I've been dedicating the last week to sketching - pencil and this evening, with oils. It's reminded me that getting back to the basics and practicing those skills is not only relaxing, but necessary.
Now, it's time to take some time and celebrate the success of this wonderful show. I'm usually not one to pause long enough to catch my breath....but catching my breath was exactly what I did yesterday when I saw the works all hung together. As artists, we need to take a moment and celebrate the accomplishments along the way. It is no mean feat, taking hours of manpower, years of training, eons of practice and a little magic!
It feels like Christmas! This is my first solo show in twelve years!!!...And the ONLY solo show of my work for 2012...AND...introduces some fabulous new figurative work that incorporates 22k gold and silver. Can you see me grinning from where you are? I'm very excited. There are secret pieces in this show from my own private collection and brand new works which I have to say are the best work that I have ever completed....and YOU ARE INVITED!!!
I'm pleased to present the finished work, "The Artist's Daughter". Featured in earlier posts, and the subject of a process video (see links below), this has been an important work for me - not only because my model and muse is my daughter Grace, but because it was my first concentrated effort in creating a figurative work in a classical style.
Process is everything. Arriving at the destination is always so much less than the journey when it comes to creating - for me, anyhow. The thrill is in seeing how things emerge, the spirit that comes through...or in some cases, drops back from the original concept in a piece. There is so much learning. There is so much learning and this is what excites me about painting. It is different every day.
Here are a few more tips for loosening up in the studio. Dance that painting out of the brush with this playlist. You're sure to put some boogie in your work.
Magic, the super-natural and giving over of oneself to the alchemy of it all is sometimes the only path an artist can walk. Here are two freaky pieces I'd consider my best work ever that came out of a healthy dose of Stephen King, thunder and lightening.
Any time that I spend a lengthy time working on tight, classic work...it's too much for me. My creative muscles atrophy; my brain keeps me up all night and I feel like I'm trudging along, thermos and lunchpail, to my shift at the factory studio.
Choices are one and the same. Through the process of creation, we destroy. Through destruction, we create. Through imagery of Haida Gwaii, contemplate your choices as an artist.
