Art is long and life is short.

I’ve been drawing or painting all my life; sometimes I’m just fooling around with the materials and other times I’m more serious. I have deep respect for those artists who have come before me.  I’ve studied many peoples’ styles and have taken a workshop or two. Lately, I have begun to notice similar techniques in much of their work and patterns in my own work:  repetition of the tried and true.   

At this point, I would like to forge a new path for myself although it’s not very clear yet. I want to capture emotion in my work.  I’m in uncharted territory with no prior experience.  When judging your work in terms of technique, it is pretty easy to see how well the piece turned out.  When you shift and start working to convey emotion, the critique changes.

When I paint, draw, write, I create my own circle and all outside worries are not allowed into that space.  Sometimes I have felt alone and lost in that circle but inside I have the freedom to focus on what I’m trying to do.

Reflecting on previous efforts to paint,  I realize that my whole body becomes involved. I walk back and forth, swing my arm and let the brush dance across the canvas. Occasionally the paint even lands on the canvas.  It’s that energy I want to capture.  How do I show that emotion, what marks do I need to make on the surface?  What colors should I use?  What movement should the piece have?

And,  I need to remember that expressing emotion directly through color, line, and form, still requires attention to composition and all the other elements.  My personal signature needs to be there.  Just as an author develops her own voice, so does a painter.