Challenges

This has been a week full of challenges. Tried a new technique with w/c abstract and it worked very well on the first one. The second had its moments of promise, but I managed to get muddled partway through and ended up with a painting with a dual personality. Looks like I might have 2 paintings that sort of work, rather than one that really sings.
Still struggling with acrylic. Finished one landscape that seems to work, and nearly done with a 2nd, but still not sure if it is really working. I just have a hard time being comfortable with the medium. Guess I need to have my artist friends take a look and give me a knowledgeable critique. I am too close to the process to be objective.

Finding my way

Life intrudes, and interruptions occur, but finally being back in my studio and getting to the business of creating feels good. Acrylics have been a fight for me. I'm sticking with them and  finding them frustrating, and challenging. I love watercolor, but I really miss painting opaquely. Acrylics allow for that, but learning to control edges is very tricky. It took me a while to figure out how to handle w/c, but the fast drying time of acrylic is frustrating me. I think I may try to use a retarder with the hopes that I can have a better result when blending edges. So far I find that the blended edges don't have the quality I am looking to find.
I'm working on some landscapes. They don't come naturally to me. I am trying to learn how to use light to create drama and mystery. It seems easier with my flower close-ups, but that is probably because I've been doing them for so many years. Let's hope I can find some  new tricks of the trade!

Getting stuck! That is a problem I have struggled with repeatedly over my painting years. Usually it happens shortly after I've had a show. It seems that the work needed to put together a show pulls a lot of ideas out of me, and I need to "percolate" for a while to get back into the groove. The problem comes when it stretches from a few weeks to a few months, and while I go into the studio, what I do there seems singularly uninspired and boring to me. That causes a circular downward spiral of feeling inadequate and untalented and that adds up to being less able to work. Sometimes it just ends as suddenly as it came on, but I have found that getting excited about working again, and trying a new medium or new technique can bring an end to a block. I just finished taking a workshop and for the first time in several months I am full of new ideas and a desire to try new things and get to work again. I am hoping that by painting every day, I will be able to keep up the enthusiasm and prolong a period of productive, creative work. Ideas generate more ideas and the encouragement of friends is the impetus to keep going!

This past week was spent taking a workshop from Bob Burridge in Snow Hill, Maryland. I spent the week with Linda Epstein, a fellow painter and friend. Over the years I've taken quite a few workshops and learned that when you take a workshop you can be challenged, excited by the work, or frustrated. A good workshop opens doors to your creativity and gives you new tools to express yourself. A bad workshop disappoints, and leaves you feeling cheated.
Picking a workshop is the most important part. I've taken them from artists whose work I admired only to discover that the artist may be a terrific painter, but a lousy teacher. So far, I have found that the best workshops have happened when other artists have praised them and recommended them. This was a very good workshop which left me inspired and excited to begin my own work while applying the new techniques I've learned.
As an artist, the work must be mine, but one of the greatest assets I have is my group of artist friends. They encourage me, critique my work, and always give me support on my voyage toward painting my next best painting.

Welcome to my online studio!

Hello and welcome to my online studio. These sunflowerscame from an Amish farm near my studio and I was taken by  how all the bright, nodding flower heads reminded me of a group of people having a conversation!

This is an acrylic painting on canvas, aproximately 24 x 30" and is hanging at the North End Gallery in Leonardtown, MD.