Back At It (and other things)

I know I've been gone a while. A lot has happened. The birth of my first grandchild has taken me to a new place!! I am smitten!

On that note, I am starting to eek out some time for my art. Not big projects or finished paintings. Mostly sketches and random drawings of my dad. Here are two that I felt turned out well. My favorite subjects!! I know many of you are not on facebook, so I will try to share more here.

I briefly toyed with the idea of teaching again. At this point I still think it's too much. But its a good sign that I want to teach again.  And that I am back to doing art.

I want to talk a little bit about sketching. I know I've talked about it before, but it has grown into a huge deal worldwide with the latest Urban Sketcher's Symposium happening in Chicago this summer. While I follow all this online and have learned a great deal from it, my take away is this:  Sketching is a way to do your art without pressure. We don't as a rule show our sketchbooks to others, so it can be private, like a journal. It can also be taken anywhere without too much of a struggle. It is also usually small, which takes a great deal of pressure off us!! A sketchbook is a place to explore and make mistakes. It is a place of growth. Of expression, free from expectations. And last, it is a place of record. It not only records our experiences, but it records our growth as artists. In our sketches we become more of the artist we were meant to be. I have come to value them in a new way.

I often like my sketches better than the finished painting I did from the sketch. They are free-er and less stiff. They have a shorthand that I seem to forget when I attempt a painting I may show. Most viewers like the finished work better, which confuses me. I remember seeing some plein air and sketches that Thomas Kincade did and I was so much more impressed with them than his tight "painter of light" works. Not dissing him here, or his other work, just saying that I have a preference to that approach. In them I saw the fine artist he was beyond the machine of commerce he was known for. 

 For me, the sketch conveys the feeling the artist has because it is raw. Less fussed over and more to the point. Often I dont have time for any details other than what it was that was speaking to me at the time.  The finished work is more of a complete sentence, with correct grammar and spelling and phrasing. (I've never been able to spell, so that might explain some things!) Lol.

I've encouraged you all to sketch before, and I do it again here. Take a class of some kind if sketching doesn't float your boat. Find some friends to do art with-I've found this to be key in my motivation. Join a group, make a paint date or sketch in the evening while watching TV. I challenge you to do some art once a week. It's my personal challenge. Seems easy, right? 

I'm also hoping to get back into blogging here again. I did want to mention that my other blog Caring for Dad hit a bit of a snag when I changed it's address I lost all subscribers. If that was any of you, I apologize. You can find the blog at sacredcaregiving.blogspot.com. I've posted there recently after a long break as well. 

Happy Wednesday!!