Coffee And Paint Drips Blog - Page 46 of 79

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!

What a Great Day!

What an amazing day at the beach today! The weather was sunny, hot and humid. Just the way I like it. Can it get any better than this? I don’t think so.

Had my lunch with me, a huge iced coffee and a beach towel. What else do I need? Nothing. A short drive from home and I’m in heaven. I couldn’t ask for a better day.

Look at that scene. It’s a comfortable, lazy, quiet beach. Drink it in. Savor it. You can see the heat rising up off the sand into that beautiful blue sky. Breathe in deep and exhale. Slowly breathe in the ocean air. Let it out. Repeat.

Well, I have to interrupt this to say April Fool! It’s cloudy, cold and raining outside, and north of where I live they’re expecting a big snowstorm.

Enjoy your day!

Thought for Thursday

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!” ~ Dr. Seuss

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.

I Marched.. Now Back to Monday

On Sunday I had my fun day on New York City’s 5th Avenue marching in the parade. This dress is from the Greek nomads known as the Sarakatsani. I like this costume because it’s very different than many others, and there are plenty of layers to ward off some of the cold.

And man, was it cold! The Greek Independence Day Parade saw sunny, but cold and windy weather as the backdrop. Painfully cold! As our group waited to step off 64th Street to march we had to endure an hour of side street winds. The little kids were so cold their teeth were chattering, their bodies were shivering and every time a strong wind blew they screamed. So did the adults. Thankfully the sun was shining on the avenue. Marching was ten times better than standing in one place waiting.

The Evones marched in formation, tall and strong, at the start of the parade. The National Guards of Greece are amazing to see in Athens when they perform the changing of the guards, but to see them out of their element here in NYC was great. I was able to watch what I could of them because soon after that our group had to line up and be ready to go.

I was lucky to get a couple of pictures at the start and at the end of marching. My fingers were stiff from the cold and I could barely move them to hold the camera and push the button. The parade began at the Pierre Hotel on 62nd Street and extended to 80th Street, near the Metropolitan Museum of Art where we stopped to take a group photo. It was a nice walk at a good pace so it really didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. If it wasn’t so windy the day would have been perfect, but I was glad to march again.

And now, it’s back to Monday.

March 25, 1821 Greece’s Day of Independence

“..Better one hour of free life, than forty years of slavery and prison.” ~ Rigas Feraios, Greek writer and intellectual of the era who conceived the national movement to oust Turkish oppression

Combat of the Giaour and the Pasha, Eugene Delacroix 1827

March 25, 1821 marks the day that Greece began to shake the shackles of 400 years of slavery under Ottoman Turkish rule. The Muslim world tried to squelch the freedom of a people and spread Islam as far as it could. Sound familiar?

This day of the anniversary of the war for Greek Independence brings out the pride of our ancestors. They tried hard to hold on to who they were despite the Turkish rulers who expected them to switch from their religion to Islam, to forget the Greek language and history.

The Greeks had to be Greek in secret, hiding in caves and secret places to teach their children after dark in the moonlight.

Φεγγαράκι μου λαμπρό,
φέγγε μου να περπατώ,
να πηγαίνω στο σκολειό,
να μαθαίνω γράμματα,
του Θεού τα πράματα.

My little bright moon,

shine on my way,

that I may go to school,

to learn to read and write,

and the teachings of God.

Today the Greek dance students I teach performed a few traditional dances at a commemorative luncheon sponsored by our church. I thought, how fortunate they are to be able to continue these traditions in the open, not needing to learn in secret, and how this freedom is easily taken for granted.

How cute and innocent they are! They did a good job performing their set of dances. What do they know about oppression, learning in secret, and the strife their great-grandparents had to be free?

Nothing, and maybe that’s the way it should be for now.

Thought for Thursday

“Big girls need big diamonds.” ~Elizabeth Taylor

The Creative Habit

As I was saying, I bought this book a while ago and haven’t had much time to read it. The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp, was recommended by some other artists as a great way to fight resistance and develop a routine for creativity.

I read The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, about a year ago and really enjoyed it. Most of the tasks were doable and a couple of them have become things I can’t do without now. One of the tasks was to write three pages of free thought, in pen on paper, every morning. I have kept at that one and filled quite a few marble notebooks. The other task which I haven’t kept up is the weekly Artist Date. Finding time to keep a date with myself to do a small fun thing was a great idea which I have neglected.

I don’t think you can call a walk with my granddaughter in the carriage an Artist Date, but it was wonderful anyway! I’m almost all alone, she is only six months old, but she does have a personality and makes little noises. So it’s not really the idea. Some of the other tasks were annoying and I didn’t bother doing them. Some I would like to try to do the next free day I have.

Anyway, I started reading this book and from the first page I was hooked. The first chapter begins with this “I walk into a white room”. Immediately thoughts of sitting in front of a blank canvas flash through my mind. I know how it feels to face the canvas or the paper, and think: now what?

Twyla Tharp is a world class dancer and choreographer. For her to admit it’s terrifying to start something new is unsettling. What’s it like for the rest of us if she has doubts?

She writes:

“Some people find this moment-the moment before creativity begins-so painful that they simply cannot deal with it. They get up and walk away from the computer, the canvas, the keyboard; they take a nap or go shopping or fix lunch or do chores around the house. They procrastinate. In its most extreme form, this terror totally paralyzes people.”

I can relate to that. The idea that creativity can be something we can make a habit of is interesting to me. I could use a good kick of “habit.” I can blame everything around me and procrastinate all day, but in the end it’s only me here. I am working art in as best I can.

We can always learn a new trick to keep it fresh. If routine is the thing, and I could always use a new way to keep it up, I am there. Being ready with the materials I’m happy to use will be the other half of the battle. New paints are in the plan. Next up, a new routine.

I will let you know how it goes once I get rolling. Be sure of that.

The Paints That Annoy

Having time to play with the paints, I thought I would show you the colors I hate in this set. My favorites, Alizarin Crimson and Burnt Sienna, look nothing like what I expect. To remind you, these are MamieriBlu, new to me. I’ve used Grumbacher and Windsor&Newton and never had this problem.

I don’t have any of the other brand of paints or I would show you the differences. However, I think anyone worth their salt can tell the Alizarin Crimson is not how it should be. I think I remember the sales guy saying these paints are the hues of the color. That was after I had already bought and used them. I went back to ask my questions when I figured out the colors were weird. Well, what good is it to me that they’re hues? And the Burnt Sienna? It looks almost like the Yellow Ochre, very little, if any difference.

The other colors are passable. What can I do? A commenter on the 100 Paintings Challenge said Go buy new paints and move on! I’m not quoting verbatim, just the general concept. I’m inclined to agree. This is so annoying. And she named these paints The Paints That Annoy. I love it!

With that, I used The Paints That Annoy and painted. That apple is done. Over. Kaput. I moved the items around once more and painted them without the stupid apple.

I allowed myself the twenty minutes I’ve been having success with and stopped. It’s a little smooshy, but not horrible. Getting away from the apple helped since I didn’t have to use much of the reds. The Paints That Annoy are going to have to keep company with paints I can rely on. Time to shop!