously so I don't get tunnel-vision and stuck on any one.  I'm getting ready to start paintings that feature people that have to do with wisdom in my life.  Wisdom has come via certain people who have taught me good life lessons. I am practicing figurative drawing to be ready to represent those people in a way that makes me happy.  I also continue to work with soft pastels simply for the love of the medium and the beauty in the colorful flowers and scenes I can make.

And that is where I'm going with my art right now!
       

Digital Art: A Standalone Art Medium Or An Editing Tool

 A number of artists use software like Procreate or ArtRage to make art.  In fact, at the Foothills Art Association gallery where I am a member there is an entire digital art gallery online.  (I've provided a link below so you can view the artwork there.)

Others use digital tools to edit work they have made on paper, canvas or other mediums.  Last month I became so intrigued that I started using these tools to edit a couple of mixed media works that needed some quieting.  I tend to be quite expressive in my use of marks and colors.  I've wondered if some of my artwork would be better compositions if I layered in larger sections of one color or another.  It's easy to test that out using an iPad and its drawing pencil, the PencilPro, which simulates many kinds of pencil and paint tools.  

I'm in no way abandoning traditional tools of art.  I do get so much out of splashing paint around on canvas, marking with charcoal and pastel, printmaking and composing collage but editing artwork is still a challenge.  I can go through a lot of paint trying this or that, layering over what I don't like.  Sometimes I lose what I liked about the original piece altogether, covered over forever with paint.  

Not so with digital art tools.  There are layers built into the canvas views.  By clicking on a new layer I can "paint" new marks over a photo of my original art to see what it might look like.  I can create multiple layers, turning them on or off with a checkbox.  Then when I find a look or a combination of layers I like best, I can upload the digital art as a finished artwork or I can go back to the easel and paint what I've designed with the software.  

There are a couple of added benefits I've experienced with this digital art.  It has been very hot and humid here in San Diego this week, too hot to paint outside like I normally do.  I can sit inside and make art on the iPad instead.  No need to get paint out, change dirty water, clean brushes.  And I can practice sketching or painting anytime and anywhere with just the simple tools of iPad and its PencilPro.  

I've not yet finished any pieces but here are some examples of what I've made so far.  Very grateful for these slick tools and looking forward to getting proficient with them.

My original acrylic and collage piece needing simplifying

Procreate version of the above piece, showing 3 of 8 layers I'm painting and evaluating

First play in ArtRage app - testing the paint and mark making tools

Pencil sketch practice - Procreate

Pencil sketch practice - Procreate

Click this link to view digital art at the Foothills Art Association Digital Gallery

 

You Don't Have To Stay In Your Lane

So many artist activities are filling my days I'm happy to say.  Having wrapped up Louise Fletcher's "Momentum" course, I've joined her Art Tribe.  This is a website that is part library of how to do all things art and it's also a community of artists who collaborate and support each other.  As someone who never had the luxury of a lot of time for indulging in making art, I have so much I want to learn now that I'm retired.  Different mediums, techniques, products, ways of displaying and sharing... I'm digging into everything.  

As shared in this blog over the years, I started with watercolor painting and did that exclusively for years, mainly painting realistic paintings.  In the past year I was introduced to acrylic painting and gained an appreciation for abstract art.  Over the past month I've started exploring soft pastels.  I dabbled with them here and there during my watercolor years and knew I enjoyed drawing with them.  Now I'm pulling out some of the prettiest photos I've taken of gardens and making representations of them in pastel.  The vibrant colors of soft pastels are so suited to this!  Here is one of my first works:  some orchid primroses I saw at Butchart Gardens in Vancouver British Columbia.  Next steps for this will be to frame it and display it out in public as well as make prints available at annewoods.art.

I'm learning about the different grades of pastels and name brands other artists use and why they choose them.  I've learned about sanded paper for the first time.  This special paper has "tooth" which allows the artist to apply more layers of pastel.  Underpainting the darks first is a technique I'd never done in the past with pastels and it's such a smart way to approach a painting.  And painting with soft pastels and rubbing alcohol... that's a thing too!  Who knew?  Such fun!  

My personal view, at least at this stage in my artist life, is that we do whatever we want... there are no rules for staying in one lane as far as I'm concerned!  If we have curious and adventurous minds about various art forms and styles, explore it all.  The key is to make art that makes us happy.  If we are expressing what we are interested in, others will see it and feel it too.  

A final note about new endeavors this month:  I am working on a mind map to document themes that are important to me which would be good to express in my art.  It's yet another Louise Fletcher exercise designed to help her students make meaningful art and never run out of inspiration for what to make next.  The mind mapping requires time for quiet introspection about life experiences, feelings and viewpoints.  Day by day I add more to it.  Inspiration will come regarding how it will translate into the art I make going forward.  Stay tuned.  It's gonna be good! 

Branching Out With Art

This past month has brought new opportunities for connecting with local artists.  The Foothills Art Association and gallery in La Mesa asked if I'd like to help increase their social media outreach.  It's a happy thing to reach new people interested in art so I've been making and posting videos to Instagram and Facebook.  They show artwork, artists and activities in and around the gallery.  We hope to increase the awareness of what the gallery offers.  For instance,  members enjoy various demos, hands-on art classes and group painting and drawing sessions.  And once a month the art show in the gallery changes over to a new theme with a new featured artist.  The Foothills Friday reception is the show's official opening, an evening that fills the gallery with creative energy.  Here's a quick peek video! 

This is the painting I have hanging in the gallery for the June show.  It's Borrego Springs during the wildflower bloom.  Borrego Springs was one of the first playgrounds I discovered when I moved to San Diego in the 1980s so the painting holds memories of camping and dirt bike riding with good friends over the years.

I'm also winding down a six-month art course called Momentum, led by artist Louise Fletcher.  Her many art students were surprised to learn from her this week that she is retiring from teaching to focus on her own art making.  Louise touched so many of our lives with her personality, her way of conveying her knowledge and her talent for assembling a compassionate group of art coaches to assist us.  That team has helped me discover so many new ways of expressing myself through art.  It's actually quite an emotional gift and I've seen that sentiment shared by many other artists.

Fortunately I've also joined Louise's "Art Tribe" comprised of over 4000 artists who have been her students.  It's a wonderful online gathering place and art knowledge repository.  So the learning and the support will continue as Louise hands off the running of that resource to Trayci, a capable and special member of the group.  

During our farewells and thank you's to Louise many personal stories of the importance of art making have been shared.  Some of her students have spoken of navigating the death of a spouse or partner during the art course, finding the learning and expressing in art mediums helped them grieve.  Others have spoken of long careers consuming their time and leaving no time for finding out if they could even be artists.  With Louise they made the happy discovery that yes, they are artists too.  Some have shared the impact of how they were raised or even where they were in their family birth order which caused them to be quite hard on themselves or perfectionist "rule-followers" or never learning to truly play.  Through this art journey they've launched into new freedom to be themselves.  They've learned to express without fear.  It's been so powerful to see what the right teacher and art itself can do for people.

I painted this as a thank you and tribute to Louise Fletcher.  Many aspects of it are what she alone has taught me.  For one thing, I learned to appreciate abstract art!  This piece has many layers.  It has been perhaps 5 different paintings, evolving over time.  It was painted with tools I never knew I could use until Louise showed me to not be confined to a brush.  It's on the largest canvas I've used so far:  24 inches by 36 inches. This is a goal I set for myself as part of my current Creative Brief.  The Creative Brief is yet another tool Louise taught her students to use to keep on track with focus and purpose.  

This is an intuitive expressive painting about gratitude and joy.  I've titled it simply "For Louise".  

The Momentum To Connect

As part of what I'm doing with my painting the past month I've written a creative brief.  It's a roadmap for where my experiments in creating are going.   It's a definition for how I'll know I've succeeded at any of them.  The project focus is to convey the feelings of gratitude that I've had when I'm taking in the beauty outdoors around my home and in my travels.  Added inspiration is coming from poetry that emotes the feelings for the painted scenes.   I have seven or eight studies on paper right now and they will lead to some larger work on canvas.  

This has been a month of discovering ways of connecting my art with other people.  I was so pleased to join my community gallery, The Foothills Art Association.  The gallery accepted three of my paintings which are on display this month.  I am meeting wonderful local artists since joining.  It's so nice to see everyone's art and be around all of that creative energy and knowledge.  If you're in La Mesa California treat yourself to a visit, meet an artist and enjoy the creativity.  Here is their website that also contains a unique digital art exhibition online!   Foothills Art Association Website

At the Foothills Art Association Gallery With My Painting "Complements".

 

There is now a website, annewoods.art, where people anywhere can view and purchase my art.  It contains some select pieces from my earlier work in watercolor and Zentangle as well as my current work with acrylic and mixed media.  Please visit my website, have a look and be sure to leave a comment!   Click the middle arrow below for a slideshow preview:

Expressions

 For the past few months I have been immersed in a wonderful Louise Fletcher art course called "Momentum".  It's an exploration of ways to express myself in art.  It's also a framework for identifying what I want to say artistically.  When the learning is applied, "Momentum" is just that... the ability to keep inspiration going so art continues to flow with meaning. 

My current focus involves the beauty I see in nature at home and during my camping travels.  Many times it's the light in the sky or the way the area around me is lit that fills me with gratitude.  For example, this is what I see many nights as I walk in my La Mesa neighborhood.  I just had to capture it in my art and share with others.

No clutter of manmade things... just pure nature in the painting

Learning New Art Mediums

 To this point in my life I have been a watercolor artist who paints realistic paintings and I have learned pen and ink pattern art known as Zentangle.  As mentioned in previous posts, there has been an ebb and flow to my art-making.  Other aspects of life can crowd in and take me away from the joy of creating art.

Recently I discovered a course named "Find Your Joy".  It's a three-month online course focused on ways of making art that are entirely new to me:  acrylic paint and abstract painting.  After taking a free introductory mini-course called "Creative Reset", offered by the same teacher named Louise Fletcher, I was intrigued.  We are now coming to the end of the three months of weekly lessons and all that I've learned has once again made art a part of my daily life.  

Much of the course had to do with uncovering the blocks to being an artist.  Why do we want to make art at all?  What are our expectations and who are we making it for, ourselves or in the hope of getting approval from others?  What do we like and love?  How do we make sure we use our art to express our own feelings and do what we truly love?  What is the difference between an artist and a craftsman?  There is a difference and I personally prefer to be an artist.

Many fellow artists who have been in this course are feeling a bit sad that we have gotten to the end of the teaching.  It's been personal and so reinforcing.  Some of the surprising things I've learned in it are:

• acrylic paintings are easier for me to adjust and make corrections to than watercolor paintings
• treating each painting project as a "study" and not a painting takes the pressure off to "be good" and then fun exploration can happen
• good artists fail a lot and don't take it personally because it's how we come to make art we love
• I can paint with any tool and not just the brushy end of a brush (I hadn't finger painted since kindergarten until this course!)
• I love making abstract art and have gained an appreciation for how much thought and skill goes into it

Looking forward to sharing many more art creations that will emerge from this new learning and refreshed enthusiasm.  Making art transports us away from the less positive parts of daily living and elevates us!

My "Find Your Joy" art studies