Seeing Like an Artist, part 2

Recently I shared this thought with my friends and followers on Instagram:

Spending time in close observation of an object in pursuit of a faithful drawing is a little like gazing into someone's eyes. Like a deepening compassion, I found my understanding of the form growing with every drawing I made of these origami peace cranes in different positions as birds in flight. 

Click through to Instagram to see two of the series in their final incarnation as miniature paintings. "Aloft #1" and "Aloft #2", each 6" x 6" acrylic painting on canvas.

One of those friends, who has been an inspiration to me in both art and motherhood since I met her when my oldest child was still a toddler, had this sweet observation to make:

"like gazing into someone's eyes... 

that's cuz the world is made of love when the eyes of the heart see it"

Spending time in close observation of an object in pursuit of a faithful #drawing is a little like gazing into someone's eyes. Like a deepening compassion, I found my understanding of the form growing with every drawing I made if these #origami #peacecranes in different positions as birds in flight. Here are two of the series in their final incarnation as miniature paintings. "Aloft #1" and "Aloft #2", each 6"x6" #acrylicpainting on canvas. #artistsoninstagram #contemporarypainting #illustration

A post shared by Julie Bazuzi (@julie.bazuzi) on Aug 7, 2017 at 11:41pm PDT

After the tragic events in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend it feels important to me to return to this idea of seeing the world through the eyes of the heart. In that spirit, I want to share with you the linocut art of Imprints of Love and artist/poet Valencia Wombone.

In her artist statement, Valencia writes:

"The images on our currency tell the stories of our white men ancestors who left legacies of domination, violence and occupation.  In response to this money story, I began to make linoleum block prints of ancestors who left legacies of love to be expanded upon in our lifetimes.  I used scavenged paper and materials to illuminate the universal availability of love currency.  Motivated by the life, struggles and triumphs of Sojourner Truth, I started divining an A-Z compendium of ancestors who have left their guiding legacies to the current movements of love and liberation in my own life."

                                                                                              -- Valencia Wombone

How I Start Making Art Again

I'm back to painting again, finally! It's almost always in the back of my mind... color, pattern, ideas that slip through my thoughts often too fast for me to hold on to them. So often gone by the time I manage to carve out some time to get out my paints.

Beginning with an abstract background, I use negative shape painting
to carve out abstract figures. This work in progress will go through
several more layers and stages before it's finished.

I do my best when the paints are always out, taking over the dining room table for days at a time and I can walk right over and start painting without any set-up time. But then life and family need the space again and I pack everything away. I want a space where I can keep the paint out all the time, and I'm slowly transforming our spare room into a space where I hope that will happen.

In the meantime, one of the best things I do for myself when I'm in a creative rut (or just having trouble taking time to myself away from the responsibilities of family) is to sign up for a weekend art workshop. In March I took a class on Expressive Acrylic and Mixed Media with artist Jacqui Beck.

Mixed Media painting, Hidden Thoughts 17x14 at my Columbia City Gallery exhibit PALIMPSEST April 4-May 14. Opening reception Sat Apr 8, 5-7. www.columbiacitygallery.com. #mixedmedia; #acrylicpainting; #palimpsest, #collage

A post shared by Jacqui Beck (@jacquiart) on Apr 7, 2017 at 2:00pm PDT

Jacqui was a delightful and very knowledgeable teacher. The time flew by and I would definitely take more of her classes. I'm already somewhat familiar with a variety of mixed media techniques but I learned several new tools to add to my repertoire. Below you can see the start of a painting using techniques taught in Jacqui's class. We started with layers of acrylic paint enriched with a variety of mark-making in order to create an abstract background. Paint is applied by brush, brayer, with custom-carved stamps, through stencils. Marks are made by drawing on top of the paint and by scratching back through layers with chopsticks, plastic forks, or even sand paper.

Beginning abstract layers of acrylic paint to create an abstract background.
Paint is applied by brush, brayer, with stamps, through stencils. Scratching
back through layers with chopsticks, plastic forks, even sand paper.

The most exciting thing about the workshop to me was on the second day as we moved into exercises to help develop the rich, textured, abstract mixed media backgrounds into a cohesive and expressive painting.

One exercise was to take a photograph as inspiration and to recreate the subject matter of the photo, to capture the shapes, lights, and darks on the ground created in class the day before in order to create something totally new. I chose a black and white photo from her collection of a figure walking out of a dark room through a doorway into bright sunlight.

Windows and Doorways
11" x 17" acrylic on paper

The other exercise was to attempt to recreate a painting created by another artist that we admired. Like art students of yore who copied the masters as part of their study, this exercise encouraged us to ask ourselves, "how did they do that?" and then explore and experiment. I chose a painting from Cathy Hegman called Red Flags from her series The Weight of Balance. Here you can see where I tried to recreate the composition and the mood, using my own color palette.

painting exercise based on Red Flag by Cathy Hegman

A note on intellectual property:

In the first exercise, the finished painting is such a drastic abstraction from the original photograph that I believe I can safely call it my own. In the second exercise, even though my painting doesn't have the same deftness and artistry of Cathy Hegman's original, it is still quite obviously a copy of her style, subject, and composition. This exercise is for learning only and I do not in any way attempt to portray it as my original work.

It's been such a relief and a joy to start making art regularly again. There's a sensuality to exploring the relationships between colors and a very satisfying sensory experience to scratching back through layers of paint to unearth  what was buried beneath. I'm so grateful that there is a wide variety of art workshops available to me in my area to help me rejuvenate my creative energy and remember how to take the time to give myself the gift of art practice.

If you are reading this post because you wonder how to get started making art again, I want you to close your eyes for just a minute and imagine giving yourself the gift of a truly delightful art-making experience. Just meditate on what that experience looks like for a moment.

Are you carving a linoleum block at the kitchen table? Are you sitting on your favorite park bench sketching the view? Are you in a class with fellow painters learning new techniques together? Are you in a pottery studio, hands muddy with clay?

Now that you have an image in your mind of what would make for a truly delicious art-making experience, go make it happen! Don't think about the outcome, or get stuck in whether the art will be "good enough." Just take that step towards having a memorable experience, where you feel some true satisfaction at the end of your day.



And last, but not least, stay tuned for more painting updates and a new post on linoleum block printing some time next week, just in time for my one year blogiversary!

Art, Synchronicity, and the Power of Yes

I recently accepted a friend's invitation to go through 12 weeks of journal-writing and creativity exercises together using the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I'm three weeks into this intriguing process and in the third chapter Cameron discusses the idea of synchronicity, "We like to pretend it is hard to follow our heart's dreams. The truth is, it is difficult to avoid walking through the many doors that will open. Turn aside your dream and it will come back to you again. Get willing to follow it again and a second mysterious door will swing open."

I know I'm not alone when I say that this is an incredibly busy time of year. I've been busy with the usual holiday preparations but also very busy making new art and accepting new art opportunities when they arrive.

This week the Diva gave us all a second chance to try out the ideas of Reticula and Fragments. There's that door swinging open again, and this time I'm saying yes.

Diva Challenges #294 and #295 

reticula and fragments
for diva challenge #294

reticula and fragments in offset grid
for diva challenge #295

I've been wishing for more chances to connect in person with other artists and hopefully meet mentors for my art learning journey. An internet search for local art classes a few months back helped me discover the nearby artEAST art center. They have a variety of classes just as I was hoping to find, but they also have opportunities for sharing studio time with other local artists. Yes!

I've already posted about the wonderful evening workshop on printmaking I took last month but I also enrolled in a colored pencil realism class that meets once a week. The class size is so small that everyone gets one-on-one time to be mentored by the instructor.

Realism takes a lot of time but I have some work in progress to show. I like how you can see the various stages and layers that each petal will go through from just the wispy beginning of an outline to fully saturated with color.

purple hydrangeas, work in progress: colored pencil

tulips, work in progress: colored pencil

I have been wanting some guidance in getting better at drawing people and places. Craftsy, a resource for online crafting and art classes, has been offering a ton of holiday specials lately. I snatched up a few drawing classes on urban sketching and capturing likenesses. Here's some of my "homework" (click the thumbnails to see a larger version).

I've been dreaming, and I've been practicing, and synchronicity has been bringing me opportunities to practice and dream some more. What are you saying yes to?

Expressing Grief through Art

I haven't posted in a while. There's been so much tragedy here in the US in the last few weeks, and again in France and Turkey in just the last few days. It weighs on me heavily.

I'm going to be mentioning tough subjects in this post.

If you're deeply empathetic and easily triggered by reading about tragedy and injustice in the world, you may wish to skip this one and come back next week.

Take care of yourself. I'll understand. Enjoy this photo I took at one of my favorite places to go when I need to feel a little peace in my soul.

Artist Burn Out and Loosening Up

This blog is primarily about my journey to learn art-making in adulthood and I've talked  a bit about using focused practice to build skills. But what do you do when focus seems impossible and practice sounds tedious and boring?

What happens when you burn out?

I was just chatting online with a fellow artsy friend who was feeling down and uninspired. She was still drawing and keeping up with group art challenges, but it felt like a slog. She didn't like the way her work was turning out, though the rest of the group saw wonderful passages in every piece and a new fluency overall in her technique.

I could absolutely relate. I've been there. SO many times.

As zen as Zentangle can be, the intense, up-close focus on tiny, tight, little details can get mentally wearing.

Two small drawings less than 5 inches square, with fineliner Micron pen for size.

We spend so much of our lives focused on the space right in front of us, heads tipped down, shoulders drawn forward and in, chest closed, breathing shallow as we drive, use our phones, read a book, work on our computers, chop veggies and cook...

Even the way we hold our pencil when we write -- close to the tip, upright, almost entirely controlled by fingers and wrist. And it's more of the same when we use technical drawing pens like the Pigma Microns for Zentangle.

Upright hand position, close to nib, used for drawing with technical pens.

Our bodies need moments and movements of expansion to counteract all that time spent in contraction. Our bodies and our brains need us to look up, gaze at far off objects, open arms wide, and take deep, full breaths that re-light the fire in the belly. 

Our art needs the moments of expressiveness that come from larger arm movements using elbow and shoulder. It needs us to step back from the paper or canvas for a wider perspective on ourselves and our world. 

And it doesn't hurt that our art benefits from the cross-body movements that activate more of our brains. In fact, according to artist and educator Dan Nelson, the part of your brain that controls your arm is a better artist than the part that controls your fingers.

So when I'm feeling sluggish and uninspired, when focus seems unattainable, or when the brain fog sets in from being in the highly focused zone of minute detail for too long:

I need to stand up, 

get out juicy color and fat brushes, 

use larger arm movements, 

and loosen up for a while.

One of my favorite contemporary painters, Robert Burridge, talks a lot about loosening up in painting and letting the art viewer see just how much fun it is to be an artist. In fact, he has entire books and DVDs on loosening up as a painter.

So if you're feeling burned out, shift your body to shift your outlook. Stand up, throw your arms out wide, lift your eyes, and breathe deeply. Try something different and make it about play, about experimentation, about adventure, and looking outward, and discovery.

Make art with your whole body.

Painting work table with an array of paints and a work in progress.

Tea for Two #1
acrylic on paper
Julie Bazuzi (c)2016