There are times in which I find it difficult to get started.  Sometimes it is after a major achievement or move forward.  Sometimes it is after a rejection or disappointment.  Sometimes it is just sheer laziness.  How do you get moving again in your painting journey?Currently, I’ve just finished an amazing couple of months on new work for an upcoming show.  Over the summer I learned some great lessons, tried new things, altered my approach and had great results.  Now I need to get motivated to do more of the same, but I’m a bit lazy.  Here are things I’ve found helpful in the past.

• Try a 30 day painting a day challenge.  The discipline is extremely valuable and I’ve always improved along the way.  You need to be organized in identifying your subject matter and accumulating supplies ahead of time.  You also need to structure your days to be sure t fit in time to paint -also valuable.  In the winter months, it can really bring color and joy into an otherwise cold season.  Worth a try.
• Sketch.  Attempt a sketch journal for a month.  I’ve read a couple of Danny Gregory’s books on making this a good habit in life.
• Take “artists dates” weekly.  Julie Cameron’s “Artist’s Way” started this habit for me several years ago.  Great fun! Always inspirational.
• Set some specific stretch goals for your practice this year.  Last year at this time I made a list that included participating in a plein air paint out, taking a major workshop, and scheduling a solo exhibit.  All completed as a result of moving in steps toward each one.
• Push to try a new color palette, new subject matter, new brushes, new media.
• Remember your ‘why’.  For me, even if I paint them and throw them away, the process and the doing are so fulfilling and joy creating that I won’t stop.  Painting relieves stress, causes you to see differently and can lead to great friendships.

It is time to get started once more to see what the year will bring.  What are your motivators?

Every now and then, a book will really launch some great thought and move me forward.  I just began reading “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert upon the recommendation of a friend and already it is a new favorite.   Here is a quote by one of Elizabeth’s favorite writers from the first couple of chapters:

“Do you have the courage?  Do you have the courage to bring forth  this work? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”   – Jack Gilbert

Sometimes painting seems like quite an audacious pursuit.   I mean, throughout the centuries there have been wonderful artists all seeking some new way to express what they see or feel.  What makes me think I should participate?  Are there still scenes that need to be painted?   In the era of digital art and constant images, why paint?  And yet, why not? There is no limit to the ways in which light catches the side of a building or the colors change through the seasons.  There is no end to the lessons that can be learned over time.  Why shouldn’t more of us participate in something wonderfully creative just for the doing – the sheer joy of playing and making something.

Right now, I am getting ready for a sizable solo exhibit which is scheduled to begin January 20.   I have been putting together a collection of approximately 20 cohesive recent pieces – not easy!   These bits of color on canvas are so important to me – they have been part of my days for months now.  It takes a bit of courage to put them out there for friends and coworkers and others to view and comment on.  And yet…..as Elizabeth Gilbert says so well….”bravery means doing something scary.”    And so, this weekend I will be joyfully spending time with summer marshes and scenes of Provincetown and other favorite places.   I’ll paint a bit, frame a bit, sit and wonder, and breathe.

It is a rainy day on Cape Cod, this day before Thanksgiving, and I could not be happier.   This year has brought so much change and we are in a very different place today than one year ago.   I am having tea and a muffin this morning in my studio, preparing for an upcoming show, relaxed and anticipating a great couple of days ahead.  Tomorrow we will have family and friends and dogs and lots and lots of good food.  We are blessed.  Here is my short list as I think about all of this today:

• I am beyond blessed to have a wonderful husband and 3 strong, caring and curious kids – adults now.  Each is different and all are funny, insightful, gentle, aspirational and encouraging. Beyond our little circle are sisters and brothers far away for both Frank and I, nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews galore.  What a life!
• Friends.   Many who have known me well and continue to invest their friendship.  Treasures all.
• Painting – what a privilege in this life.  To see color and light and be able to play with it.  It is a luxury of time and learning and constant entertainment.  My mind continually makes paintings – my brushes not so much – can’t keep up.  And yet, I feel honored to have the desire and the lifelong motivation to learn and learn and learn.
• Work.  I am so thankful for work that allows me to stretch and think about new ways to learn each day.  My time at Bentley University has been a great and welcome challenge.
• Faith.  It has been a lifelong journey – one that has shifted and changed, been challenged and stood the test, pushes me to be better, stretches me to drop all judgment and care well for people in my path, taught me to be quiet and mindful, continues to sustain me, fills me with joy.
• Health.  So far, so good.

I know that for some friends this time this year is not particularly happy or welcome.   I know that each of us will have seasons that are less blessed – hard and heavy.  But not this year – for me I’ll experience joy when I can and store up, shape memories, hoard experiences and sights and senses – to carry forward.   Wishing all a very special time this season in whatever way you find it.

As artists, we tend to notice things around us constantly.   I have hundreds (and hundreds) of photo references I’ve taken over the years of places that I love when the light caught the side of the building or the pathway in such a way to cause me to stop and take it in.   This is what I want to convey when I begin to paint. When you are facing a blank canvas, where do you begin to uncover the pieces that will work together to reflect the scene you are facing?

No Standard Formula 

It would be so easy if each time I picked up a brush there was a magic formula that would ensure a great result.  Many artists follow certain rules of composition, color and approach that they have developed over years of practice.  My trajectory has not been quite so orderly.  If it were simple, it would simply be a craft.  Because painting  is a complex process, it is also art.  It takes emotion and energy and thoughtfulness and courage.   Here are some decisions I find that I need to make regularly when painting – and each time I may decide differently:

Composition and Value

This seems easy enough, but it has taken years to really understand and hone my skills.  Good composition is the difference between a ‘nice little painting’ and a truly wonderful painting.  One lesson I learned in Anne Blair Brown’s workshop this summer is that I really need to take the time to sketch a bit – to try several approaches to whatever I am seeing.  These are small blocks on a sketchpad.  The first will be what I think I am after.  I learned to move on – narrow the point of view – expand it – look at it vertically – make it horizontal – move it to one side or another.  You really need to think about what it is that truly caught your eye – what is the most important element.  Then make sure that the composition and  sketch you choose reflects that element.  Now you’re ready to go.

Next – value.   How often do we hear about values?   I think back to my earliest teachers and then on through artists I’ve studied with in groups and in workshops.  Each emphasized the value scale.  And yet – when i look at my earlier paintings they are a bit bland.  When I painted them, I thought they were wonderful.  Honesty…..   I’ve had to learn to really punch the darks first and not hold back.  Also, I now do a thumbnail notan sketch and look at the value patterns.  These steps have strengthened my work immensely.  I also now premix my colors on my palette along the value scale.  Helpful in insuring that the painting holds together.

Color and Personal Style

Color is the fun part.  I tend to be a ‘high key’ painter – I like lots of intensity and primaries.  After you do a body of work over time, notice any consistency in your work.  Are there similarities in your color choices, regardless of the subject?   Do your colors hold together.   Are you muddy?  If so, maybe premixing will help.  There are a number of color schemes you can draw from.  Pick one and stick with it.  Choose one color to be dominant.   Play.  Don’t go for pretty.

Provincetown Series 8×8 Oil

Evaluate

Step back.  Did you accomplish what you had hoped for?  Leave it and come back.  Give it a day to rest and visit again.  Compare this painting to some of your best.  Are you happy?   Does it reflect your personal style?  Be happy.  What an accomplishment!   I sincerely love the challenge each time I paint, the decisions required – the many puzzle pieces I need to fit together.  Some are winners.  Others not so much.  The learning and the joy continues.

Goodbye to summer…..

This weekend, I stumbled across a blog by Anna Hartman called ” In the Next 30 Days” in which she shared her 30 day challenges and progress and invited others to do the same.  it is a beautifully constructed blog, but I am not sure it is still active.

It has me thinking about being intentional with my time.  How can I make it a memorable month full,of progress in my art as well as in life?   what will I look back on as positive movements?

in my business life, I Learned often that choosing what ‘not to do’ is as important as choosing what you will do.  Also, realizing that a 30 day span will include travel, holidays, interruptions, etc.-being realistic about what you can expect.

in the next 30 days, I hope to reestablish a second working studio, complete work on my new website and continue with my series of marsh paintings and summer Provincetown  favorites.   That is far too much  and it means saying no to TV and staying energized as the days get darker.

This week at work I ran across a TedTalk by Simon Sinek – “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.”

I had seen it before, but it resonated this time, both for my campus work and my art work.  He has developed a visual model focused on determining the ‘why’ for whatever you are attempting and letting everything else be driven by that ‘why’ rather than buy the ‘what’ you are trying to do.  After a similar post by Eric Rhoades earlier this spring, I’ve been thinking about this frequently.

If you paint, why?  What is your driving force?  It can’t be to sell paintings or get awards- those are ‘whats’- potential outcomes.  There are a lot of things you could be doing with your time and life – golfing, hiking, cooking, fitness, running a marathon, traveling, working- you get the drift.  So why painting? Or whatever your personal pursuit may be.  What is it that brings you back to it time after time.

For me, it can only be explained by gut passion.  When I am in painting mode, I see nature and people and architecture and light differently.  I am always looking.  I am continually entertained by the world around me.  I like the supplies- brushes, colors, surfaces.  I find this to be a perfect venue for curiosity.  I am never through learning.  I will never reach a point at which I’ve conquered the pursuit.  I meet great people.  I find it meditative.  Painting relieves stress.  

I paint because I need to.  If I had to throw each painting away at the end of the day, the doing of the work would be more than enough satisfaction.  That’s my why.  What’s yours?

As a painter, I’ve grown set in my ways.  When you find something or a set of something’s that seem to work, you don’t change it up, right?  Until you do.  ‘Set in your ways’ holds you right where you are.

For the workshop, I made sure to have everything on the supply list, including Egbert brushes.  I usually paint with flats- edgy, controllable.  These egberts are long and thin and floppy.  They took some getting used to.  They are great for sketching in your values and initial marks, super for brush strokes, less controlled and therefore looser in results.  I am just and finally growing into paying attention to brushstrokes- yet another dimension on the journey.  I loved the push to try new techniques, new paint mixes, and-new brush types.  I’d love to hear your experience.