Work in Progress

I have mention before how walking by on a daily basis a watercolor painting in progress helps me to see aspects of my paintings that while in the mist of creation, I might miss. Not only does it give me an opportunity to see what the next step is but also if the painting is complete. Completion can be challenging as sometimes one can "over work" a painting and lose its freshness.

Another helpful way to observe my own paintings is to take a digital image. When I bring it up on the computer it changes perspective and gives me a different feel.

Tonight I decided to photograph a painting in progress, so the lighting and the fact that it is taped to the drafting table are handicaps to viewing. Yet, it helps me to study my painting progress and assess where to go from here.

This is what I am working on:



Jayme and Vienne

It looks like I need to darken the shadow of the hat on the baby's face. Kind of scary to do without loosing the details of the eyes.........

Feng Shui Guide For Creativity

How do you create the best feng shui space to support your creativity? Contrary to the popular belief about feng shui, an ideal feng shui space is not the Zen-looking serene space. The ideal feng shui space is the space that has the best feng shui energy to support a specific activity intended for that space.

The feng shui of a creative process - be it painting, writing music or writing a book - always implies making space for that which is not here yet. In other words, it is like the birth of a baby - highly expected, painful, powerful and chaotic at the same time.

Rodika Tchi, a Feng Shui guide, suggests that in order to attract the best feng shui energy for your creative studio apply these basic feng shui tips:

1. Have elements from nature (plants, natural light, rocks from the beach, etc.)
2. Bring strong blocks of color and movement (art, music, small fountain, etc.)
3. Display representation of your successful projects.
4. Clearly organize all the tools you need.
5. Create a clearly defined "no-rules" area. Make it as big or as small as your space allows and let it contain various items you deem necessary with no restrictions. The only rule, though, is to revise and clean this area at regular intervals that work for you - be it every week, every day or every month.

To sum it up, the feng shui of a creative space will evoke the same energy that describes the creative process - the balance between the quiet energy of dreaming/germination and the full bloom of active, strong manifestation. By applying basic feng shui tips and guidelines, you will strenghten the feng shui flow of creative energy and create a feng shui space to support, as well as promote, your brilliant creativity!

Why Cats Paint

Today I shared the book Why Cats Paint by Heather Busch and Burton Silver with my art therapy client who is no longer able to paint.

The photos in the book are phenomenal! There are twelve cats featured and each one has its own style of painting. The authors share the personal stories of each cat as well as the psychological implications of their paintings and techniques.

One cat paints en plein air. What I found particularly interesting was how the palettes the cats choose coincides with what they are painting from (one has Van Goghs around him) or their surroundings.

Many of the cats that paint spend at least ten minutes sitting in harmonic resonance prior to commencing a work of art. The authors inject that the cats derive some inspirational power from the invisible low frequency force fields. I always felt cats "space out," but maybe this is what they are doing?



I am not ready to let my cats loose with paints!

"It Has To Grow On Me"

Those were my mother's favorite words after viewing a painting she was not particularly excited about.

I find that some paintings must grow on me before I accepted them as a finished product or start over again. A couple of days ago, I believed that the watercolor painting "View From the Titanic" might be finished. I always keep the latest painting somewhere in view of my everyday activities so I can "catch a glimpse" of it as I go about my tasks. It will "speak" to me. There was a blatant issue that was bugging me and today I finally did something about it.

In the process of intensifying the color of the water (it looks very turquoise here, but it really is not that way in the original; blue is a challenging color to get accurate with a camera let alone a computer screen), I realized the power of changing Mother Nature. What might be the significance?!?!

The first rendition



and the final



Which do you prefer? Or is it back to the drawing board?

Inspired by Mexico

I was excited to get back to my studio since being in Mexico;
sooooooo many ideas floating around in my head to paint with watercolors!

First off, to capture the feel of the sunset on my last evening. I call the painting "A Gift" as that is truly what the sunset was for me on my very last day of an incredible week at Sanoviv. I was absolutely spellbound watching the colors spread across the sky and change in intensity. It took will-power to pull back from the view long enough to capture a few photographs knowing full well that they would only be a snapshot of the moment and not the full experience which was beyond AWESOME!

I am waiting to hear back from friends who also watched as if in a trance from their balcony that evening, too.

I asked, "Did I captured the mood or not?"

Here is the sunset painted in watercolors; A GIFT



For most of you who were not present (ha,ha pun!), how does it make you feel?

The Challenge of a New Art Medium

Do you ever feel stuck?  Similar to writer's block, but for a visual artist it feels more like doing the same thing over and over again.  After twenty-five years exploring watercolors, I am beginning to feel the urge to try something new. 

Jump start creativity?  Last time I felt this way, I began to tear up old watercolor paintings and create new paintings (watercolor collage paintings). Talk about a metaphor!  As a challenge of new art media, I have been playing with water-based oil paints (sounds like a misnomer) and tried a few small acrylic paintings.  

Most recently, I have picked up a watercolor pencil set.  Now, you are probably thinking that is not so different for an artist who has painted with watercolors. BUT IT IS! TOTALLY DIFFERENT! For you  control freaks, watercolor pencils are a more controlable medium..........well, until you add the water :)  It even looks different. AMAZING!

Later, I am off on another discovery...........