Studio Notes in November

I've given myself a little assignment in the studio, which is to work on 10"x10" cruciform collage-paintings until I am sick of them, or bored, and then keep working on them to see what happens.  I so admire the work of artists who seem to go deep into an idea, really milk it over dozens and dozens of pieces.  I have a short attention span, and although I almost always work in series, my series tend to be short.  Unless they are defined simply by size and material - the 100 Drawings on 9"x12" paper, the 4"x4" ongoing series.

I've been working 22"x30" for a while, so I wanted to go back to a smaller size for a bit.  I'm working back and forth between the 22"x30" on the wall, and the 10"x10" on the work table. 

Here are just a couple of the pieces in process:

Grid-1, layer 1

Grid-1, layer 2 and 3

Grid-1, the next few layers

Grid-1, final

Grid-2, layer 1

Grid-2, with all the other layers, final

Winner of Extreme Composition Online Class

I wish I could take ALL of you in this class!  Such enthusiastic response.  Thank you for participating.  The winner is .... Lisa Ridolfi.  So, Lisa, it is your job to e-mail me with your info so I can sign you up.  Congratulations. The class is FULL to the brim now, so I am offering it again starting July 22.  Take a look here.

More on studio activities later in the week.  Hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday have a great holiday.  So much to be thankful for!  Thanks to all of YOU who come to my blog and create this great community.

Here is a video I did a little while ago, and just revised a teeny bit.  It's just for fun, nothing that you don't know already:

Interview on The Elusive Muse

Here is an interview with me, published on The Elusive Muse recently.  Check out some of the other artists interviewed too - they represent a broad spectrum of work.

I am going to copy the last question and answer here.  It seems to have resonated with a few who commented, so you might want to skip the interview and see if this little pep talk is of any interest:

8. Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring artists?

Yes. Make a lot of art. Make really a lot, and give art making a higher priority, by a long shot, than even taking classes or reading books about art making. It is important to get instruction and to learn techniques, but it takes time, and LOTS of art making, to absorb whatever you learn and make it your own. In the same way, it is important to look at other art, get inspiration from other artists, but it is only in the making of art that you gain from the inspiration.

I think really good and authentic art comes from being on your edge, pushing yourself just a bit beyond what feels comfortable, from NOT-knowing. If you feel out on a limb, sometimes frustrated, not sure what to do next, then you are probably doing it RIGHT. Often I find that aspiring artists have the idea that they SHOULD know what they are doing, plan out each piece of art knowing exactly where they are going, and feel competent the whole way. I say, change your expectations: let yourself get uncomfortable and out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere, and practice that state of uncertainty.

Do not worry about developing your own “style”. Just make art, and your voice will emerge. If you try to force it, you will only limit yourself. Just my two cents.

There.  Enough of my ranting. Tomorrow I will post the winner for the Extreme Composition online workshop giveaway.

Another Giveaway: Extreme Composition, January 7

I can't believe it!  We have another anonymous giveaway for a spot in Extreme Composition, which is almost full, just a few spots left.  Starts January 7. So, IF you are interested and available for the class comment on this post and you will be in the drawing.

If you HAVE already signed up for Extreme Composition, and would like to win something, you can choose a spot in Keys to Dynamic Composition or Sketchbook Practice, both starting March 25.  Please let me know if your comment which class you want.

I will do the drawing on Monday, November 24, and it is the winner's responsibility to contact me with an e-mail address.  Good luck!  Here are a few images of student work from Extreme Composition last spring:

 

The images, of course, are responses to specific assignments, but I want to let you enjoy them on their own merit.  Just for fun, here is one of me working in my studio:

100 Drawings Workshop Winner

Wow!  What a lot of great response we got from this generous giveaway by a reader.  Thanks to Anonymous Reader.  LOVE all the "unique names".  All I meant was to put a first and last name, or something that would identify you uniquely.  Good ones all. I wish I could let ALL of you into this class in January, but then I would not be able to give everyone individual feedback.  That is the limiting factor  - my time. 

Yadda yadda...  Terrie Purkey is our winner.  Terrie, it's your job to e-mail me and I'll get you all set for the course.  have you taken online courses before?  Just in case you need it (or if anyone else is interested), here is my Blogger Tutorial, which covers basic posting and commenting.

The second offering of 100 Drawings on Cheap Paper is beginning in September.  So if you are interested, click here.  I'll do more giveaways of online classes, since this was so popular.

On another subject...  I am working on a new web site that will be my online art gallery.  Here is a little sneak preview of the Home page:

Top part of the Home page, which has a little slide show

Scroll down and you get links to my "collections", which are organized by size and material.

 I will, of course, be keeping my current web site, where all my workshops and information are.  This new one is simply a gallery, and there are links back and forth so you can find the content you are looking for.

Thanks to all of you who participated in this giveaway drawing!  Stay tuned.

100 Drawings Giveaway

One very generous, but anonymous, artist is giving up her place in 100 Drawings on Cheap Paper, an online class that starts January 7, and donating it to a lucky winner!  The class if full full full, so I am only taking new sign-ups for its reiteration in September, but this is for a spot in the January class.  To enter the drawing, all you have to do is comment on this post, with a unique name, and check in on Monday, November 17 to see if you won.  The winner will be announced on this blog on Monday, and it will be her/his responsibility to contact me with an e-mail address.

Here area a couple images of my 100 Drawings pieces in process;  they are 9"x12" on Cheap Drawing Paper.

You can find my finished pieces on Fine Art America, available as prints. 

Raising Money for Heifer International

Heifer International's mission is to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth.  They do this by providing livestock animals; empowering women; providing basic needs such as clean water, shelter, cook stoves, etc.; supporting sustainable farming efforts, all in their unique Heifer way...  See how it works here.

I am offering a downloadable set of twelve greeting cards, with images of my work on them, for a $15 donation to Heifer.  ALL proceeds from the sale of this card kit go to Heifer.  You will download a zip file with the twelve images and an envelope template, sized to be printed on 8.5"x11" paper.  Last year we were able to donate about $800 for livestock and other resources to Heifer International.

Here are the images on your cards.  Print only the ones you like, and print as many as you want.  You can also use them as prints rather than greeting cards.

Twelve images on greeting cards, downloadable, for a $15 donation to Heifer:

Stripes

I am fascinated by artists who can do stripes - simple stripes! - that are compelling.  Taking a simple idea, one of the simplest of patterns, and making it rich with subtlety.  Here are a few examples from artists I admire.

Take a look at Kathleen Waterloo on Pinterest.  Here are a couple of her stripe pieces:

Kathleen Waterloo

Kathleen Waterloo

I am particularly in love with the way Jylian Gustlin works stripes into her vessel pieces:

Jylian Gustlin

Jylian Gustlin

Jylian Gustlin

Daniella Woolf does beautiful stripes in encaustic; and Leonard Ragouzeos in his teeny tiny gouache pieces:

Daniella Woolf (this is a screen shot, thus the word "next" in the upper left).

Leonard Ragouzeos

Here is one of my first attempts to do a large (large for me, 22"x30") piece in stripes:

"Stripes, Yellow", my work, 22"x30"

This piece, "Stripes, Yellow", is now available as a print on Fine Art America, along with forty more pieces of this scale.  Take a look at the new uploads!