Updates from Terri on Her Art Journey
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Despite the fact that I became a septuagenarian on Sunday, last week turned out to be one of the most rewarding seven days for me since I began my art journey. Although it was a bit schizophrenic (which I’ll explain), I was able to accomplish at least one aspect of every one of my goals as a virtual artist.
Starting with my goal to keep learning (which is where the schizophrenia happened), I took an abstract course with Louise Fletcher every morning and in the afternoon I participated in a landscape workshop hosted by Rod Moore. By the end of the week, I was producing ABSTRACT LANDSCAPES. Exploring new techniques and trying to develop a unique style is one of my major goals, and the combination of these two classes got me stepping out into a new direction. A second goal for me is to get out into the local art community. Along with two of my arty girlfriends, I attended a reception at Las Vegas Artists Guild, a gallery where I’ve been a member for about a year. Connecting with other artists and learning from them has been an invaluable experience. Like many artists at the gallery and elsewhere, I also have a goal to sell some of my artwork. And that happened this week, too! Someone purchased one of my paintings called “Farmhouse in Tuscany” from Fine Art America. What a thrill to see that anyone bought something I made! And, finally, I’ve made it a goal to start teaching beginners the joy of painting. For my birthday, some of my family stopped by and I taught them how to do a landscape from one of the projects I teach as a Moore Certified Instructor. It was wonderful to see their lovely results and how much fun they had. So, to sum it up . . . this week I LEARNED a little, PAINTED a lot, SOCIALIZED with other artists, SOLD a piece of artwork, and TAUGHT a painting class. Whew! What an exhausting and exhilarating week it was!!
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Except for a brief foray into abstract art last summer, my art journey to date has been primarily “representational.” That is, whether it’s been a landscape, a seascape, a still life or a bouquet of flowers, my paintings “represent” something and are clearly identifiable as something which already exists in life.
But this week, I’m taking a diversion into the ABSTRACT. The painting above is my first assignment for a seven-day course I’m taking with abstract artist, Louise Fletcher. Called “Find Your Joy,” this free course challenges me to take risks I’d probably not take on my own. Louise encourages me to use unfamiliar tools and colors (she calls them “colours” because she’s British) to produce marks on paper. Using just three colors that I wouldn’t normally use (in this case, I used dioxazine purple, phthalo blue and cadmium yellow medium) plus black and white, I was to spend just 30 minutes splashing paint around. And I wasn’t supposed to think about MAKING ART. My assignment was to just let go and play with paint. “What’s very important to remember,” she says, “is that we are not making paintings. There are no prizes for making your work look nice.” Her words remind me of something another mentor once said . . . “you’re going to have to make a lot of ugly art before you make beautiful art.” The goal of this course is to help me discover my unique voice, to express myself honestly, to be brave, explorative and curious, and not to let fear get in the way. I found this first exercise to be so liberating. It may not be art, but it was fun! And I look forward to what Louise has in store for the rest of the week. So far on my art journey, I’ve tried my hand at photography, and painting with watercolors and acrylics. This week I tried something brand new: GOUACHE.
Until recently, I’d never heard of gouache (pronounced “gwash”), and neither had a number of my more experienced artist friends. So, I did a little research and I'd like to share with you what I’ve learned from Wikipedia, as well as from my own limited experiment with the medium. Gouache paint is similar to watercolor, but is modified to make it opaque, similar to acrylic or oil paints. The medium has a considerable history, having been used for at least twelve centuries, and today is quite popular among commercial artists. The term gouache is derived from the Italian word “guazzo,” which means “mud;” the term was applied to the early 16th century practice of applying oil paint over a tempera base, which could give a matted effect. In the 18th century in France, the term was applied to opaque watermedia, which was typically made by mixing watercolors based on gum arabic with an opaque white pigment. In 19th century paintings, gouache tends to be used in conjunction with watercolor, and often with ink or pencil. Known as “poster paint” in the U.S., the medium began to be mass-produced in the 19th century and sold in cans or as a powder to be mixed with water. During the 20th century, gouache began to be specially manufactured in tubes. Today, gouache is much used by commercial artists for posters, illustrations, comics, and other design work. Gouache is especially useful as a poster paint because of its drying speed; the paint layer dries completely by the relatively quick evaporation of the water. What I learned from using gouache for the first time (in the painting pictured above), is I LOVE IT! It is not as unforgiving as watercolor, but unlike acrylic, it can be re-wetted and still dries to an opaque, matte finish. Like watercolor, you can paint on paper (good quality watercolor paper, of course), but you don’t need to use a more expensive canvas. So, it’s very portable. And an excellent medium for “en plein air” paintings. One challenge with gouache, which I’ve yet to overcome, is that it generally dries to a value that differs from the one it has when wet. For example, lighter tones generally dry darker and darker tones tend to try lighter. After just one experiment with gouache, I’m convinced I want to stick with this medium for awhile. Please follow me as I take another detour on my art journey; let’s see where it leads.
It’s May—my favorite month of the year!
And next Sunday is Mother’s Day. Have you thought about what you’re getting Mom? Instead of a bouquet of flowers that will be dead by the following weekend, how about a piece of FLORAL ART that will be a lasting reminder of how much you love her?! If you’re going to be in the Las Vegas area next Saturday and Sunday (May 7 and 8), may I suggest that you come to the Henderson Art Festival in the Water Street District of Henderson, NV? And bring your Mom. There will be lots of arts and crafts of all kinds, including plenty of flower paintings. This week I’ll be spending much of my time making watercolors of individual flowers, like this one of a purple iris. These will be small, 5” x 7” renderings, and I’ll be charging just $5 each (that includes 8.3% tax). Of course I’ll have larger paintings of flowers, too, but nothing will cost more than 60 bucks. And for this festival, it will be JUST FLOWERS from me in honor of mothers, spring and God. So come on out and stop by City Lights Art Gallery at 3 E. Army Street (right off Water Street) where I’ll be stationed and look for Terri Thompson Art. If you mention my blog, you may pick the watercolor flower of your choice (no charge)! Hope to meet you there! |
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 |