Saturday, September 17, 2011

Pieces of Me

I am an original. There is no one quite like me. I'm learning to accept my flaws and my features as pieces of my true self, the curvy, intricate pieces of this puzzle of my existence. The pieces that make up this wonderful person are filled with self-doubt, and doubt keeps me from moving forward. I need to let go of preconceived ideas that my paintings should look a certain way. I need to quit comparing my art to others. I need to embrace each mark I make on the canvas as special and beautiful and unique to me. So what if no one sees the beauty or the meaning or my uniqueness. So what if I don't know what it means either. What comes from inside is mine alone, for me to cherish and celebrate on this journey to be more ME!

Monday, September 12, 2011

New Practice Works on Paper


After re-reading Kelly Rae's Book I decided to turn my fears into affirmations. Behind each stem is a positive phrase which started out as a fear. I took the fear out and put the possibility in. This piece was also to practice some techniques I learned in Paulette Insall's e-course "Color Me Beautiful."

This is another practice piece from Paulette's e-course. After dripping and scraping paint across the paper I tried to find a hidden subject come through in the paint. I saw the heart-shape and created a weird looking tree around it. I really enjoy seeing the layers of paint come through and the way the intersecting lines create shapes and color changes.

Another practice piece (12" x 12" on watercolor paper) called "Serenity." Loving the technique of painting around an object instead of filling it in. Love the way the interesting background shows through and again how the intersecting lines create great color changing opportunities. I'm trying to move my work more in this direction rather than traditional landscapes where I try to paint exactly what I see. That just frustrates me and I'm finding it boring! This is sooooo much more fun!