Updates from Terri on Her Art Journey
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With the help of feedback from my gallery gal friends, I finally finished my collage. I call it “Bearded Iris & Friends,” and it will be on exhibit (and available for purchase) at City Lights Art Gallery in Henderson, NV, through the month of May. It’s part of the gallery’s display of members’ collages with a spring theme . . . hence the flowers and hummingbird (and mischievous looking cat for a bit of humor).
A collage is a piece of art made by sticking various different materials, such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric, on to a backing. For this piece, I used black-and-white photographs of flowers from my backyard and I painted over them with a mixture of acrylics and Mod Podge. Mod Podge is a water-based glue, sealer and finish, and it’s a must-have for making collages. Only the bird and cat were left unpainted. Honestly, this is not my favorite form of art. Most collages tend to be more abstract, and I happen to be more representational in my expression. This is my second attempt at making a collage, and I find it a bit clumsy and ugly. Alas, in the spirit of being a faithful member of City Lights, I faced the challenge and didn’t allow my inexperience to thwart me. After all, someone has to make the UGLIEST collage, so it might as well be me!
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On Friday, exactly six weeks after the surgery to mend my fractured elbow, the surgeon gave me the all-clear to use my arm. He attributes my quick recovery to my good health and the fact that I never smoked cigarettes. I like to think it was a miraculous healing brought by God’s answer to all those prayers that my friends and family said on my behalf. Thank you, Lord!
So, now that my arm is functioning and I’m able to drive, I’m back on track and can get back to work. The first thing I did after I got the “all-clear” was to reschedule the painting class I had to cancel. My acrylic painting class for absolute beginners will now be held on May 22 at City Lights Art Gallery from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. So far, I have two students signed up; I have room for four more and hope that I can fill the gallery’s classroom over the next four weeks. I’ll have to work at promoting it. The other thing I’m working on is the gallery’s challenge to create a collage with a spring theme. I’ve made a good start on it, and with feedback from some of my arty friends, I plan to finish it this week. I’m also putting together the curriculum for my private painting lessons. In the first three lessons, I’ve covered some real basics, like painting styles, subject matter, medium, composition, color and color mixing, temperature, values and how to make a chromatic dark, how to use values to make an object look three dimensional, and applying values to landscape painting. I think in the next lesson, I’ll talk about brushes and brushwork. Anyway, I’m optimistic and it feels great to be back on track! My backyard is lush with God’s creations.
Flowers of every spring color are popping up. They include a violet Bearded Iris; brilliant red Roses; yellow and orange Snapdragons; and pink Lantana. I expect the gold Lantana to bloom soon, too. These are not the colors that usually appear on my palette. For my landscape paintings, I typically use ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and yellow ochre. However, for a piece I’m working on for my gallery’s May challenge, I may try to use these seasonal colors. We’ve been asked to create a collage with a spring theme. I’ve only made one collage in my life, and these spring colors (as paints) are new to me. So, what the heck . . . maybe I’ll just go a little wild, and give it a go. If I actually get around to making something, I’ll post it in my blog next week. One of my goals for this Spring was to start teaching acrylic painting to absolute beginners. I even had a classroom booked at the local art gallery for a class I planned to teach on April 17.
Alas, my plans were disrupted about five weeks ago when I tripped, fell and fractured my left elbow. The surgery went well and my arm is already out of the cast, but my surgeon wants me to wear a sling when I’m out of the house and he’s forbidden me to drive or lift anything heavy. And while I’m healing nicely and I’m well on the road to recovery, my left hand is still weak, unable to open a tube of paint. So, I’ve canceled the April 17 class, hoping to reschedule it if and when a classroom at the gallery is available later this Spring or Summer. But this little setback hasn’t stopped me in my tracks! As I’ve discovered, I can teach at my kitchen table. Although it’s not a classroom of students, I can give one-on-one private lessons. I gave my second lesson on Friday. The first two lessons have been about the fundamentals of painting, starting with the color wheel and explaining how the three primary colors (blue, red and yellow) can be mixed to make all the other colors. For landscape painting, we will use ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and yellow ochre; we made a color chart using this palette. We also discussed the importance of values (the range of darks and lights) and how to make a chromatic dark as part of a values study. Basically, the use of values is how you make a two-dimensional surface appear to be three dimensional, and it’s probably more important than color. Indeed, a popular critique of artists is “Color gets the credit, but values do the work.” Finally, I gave a simple demonstration of composition and design, starting with the “rule of thirds,” which suggests that the horizon line of a landscape is best located at either the top third or bottom third of a painting (and never directly in the middle). Furthermore, the main subject of a painting or focal point (the area of the painting that draws the eye) should be placed at one of the four areas where the one-third lines intersect (see diagram). I’m personally benefiting from these private lessons about the fundamentals of painting. They’ve been a refresher course, and I’m sure they’ll make me a better teacher when I get back to the gallery and offer courses to a larger student body. So in retrospect, I’m almost grateful for my little injury. Your art journey, like mine, might have its fair share of challenges and struggles. But if we have faith and persevere, we emerge stronger and more resilient than we ever thought possible. After all, we know that with God, anything is possible. March was mostly a crummy month for me. It started out with me in the hospital with a fractured elbow, which has made it impossible for me to paint. But the month ended on a bright note with Easter Sunday and the promise of resurrection (thank you, Jesus!).
So, on this first day of April, I am resurrecting my art journey. (And that’s no April Fool’s joke!) Seriously, I’m healing very quickly and am confident that by the end of this month, I shall be back at the easel. In the meantime, my art journey includes a tour of teaching. In that endeavor, I’m giving private painting lessons (using the Moore Method of Painting, aka MMOP) to my pastor. He’s an eager student, and I pray his enthusiasm continues and that I’m able to show him that anyone can learn how to paint with the MMOP! One concern or fear that a lot of beginners (let’s call them “emerging artists”) have is that they lack talent or creativity. Of course, I believe that fear is unfounded. After all, we were created in God’s image, with an imagination and an ability to create or even (on really good days) to CO-create with the Lord. In his book, “The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, “ Steven Pressfield writes, “Creative work is . . . a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.” The book is inspirational and funny as it examines the obstacles to success and shows readers how to identify, defeat and unlock the inner barriers to creativity. Reading “The War of Art” has given me a surge of positive calm, like my pastor’s Easter Sunday sermon. And it’s further assurance that my art journey will be bouncing back on track starting this month. |
AuthorTerri Thompson is a journalist-turned-visual artist, who is on an "art journey" and exploring how to tell her stories through her watercolor and acrylic paintings and photographs. Categories |