Taking paintings to a show.

Branch Dance

Today Branch Dance, The Unknown, and Winter Oaks are going to a Wisconsin Regional Art show in nearby Blanchardville. Just thought I'd post them before they go.  The first 2 are loaded with sequins.

The Unknown (completed)

Branch Dance

I've been working on a new painting --- "Branch Dance." I am excited to work on it today. I have to go to work at 11am so I'd better get going on it. Hopefully I can share it here soon.

UW Platteville ArtsBuild Show!

If you are in the Platteville, WI area, please check out this great art show. I have 4 pieces in the show, including TREE 2: THE SEQUINAL, which is on the show poster!
http://www.uwplatt.edu/arts/nohr/

Conquering (or at least making peace with) The Fear of "The Unknown"

The Unknown (in progress)

Yesterday I dove into a new concept. Humor me while I try to explain because I'm still trying to fully understand it myself.

I have a tendency to worry. A lot. "Fear of The Unknown." And since I have been blessed with a pretty vivid imagination I can work myself up to Olympic Obsessing in no time! So my new concept or method is to think of the blank canvas as The Unknown. Many an artist has faced that blank canvas, fearfully thinking 'I can't do it. This time they will find out I really don't know what I am doing.'  Even for those who don't FEAR it, at the very least, the blank canvas can be intimidating.

I have faced the blank canvas many times. And each and every time, I have those fearful thoughts. But I begin. I paint something. I do something.

Yesterday, I set out to paint a piece in the same way I would like to face my fears. Here is how I painted  and how it mirrors my life:

I sat with my blank white board and I thought of it like the future. Nothing scary, just the future. I did a little outline sketch of a tree to give it a little structure, perhaps my daily routine. Something predictable. Something I know will happen. The outline. No detailed bark or branches. Like life, I didn't know those details.

Then it was time to fill in the body of the outline. Here is the new twist for me. I closed my eyes and reached into my box of paint tubes. I grabbed a color for the tree. I filled in the tree with my random color, ultramarine blue. The same with the foreground, the background, until the surface was entirely covered.

This is how life goes, right? We don't know what colors/events we will be experience. We have some choices to make but most of the events are unknowable and we have to make the best of what comes our way.  

So, on and on, I painted like I live. Layering the colors. Making choices. Making the best of it. Going with the flow. I didn't let worry come along. I didn't worry about the colors I blindly chose. I just painted.

For the most part, I like the way the painting turned out (see above). And I like the way I thought about the future. When I grabbed a color like red oxide, a color I rarely use, I went with it. It found a place in my day. I delighted when I grabbed one of my favorite colors, quinacridone violet. It was like a unexpected visit from an old friend.

My experiment with facing the future, fearing the unknown, and painting the unknown was filled with insights....more to be discovered as I study the painting. It was a good day.

Maybe tomorrow I will get back to the Burr Oaks that are calling me!

I have my first follower! Thanks Angie !

Angie's trees are lovely! Check out her blog too! http://angierea-originalpyrographicart.blogspot.com/

Today I am sketching out some ideas for my next painting.... a Burr Oak. I like the name of that tree. It's especially appropriate in the winter in Wisconsin....Burrrrrrrrr! However, today it is a mild 50 degrees and spring is in the air. Wonderful!

PS: Saw my first Robin yesterday! Spring is definitely on the way!

Recent Paintings

Winter Oaks

 

Tree 1

Tree 2: The Sequinal

Winter Moon Memories

Welcome to Kate's Art Blog!

It's a great day to begin blogging! Lately I've been painting trees and I feel like if I could paint only trees for the rest of my life, I would be OK with that! Today I took photos of some Burr Oaks near Dodgeville, WI that are fabulously old and gnarly!