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I've been mostly absent from the interwebs lately, but I haven't been sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I've been in an art mentoring program with Chelsea Lang since December, and I've probably painted 100 pieces in the process, mostly master copies of John Singer Sargent and current artists he inspired, such as Jeremy Lipking, Zhaoming Wu, Daniel Gerhartz, Aldo Balding, Ignat Ignatov, Torsten Wolber, etc.). It's been energizing and huge fun! Some of these copies (I emphasize they are copies of originals by other artists, for my practice only) are pictured here. It's encouraging to see progress as I go.  My mentor has helped me focus on specific areas to improve and how to grow in the direction I aspire to. 

The light reflecting off folds of fabric, the miniscule differences in eyes, nose and mouth, the expressions of emotion, all make a difference in a painting.  These artists have inspired me to look more carefully at the world around me because beauty is everywhere.  What inspires you?

Alabama is an absolutely beautiful state.  I live near the middle of it, right at the end of the Appalachian Mountain range.  Visitors are often astonished at how lush and green and mountainous it is.  It seems like every species of plant must grow here.  Even now, in February, the landscape is surprisingly green because the winters here are so mild.  And right now the constant rain is encouraging new growth.  The downside is that, with so much lush plant life, there’s a lot of pollen.  And I mean a LOT of pollen.  (A side note: did you know the pollen molecule of a pine tree looks like the Death Star?)  This is pure heaven for ENTs and allergy specialists, and we keep them on speed dial.  But I digress.

               I’ve been working to paint the landscape around here more accurately, and that involves mixing about a thousand shades of green.  Needless to say, oil paint manufacturers don’t make that many shades and put them into individual tubes.  They don’t make the precise yellow-green that is longleaf pine needles in winter.  There is no tube that matches the shiny dark green of magnolia leaves or the suede-like brown of their undersides.  There’s no match for the kudzu, ferns, cedars, grasses, rhododendrons, and so on.  Part of my challenge to myself this month is to mix (and document) some better Alabama greens for my paintings.  And this photo is the first palette of greens I did over the weekend (there are several).

Some of these are useful right now, and I know in the future I’ll need the others for something or other.  There are plenty more mixtures to work out.  This only involved three yellows and three blues (plus a little of two other tube greens, a red, and white to tweak them).   There’s more work to be done on this little project, but in the future having a reference like this should make painting the local landscape a little easier.  And who doesn’t like easy?

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What was your creative outlet when you were a kid?

Mine was art (actually all of the fine arts, but that’s another story).  I was lucky enough to have a sweet elderly neighbor who was an amateur painter.  She taught me and my mom how to use oil paints, watercolors, oil pastels… we had a ball painting in her garage “studio” when I was a little girl.  We still have some of those paintings on our walls.  Our neighbor nurtured that creative spirit in us, and I’ve never forgotten her.  I might not have thought of myself as “good enough” to take real classes or try to sell my work otherwise.  Of course, my mom always encouraged me and told me how awesome I was, but, you know, moms do that!  Having an outside voice telling me I was good enough helped me along.

Sometimes I wonder what my legacy will be to friends, children, and grandchildren.  I hope I encourage them to be themselves, whatever they were created them to be.  Creativity can flourish in any field: architecture, healthcare, finance, customer service, teaching, sales, anything at all.

Who was your biggest encouragement as a child, and how did they influence who you are today?  Please comment below!

               My favorite place to be in the whole world is on a beach.  I’m not terribly particular about whether it’s sandy or rocky, cold or hot, stormy or calm.  The view of water feels restful to me.  I bet a few of you feel the same way.  My favorite beach is on the Gulf of Mexico, with powdery white sand and blue-green water.

               When you walk on the beach, you find all sorts of life, including sand pipers.  Very fidgety little birds.  They seem freaked out by the waves or the enormous humans walking by.  They just make me laugh, scurrying back and forth on the sand.   So I decided to paint them. 

Sometimes the tiny subjects are just as interesting as the vast landscapes.  These little birds were completely caught up in their own nervous energy.  I hope whoever sees this painting will share a little laugh with me!

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

A few years ago, I decided to go back to my early love of oil painting and explore some new ideas.  I needed a creative outlet, something different that I did just for me.  It also gave me an opportunity to re-learn how to play.  What a gift!  Somehow in the dailiness of life, working full-time, raising a family, keeping up with laundry, trying to keep it all going, I kind of forgot how to play.  This new leg of the journey has been so much fun and energizing for me.  I’ve made new friends and seen the world in new ways.  Joy and inspiration seem to pop up in the most unexpected places.

My goal now is to re-establish my daily painting practice, something many artists do. (And I thank them for the encouragement and gentle kick in the pants.)  I’ve completed a few short-term daily painting stints, but this one will be a month long.  I have dozens of ideas, as well as two commissions to work on, so I don’t lack subject matter.  It would be easy to say I don’t have time every day, but that’s not the real issue.  I just have to discipline myself to sit down at the easel.  Every. Single. Day.  Looking at it as play will help me stick with it.  I will show up, and along the way, I will share some of the things I learn.   Want to come along?