Thinking like an artist

Well, we're in to day 3 of my "How to Think Like an Artist" workshop here at my studio in the foothills of Puerto Rico's El Yunque Caribbean National Rainforest and we're having a ball! The focus of the projects is to teach the students how to work WITH their paintings and not ON them. I also believe that creative people are problem solvers, so the projects I have developed purposely leave the students with major hurdles to overcome, using the basic elements of painting to do so. It's intense and it's hard but it definitely makes them think and they try things they never would ordinarily do in their own studios. Teaching is good for me too as it reinforces these same elements in my brain too! Sometimes I get lost!

Life is good.

New news! Yay!

Greetings from the tropics! Took a little time off from blogging but I'm back to share a bit of news. (after a gentle prod from my friend, website designer and marketing guru Philippe Pascal).

First and foremost I'm really excited about now having a mailing list that you can sign on to for updates of workshops, exhibitions and newly completed projects. Just go to the home page on my website and sign on to be kept up to date on my activities. You can unsubcribe at any time.

And speaking of workshops, I started my "How to Paint Like an Artist" Creative Watermedia Workshop yesterday here at my TreeHouse Studio in the mountains of eastern Puerto Rico. The goal of the class is to teach my students how take paintings beyond technical mastery and in to the realm of artistic mastery. There's a difference, trust me. I'm enjoying students from both here in Puerto Rico and from the Virgin Islands. These are great days spent making art while perched on a little mountaintop overlooking the northeast coast of the island. Need a break from painting? Just look up and out over the sea. Inspiration returns quickly.

Lastly, my friend from Second Life, Carla Jarnhilde, a Swede from the international community that IS Second Life, posted the nicest blog entry about my work. I just wanted to share it with you. Her words truly touched me. It's her July 3rd entry. When you've been working at the easel as long as I have, it's wonderful to know that what you do impacts other people positively. I'm very grateful she took the time to write this.

Life is good.

ta daaaaaa

"Evolution" is complete.... ha! As complete as evolution can be! I have found great comfort to let paintings simply "let loose" from inside me, although it is as difficult a process as painting a subject that I have painted many times and know so well .... sometimes even more so. I can only hope that I grew as an artist in the same way that this piece grew as a painting. I would hate to get lost along my path.

Evolution? We humans have it backwards. We think that because we know how to build buildings and cities that we have evolved. While to some extent this is of course true, it is not our own evolution.... we evolve because nature evolves, and we'd best not forget it. At the end of the day, nature trumps man...always.

The Aries Sessions

Yesterday was the start of something quite special, I think. We've started a series of panel discussions at one of my galleries in Second Life. The panel consisted of 3 artists, a visual artist (me), a poet (Stosh Quartz) and a musician/writer (Rosedrop Rust). DaVince Isle Arts SIM owner Ppmediadev Blinker posed the questions. The panel will change for each event.

The questions focused on the artistic process as experienced by artists working in the different genres. They were truly thought provoking questions and the discourse that followed was fascinating. It seems no matter the medium, the creative process crosses all borders of expression.

The Aries Sessions will take place once a month on the second Sunday of each month. The time will be announced. For some in depth, intellectual conversation, please join us.... from the comfort of your own home!

Old friends

I was looking for something totally unrelated when I stumbled upon some photos of watercolors I did for my first one artist show at La Liga de Arte in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's been a long time since I've seen these paintings (the show was in 1996) and it was like running in to old friends. The show was an exhibition of paintings with which I first experimented with superimposing 2 distinct drawings on top of each other and then working with the result. I apply what I learned by doing this to my Magical Realism paintings of today. Happiness is revisiting one's roots!

Creative Painting Seminar

There is no greater freedom than flying, I think. But to do so you need wings. I am teaching a Creative Painting Seminar at my studio here in Puerto Rico from July 5-8, 2010. This workshop will give you the wings to soar creatively and with confidence. It will teach you the basic elements of painting that, with practice, will allow you to take flight without being "technically tethered" to the ground. It will teach you to work WITH your painting and not ON it, resulting in a work that not only reflects your skills but your emotions as well.

We will be working with watercolor and/or acrylic on paper along with a surprising assortment of other mediums and materials, some of which are included in the price. Classes include lectures and discussions, hands- on personal instruction, critique and and the end of the final class, a casual exhibition/closing party to which you may invite your family and friends.

A 50% deposit is required to secure your space in the class. Space is limited, so contact me as soon as possible.

yup.... same painting

Yup... this is the same painting that I've been posting as a work in progress. I have now titled it "Evolution" as that has been exactly what the process has been like.

I'm always pushing myself forward...sometimes it's more like slogging. This painting has been like pulling teeth for me.... bringing it out of the mess I created with the underpainting and in to uncharted territory for me. My work is usually "softer" I think .... more organic. But the tides need to change, as with life.

Perhaps that explains the waves.