Updates from Terri on Her Art Journey
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Over the past week, I completed six paintings for Rod Moore’s art challenge (pictured above). Plus I travelled from Nevada to New York to Connecticut. I began the challenge in Las Vegas; flew 2,500 miles to Manhattan, where I continued to paint; and took a train 100 miles to my home in Torrington, where I completed the challenge yesterday.
Whew! To say I’m feeling a bit disoriented is an understatement. But I learned a few lessons during my seven day sojourn:
Already I miss the glorious, predictable Nevada sunshine—and the DRY heat. With the rain and 97% humidity that we experienced here in Connecticut yesterday, my acrylic paints seemed like strangers to me. They take forever to dry, and feel like a sticky mess. Perhaps I’ll switch to painting with watercolors until I can adjust to this New England climate. In the meantime, you can bet that I’ll be gathering lots of reference material for future paintings. The flowers and greenery that surround us here are luscious, and I can’t wait to paint them!
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This still life of coffee mugs is something I painted as part of an art challenge. My painting instructor and mentor, Rod Moore, has encouraged his students to paint every day during his “Unleash the Artist Within” competition he’s running during the month of July. This still life is the first of six assignments to be completed by the end of this week. Rod teaches online courses from his studio in Noosaville, Australia. He’s a compassionate instructor, and I love his accent. Inspired by the Australian Impressionists of the Heidelberg School, Rod’s primary subject matter are seascapes and landscapes. So this still life was a bit of a departure from his typical class, and it was a fun little study in values. Passionate about art, Rod runs the Learn to Paint Academy (LTPA) to teach beginners how to get started painting. Last November, I became a lifetime member of LTPA, and I’ve learned so much in these past nine months. If you’re at all interested in learning his methods and techniques, I urge you to check him out at www.LearnToPaint.academy. In addition to participating in this challenge, another of my goals for the month of July is to build my inventory of sellable art to at least 20 pieces. Happily, I’ve added “Coffee Mugs” to my collection, which has brought me to 22 of my creations listed in Fine Art America. Would you do me a favor and check out my “shop” at www.7-terri-thompson.pixels.com ? I’d love to get your feedback. Many thanks. Anyone who’s been following me for long on my art journey must know how obsessed I’ve recently become with Vincent van Gogh and his art and life. As previously noted, Vincent’s favorite color was yellow. He employed it frequently in his paintings, including in his golden sunflowers, in his numerous wheat fields, and even in the stars in his iconic “Starry Night.”
One biographer wrote that Vincent used the color yellow to imply a divine presence. In her book, “At Eternity’s Gate,” Dr. Kathleen Powers Erickson states: “Van Gogh was reluctant to paint a realistic representation of Christ because he felt Christ to be too important a figure to paint without proper models, so adopted a symbolic vocabulary. The sun has been a figure for Christ from ancient times . . . such Christian symbolism was at the heart of van Gogh’s depiction of the sun (as well as sunflowers). The sun is central to van Gogh’s oeuvre, as a source of warmth, light, and creativity. Van Gogh did not worship it as God, but employed it as a powerful symbol of God’s presence in nature.” Dr. Erickson’s analysis got me to thinking more about the color yellow. Long before I knew it was Vincent’s favorite color, I loved the color yellow, especially yellow ochre. My bedroom is painted a bright yellow, and when I lie in my bed, I feel like I’m inside the sun. Sunshine makes people feel better. It lifts spirits and tends to make people smile. It instantly puts me in a better mood. To me, yellow connotes happiness, sunshine and cheerfulness. And I can now appreciate Vincent’s interpretation of yellow as a “divine presence.” When I paint, especially in yellow, I feel closer to God, as though He’s co-creating with me. Of course there are a lot of beautiful colors in nature, and I do not limit myself, even though yellow seems to dominate. One of my art instructors once asked each of us in the class to identify our favorite color. She commented that most people prefer colors that resemble themselves. Red heads, for example, seem to like red; while blue-eyed people tend to prefer blue. So then, I suppose it’s no surprise that as a green-eyed blonde, my favorite color is yellow, followed closely by green. Alas, it’s probably time for me to expand my palette. How about purple? After all, it’s the complement of yellow, and at least it’s a start. By the way, yellow is also featured in quite a variety of songs, including “Yellow Rose of Texas,” “Yellow Submarine,” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” Recently I came across a song called simply “Yellow.” It’s not a new song. In fact, it was released by Coldplay at the turn of the century (in 2000). Have a listen; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. https://youtu.be/yKNxeF4KMsY Following up on last week’s blog post about Vincent van Gogh, here, as promised, is a sample of one of my Vincent-inspired paintings. I call it “Yellow Rose.” (how original, right?)
It’s inspired by Vincent in three ways: 1) It employs a technique called “cloisonnism” which outlines colors in a style similar to that found in stained-glass windows and was adopted early on by Vincent; 2) Yellow (particularly yellow ochre) was Vincent’s favorite color (and also happens to be mine); and 3) Vincent liked to paint flowers, particularly sunflowers, and I, too, find great inspiration in the beauty of nature, especially flowers. Anyway, if you like this style of painting, you’ll find “Yellow Rose” and other creations of mine in my store on Fine Art America at www.7-terri-thompson.pixels.com This week I’m taking a vacation and celebrating America’s independence. Hope you, too, had a lovely Fourth of July. Cheers! |
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 |