30 Paintings in January 2015 - Collage, Completed by a Great Friend!

Thank you, dear friend

I want to thank my dear friend, Carol Edan, who actually took on the challenge of creating my collage for me after she had already done two of her own, one for her 30 in 30 paintings and one for her reference photos.  You can see her collages on her blog.

Carol knew I wasn't planning to make a collage this time.  I just felt I had put enough time into the challenge and now it was time to clean the house and focus on family.  Carol and I have met only via our cyber art world; in fact, she lives in Israel...but she is a  constant support to me, and I just loved the art she created this past 30 days.  She did scenes from a spa she goes to and used a form of artist crayons (Neocolor I Wax Pastels to be precise--different than my oil pastels) as her medium.  Check her out and say hello!

Where Does this Blog go from Here?

My last post was my "Celebrate" and "Congratulations" post, so for this one, I want to address where do I go from here.

I am feeling much more committed to regular blogging than before this challenge, so you will be hearing from me on a regular basis.  Probably not daily though :-)  But at least weekly.

I will start with showing you the soft pastel paintings that I did in December and never blogged about.  Meanwhile, I want to take what I have learned with the oil pastels and expand upon it.  For one, I will be painting more oil pastel paintings.  Secondly, I want to see how concepts I taught myself with the Oil Pastels can be applied to acrylic painting.

 Artistic Freedom

I have also made a wholehearted commitment to myself that I will not pigeon-hole myself or put myself in a box with my art. An artist is "supposed to" create one cohesive, identifiable style.  So, I'm going to be going against the grain for awhile; there is a shift happening.

I will create what I feel inspired to create each day, even if I'm working in various "styles."  It's all still me.  Perhaps I will eventually settle back down to use one medium, one subject matter, or one "look," but I am not seeking that kind of self-definition unless it just happens.

I stated at the beginning of this 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge that my theme was "Artistic Freedom." I did not foresee, but I know now, that once you grant yourself that kind of Freedom, you never want to let it go!

Lots is brewing around in my mind...I am off to the studio today and hope you are following your heart, too, wherever it may lead.

"Where Will You Go From Here?" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 3x4"

$30 plus shipping

Purchase Here

The title of this painting is my question for all of us:  "Where Will You Go From Here?"  

We have had a great run with lots of ups and downs, and as this 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge comes to an end, there is a risk of feeling like we are losing something.  Which is always a possibility.  

But so much potential exists for gaining something!  New art friends, new painting methods, new studio habits, and in my case, even a new painting medium...

Let us keep the best of this Challenge going indefinitely and let go of what does not serve us (the pressure to perform).  Let us stick together and continue to support each other as we have through these 30 Days.  

I will look forward to seeing where you all go from here!

Personal Painting Note

I wanted to tell you what happened to me with this painting.  The past few days, I have been very weary of the Challenge and noticing the same happening to many other 30 in 30ers.  I had a migraine last night, so I used one of my "paint-ahead" paintings for my post for yesterday and fully expected I would do the same for the final two posts, today and tomorrow.

Once I released myself from the pressure of having to come up with two more paintings, I did some cleaning at my house and then headed...to the studio!  Where I painted not only the above painting, but also another for the final day's post.  It seems I personally do better when painting feels like a "want to" not a "have to."   Letting myself off the hook brought me right back around to my art!

"Long Hair" Acrylic - 30 in January 2015

 Acrylic, 8x6"

Now I've done it!  I've gone and ruined any semblance of unity my end-of-the-30-in-30-Challenge collage was going to have.  Throwing Acrylics into the mix after all those Oil Pastels!  Wasn't it enough that I was using all different dimensions, let alone all different sizes?  Couldn't I have been smart like my good friend Carol, who is using not just all squares, but all squares of the same size????  I may not even be able to make a collage work, with all these different dimensions (it has happened before!). (btw, I think I said something similar about my friend Sharon's collage last year.  I missed her terribly during this 30 in 30.  She couldn't join us this time, because she was too busy running her own art gallery, the River Run Gallery and Fun Art Studio in Carrollton Kentucky).

Why did I do it?  Oh, yeah, remember my theme?  Artistic Freedom?  I had a yearning...for my acrylics...so I made space for them today...and opened up the Pandora's box of my heart.  Because as I have said before, what I really want to paint is people.  So, here I go...I hope!

Not putting this one up for sale, because I need it as a study.  Happy to show it to you, though...

This was my first time painting in Acrylics in two  months,  I realized, because I have spent the past two months with gouache, soft pastels, and oil pastels.  Acrylics and I need to get reacquainted.  It is not like riding a bicycle, at least not for me.

Thanks for being here, everyone, and hang in there 30 in 30ers...

"The Valley" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 4x6"

SOLD (thank you!)

The good thing about my not knowing what I am doing with these Oil Pastels is that nobody else could possibly know what I am doing, so no one can really tell me that I  am doing it wrong--unless one of you happens to figure out what I am doing... :-)

Thanks for being here...I love you guys.  And I have come to realize that this 30 Paintings in 30 Days gig is more about opening hearts than counting paintings!

"Tree Dance" Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 3.5 x 2.5"

$15 plus shipping

Purchase Here

Now that we are "over the hump," I want to ask my artist friends, "How are you doing?"  Is everybody ok?  Still taking good care of yourselves, body and soul?

How are you doing with your painting?  Are you painting what you really want to be painting?  Taking risks?  Learning new things?

Are you giving yourself the freedom to be the painter you truly want to be?

These are the things I've been wondering...

Magenta Forest Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in January 2015

Oil Pastel, 6x6"

$50 plus shipping

Purchase Here

Well, I'm back in the saddle again after my computer crashed a few days ago.  Thank you all for returning to visit after the interlude.  I purchased a new (used) laptop.  You could say it's on borrowed time right now...I have 30 days to decide whether to keep it.  That should at least get me through the rest of this 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.

I did continue to paint while I was off-line.  Not sure how to catch you up on those.  Maybe I'll do a post with them or maybe skip them so these can be in synch with my DPW and Leslie's blog. 

This oil pastel painting is another one that started totally and completely different than what you see here.  What you see here is kind of what the background of the original painting looked like.  I decided I liked the background effect best, so I lost the foreground.  These OPs are amazing for making alterations, that's for certain.  

This is one of those occasions where the photo simply will not do justice to the painting...I guess that's one thing that hasn't changed from the last computer!

Anyhow, new computer, no bookmarks, hope I can find you all again...thank goodness for Feedly...

Happy Painting, everyone!

30 in January 2015 Pink Forest Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 5x7"

SOLD (Thank  you!)

I have just completed reading Wolf Kahn's book Pastels and immediately turned around and started reading it again.  I love his work, and I really appreciated getting insight into his views on the artistic process.  I want to highly recommend this book to my artist friends, no matter what your medium.

Here are a few quotes I found deeply meaningful:

"The practice of art should have an effect not only on the public, but even more importantly on the artist himself, by enlarging his sphere of freedom." (p. 16, paragraph 2)

"The moment you know how to do certain things, you should by rights stop doing them.  You would be ceasing to search and starting to perform."  (p. 18, paragraph 1)

Points to ponder...

And, as we are in the midst of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, how about this reminder from Wolf Kahn (also from Pastel, p. 25 paragraph 2):

"The artist must beware of trading places, even momentarily, with his public.  He follows mental pathways in which audience-conscious esthetic judgments such as 'interest' have no place.  The intimacy of his personal relationship to the work at hand has to remain inviolate."

Watchers, I think that is another way of saying "Paint Like Nobody's Watching."   In his profound way, Wolf Kahn is telling us what to focus on while painting (the creation of the image) and what not to focus on while painting ("will it be good enough for my blog?  good enough for Leslie's blog?  good enough for DPW?").

Paint Like Nobody's Watching, friends....and as always, I do thank you for Watching!

Patch of Blue Oil Pastel - Day 4

 Oil Pastel, 3.5 x 2.5"

In the spirit of the Challenge, this is the one I did on my lunch hour Friday.  This piece was completed in about 20 minutes, and someone was talking to me almost the entire time I was painting it!! I'm also having a terrible time getting a good photograph or scan of it, so I'm not putting it on DPW. 

No New Art Supplies!

One of my self-imposed rules for this challenge is that I am not allowed to purchase anything new until at least January 20.   My "theme" is artistic freedom, more of an intention than a theme.  I am exercising my freedom for at least the beginning part of the challenge, by using oil pastels, a medium I had long ago put away.

Using any kind of pastels is seductive towards your wallet, because as a pastelist, you never feel like you have the color you need.  So you keep looking and buying.  And there's always new supplies you hear about to make your artistic life better--new papers, solvents, storage units, etc.

I figure by the time I get to January 20, I'll have a better idea of what I REALLY need, if anything.  I purchased some ResNGel, a non-toxic solvent, right before the challenge began, but other than that, I have stored pastel paper, mat board scraps, enough oil pastels to get a good start, etc.  

Thanks for Watching!

 

 

Mountain View Oil Pastel - 30 in January 2015, Day 2

Oil Pastel, 5x7"

$50 plus shipping

Purchase Here

 

My Intention for the Challenge

Welcome again to the 30 Paintings in January 2105 Challenge.  My computer seems to be behaving better than it did last night, so I can give you a more of a welcome/intro than I did yesterday.  

Leslie Saeta, convener of the challenge, encourages us to have a theme for our 30 Days.  By theme, I think she means subject matter.  I have altered the call for a theme, just a bit.  Instead of a theme, I have an intention--Artistic Freedom!  

Why Artistic Freedom?

Artistic Freedom, because there are too many boxes in the other areas of my life!  Artistic Freedom, because as Robert Genn said on his AHA Radio Show interview, "I believe the only question an artist should ask is, 'What do I want to do today?'"  

  

The Challenge is to Play!

 So, I will be playing with mediums besides my usual acrylics.  I expect you will see oil pastels, pastels, gouache, and some combinations of the above.  Fun at all costs, friends!  Here at Paint Like Nobody's Watching, we are going to mix media that maybe aren't even supposed to be mixed!

I am quite interested in Oil Pastels right now, so if I start feeling I am getting the hang of it, I will share what I learn in case other artists out there might want to try them.

For now let me just say, they are a totally, completely different animal than soft pastels!

Thanks for being here, and Happy Challenging to the other artists out there...glad we're in this together.