Sunday, June 28, 2020

Student Work from De-Stress

Here are a few pieces from participants in the last De-Stress class back in March and April. It is offered again, beginning on July 1. Read about it here.


Transfer drawing and collage

Transfer drawing over brayered paint

Blind contour transfer drawing

Transfer drawing and collage


Mandala magic!

Somber Stripes

Mandala oval!

Grid Collage

Embellished Stripes
Grid Collage

Animated Mandala, with FISH!!

Mandala

Friday, June 26, 2020

De-Stress with Art, or at least with the fun little video

De-Stress with Art begins online next week. Read about it here. You can see some of the student work from the first project here.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Handmade Brushes from Mark Making Class

I want to share with you a few images of mark-making tools people have made in my Mark Making class. I love seeing what people come up with!





Making brushes from plant material is fun when plants are abundant. But don't forget the household items like Q-tips, sponges, fabrics, netting, ribbon, string, and more.  Use chopsticks, popcicle sticks, tongue depressors, or paint stirrers for handles. Or just sticks. Have fun!

Saturday, June 20, 2020

More Stripes, Meditations on Color

Here are a few more stripe pieces. They ARE very meditative to do, and I find that I paint over them quite a lot, trying out one color, and then tweaking it or changing it altogether. Very slow and focused. One of the projects in De-Stress with Art is STRIPES.

18"x24"on wood panel

24"x24" on wood panel

18"x24" on wood panel

20"x20" on canvas

Detail of the piece below.

18"x24" on wood panel
Thanks for visiting!

Monday, June 8, 2020

New Composition Class Online

I have just published my first online class on SkillShare, called "Abstract Collage: Creating Compositions with Tissue Paper". Take a look here, and get two months of access to all of SkillShare's video tutorials free. Following the SkillShare format, the class contains ten short video lessons in 43 minutes. You can post your work on the site, ask questions, see other's work, etc.


I take you through the process of painting/staining tissue paper, cutting out the shapes, and playing with arrangement, all in the service of exploring abstract composition. Check it out! And let me know what you think. This is a new platform for me for teaching, though I have been a member of Skillshare as a learner for over a year.

Monday, June 1, 2020

Practicing Art - A Conversation

I posted a photo of my mini-collages on Instagram @janedaviesart and got an interesting question:

Is there a purpose to making these and saving them? I’m asking because I tend to purge art that is not created for display. I have mixed feelings because I enjoy the creative process, but it’s not really a piece of art, per se.

I invited an e-mail conversation so that I could address this question that many artists have: if it isn't practical or doesn't make a salable piece, what is its value? 

Here are some of the mini-collages:


These are each 4.5"x6" on Bristol, collage pieces are painted papers. My 'rule' was to use three shapes only, three different colors, on each one. The next step is to crop them, visually, at least. to see if I can make interesting negative spaces.
Here is the conversation:

Q:  My main question was if you had a purpose in mind when you created these simplified works, if you save them, and how you view the  time spent creating them.  Are you working towards a goal or just doing them for relaxation?

A:  When I need a break from whatever larger work I’m doing, OR when I’ve been out of the studio for a while and am rusty, the best way to get ideas moving is to keep my hands and eyes DOING something in the studio. Not thinking, but doing. And that takes on many forms. This little exercise I just made up and did a LOT of them. The main point is to do SOMETHING with hands and eyes to generate ideas, see where it goes, keep in practice, jog something loose, get back to some basic ideas, etc. It is not for relaxation, though it might be relaxing.

Q:  I tend to feel guilty if I spend a lot of time and money on materials with art ‘just for fun and relaxation’ vs. a finished piece.  I could make dozens of simpler works, but I’m not sure what I’d do with them except throw them in the trash eventually!  My Inner Critic tells me that it’s silly to waste time just doing things for the fun in the moment and then throwing them away, since there is no practical use for them.  

A:  Yeah. I hear you. And probably so does every other artist, especially women. 'Be Useful, Be Practical, Be Thrifty or you are wasting time, wasting space, wasting money', etc. is a strong inner voice in our culture. It reveals our own lack of confidence in the value of our work, and in the value of art generally. In my view, the value has to start with YOU, the artist, not someone else putting a price on it or putting it to practical use. This shift in attitude takes years and constant vigilance. When there is stuff To Be Done (practical), and I am in my studio making useless little collages, my belief in their value has to be stronger than the voice saying I Should Weed The Garden.

I can not make good, real, art that is truly mine unless I constantly explore, constantly make and observe, and allow myself the space-time-money to make work that does not see the light of day. 

To tell you the truth I do not know what will become of my little collages, and that is the furthest thing from my mind as I am creating them. It’s paint, paper, matte medium (for the glue), a little time, a little process-focus. To me the value is in doing it and “keeping in shape” as an artist. 

Q:  I’d love to hear your take on it; why you create so many simple, practice works, with good materials. What is the purpose, what do you do with them, etc.,  so that I can stop feeling guilty when I “play” and spend time lots of time just for the sake of enjoying my materials, and the end product has no real purpose other than the joy of creating in the moment, unworthy of sharing as a piece of art.

A:  I don’t think of them as ‘practice works’. Doing them is just part of Doing The Work as an artist. I recommend to my students to keep the focus on process and on developing and maintaining a HEALTHY ART PRACTICE. The good, genuine pieces of art, art that is yours, is a byproduct of your healthy art practice. Let it show up on its own, don’t force it.