“Ultimately, my hope is to amaze myself. The anticipation of discovering new possibilities becomes my greatest joy.” Jerry Uelsmann
Your supplies are ready, you are excited to have time to paint. The hours pass, and you come out of the creative zone, look at your work, and ask yourself; where did that come from? It is something that has happened to many artists.
The World as I am Seeing It! (Ink on paper)
I have always been a very organic painter. Of late however, my work is taking on a very angular look. Not that there are not lines and angles in nature. I mean I love cracks and crevasse. But, these are geometric shapes! You never know where the ‘Creative Spirit’ will lead you if you just let go of the control. Over the years I have also learned to “run with it”, when that happens. I was taught that you should always work in a series, because you don’t know where you can go with something, unless you have worked with it for a while. This new and surprising side of me, started when I taught a lesson on glazing early this spring. I demonstrated how you can put one layer over another to give a painting depth, using ink. By the time I finished the painting a couple of weeks ago, I really did ask myself where did that come from?
My World ( Acrylic on board)
Three weeks ago, I discovered a board I had put some acrylic paint on last year. I took it out and started working on it, and found, I was turning the free form shapes I started with, into more geometric shapes. Although I had started this process with ink on paper, I am now working on the board, and using acrylic. I am having fun exploring this side of my personality. When I have done 10, I will let you know if I will keep going. Working on a board is also new for me. Wow! If I never had to frame a painting again in my life, I would be doing my “happy dance”!
The Happy Dance Phase…
So in between revisiting the handmade paper collages I am known for, I am visiting this new place. But, not only have I changed shapes, from free form to geometric, my color palette, which is very consistent, went wild yesterday. I got done and thought to myself, “you are in your happy dance phase!”
I always believed, especially since I have been teaching, that summer is play time: try new supplies, work on new techniques, and resolve old paintings. Well, this summer I will be working in a new style with a brighter color palette, and see where it takes me.
Sometime just letting what is inside come out, can lead to interesting new places. Enjoy the process and don’t always worry about the outcome. However, I did step back and studied the composition. The style may be new, but the question of composition is still relevant.
“Imagination makes you see all kinds of things.” Georgia O’Keeffe
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