Category: Art

Me, Whimsical?

Having finished the dancers painting for the person interested in illustrations for their book,I emailed the image with fingers wimply crossed. Yes, I said wimp-ly. As in like a wimp. Should I have said sheepishly? Anyway, I was thinking it might not be to their liking with the “whimsy” word being tossed about.

Do I see my painting, or myself, as whimsical? I think not. My kids would say “Who, you? Uh, no.” Those are smart, observant guys, those kids of mine. Yeah.

I think watercolor work is light and airy by nature of the medium. Would I call my handling of the medium melancholy? So I lean toward Prussian blue and alizarin crimson, are they sad, depressing colors? Not in my opinion.

I paint what I see generally. With photos I see too much. From life there’s no time or room to see everything, which is what I like about painting from life. I am not sure it’s even possible to use watercolors to capture a crowd of people dancing unless in abstract forms or quick gestures. Maybe that would have been a better way to go, but I needed a reference, hence the photo.

What can you do? Can you please everyone? No.

I will continue to stay positive, or invite the unwanted advances of Mr. Resistance. I decided the operative word was “Yes”. I went with the flow. I tried my best with what I thought would be okay, and maybe not how I would have liked it to be.

After working from life going back to a photograph for guidance didn’t feel exactly right. Being true to myself and my own objectives may be more important in the long run. Book deal or no book deal.

Rain, Clouds and Thinking Things

Apple is Butting In (c)2011 Dora Sislian Themelis
8×12 Watercolor on Arches paper
Lone Shell (c)2011 Dora Sislian Themelis
8×12 Watercolor on Arches paper

It’s been busy around here after the holiday and trying to get myself back on track. I finished the watercolor with the apple and moved on yesterday to the next work. The broken shell was looking at me so I did it the favor of a portrait.

Moving along at least.

Today is overcast and it’s been raining. Rotten weather like this is depressing after having warm, sunny days. The day itself isn’t so great. I’m thinking things today. You ever have one of those days that you are constantly thinking things? All kinds of things? Today is one of those.

I don’t have any time for painting today either. Maybe not even tomorrow. Maybe not even Friday or all weekend. I am looking forward to Monday.

Apples, and Shells, and Rocks, oh my!

There’s just something about apples that I need to paint. What’s going on inside my brain that lures me in and bites me, compelling me to put an apple in my still life paintings? Weird brain.

I’m not even that thrilled with how this brand of apple paints up. Besides the paints, which I am too stubborn or lazy, or something, to add the new Alizarin Crimson and Burnt Sienna to the palette, I need to buy prettier colored apples.

At least I found time to paint, thrilled or not. Process over thrilled. May as well paint a junk painting now and then. Is it good or bad for the ego? Then again, it is my opinion.

Some times I think my work was lousy and someone else would say how they love it, so I can’t go by how I feel. Just paint and don’t think about it. Move on.

This was a twenty minute session at this point. I left it alone after twenty minutes because it was annoying me. I had to stop and get away from it. The next day I worked on it again and it looks slightly neater. I can’t think of the word to describe the finished piece other than “neater.” It’s done.

There are some elements that please me though. I really like the color strength and shape of the broken shell on the right and the way the shadow pops the lower edge. The rest is just so-so, to my eye. I think that apple is doing nothing for me. Overplayed the apple, and maybe that rock. The shell?

I think it’s time to find other subjects, but I’m not sure exactly what thing is going to feel comfortable.  Other fruits are boring as well as some veggies. Maybe a fabric? Or a shiny platter? A bowl?

Maybe I need a vacation?

Art is About Life

I came across something online yesterday that caught my attention. It was an essay about blogging and the idea behind why people blog, what to blog about, and the blog’s main idea or focus. What story are we trying to tell with a blog? Are our ideas all over the place, or is the blog about one topic and only that topic?

Some blogs seem like an open page of a person’s diary. Other blogs are like another person’s photograph album. One blogger likes to ramble about not much of anything in particular while another writes very technical information with tedious accuracy.

This article stated that an art blog should be about art. If that’s the case then what about the life of the art and artist?

While I was pondering this essay in my Morning Pages I found myself writing that there really is no art without life. If that is true, then there is no life without art. The beauty of art and art making is synonymous with life and all it’s beauty. The two are totally entwined.

When I started writing this blog I knew there was no way I could only discuss my art journey or the process. Life would sprout up between the posts of painting and not painting. Nor did I want my whole life to be an open book to put up to scrutiny. A little life story here, a rant about my latest painting there, and there you have it.

I was watching a television show where celebrities were making art for charity in one episode. None of the stars were artistically talented. Creative, yes, but not in the painterly sense. They arranged their work in a gallery for the public to purchase and donate money.

What struck me was a patron made their decision to purchase one work only after hearing what the celebrity artist had to say about his feelings while painting it. The painting itself was really not great, but the thoughts of the artist were intriguing enough to make the decision to buy. How interesting is that?

The daydreams and ramblings of the artist are the things that make life interesting. And life is more interesting because the artist has a different view of it. Does a painting posted each day make the art blog a good one to follow? Maybe not, because art isn’t all about art.

Prepare to be Creative

Where did I find the time to even read this week? With everything that goes on around here, I’ve been hard pressed to find time to paint, much less read anything beyond the daily newspaper. Yes, I still read a real paper.

I love to read. I will read anything, books being my favorite. The heftier the better. When I was doing the Artists Way course we were not allowed to read. The idea was that reading takes away creative time and could be used as an excuse not to paint. I get that, but I’m sorry, somewhere in the day I need reading time.

On with The Creative Habit. I’m still on the first chapter and it’s a good read so far. The author, Twyla Tharp, suggests creative people need to work at it to develop artistic habits. Makes sense. It’s our job, our work, our being. So why is it so hard to keep in the creative loop? Well, she points to Mozart as an example. Boy genius or workaholic?

His father Leopold had massive influence as he was famous himself, but Wolfgang worked harder than no one else on his music. He had a fierce focus and was constantly at work. Nobody had to tell him to go practice as it was his passion. If he could do it, what’s up with the rest of us?

We’re not prepared, for one thing, so we lose our focus. Tharp notes:”In order to be creative you have to know how to prepare to be creative.” We need our subject matter, our content and we can learn to make it habit, and that is a skill. Routines feed into creativity. “Everything is relevant. Everything is useable. Everything is raw material. But without preparation, I cannot see it, retain it, and use it. Without the time and effort invested in getting ready to create, you can be hit by the thunderbolt and it’ll just leave you stunned.”

Routine is the first step to ritual. Automatic, divisive patterns of behavior are vital to establishing a habit. Something that makes your brain click in, just before you plan to chicken out. The ritual “eliminates the question, Why am I doing this?” It also teases the notion of whether or not you feel like doing anything. We need to decide what daily ritual helps the brain click in and say Now I’m ready.

So, is it the daily sketch, the music we chose for painting time, lighting a candle, or the moment of quiet thought before we begin that signals the start of the ritual? As I face the blank, white canvas, alone in my solitude I need to think to myself “What’s in it for me?”

Stay tuned..

Time’s Up!

The Underside (c)2011 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor on Arches paper

A busy weekend doesn’t always afford the chance to paint. You would think that having two days free from other duties around here I’d have time to myself. It just isn’t the case. Except for 20 minutes that I was able to wrest free for me!

Yes, twenty glorious minutes. Sad isn’t it? Sad that I can only find twenty minutes to myself. The thing is not to dwell on the time, but the activity. So I had twenty minutes, big deal! I used it to my advantage. When you set your mind to something things happen. Don’t you find it to be so?

Seeing that I was in between errands and visiting this Saturday, and all alone for once, I grabbed that time to paint. Hey, I’m on the clock here with that commitment to paint 100 paintings! By the time I was finished with this my people here started to arrive, Son#2 first, then The Mr.

Bzzzzzzz. Time’s up!

Thinking of Something Else

Back to business! As you can see I have ditched the apple. I’d had enough of it. I think it was more fun for me when I had the apple in the middle of objects that really didn’t belong together. Then it became a habit. Boring? I’m not sure. That, and the annoying paint colors, was making my painting time feel drab.

Maybe painting time isn’t supposed to be that exciting anyway. Maybe it is. The action of painting, the process, as I’ve said so many times, is the goal. Just to paint. The end result is a by-product of the action.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I get it. Still, I want to be excited by the subject. I keep thinking back to that autumn day at the beach when I scrounged around for objects only to find broken shards of shells to paint. They were really small pieces and then I got the bright idea to put the apple from my lunch next to the shell bits for a color pop. I was so excited with the prospect that I painted quickly and was happy with my work.

Three Shells (c)2011 Dora Sislian Themelis
8×12 Watercolor on Arches paper

Now the apple idea is old, the paints annoying. No more apple. No more leaves. On to shell bits. I think I need the color pop though. And then I think I need to move on. I should look through my swipe files and photos to see if anything appeals to me. Going back to painting from photographs feels like a step backward, for me anyway. Since I’ve been painting from life it’s helped me see things better. Can you switch back and forth like that and have work that feels right? Something to ponder.

Finished for Friday

The Dark Apple Hides Shells (c)2011 Dora Sislian Themelis
8×12 Watercolor on Arches paper

A finished work for Friday is here. I am done! I can’t touch this another time. I think I will keep at this apple until all that paint is used up. I have no choice. How many times can I complain about these paints? I guess an awful lot by the looks of the posts about this apple! Have you all had it with me yet? I’ve had it with my constant whining. The next time I decide to throw caution to the wind and by paints I know nothing about, kick me please?

Besides that, I fooled around with my camera and for some reason my photos in my last post came up like a widescreen TV. I don’t know what button I pushed. I was hunting for something that would take a decent photo and not be huge when I uploaded it to the computer. There’s just alot of steps to get the photos the right size so that they upload in seconds rather than long minutes. I mean long. Looks like there are no short cuts here, or in life in general.

I will be posting this to the 100 Paintings Challenge, too. Slowly, but surely, I’m working my way to 100. Oh I’ll do it, too. No doubt. But it’s going to be slow.

A while back I purchased another book on creativity and resistance titled The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp. I know she’s a great dancer and choreographer, but from what I’ve heard this is a really good book for breaking through blocks to creativity. I finally started reading yesterday and I think it’s going to be interesting.

I want to read it slowly for the words to really go into my head. Most times when I read, I more or less scan and read too quickly. Oh I’ve read big books in a couple of days, but don’t ask me what I read, I couldn’t tell you. While I’m reading I am in the moment. After I’m done, forget it. Talking with a friend about a book I had just finished, which she read in college, she remembered characters and plots. Me? I could barely remember the main character and some sketchy details. Not good. I need to take time to read this, and not while I’m having lunch. No. Multi tasking is not my forte.

The first page of The Creative Habit began with this: The White Room. Just imagine a large, empty, white rehearsal room for dancers. Immediately I thought of a blank, white canvas or paper. I knew then that this was going to be a good read. I will let you know next week.