Living With Passion or What Do We Really Want?

My daughter, She's one of my finest legacies.

On a recent walk it struck me.  What drives my life is passion.

It's the reason I'm an artist and why I choose both the art I create and the life that fuels it.  When people are attracted to my art I believe it's because of the unique way that I express that passion.  It appeals because they see part of themselves in the most basic expression of what I do.  I reveal my inner life ruthlessly.  At the center of this art is the most fundamental need we have of being human.  We survive and we pass our physical, spiritual and mental selves on to the next generations.  We are attracted to pleasure and run from pain.

Healing surfaced many years ago.    

The Dragon Who Gave Birth to the Moon, Mixed Media

My childhood was a combination of free spirited fun and abuse.  My adulthood has been shaped by nurturing the one and healing the other.  I've crafted a powerful, sensitive way of being because even while I'm sometimes afraid I dive into my sensations.  I revel in the sweetness and joy I find and slog my way through the challenges.  As I say these things so many specific images swirl around in my mind.  The words to describe them seem infinite.  I can capture the sensations so much more fully in my art.

I see the moon and the moon sees me.

God bless the moon and God bless me.  

Irish lullaby

Fly was inspired in part by years of 

watching Laura refine her butterfly stroke 

as a competitive swimmer.

I led the rather linear life of much of my generation and I've always had a playful, free little girl inside of me, I did what any good girl would.  I went to school, worked, married, had children.  I was somewhat confused having grown up during the feminist revolution by the fact that I longed for the peace and security of a traditional life but had been trained academically and professionally for a life more like a traditional man.  Weird.  It's an 80's problem.

I remember when I first got married being a little lost inside my new "role."  I started to feel steamrollered by societal expectations of wifedom and motherhood.  I didn't know who I was when I couldn't tell a person I met somewhere like a party that I was a sales rep for Proctor and Gamble.  I became Larry's wife, Andy and Laura's mom, the basket lady, PFO President, fundraiser extrordinaire.  I combined my life as a primary caregiver and entrepreneur successfully but sacrificed at least some of my identity because of the career path I chose.

Images of the musicians and one of the paintings on exhibit tomorrow.

Along the way somehow I discovered myself

through my art.  It was a circuitous path that required retreating from the world.  After "finishing" the job of getting my children to adulthood I've turned to the next chapter.  You are witnessing whatever that is!  And I see you becoming as well.

Andy Climbing

In the meantime I continue to paint and create a life filled with passion.  I'm sharing a little bit of the expression of my passion tomorrow in my studio.  I hope you join me.  Sunday, September 28, 2014 1-4PM Studio R1 at 

Studio Channel Islands Art Center 

Here are links to some wonderful experiences.  It will take a little while to cull through this but you can consider it a library of inspiration from some of the people I've worked with over the years.  Enjoy!

Untitled as of yet and on exhibit tomorrow

What attracts people to art is that the best of it exemplifies passion.

Explorer/ Adventurers:

Andy King Mountain Man & Laura King World Explorer

Musicians:

Matthew Zeltzer Young Conquistador

Ebony Ann Blaze Chicago Blue

Don Harper  Composer/ Musician/ Camarillo Recording Studio

Visual Artists: 

Mary-Gail King

Sigrid Orlet  Visual and Installation Artist Extrordinaire

Marian Fortunati Plein Air Artist

Pamela Price Klebaum Glass Art

Art Center:

Studio Channel Islands Art Center and Blackboard Gallery

Day 19 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

  Here's a caveat to non-painters.  This may bore you to tears. It's a little technical. For painters I'm not overediting so read at your own peril. The secret to loose paint is focus on design and irreverence towards the outcome.  

The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge has been a great exercise for me. Finishing small work each day has allowed me to focus on working out design issues and I've been able to play with different approaches to the paint (brushwork) and new color combos. Those themes are actually a good thing to home in on for the rest of the month. 

Yesterday I spent the day painting at the Santa Barbara Courthouse with my friend Steve Richardson.  As you can see he is a master of plein air and he's fun to paint with. We always laugh and that joy comes through in the paint. 

Getting back to plein air always recharges my batteries!  It was good to get back to architecture and use it to explore some simple graphic designs. With the first piece I discovered I need a much larger canvas to work on for the subject. I felt very cramped on the 5x7s I brought with me. That's when I decided to look at a small area of the building and lay in the shapes you see here. Then I threw on the paint.  

With the second piece I decided to return to my watercolor roots and build a soft atmospheric piece with negative shapes working from light to dark.  There were no shadows so this was a good approach.  I laid in a light, premixed wash and blotted it with a paper towel to cover the whole canvas. As an oil painter I HAD to do that. No raw canvas for me.  I then carved out the simple negative shape of an archway and softened the facade around it to reflect the shadowless, atmospheric light of a Santa Barbara day with the fog burnoff that takes place in the late morning or early afternoon.

That's when I got comfortable. This is what happens in my zone. I tossed that panel aside to start a new one. It flipped wrong side up. I righted it and went back to the next piece. I stepped on the same piece that had flipped while working....that irreverence when working outdoors is something I like to teach when working with anyone who has a fear of white, uninterrupted painting surfaces. Lay in your design, paint, don't worry about the outcome until later. That may be on location or later the same day. Begin again- quickly. Rest, talk, get coffee, work quickly! Be yourself. 

There.   Secrets revealed. 

Day 9 of the 30 day Challenge

I had an acrylic class today. Here's the demo...I'll be doing another in oil. I like wandering the Studio Channel Islands campus looking for still life inspiration. 

The Creative Impulse and the Sketchbook/ Day 8

I love seeing other artists' sketches and have never judged anyone else's work as harshly as I judge my own. I aspire to model some of the finest artists the world has known. I'm aiming high and must say I won't ever paint like these men BUT I will work to achieve what I admire most in them. They have complete confidence in their skills and clear, authentic voices. 

Links to sketches by three of my favorites. Two are known for their oils, one for his magnificent sculptures. These are all watercolors.  The thing I admire most in all of these is the immediacy of the paintings. They are impulses straight from the heart of each artist.  You can feel the passion and sense of connection each of them has with his subject. 

John Singer Sargent was a master artist in every way.  Refined and sophisticated his paints were never far from his side. A master draftsman, his ability to capture the spirit of places or people is legendary and some of what he did was even shocking at the time. Bold, direct and filled with energy, my favorite paintings are from his travels in Africa. 

Rodin

Rodin was an earthy, sexual, powerful man who could capture mass in watercolor, one of the most ephemeral of mediums. His work hits me in the gut and leaves me amazed at what an artist can say in the simplest stroke.

Turner is an inspiration because I imagine him tromping the fields of England with his sketchbooks, eating his lunch and using the breadcrumbs (among other things) to achieve  dreamlike effects that confounded many of his contemporaries.

The intimacy of an artist's sketchbook is a window into their day to day life. I often hesitate to share mine because when I let someone look at what I'm doing it feels a bit like being caught naked for just a moment. I'm usually exploring and finding my way as I sketch. I use it to slow down, enter flow, begin to move ephemeral thoughts into the physical world. 

These particular sketches were done quickly from (omg) photos just to get them done and meet my commitment to paint for the day. I hate work done from photos mostly because I'm separated from the full experience of being with my subject. I may not get the chance to do much today because of the administrative work I need to do, but here's the artistic equivalent of a 20 minute maintenance walk in my execise regimine.  

Day 7 of the 30 Day Challenge

I had an amazingly lazy day. I stayed inside most of the day reading and thought about just painting two pieces tomorrow.  When the moon came up I couldn't resist an evening stroll with my trusty watercolors. I ended up doing a number of sketches while sitting in the field fight across from my place looking east into the mountains. Here are one of the sketches, a photo of the view and my little set up complete with a Mason jar of water (aka moonshine;) Run outside and look tonight!  It's the last supermoon of 2014. 

30 paintings day 5! I've got this!

It feels so good to have a serious time limit to get this done and meet all of my commitments. This morning I had an hour to do my painting for day 5 so I dove into my pile of unfinished paintings. Here's today's piece ready to go.

I spent a week goofing off with a bouquet I bought last month and tossed painting by unfinished painting to the side. I have two I'd like to finish today so I can take Sunday off. Tomorrow I'll be doing demos in the studio so I'll be ahead of the game.  I'll also have TONS of sunflower paintings!!! Join me!  

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More on the 30 Day Challenge

Day 4- Playing with Photoshop....

Day 4, Sunflower Chain, digital file

As a painter I know the rudimentaries of Photoshop.  Basically I can follow directions to submit photos of my original work for competitions and I can edit photos to appear as close to the originals as possible.  

As a member of a large enclave of independent studio artists I work side by side with artists of most disciplines in the field of fine art.  I have learned SOOOO much from the fine art photographers.  Carol Henry of Carmel Visual Arts, Candace Biggerstaff of Biggerstaff Photography, and Sherron Sheppard have been the most influential.  It would take more time than I've allocated today to list all of the amazing things I've learned from these women, but first and foremost is that there is an amazing art to photography.  I will never wield a stylus as well as I do a brush, BUT, the computer is a fantastic tool to use as a new way of seeing.  

Yesterday after spending some time in Christine Leong's studio I was envisioning painted silk fabric as the canvas for a modification of one of my sunflower paintings.  I have no idea if this will ever be manifested in the world, but play like this is what often opens up new design ideas.  Rhythm and pattern are the elements I've focused on developing in today's virtual painting.  I'm so glad this month long journey is giving me permission to play every day with this.  Getting my head around a new design using a different tool is a great way to break through new creative layers!

Funny, in looking at the thumbnail above I see a fantasy sunflower person!

Here's a link to Leslie Saeta's blog to see more about the Challenge:  Sweet!

30 Paintings in 30 Days!

This is the first time I've taken part in any type of challenge where I'm creating a new habit as part of  a group.  I'm a bit of an independent type but have learned over time that groups can help me achieve even more than I would alone!  

Sunshine and Cloudless Skies, 16x20 Oil

Lesley Seata is an artist and blogger with a radio show and a large following of other artists she encourages to become better at what we do.  This is the fourth time she's put this challenge together.  I have a number of friends who have participated and really enjoyed it.  I'll link you to their sites later on as I get into some daily posting.  Yikes!  Daily, not weekly.  I won't keep that up after September because I prefer blog posts that are a bit more reflective but here goes!

The biggest benefit to the challenge is that I'll finish a painting a day no matter what.  No perfecting it, no putting off painting due to administrative work, travel, sleep, eating ;) I can play a little catch up and I'm personally not one to beat myself up about missing a day, but I'm not likely to miss any days either.  I'm a type A artist. 

Rock Study, Moro Rock, Sequoia National Forest, 6x6 oil

Nuff said.  I have to figure out how to upload the photos to Leslie's blog now.  I've missed the deadline for day one but will post it here.  It's the rock painting inspired by my recent trek up Moro Rock in Sequoia National Forest.

"Later today"
I finished the sunflowers below and it's a really nice little painting.  I like it.  It's very satisfying.  I've made what I think of as making a run for finishing something larger to post tomorrow but that's not going to happen.  I'll just work on another small one.  I've already noticed some interesting benefits.
1.  I'm even more focused on painting each day since I'm holding myself accountable to someone else!
2.  No diddling around with a painting.
3.  Each one is a very real stepping stone to the next.
4.  I'm thinking strategically about finishing small pieces and still getting time to work on the biggies. It's great for production!  Thinking ahead for the holidays!

"Indian Summer"  9x12Day 3, I'm obivously enjoying the
warm, golden palette of September.  Wait till we hit October!
I call it the Golden Month here in Cali.

I was showing my friend Christine Leong the pieces I've done so far on my iPad.  Playing with cropping we saw all kinds of interesting areas I can develop.  Christine is a traditional Chinese painter, so her work is very different from mine.  She does a lot of painting on silk. (Love her wearables, check them out!)  Anyway, being in her studio turned my mind to using more stylized work.  In looking at the sunflower pieces, Sunshine and Cloudless Skies in particular, I can see some interesting patterns embeded in the design.  I'm going to print out some photos and start playing with the design to see what patterns emerge.  I see twirling vines and a lot of mystery hidden in the painting.  It will be fun to explore what's there...