Inspiration Wednesday :: March 18, 2015

I'm not going to make excuses. 

I finally finished this Inspiration Wednesday project. 

I'm simply going to celebrate that I DID! 

I enjoyed the process and I'm pleased with the results. 

Goal Accomplished! 

I have three other small canvases started that I plan to use to 

create a small series exploring texture and collage elements. 

The tags I used in this piece are clothing tags 

I've been saving for the past several years. 

Visit Donna Downey here for more information on her Inspiration Wednesdays.

Follow me on InstaGram: Denise_Riches

I Am A Warrior...Work in Progress

It's been a slow road back to the easel...moving, divorce, a new life, lack of focus, expanding my comfort zone, and simply living for today, all factors in my creative departure. As I settle in and become comfortable with who I am and what lies ahead, the creative fire is being reignited. I've noticed my thoughts returning to art, creating and purposeful pursuits instead of the distracting, time-consuming, self-defeating thinking that consumed me when I started this new journey. 

I started the painting above several years ago in Flora Bowley's online "Bloom True"
e-course. Since then it has sat in the garage with all the other rejected, partially finished paintings, quietly waiting for me to give it new life, transforming it into something Great! Using the existing painting as an under painting, I began the process of laying down color, collage and simply playing. That's the fun part - no mistakes, anything goes. 

It's a Work in Progress, just like me! 

And I'm excited by the possibilities!  

What I Want for 2012

Practice Painting #1

First, without sounding too negative, I want to state what I DON'T want for 2012. I don't want a bunch of expectations of myself that, when not met, leave me feeling like a failure, a loser, a procrastinator, or just plain pathetic.

What I DO want for 2012 is simple...to learn to paint for the process alone, to have fun, to paint what I want, not what will sell, to develop my style through my mistakes, not my masterpieces.  In this post, I asked myself "Why can't I just paint 50 paintings of nothing and not care? I'm not getting ANYTHING done anyway...what harm could it do?"  So now I'm taking the steps to embrace the process simply for the process and starting my 50 Practice Painting Series. I remember reading something from Claudine Hellmuth quite a while ago where she mentioned after about her 50th painting she started to see her style emerge.

So here I go, painting for the sake of painting, to see what unfolds when I'm consumed by the process instead of focused on the product. To see what discoveries I make along the way, hoping to turn frustration into fun! Painting #1 above started as a blind squiggle drawing as suggested in Wyanne's e-course "Paint Free."  These faceless beauties are what emerged from my squiggles. I think they're kinda cute in their own unique way!

A Recommended Read - The Alchemist

photo from Stillwater Free Library

Just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I thoroughly enjoyed this book not only for its simplicity but also for its inspiring story. This book is a must read for anyone on a journey of their own to discover their path in life, to realize a dream or to better understand who they are as a person. It's filled with wisdom about discovering the treasures within ourselves and about listening and following our hearts. It encourages us "to realize one's Personal Legend" and that "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it" if you can read the signs and open your heart to it. So many quotable and thought provoking passages...such as "Because I don't live in either my past or my future, I'm interested in only the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man." And "That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too." Definitely a book that will stay on my bookshelf forever.

Brighter Days Ahead...Question or Statement?

 

It's been a full week (last week) of painting, gluing, cutting, sorting, stamping, and all that fun art stuff. Unfortunately and feeling a bit down about it, I have nothing to share. I did finish one piece I was working on. And, upon it's completion, I think I decided I'm not a bright color person. As much as I love paintings others create in vivid, bold colors, I don't think they work for me. Perhaps I should consider my neutral wardrobe and subdued colors in my home as a clue to my preferred color palette. I certainly can't paint what I'm not. When the sun returns I'll snap a photo of the finished pieces (good or bad) and some works in progress. But until then, I'm feeling somewhat like a ping-pong ball. Jumping back and forth, from one technique to another, one theme to another, one idea to another and not feeling very optimistic about any of them. I'm really struggling this week with my style. I'm all over the place and get excited about way too many  techniques I see or read about and then have trouble executing them to my satisfaction. I'm trying to dig deep, evaluate how I view life, figure out what gets my motor running and work from those clues to develop my style. I know I'm rushing the process and focusing on the finished product when it should be about enjoying the journey. Oh I have so much to learn.

So, in the meantime I simply posted a cute little rainy day photo of my son's umbrella fort and I'll patiently wait for brighter days ahead.