I have a question!

In my last post I related the fact that I had gotten two 4th place ribbons and one 1st place ribbon at our local County Fair.  I was pleased with a 4th place on my first ever entry in the abstract category, and thrilled with the 1st place ribbon for my still life.  But here is my question:

What is wrong with this painting???

This painting has been to several "rodeos" as they say, and has either not been juried into a show or has not received an award.  I know that I am prejudiced, after all it is my own work, but I think it is really a nice painting.  Apparently I am the only one who thinks this although my husband did voice that opinion, but of course there again we see a bit of prejudice.

I guess it will always come down to one simple fact:  every painting has a judge who will like it, but not every judge will like every painting.  I know of artists who enter one painting year after year to try to get some kind of positive feedback, and some of those artists who are persistent enough do reach that goal.

I was going to retire this painting from the rigors of competition, but something is telling me that I just need to find the right judge.  Wish us luck!!

Anyone Miss Me??

Well, it has been a long time since I was last on this blog, and I can explain.  With summer here there have been a lot of things going on, and painting hasn't been getting done nor has my reading.  (Still reading Jeanne Dobie's Making Color Sing-slowly I am getting back to that)  Two of our grandchildren stayed with us for a week, two more of our grandchildren stayed with us for 4 days, and then there were numerous birthday celebrations and other family affairs to attend or host. Phew-I get tired just remembering all of that.

So as far as my art is concerned, I was able to enter 3 paintings in our local County Fair.  I got a 4th place on a floral, a 4th place on an abstract and a 1st on my still life.  All in all I was pleased especially since the abstract was the first I had ever entered in that category.  I have entered 4 paintings in an annual juried art show that my art club has.  The show is at our local shopping mall, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will get one or more of my paintings into the show.

Now that things seem to be calming down I am getting more painting done, and I am working on a series with a Hawaiian theme which I am having fun doing.  I shot the photographs on our last trip to Kauai in March of this year.  So far the series is going well.


This is the painting that won 1st place at the fair-it is called "Daisy and Virginia's Travel Momentos"

What You Get With Me is Me

I know this is totally off the art subject that I have been writing about, but since this is a forum for venting, that is exactly what I am about to do.  I am frustrated by people who are always looking for the underlying motives of what we do.  Why is it that people can't understand that sometimes we do things without anything in mind but being genuinely kind?  For example, I innocently reposted a status on facebook regarding whether or not your facebook friends would be there for you if you need someone to talk to.  I did it because one of my fb friends who is also a friend to my daughter Jennifer had posted it.  I thought that it was important to let her know that I was not just a casual fb friend, but someone who really would listen if she needed me.

I don't have a lot of fb friends for a reason.  If you are my friend on facebook it is because you are a relative, a very very old dear friend, a dear friend to someone special to me, an artist friend or someone from high school that I am interested in hearing about.  I do not take friendship lightly in any form.  I am the kind of person who will be there for anyone who needs me from the little old lady who needs the door opened for her at the bank to the new mom who can't maneuver the stroller without an extra set of hands.  Okay so these are not really friends, but you can see where I am going....

What you get with me is as I said, "me."  I am not trying to prove anything, I have no agenda, I have no motives, if you need a friend I am there for you.    Nothing is ever dependent upon what I will get in return, although if you want to be my friend that is a bonus.  I try to be a good person, and live by the Golden Rule as my mom would tell me.

By no stretch of the imagination am I perfect, and I hope that doesn't come across in this blog today.  I make the same mistakes as everyone, and hopefully learn from them, and if I don't I only have myself to blame.  After all the only person I have to prove anything to is me, because I am the only one who can be accountable for my actions. 

Maybe I try to be too logical, and make things too simple, but life is too short to try to analyze everything that happens to us.

On a much lighter note, as promised, I did finish the Edgar Whitney book, and learned the design principles of line, size, shape, direction, color, value and texture and how they relate to unity, harmony, dominance, contrast/conflict, repetition, variation, gradation and balance.  I learned these same ideas at the Mike Bailey workshop, but in a much more interesting way than Whitney described!  Now I am reading Making Color Sing, by Jeanne Dobie.  I will blog about it next time.

It Was a Compliment

My youngest son Dave posted a facebook comment that he thought my blog was adorable.  Of course I was not sure how to take this, was it a compliment or was he being factitious.  When I asked him he said that he knew I talked a lot, but he didn't realize I could put my thought together and make something coherent.  I take that as a compliment for sure!

Well, on to the subject of art.   Yes, I am still reading Edgar Whitney's book, but it is so dry that I am having a hard time making myself read it.  So much for the theory that a blog would keep me honest and make me stay with my goals.  I will finish it I promise, but now I am just not sure how long that will take-maybe by my next blog I will have accomplished that goal.

I have been busy with painting though, having done 6 major drawings that are ready for paint.  I am doing a series of Hawaiian themed paintings based on the photos that I took when we were in Kauai.  The flowers there are just gorgeous, and I am so happy to be painting some of them.  There are also a couple of really cute buildings that I am going to do so I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am relishing the idea of doing it.  I have already started a Bird of Paradise, and I hope that it will keep going in the direction that I want.  So far so good.

I know this is a painting of sunflowers and it isn't Hawaiian, but it is on rice paper so it has a bit of a tropical feel.  I hope you enjoy it.

In closing today I just want to say we all should take any compliment that we are given, and be glad that someone cares enough to give it to us.

Who Owns What?

The topic of ownership of artistic concepts, style or actual art comes up from time to time, and I think there is always room for more discussion.  Just as there are only so many notes of  music, so are there only so many colors to use.  There are endless possible tunes achieved when you put together those few notes of music, and the same is true when you combine red, blue and yellow to create a myriad of colors.  But the reality is that eventually you will hear or see similarities in both.

When an artist starts a painting I am sure it is always with the intention of being original, but how can you be completely original when you are always using techniques and ideas that you have learned in workshops or demonstrations?  Even if you are self taught there are all of the books and magazines that have helped you form your own style.  Let's face it the amount of subject matter while infinite, still is subject to duplication.  So as an artist should you have to ask yourself is this "rose" going to look like the one I recently saw in a painting, or is it going to be my own?  The answer is that of course it is mine, which brings us to the gray area.

If you take an image that you have seen, and make it your own by using different color, different technique or different placement on the paper it should be your own property.  I was always taught that you need to have a photo of your image that you have taken yourself, no matter what quality it is as a way of proving you had the original idea.  I would think that would also work using a sketch that you did of an image that you have seen somewhere.  But some artists would argue that even the mere replication of shape is enough to constitute copyright infringement.  The two views will probably never come to common ground, since each side feels they are right.
 
We live in such a visible web based world, and I think because of that artists are more aware of replication of their work compared to say ten years ago.  It is my opinion, and only my opinion, that an artist should take the high road and view it as a compliment if someone should try to emulate them.  Of course I would never condone outright replication of an image, but let's realize that there is a gray area when it come to ownership of images and ideas.

So, my final thought is that each artist should paint from their heart, and realize that you can't control creativity.

Happy Memorial Day

I was watching the artist Kaziah Hancock on The View this morning and thought how she is in a way the voice of Memorial Day.  She is the artist who paints portraits of our soldiers who have been killed in the service of their country in places like Iraq or Afghanistan.  She has been able to get a casualty list from the military, complete with family information so that she can contact them to get a true feel of the soldier she will be painting.  She personally has painted over 800 soldiers' portraits, and along with several other artists that she has helping her, there is a combined total of over 3000 portraits that have been done. 

There is no fee involved, it is simply something that they do straight from their hearts.  Kaziah is a goat farmer as well as being an artist, and says that she does sell some of her other paintings which helps to "keep the lights on." She did form a non profit so that does allow for some donations to go toward getting supplies, but it is mostly paid for out of the artists' pockets not to mention the donation of their time.  Kaziah says that she gets in touch with the spirit of the soldier, and with the information she gets from their families she feels that she really knows the person by the time she finishes the portrait.

The portraits are given to the families of these soldiers, and they say it is like "getting them back" even if it is only for a split second on canvas.  It does mean the world to all of these families who have suffered such a loss.

So Happy Memorial Day, and remember art is everywhere!

Another Side of Me

All right, being self admittedly a little obsessive/compulsive, somewhat type A and a Gemini, I have veered off my course just slightly.  I went to Barnes and Noble with the best of intentions to purchase yet another art book-this time looking for a new Lian Quan Zhen offering.  But the allure of the cooking section was too powerful, and I ended up with two new cookbooks to add to my four hundred book (plus or minus) current collection.   One is Quick and Easy Meals by the American Heart Association, and the other is The Biggest Loser-Flavors of the World Cookbook.  I did this because I wanted some new and fresh ideas that were healthy and calorie/portion conscious to help my husband maintain his weight.

About four years ago my husband lost about 85 pounds using the Sonoma Diet which stresses whole grains and portion control using local Sonoma County products that are similar to those of the Mediterranean.  You still can have just about anything you want to eat, but the amounts are closely monitored.  He never felt hungry while on the diet, and he has been able to maintain his weight since the initial loss.  After a while, though you need more ideas, and it makes you look at old favorite recipes in a new way.  I have all the best cookbooks that are available, and I love to adjust the recipes by Julia, Ina, Jacques, Giada and so on, but sometimes it is nice to have a new cookbook that you can just cook from without changing a thing.  I can't wait to try some of these new ideas.

Okay the art has not been forgotten.  I am still reading Edgar Whitney, and I have started a painting using matte medium and tissue paper.  It is actually starting to come together the way I was  hoping, and when I am finished I will post a picture.  The painting is another version of my peony bowl, Buddha and some persimmons, and I do like the way it is going.  So now you have a better idea of how my mind works-kind of in many directions.....