Sharing Favourites II - Seth Godin

Seth Godin needs little introduction – he’s an author, entrepreneur and public speaker.
I love the fact that his posts are generally short and succinct – he cuts to the heart of the matter.

Artists are faced with this daily struggle – how does this painting/drawing/sculpture measure up? Is this any good? Am I wasting my time? We continually beat ourselves up over the standard and worth of our work, in an ever self-defeating cycle.

This post about has special relevance for artists.  

Read his wise words here: Compared to…

Love Dahlia - watercolour on paper 270mm x 270mm © 2015 Carol Lee Beckx

This painting will be exhibited in the Nundah Village Festival Art Exhibition in September.

Sharing Favourites I - The Savvy Painter

Today I'm starting something new. It's a way of sharing posts and blogs that have become favourites over the last few years.

Hopefully it will become a regular feature of Art Matters so you can look forward to catching up with blogs and people I enjoy. I'm purposefully going to keep each post short and keep the focus on one artist, blog or a particular post that resonated with me. I'll add these links to a dedicated page at the top of the blog for future reference.

Strata - oil on canvas 760mm x 760mm © 2015 Carol Lee Beckx

Listening while you work 

Most artists have little rituals when they start work in the studio. My painting time begins when I put on my apron, originally black but now more white than black. While in the studio, I listen to music or talk shows on the radio. 

Recently I discovered The Savvy Painter, podcasts by Antrese Wood. Her podcasts are interviews with a wide range of artists. It's so much more than a podcast, however. It's a resource where you'll find information on other artists, art books, and much more. They talk about their work, their inspirations, art education amongst many other topics, ably directed by Antrese's insightful questions. Her lovely conversational tone makes these a delightful accompaniment to painting.

About an hour long, these discussions keep me painting. They keep my left brain occupied and informed while my right brain is free to work on creative solutions. If I get caught up in my painting and tune out, I simply stop the podcast and go back to replay a section I have missed.Sometimes I find if I have music playing, I listen too much - if that makes sense - and lose focus on my painting, words are easier to have running in the background. I'll be interested to know what you think about this.

Each podcast is accompanied by detailed notes on the episode including links to the website of the images of the artist being interviewed, other artists discussed, and books mentioned during the show. 

I hope you will enjoy the podcasts as much as I do.

Here's the link:The Savvy Painter

Local business supporting local Artists

During the last year I have been really fortunate to receive commissions from a number of local businesses to create paintings for their premises. It’s reassuring that they have chosen to support a local artist in this way.

I would like to highlight three of these businesses who asked me to create artworks for their businesses.

• Last November, I completed 3 paintings for Maverick Travel, for their Everton Park office. Here is a link to their Facebook Fan Page.

Collage of the three paintings for Maverick travel

Maverick Travel is the perfect team to plan your next dream holiday, cruise or round-the-world adventure, as well as all your business travel needs. They are also experts in 4+ star family travel.

Maverick Travel offers personally escorted small group tours (max 30 people) to the most spectacular and exotic regions of the world. Perfect for those with a sense of adventure, our tours include almost all sightseeing tours in the tour cost.

  

Maverick Travel is located at two convenient locations:

Everton Park

711 Stafford Rd

Contact Number 07 3355 3700

and

Shop 12, Samford Central,

Mt Glorious Rd 

Phone: 07 3289 3700

• The second local business I worked with is a brand new Cafe` which opened three months ago. Since Deja` Bru is only a few minutes from my home, I don’t need to tell you it’s a favourite stop for coffee. The coffee is top class, the cakes are divinely sinful and the service is warm and friendly.

Collage of the painting for Deja` Bru Cafe`

Deja` Bru is located at Mc Dowall Village, corner of Beckett and Hamilton Roads, McDowall 4053. The contact number is 0438 794 398.

Please have a look and like their Facebook Fan Page.

If you are in a big hurry you can also download a free phone app called txt4coffee.com so you can order ahead.

• Directly next door to the coffee shop, is Wearable Art Hairdressing, also located at McDowall Village, corner of Beckett and Hamilton Roads, McDowall 4053. 

Below is the painting I was commissioned to paint for the Salon.

The salon’s contact number is 07 3353 5255. The Facebook Fan page is here.
Be sure to check their blog for special offers.

Pink Roses with mirrors for  Wearable Art Hairdressing- oil on canvas - 1000mm x 1000mm 

Buried Treasure

Artists have developed a strong community through their blogs. There’s a sense of sharing, support and camaraderie. 

Seth Apter - The Altered Page embarks once more on his annual Treasure Hunt. Artists are invited to re-post their favourite post or posts from their blog.

The process has given me the opportunity to go back, re-read and evaluate previous posts to decide which I should highlight.

I enjoyed writing two posts about abstract paintings, one is re-posted here and a link to another Moving from Real to Abstract. 

A few Posts about drawing have been among my most popular - 

Drawing in Madame Tojo's Coffee Palace and Drawing - a thin black line

Happy hunting everyone. I know I am going to enjoy visiting a lot of wonderful blogs.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Abstract painting - the process

Recently two commissions for abstract paintings led me to explore a couple of different avenues. I returned to look at the American Abstract Expressionists and Franz Kline in particular.

Given a superficial glance these paintings look so simple - a couple of dramatic lines dashed across the canvas with a loaded brush and the painting is done - or is it?

Is it really so simple?

Acrylic study for Grey, Silver Black & Pink

The reality is somewhat removed from that simplistic assumption. Start flashing a brush around and see what happens - usually the canvas turns into an uncontrollable mess. Try flicking just one splash of colour on to a monochromatic painting and disaster lurks. The consistency of the paint is crucial.

If there’s too much turps in the mix, when it’s splashed over thicker, more oily paint that layer will crack when it dries . If there’s too much oil in the mix, the paint will take forever to dry. While the paint is drying the beautiful spots can turn a into ugly wrinkles. Then one understands exactly why Kline continued to use house paint instead of artists paint which his dealer wanted him to use. The viscosity of industrial paint is perfect for splashes and dribbles. This video gives some insight to his process

I started by doing a number of acrylic studies in my sketchbook.

Acrylic study for Grey, Silver black & pink

Once the right image was decided upon I worked directly on the primed canvas. I started with shades of grey and white in large areas, applying the paint with brush and palette knife to add surface tension to the canvas. I have added a few detail photos at the end of this post to try to show this.

Once this layer was dry I painted the black lines with fast broad strokes.

Black lines are added and other areas have been simplified.Then, with fingers crossed, because I’m not really a splashy kind of painter, a few splashes of shocking pink added the colour. The silver leaf was the final touch - and difficult to photograph well as the silver leaf simply looks white.

The initial sketches have a rawness and vitality that is hard to translate to a large canvas. The sheer size tends to make one more careful. However, I am pleased with the way the surface of the canvas has become more complex, adding substance and vitality to what was a casual sketch.

Grey, black, silver & pink - oil on canvas 1000mm x 1000mm

Carol Lee Beckx © 2012 Collection Transform Hair

Detail

Detail

Detail