“The apple cannot be stuck back on the Tree of Knowledge; once we begin to see, we are doomed and challenged to seek the strength to see more, not less.” ~ Arthur Miller, American Playwright
It has been a long, frustrating period for my creative practice. Chronic pain in my right hand, wrist and shoulder have been a challenge. After performing the regular tasks of living, there is often little dexterity left to make art.
That being said, after a lengthy sojourn away from daily sketching, I am back trying to re-establish this daily habit. Right now it’s in a tiny 3.5” x 4.5” notebook beside my bed where I scribble something in each day. I try for morning but sometimes the deed gets done in the evening. This is a small coloured pencil drawing of an imagined apple to add to my large collection of apple art. Do any of you have a daily creative practice? How do you motivate yourself?
“Every great artist has a closet full of bad paintings” ~David Young
As the saying implies, every seasoned artist has a closet-full of also-ran works, partially-finished paintings (I have a TON of these) and various sketches, splatters, colour studies, etc. to draw on for inspiration. Years ago I signed up for a creative play course at a local art school. At that time I was operating a busy design and advertising studio and had been pounding it hard for months, even years, deciding I needed to have some fun to recapture my spontaneous creativity. During that time I started making collages out of some of the painted works I made in class. Ripping them up, adding to them with fresh paint marks and splashes—even some snippets from my creative writing journals—resulting in a couple of my all-time favourite pieces (will post them another time).
Now, some 20 years later, with arthritis plaguing my hands and arms, back problems and one ‘iffy’ foot, large works are a challenge. Historically, I worked on many pieces at a time, propping them up in my studio so I could ponder them as I walked by, making a mark here or there. At times scrubbing out an entire area. Now, I only do one or two larger pieces at the same time, with the rest of my time spent on smaller works to satisfy the necessity to create something—anything.
A couple years ago I started a daily drawing/painting habit that satisfied the creative urge. Last winter, till this day, I have parlayed that into collage work. I generally do not use magazine or other printed materials (tho I won’t rule out anything in future) but rather use my own failed (in my estimation) or damaged paintings as fodder to make something new. The ULTIMATE RECYCLING activity for creating ART. See more Art Recycling ideas here. I like the ecological aspects of repurposing material that may add to the landfill for new creative art.
Pictured here are two pieces that are on my college table at present. They are still at the placing element design stage. Gluing only happens when I’m happy with an area. I walk by and shift or add a piece of paper, a dried leaf, a piece of thin fabric or paint a brushstroke here and there till my mind yells “STOP” and I call it finished. These two have been hanging about since Spring and I’m just getting back to working on them. Each started with paint on paper, discarded works, pieces of larger works. The theme is nature clothed in its many landscape and seascape outfits.
Famous artists who worked in collage include: Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Höck, et al. Link.
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Do YOU enjoy working in collage? What are your challenges or pre-conceived notions about collage as an art form?
“The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.” ~ St. Jerome
Today I combined my DAILY SKETCH with a bit of CREATIVE WRITING, a paragraph I jotted down for a story I’m writing.
SCENE: Madeleine is taking a walk up the main street of her town, trying to come to grips with the fact that her best friend, has just died under mysterious circumstances.
Madeleine was looking at her reflection in a store window, and momentarily wondered who that old woman staring back at her might be. “Oh, dear” she murmured. “I almost didn’t recognize myself” she thought. “Then again”, she realized “there’s something about the eyes”. Madeleine was right. There was a world of hurt in those eyes. An untold story of pain and loneliness, betrayal and despair; a lifetime of dreams put on the shelf for another day. A day that never came.” Multiple mediums were used to draw this sketch. It was then scanned and enhanced digitally.
Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one’s sensations.” – Paul Cezanne
Over the past months I have been reacquainting myself with many of the master artists of the past. Most of them came from traditional roots and many were ridiculed when they broke with tradition to explore other ways of looking at and depicting a subject. They are also the artists we revere the most all these generations later.
This is my quick study, working title ‘Paint Like Cézanne’
“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” ~ Madeleine Albright
March 8, 2023: – ‘I’M STILL HERE’, an illustration. A woman, seemingly cobbled together from disparate parts, to become a whole person, seems appropriate to recognize INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, a global day to celebrate women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements.
While there is some way to go, today marks a time to raise awareness of the progress made toward achieving true gender equality and the work still to be done.
The beginnings of International Women’s Day can be traced back to the early twentieth century. Emerging from the labour movements in Europe and North America, reflecting a call for women’s equal participation in society. International Women’s Day first took place on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, when over a million women and men attended public events to show their support.
Other countries began to celebrate this day, with the United Nations recognizing 1975 as International Women’s Year; celebrating March 8 as International Women’s Day—a day of unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy, and action and is celebrated in many countries worldwide. https:// www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day
“Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known..” ~ Carl Sagan
I have become more conscious of what I throw into the garbage and look for opportunities to repurpose found items when creating art. So, when cleaning out some office papers recently, and finding a bunch of business cards mounted on magnetic backing, plus having recently re-read The Big Book of Tiny Art by Karen Libecap, my art material hoarder brain said “hey, these would be cool for miniature paintings”. Two coats of gesso and a limited palette of acrylic tube paints and this little 2”x 3.5” seascape popped off my brush.
BELOW: When finishing a piece, I generally use up any paint left on my palette to make a number of textured washes that I use as bases to start new paintings, or for collagés. Some I scan and import into digital drawing apps to use as a starting point for digital works. Below are a couple quick texture sheets made from palette left overs of this tiny painting.This is just one small way of limiting the waste that goes into landfill.
In addition to my fine art work, I also do graphic illustration. So, I’m always looking for ways to quickly sketch out a concept or idea on my iPad Pro before it flits out of my head. These concepts are often used to provide direction for analogue works or digital brand development. Digital drawing apps, such as the native Apple Notes, or the newer Freeform apps also have sufficient drawing tools to scribble down a thought or image idea.
Ran across this concept from last year when I tried out the FLOW: SKETCH, DRAW, TAKE NOTES APP, which is part of the Moleskin Studio trio of applications, and found the tools to be quite good for marker rendering, pencilsketching, etc. The shapesnapping feature was particularly useful for this quick concept. March 21, 2022
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen & Ivy Ross
CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE IN THE WASHINGTON POST. IT STATES SO MANY THINGS I BELIEVE ABOUT ART.For me, art is a ‘MUST’ do activity.It keeps me CENTRED, expresses concepts or thoughts that otherwise may disappear into the ether. It KEEPS my AGING HANDS and brain dexterous. I create EVERY DAY. It may be a sketch, painting or other VISUAL art; or WRITING a chapter in a story or development of a new character; it may be slapping together a COLLÁGE from found materials; or knitting a row or two on a NEEDLEWORK project; it might be FOOD preparation or INVENTING a new vegan dish to sustain our health. I create for the FULFILLMENT of creating SOMETHING from NOTHING .
The author states that “Art is NOT a LUXURY for our downtime, but an important CONTRIBUTOR to physical and mental WELL-BEING”, says Susan Magsamen, co-author of an upcoming book on the new field of neuroaesthetics, which studies the brain’s responses to art. Book: This is Your Brain on Art – Penguin Books.
To Magsamen, founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, her artistic pursuits are ABOUT FAR MORE THAN HOBBIES. “I need it for my SOUL and my HEALTH and my SURVIVAL,” she says. “It’s not a NICE to have, it’s a HAVE to have.”
Trisha’s Daily Painting 