practicing
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Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso
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these are some practice backgrounds from the first week of misty’s class… it’s really so much fun to “move paint around” and be messy about it… in addition to learning some really amazing techniques from a really amazing teacher, maybe the most important thing i learned this first week is to let go…
what does that mean?…
first of all, i’m entirely too neat and cautious… constantly cleaning and being careful not to make too much of a mess, holding precious the ideals of cleanliness and neatness… (which is sort of ironic in light of the cyclone that hits my desk every night while i’m sleeping… i take no responsibility for it… it just appears overnight and i claim total ignorance when i find it that way in the morning…) … after all, isn’t one of the first things we learn in school to turn in work that is neat?… i used to feel really good receiving the coveted gold star for the neatness of my work…
clearly i still have some unlearning to do…
secondly, there is no reason to approach a piece of paper and a paintbrush with fear… isn’t it odd that something so simple could make someone so tense?… as if that one wrong color choice or one errant move of the brush defines one’s entire identity as a person and the very fabric of the universe hinges on you getting it right … after all, if the universe is relying on you, do you really want to make mud? … the responsibility is enough to paralyze anyone…
i almost skipped over the assignment to paint a landscape background… a landscape?… i’ve never done that before… it’s amazing how you can immediately run into that familiar brick wall… it goes something like, “i can’t paint a landscape… i’ve never done that before… where do i start?… i could just skip over this one… i really don’t have time to try it anyway… etc. ” … it’s funny how that little voice in your head speeds up when it delivers these quippy gems to you…
… it’s only paint and paper… why not just try it?… no one has to know … when you were five and someone asked you to paint a tree, you painted a tree… and you might even make it a blue tree if that is what the tree wanted … you didn’t make up excuses… you didn’t need to…
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so then, late last night i played this movie because i’m in that kind of mood, wanting some sentimental feel good time, but was having a lot of trouble keeping my hands still … all that throwing around of paint, i suppose, was leaving an imprint … i picked up a sewing project but that was just too intense… so, a drawing pad seemed like a good choice…
at first i was tempted to be critical that once again i fell into my tendency to make the eyes big and space them way too far apart (in addition to many other criticisms)… but then again… big, wide, open eyes… they are awake, curious, wanting to learn, absorb, and drink in every bit of beauty they can possibly see…
i’ve decided i like them just the way they are…
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wanna play?… try this
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12 Responses to “practicing”
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Oh my goodness Joanne……..these paintings are superb…yay!!! And the drawing….very, very special. Get those backgrounds up on Flickr girl :0 :)
Lyn x
I love that you are allowing yourself to come a little undone! Nothing feels more fabulous or en-lighten-ing. As a kid, I never even once thought I was good at art ~ or that I could ever in my wildest dreams become an artist. I don’t know why I thought that, perhaps I was too much of a perfectionist. Perfectionism, I find, tends to spoil our perception of most things. I think I also always thought of artists as painters and sketchers ~ and I definitely didn’t consider myself to have any of that!
Teaching grade 3 art has been the most liberating thing for me. This year especially, as I am trying to expand my ART horizons ~ more for me than them!
I love your blog! It inspires me in so many ways. Please keep on risking and daring and sharing!!!
((((hugs))))
what creative fun! love your efforts. i’d give you plenty of gold stars! (those were fun to get, weren’t they?) love your lady, eyes wide open with curiosity for all the world has to offer—bright eyed innocence. glad you are having a ball!
we painted today, too, our front door. umbria red, just delicious! tomorrow the bathroom in cucumber, the palest of greens. i have never had such colors in my home. fun!
love! the second and the last one especially.
good for you, it seems as if each imahe is really quite magical…must be a lovely class!
image…typing so fast ooops
These pieces are so beautiful, Joanne ! Misty has got you going in a wonderful direction. I love that you are learning to let go. I agree with you that it is strange how a blank page and a paintbrush can be so intimidating, like one stroke will change the outcome of your life. I am finding that when I approach mart from a play point of view rather than a work point of view, I lose a lot of that fear - that and enjoying the process, the interaction with the materials and my creativity artist inside, and being in the moment. The stuff that comes out from those moments is always way more loveable to me !
I hope the rest of the weekend brings you moments to play with that invigorated muse of yours!
…and again…i so love what and how you share your inner questions and answers…oft times they are the very ones we ask ourselves! i felt the similar to the landscape lesson…i didn’t want to do it…and then when i did, i learned so many things from that ONE lesson…one was..it doesn’t have to be the way anyone else thinks it should, “change it up”. i have since painted over it and love how the underneath peeks through the layers. ha!
how did you do the delicate reeds in your landscape? they are so so….
and the answer to your question about time??? i switch off to fabric and yarns (as i think you might do this as well?) each task is so different from one another, they lend creations for one another, or just soothe my soul creating!…i know you know what i’m talking about. i made some amazing discoveries last night to share soon, in painting over things i didn’t want to….xo wanda
your backgrounds are looking great!!! I love this class .. Im going to make some serious time over the thanksgiving break to play with paint
I expect you have heard of the Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey.
I have read the Inner Game of Music and found it quite helpful.
The main idea in these books is that it’s better to focus on the process rather than be so hung up about the end result.
Your art is very expressive.
oh my goodness - your description is so enticing ( not to mention your backgrounds AND the drawing of the girl are scrumptious!)… I think I hear the paint calling!
: ) lulu
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