"Mother and Child" 18"x18"acrylic on stretched canvas
collection of Amna Warner
Well, it's not really a daily painting- and it's not for sale, either, it's for a beautifully pregnant friend of mine.
It also shows the reason behind one of my few New Years Resolutions. My artistic style has multiple personalities, or something- there's time when I feel like I could just eat the paint up, and I want to lay it on rich and traditional. And then there's times when all I want to do is play with glazes, or dry scrumbling like this one, and usually with those things end up kind of mixed media- buttons and lace and sheets out of old hymnals all get tangled up with my paint somehow.
Don't get me wrong, I love the end results- or, if I don't love them, I paint over them and they never get to escape the narrow confines of my studio. Like this one- I love it. The colors are so much fun, she's sitting in the rocking chair but it's not at all a realistic rocking chair, and it all just comes together so serene and dreamlike.
But I've definitely got a mini-me on my shoulder nagging me about needing to have a definitive "style", something immediately identifiable, recognizable... and, unfortunately, shoulder-mini-mes are extremely difficult to reason with. So one of my resolutions this year is to narrow things down into two camps- just two, and I have to come into this with no preconceived divisions or anything like that. *sigh* Well, I've got a year to do it, and hopefully this blog and you guys will help it to happen...
Oh, those links! I knew I was forgetting something in my rambling on. And on. And on. Sorry about that.
Kay Nielson- http://www.artsycraftsy.com/nielson_prints.html
John Bauer- http://www.artsycraftsy.com/bauer_prints.html
um... at the risk of being the last person on the planet to think this, isn't John Bauer that guy on 24?
and I've thought of another necessary resolution- I need to figure out how to make somebody's name or an individual word change colors and turn into a link that takes you somewhere on the internet, instead of having to type out the links on the screen- at least, everyone else is doing it, so it seems like it must be a good idea.
Post #6
Hey, Kellie - I just couldn't resist posting when I saw that you'd mentioned that you were trying to narrow your art down to two major styles. That sounds SO much like me about two years ago. I ended up with these two entirely different styles and I felt like I had to choose between them . . . when in reality, what I really needed to do was meld them together. Those two different styles smushed together, against all odds, is my style today. Maybe see what the common threads are between your styles (often it's color choices) and what elements you just REFUSE to give up . . . and try sandwiching them.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you blogging about Nielsen and Bauer too! Be sure to send me your links!
Thanks so much for you comment, Maggie- I really appreciate it, especially on a subject that sometimes seems so thorny and difficult. Nothing immediately comes to mind as to common threads, though they must be there- hopefully more thought and doing this painting-a-day thing will help a lot!
ReplyDeleteHmm, maybe I'll blog about this this week. It's something that really preoccupied me last year.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to it. I actually just read your "Cookie Monster has Style" and "Ruthless Studio Cleaning"- very bold of you, and good advice.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to focus on finding out what those things are that I refuse to give up, and see if they can be made to work together. :)