Ol' Timer 12X12 Canvas on BirchWell once again it has been awhile since I posted. I have been busy with kids' sports, finishing small paintings and working on a 15X30, and a variety of other projects around my home.
In just returning from a trip for the kids sports, I realized I am always thinking about art, painting, networking etc. In the past 5 or 6 weeks we have traveled out of the Ausitn area 4 times. Each drive was a minimum of 4 hours (one way), so there were long periods of kids that were sleeping, watching a movie or listening to their IPods. There was limited conversations with mom, unless they were hungry. So I had the opportunity to do alot of thinking about my favorite subject, painting and the creative process. Occasionally stopping (with lots of protests) to take a photo or two. There was a time or two they even suggested a view, which always surprised me.
So back to the 40+ hours of thinking and driving (really it was that long or longer). Since there was so much time, I challenged myself to find out what it was about art and or painting that I really enjoyed. Did I use every possible avenue to promote? Why did I take so many photographs? With all the additional questions that arose because of the in-depth conversation with myself.
Did I use every possible avenue to promote myself - Most likely not. Now days there are so many ways to promote oneself that if that was all I did , I would do a much better job, but my main focus is painting. So if you have any suggestions please pass them on, I am always looking for new or better ways to promote. But I will have to say that I really connect with people. Each place that we visited; I was truly inspired by someone. People are what life is all about, and they help me get inspired about the landscape around. Thanks to Jay (Yahsu Jay), who reminded me of my heritage and why I am here painting, MJ and Carol who kept me laughing when I wanted to cry or scream, Merrie whose kindness just blew me away. Each person I meet or connected with adds to my bouquet of life's experiences and leaves a footprint that will never be forgotten. Each of these experiences adds to the emotion for each painting in that area.
What was it that encouraged me to take so many photos, even when there was not much to photograph? Well, to be honest this one eluded me for a while, till I figured out that I was trying to capture more than the location. I was trying to document via photographs the emotion that was inspiring me in the first place to view the landscape. Granted there are probably only abut 5% of all my photographs what will make it onto canvas to be painted. I try to capture what is around the view, the light, or other points of interest that help me get inspired. And that's ok with me.
As for why I paint, after a few hours of contemplating I came to quite a few conclusions; the main being it was my passions set deep inside of me. So what did that mean to me (more soul searching), I found that it was the spiritual emotion that I felt at the location that inspired me to look harder, feel the spirit, and become on with the location. How that made me feel and what I thought about when I was communing with what I was seeing. I came to an even deeper conclusion that it wasn't just what I was seeing it was the emotions and spiritual connection that was felt, which is what I wanted to paint along with the scenery. This is what I'm inspired to paint. As I review the photographs that I had taken all the emotion comes back to me and I work at conveying that in my paintings.
