September...... Palette colors changing.

JUMP

 

 

What's going on here? I'm jumping into more expressive drawing on top of underpaintings. The substrate is primed with LIGHT MOLDING PASTE by Golden. The colors are Golden's modern mixing palette. 

 

With the change in seasons I note the transformation of intense greens and bright flowers of summer.  Now there are rust and brown-tinged leaves, seeds are fully formed, pods are fleshing out,  all against the deep blue late summer sky. 

 

I'd like to go with rusts and earth tones, but not yet.  I can add them to my palette in bits.

What I want to depict is a  sense of space and movement, a jump into the next season. It's not a sad transition this time.  I can watch the changes and breathe them in with eyes, breath, and body.  The sensual experience is encouraging me to take more in this time.  Age has it perks.

 

You can mix the colors of fall with the modern mixing palette.  No need to go out and buy more colors. 

Here are the basics: Quinacradone magenta, Hansa Yellow Medium, Pthalo Blue (green shade) = primaries.  And Napthol Red, Hansa Yellow Light, and Pthalo Green (red shage).  Try the quin magenta and hansa yellow medium mixed. Then add a spot of the pthalo green - just a spot.  See  if that doesn't take you into autumn.

 

Exciting book - Acrylic Solutions, a Mixed Media Approach/Layering.

Lynn brought a book to Paint Lab last Friday.  One of the authors is Chris Cozen.  Check out her YouTube videos and her blog and website.  http://www.chriscozenartist.com/

 

Onward! Hiking and swimming are still in the picture!

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

What can I tell you?

 Painting outdoors at the Painting in the Spirit of Helen Frankenthaler workshop

blasted my sensibilities.





 

I don't want to paint the way I've been painting for the past 2 years.  Last Saturday, I watched students pour and spread paint with foam brushes, squeegees, huge house painting brushes, and wadded up plastic. Big plastic drop cloths were everywhere. It blew me away that we have the choice to labor and struggle or allow the flow of paint to carry us along on a ride of freedom and awe. 

 

Now the question is, "What do I do with all of these paintings I've begun, the ones I'm working on continually without resolution?"  I don't want to toss them out.  I won't go back to the old style of working.  The either/or of this proposition reminds me there is the MIDDLE WAY.

 

 

The MIDDLE WAY is the way I find in meditation.  It is spacious and grounded, infinite in its allowing opening and acceptance of what comes up.  Then I return to the breath, the body, the space in the gap between thoughts and ideas, plans and concerns.

 

I've always wondered how I'd integrate my MEDITATING WITH THE BODY practice (teacher is Reggie Ray, PhD) and my painting.  It's been a conscious effort over the past 2 1/2 years. It's not ike I haven't played with the process.  However, this weekend offered a clearer direction: Color Field painting in the Spirit of Helen Frankenthaler is much more than a conceptual, cerebral approach to expressing the pulse of life.

 

Okay, what now?  Jesse Reno suggests finding what you like in a painting and placing a frame around it with paint.  Then find what you don't like and let it go, get rid of it.  (Please correct me if I'm wrong).  That's not Color Field painting, but it is a place to start with the paintings half-finished in my studio. 

 

Any new pieces will be pour and slather, sprinkle and tilt.  Let's see what happens!

 







Steal Like an Artist

Yes, STEAL! 

 I'm sure you were told never to steal, but now it's okay.  Really.
Jacqui Beck (jacquibeck.com) turned me onto this book.  Once I had it in my hands, I laughed,  It's the best for inspiration and bopping to the beat of releasing the old crap I revere. 
About the book.  It's written by a young man, Austin Kleon (http://austinkleon.com/steal/ )  His 10 main points are best appreciated in the book.  But, I'll post them here so you're curious.
1, Steal like an artist.   2. Don't wait until you know who you are to get started.   3. Write the book you want to read.   4. Use your hands.   5. Side projects and hobbies are important.   6. THE SECRET: Do good work and share it with people.   7. Geography is no longer our master.   8. Be nice. (The world is a small town.)   9. Be boring ( it's the only way to get work done.)   10. Creativity is subtraction.

The one that intrigues me most right now is "Creativity is subtraction."  I get carried away with details.  Jacqui suggested I use a nothing smaller than a #4 brush to paint.  Not a 0000, but a messy, big old #4.  It felt good to work without details atop details.  BUT! I do like to sprinkle a few in here and there just to see if I can stop.  Remember the ad for Lay's Potato Chips? "Bet you can't eat just one!"  Young kids are my best teachers in  wholehearted simplicity. 

I've been to Alaska 2x to teach, connect, and love since I blogged last time. Once was at Paul Banks Elementary School and once at Bunnell Street Art Center. It was a 2 week residency at Paul Banks making space helmet masks with paper, paper clay, and pipe cleaners. At Bunnell, we did a full day of Touch Drawing (http://www.touchdrawing.com/  ) Learning when teaching charges my batteries big time.  I marvel at studio artists who can paint for 8 hours at a time! For me, that's a challenge.  4 is good.

The POD series I'm working on now will be done this week.  I'll take it to be photographed and then post pictures here and on the website.

workshops and classes:

 Solstice Touch Drawing gathering here on June 22 in the evening. 

 Paint Labs are scheduled for May 31, June 21, July 5, July 19 from 10-4 at Orchard Grove.

Painting without Brushes at Art East on July 13 arteast.org

Teen Paint Camp at Art East on July 23-25  arteast.org

 

A Pril jumps and spins even more than Mar Ch.

Didn't imagine I could love the rain as much as I do. It feels as  though we're extremely clean these days. (Remember the Jackson Brown song, "After the Deluge"?)  I feel clean instead of depressed because  I've been going to aerobic conditioning class at 8 am, and the feeling afterwards is plain old "GOOD:".  Energized, enthusiastic, curious, and creative.

Like this:

The artist in schools residency in Homer, Alaska in March was a lot of fun. I came home encouraged.  I realize my way of teaching may seem corny at times, but it's all about creating a safe space in which to be vulnerable, playful, and innovative. I haven't seen many opportunities for that in our culture..Acting "cool"gets in our way. 

Inside all of us is creativity. Unused creativity is not benign. It metastasizes. It turns into rage, shame, judgement, and grief. Comparison kills creativity. 85% of us were shamed in school.  50% of those were around creativity. (Brene Brown, DARING GREATLY). There's so much more to talk about when it comes to how we've been told we're "not enough" and how it affects our lives.  For now, I'll stop.  

In the spirit of self-compassion ---------------- so that we can extend that acceptance and understanding to others. 

Gail

When I'm 64...... next week

My goldfish, Mary and Joseph, send greetings. 

Today I was sad.  I was wondering why.  And Bongo!!! when I told myself NOT TO PICK UP A PAINTBRUSH,  to stick to the design project for 270 elementary school students, it hit me.  I was lonely for painting. I haven't painted in 2 weeks and 2 days!!!!!!!  This is what makes me sad. 

Solution: Paint and paint more.  No serious intention allowed. Just moving the paint and loving the squish and scrub of it all, getting lost in hues' moods!. 

 

You may have seen this work on FB, but if not, here's the last work I did.  It's at Art East Art Center in Issaquah and Issaquah Coffee Company in Gillman Village.  

 

Connection

 

Beeezzzzz

Myron's Desert

 

 

This large assemblage is still being built.  It's called "Open".  Here are two parts of it.

Gold Mask

Open Heart

Now to the brush and color...... It's not hard to start..............................................

Please go to Issaquah Coffee Company to take a look at the show I've hung there.  Thanks for your interest.

All my best, 

Gail

Visual Journaling and the body-mind connection

When I moved here from Alaska 5 years ago, life gave me more changes than I wanted.  I sensed I was coming apart emotionally, financially, and physically  My work had been primarily with children in Alaska.  Here I was working with adults, 45 of them, 3 times a week.

My anchor was Visual Journaling and the small journaling group that met Sunday mornings in an office on Lake Union.. In graduate school I'd learned and practiced methods of deep self-exploration from Stan Grof (Spiritual Emergence), Michael Harner (Shamanic Journeying), and reading Carl Jung  (Man and His Symbols).  The basic tenant was the immense value of the unconscious in healing. 

In our Visual Journaling groups we have used the Jungian approach to journalling with images and self-exploration questions (as introduced by Ganim and Fox in the book Visual Journaling).  We sometimes called it "Art Church".

Since then there have been numerous Visual Journaling sessions with individuals and groups at Art East Art Center, Issaquah; Present Sense, Wallingford; and community centers and homes. New sessions will start March 1 at my studio and April 7 at Art East. 

If you're interested in discovering more about your behavior and attitudes using a mindful, creative practice, Visual Journalling may be for you. Watch the video, and see how you feel about it.

I'm grateful to Marijean Baird for creating a video of this meaty, wild, surprising practice. 

 http://animoto.com/play/9qS57cRaYsU9xcO7aU0RIg

 

Full Moon gathering and Just-Finished paintings

Ahhhhh!
 .....delivery of 4 new paintings today to Vetiver Organic Hair Spa in downtown Issaquah.   .vetiverorganichairspa.com    Richie and Kristina have sold a few pieces already.  It feels good to have them go to new homes where they're appreciated.

Evening

Evening 2

Late Afternoon

Morning

We'll be exploring the techniques used in these pieces at Acrylic Paint Lab this Friday, Feb. 1 at the Orchard Grove Community Room.   10-4 pm.  Let me know if you'd like to come. 

Sunday evening, January 27, 7 of us shared dinner and Touch Drawing to celebrate the full moon.  Low-key, contemplative, and fun.  Look for other celebrations.  I offer them when I want to do community art and meditation.  

Gentle

Avatar

PAINTING FROM THE FIRE WITHIN  happens again at Art East Art Center on March 3rd. Save the date. 

February 24,  11-4,  PAINTING IN THE SPIRIT OF GEORGIA O'KEEFFE takes place at Art East.  We'll be working with open acrylic paints, blending, and diluting

Please share how your creative juice is flowing. 

Gail

Wet

This painting, "Hive,"  sold today! 

"First Freeze of Autumn" will be for sale at Art East's garage the first week of February

There hasn't been a lot of wet paint in my studio this month.  I realize I've been gone 2 weeks out of the last 4.  When I'm here, I paint.... and prep for workshops.  There is a rhythm to my life. 

I wake up, meditate, stretch, eat, do Pilates, yoga, or bike.  I start work at 10 and work until 4. 
It's not all paint and brushes.  I often sit and look at a painting with my eyes in soft focus, turn it different directions, take a picture and play with color saturation and value on the computer, or block out a part of the piece and see what it feels like to me. I design workshops as wild as I want them to be.

If I didn't do these little side trips, I'd be stuck.  My thinking would stop me from using the brush as it wants to be used.  Sure, thinking plays a part in all of this "creativity".   The thinking I want to use is "mindfulness".  I'm working from a place of intuition and energy rather than forcing a concept onto the canvas. Sustaining that flow is the crux of the process.

Honestly, I catch myself in the "I CAN'T DO THIS" attitude quite often.. Then I know I need to turn on FLASHDANCE or GET READY by Rare Earth (YouTube) and drop the rigidity. Dance!

 Does that mean I have no intention when I begin the piece?  No.  Does it mean I give up and start over when I feel lost?  No.  Essentially, it means I want to walk into a piece connected to my breath, my body, and a sense of "honest expression". .


 In March I'll be going to Homer, Alaska for two weeks to do an artist in the schools residency. I'll bring this painting back with me. It's odd how a piece can seem mundane when I do it, then 6 years later it has value. I bring this up because it's proof of  how important it is for me to paint exactly what's impressing me at a particular moment in time. "Honest expression" is painting what moves me. Now.

Mt. Augustine from the Bayview Bluff on Kachemak Bay

Namaste, Gail

New Year. New Day. New Moment.

Fullness.
Emptiness.
Questions I have today are emerging in paint and clay.
Photos here are about the juxtaposition of emptiness and fullness.  In my meditation practice, I experience emptiness as fullness. In the work the subject and ground are interchangeable.

If we're here, we assume we're present. Maybe not.  It seems we want to get to the NEXT thing, the NEXT idea, the NEXT connection.  For me, the deepest connection to  anything is stopping to find out what's here, not what comes NEXT.  It's not easy. This piece reminds me of the yin and yang symbol, although it's a flat picture plane with a floating dark form.  If you can enlarge the photo, you can see the sprout inside the dark, cold sphere.   It's part of a series of 5; 4 are on the table (in process now).

My dad told me it's better to be able to do many things than to do one thing well.  That question comes back when I find myself looking for descriptions of my work for the almighty Google search engine.  If I want more exposure, I need to describe what I do succinctly.  I have no clue.  I do many things.

My intention for 2013 is to paint from a place of deep connection to physical feelings and emotions.  Because my mom is becoming more frail each day, I have no idea where this will take me.  I want to be open and strong. 

The classes and workshops I offer are intended to give you tools to take your discovery practice farther.

You're invited to the next Acrylic Painting Lab ...... exploration in acrylic paint, collage, and watercolor as acrylic paint.  Where? in the community room here at Orchard Grove.  The next one is January 25, Friday, from 9:30-3:30.  You're invited to paint.  Register with you intent to show up at gailbakerartmaker@gmail.com.  $35 or pay what you will. 

 Painting in the Spirit of Helen Frankenthaler at Art East in downtown Issaquah on January 13, Sunday from 11-4. Go to http://arteast.org/2012/11/pt1-painting-spirit-of-frankenthaler/

Touch Drawing Full Moon on January 27, Sunday, from 5:30-8:30 pm at Gail's studio.  Silence, color, touch, sensation, vulnerability. Donation for materials welcome. All materials provided.    gailbakerartmaker@gmail.com    Soup and bread shared.