Experiencing Joy in the Unknown

For the past year, I have been in one of those special places as an artist. I’m referring to the experience of beginning something totally new and not knowing where it will lead. It’s very much like the beginning stages of falling in love and just getting to know one another. Every moment is special and you don’t know how the future will unfold but you are immersed in the delight and energy of what the relationship is right now.  

I have been in a state of wonder as I’ve explored a new process and a new way of working. It’s been exhilarating and something I’ve wanted to keep mostly private, with very little sharing, as I develop and settle into this creative flow without rushing it at all. 

And in the process of discovery, questions arise: Will any of the past creative methods overlap with the new? Is it possible for this joyful flow to end up as a short lived series or something so much more? Will this be shared more widely or will my artistic love affair remain a gift for me alone?

This is what I know: I don’t need to have any of the answers. The joy is in the process of the creative unfolding, and I have no need to rush it. It’s a journey to be present each step along this path of discovery. I’m interested in the process as it develops, not the results. Much of my delight is in the wonder of where it will take me and where I will take it. And most importantly, I’m in love with the exploration of the Creative Adventure I have found myself on.

One of the joys of creating art is to get an idea or concept and to bring it to life… to make something that was just a thought and breathe it into existence.

My Painting Process - Part 4

Completion Stage: Putting the Pieces Together

This stage of the process is such a delight and so fulfilling. It usually begins by laying out all of the separate elements, together, on the stretched canvas background, finalizing their placement, and sewing the cloth layers in place. Any additional text is now adhered to the painting where ever it seems to fit best.

Once all of the parts are solidly in place, the painting is ready to be made whole. In other words, it’s time to cohesify the painting. Everything has been prepared and painted in parts, and now they need to come together as one cohesive painting, rather than a collection of disjointed elements.

It’s a joyful experience that feels like starting fresh but with a structure already in place. I become lit up with ways to tweak the color here or create a shadow there, determining, “What else is needed?” “What areas to darken or lighten.” and “What alterations to make.“ I am truly in my happy place as I watch the painting transform in bits, as little alterations add to the whole. 

From inception to completion, the process of creating a painting is a joyful experience. Every part of the process has it’s gifts and delights. One of the greatest gifts is being able to be present for each of the stages, moment by moment, along the way.

This was part 4 of a 4 part series. Links to the first 3 are below.

You may also be interested in…
Before I Begin - Part 1
The Beginning Stage - Part 2
The Development Stage - Part 3

My Painting Process - Part 3

The Development Stage…

The middle stages in developing a painting primarily involve adding paint, creating the text to be included, making any revisions in the prepared cloth pieces, and considering any other elements I might want to add to the painting.  

I can get lost in the joy of playing with paint on the stretched canvas… adding colors, lightening areas, darkening others, thinking of how I want the background to show up around the cloth elements. In some paintings I take my time with this painting stage, just to continue enjoying the process.

Once I feel clearer about how the cloth pieces will fit within the whole, I give them their first layer of paint. There are times I prefer the raw look, and will choose to leave them coated but unpainted. 

Although the background of stretched canvas and the layers of cloth develop separately, they keep coming together to help clarify what each one requires in order to fit within the whole. It’s during this stage when it becomes clear if the painting would be better served with a different cloth construction… and a new one is prepared.

Up until this point I’ve considered the words I’d like to include in the painting. The concept and meaning behind the painting has developed within my mind and I am ready to produce the text in different sizes and sometimes in a variety of fonts to be printed. The placement of text on the painting becomes a super enjoyable game. Since I print more text than I will use, I have a multitude of choices as I move the strips of words from place to place. Decisions on the placement of text may lead to adding new layers of cloth to house the text.

More to come. This is part 3 of a 4 part series. Links to the first 2 are below,

Next up… Completion Stage: Putting the Pieces Together - Part 4

You may also be interested in…
Before I Begin - Part 1
The Beginning Stage - Part 2

My Painting Process - Part 2

Beginning stages…

I often begin a painting by covering the blank canvas with color. There’s so much freedom and joy in the feeling of a paint filled brush on the stretched canvas. It never gets old. There’s a wonderful ebb and flow to the dance between the brush and canvas, a give and take. Part of the fun is in placing dabs of multiple paint colors on the canvas and mixing them right there with the movement of the brush. The first coat of paint is pure play, with a definite awareness that anything placed on the canvas can be covered up, so at this point, nothing feels precious.

Another early stage of the process is in the construction of raw canvas pieces to fit the paintings concept or focus. This involves cutting, fraying, and stringifying them to size. But before I can do all that, I have to have a sense, and something of a vision, of the layout of the pieces within the whole. The prepared piece(s) help me to get moving forward on the painting and get a feel for the whole. They act as a place holder within the painting as it develops, but may not be the final piece(s) that end up in that particular painting. Many cloth pieces, created for one painting, have ended up in another, or on the pieces in waiting pile.

I love the beginning stages of a new painting… the flow and freedom of creating the first layer of color on the canvas, the feel of the cloth’s texture between my fingers, the pile of strings that develop as I pull the threads from the cloth to create the fringes. It could be thought of as the best part of the creative process, but for me, there are many best parts that take place as the painting’s process develops.

More to come. This is part 2 of a 4 part series.

Next up… The Development Stage - Part 3

You may be interested in:
Before I Begin - Part 1
Completion Stage: Putting the Pieces Together - Part 4

My Painting Process - Part 1

I’m here to share my process in creating a painting. Although there can be similarities in the way other artists work, every artist has their own steps, details, and experiences in creating their very individual and original works of art. I’ve decided to share mine in a series of 4 blogposts, broken down into 4 stages, to be shared over the next several weeks. I’ll be focusing on the steps in developing a Canvas-on-Canvas painting.

This will be a general overview of the process, although one size doesn’t necessarily fit all of my paintings. I begin Part 1 of the series by describing what commonly takes place before I even begin a painting.

Before I Begin:

Before I put paint to canvas, I often get an idea… it could be a vision, a title, or concept of something that zings me. No matter what it is that jump starts the creative flow, I am sparked by a desire to express something I find meaningful. 

Often, once the concept begins to take up residence within my thoughts, I begin to get a feel for the colors to use in that painting. It’s not that I’m trying to come up with a palette, although that does happen occasionally. It’s more of a feeling sense of the colors that come to me. I guess it’s hard to explain how I might feel the colors but I do believe I feel them first and then get a subtle visual, as if I’m seeing the colors through a mist and from afar. However misty, there’s a sense of clarity on a specific color palette to begin with, and I am able to have the paints at the ready before I get to work.

There have been a few times in which I’ve used my collection of painted color swatches to choose the palette. Although I find it to be fun to play with the many choices, the process feels a bit clunky and awkward. The color flow ends up feeling a bit less natural.

This is the first part of a 4 part series. Links to the next 3 are below.

Next up: The Beginning Stage - Part 2

You may be interested in:
The Beginning Stage - Part 2
The Development Stage - Part 3
Completion Stage: Putting the Pieces Together - Part 4

Dancing as Process

Reorganized studio gave me more space to dance!

Dancing had always been a part of my painting process… turning up the music, moving my body and flowing with paint on canvas… that was my process for years. But for the past few years dancing has been a thing of memories. Maybe it was effected by grief from loss of loved ones and then came Covid?

Painting, Music, and Joy… Gotta Dance!!

But as I write this, the music is up loud, there’s paint on my brush, and joy is welling up inside of me. And there’s nothing else to do but dance! Once again, this cherished part of my creative process is back in my life and present in the studio. I love the energy and flow that’s created when my whole body is engaged and I’m so happy to be reacquainted with the joy it brings me.

Earlier this summer, I spent time reorganizing the studio, with the goal of opening up the space. Not only did I get the space I was craving, but now there’s more space to dance while I paint. Yahoo!! And I feel like the external space has helped create more space within… more room for the light to shine.