| Author | Message | ||
  Deecubed Junior Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 16 Registered: 12-2007 |
Eugene, You will really enjoy Ted Nuttall's workshop. He is wonderful! Not only is he a great artist, he is a very sensitive, generous instructor. Truly, a lot of bang for the buck! I went to one of his workshops in August, and was blown away by how much he "gives" his students. There were a number of kernels of wisdom each day we were with him. Granted, you and others are certainly at different levels of experience and knowledge, but I found Ted's style and expertise one I would work with again. To me, he is a breath of fresh air on the teaching scene! Enjoy. I am jealous! Will scan and send one of the portraits I did in his workshop soon ... | ||
Eugene Senior Member Username: Eugene Post Number: 471 Registered: 8-2006 |
HI whitewater and all, I'm really excited about two weeks of workshops i will be taking in myrtle beach, nc .i leave on nov 1 and return on the 15th. one week with dianne maxey, painting flowers, and one week with ted nuttall doing figures and portraits. it will be a full 2 weeks but i love it and go back year after year. will be good to see a lot of old friends that also come every year. so if you don't hear much from me until i return, it's because i'm busy preparing for it. nuttall ask us to come with contour drawings so we can spend our time painting not drawing. here's a little one, only about 5x7  | ||
Joanna Advanced Member Username: Joanna Post Number: 194 Registered: 10-2006 |
Hi AHughes--have you painted more cats? Or anything recent? I really like that cat painting the more I look at it. The composition is eye catching. Even though I think it needs more range of tones (value studies are helpful)--you've got something going here that's really good. How about an update on your work, when you can! | ||
Whitewatercolor Senior Member Username: Whitewatercolor Post Number: 376 Registered: 10-2006 |
Eugene: Good to hear from you, I've missed you all summer. It is hard to create our best art when our energy is scattered in many directions. I guess you are finally at a time in your life when your creative ability becomes the focus. You also have 84 years of memories to share with the rest of us. Your paintings are more beautiful every day. I'm glad you're taking the time to enter shows and brighten our lives with your talent and knowledge. | ||
Joanna Advanced Member Username: Joanna Post Number: 190 Registered: 10-2006 |
Eugene, that "well, it's looser" is an incredibly positive attitude. I hope I can see your paintings in person one of these days, seeing as we are in neighboring areas. You also inspire me to paint our local scenes here in Delaware. | ||
Eugene Senior Member Username: Eugene Post Number: 470 Registered: 8-2006 |
Whitewater. I don't know what makes me paint except that I enjoy doing it more thAN ANYTHING ELSE. AND NOW THAT I'M RETIRED AND LIVING IN A CAREFREE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY I HAVE TIME FOR IT. At 84, I think I'm doing my best work and getting into more shows and winning some prizes.. I think I'm working so hard because I have so many things I want to paint and so little time left. I'm in good health except for walking. (i'm in a motorized chair most of the time.) and I have the early stages of Parkinson's. So if my paintings are a little looser-- well, look at it this way,-- I've been trying to loosen up all my life! And yes, there is that EGO thing. We all like to be told over and over again "How talented you are" | ||
Dave New member Username: Dave Post Number: 4 Registered: 6-2008 |
I am not at an age when I feel the need to ensure a lasting legacy, but also not at an age where I feel that anything older than me has nothing to offer. My children are still very young, and I don't paint for anything other than the sheer joy of creation and the challenge of it. I did artist blacksmithing before I took up painting and found that *for me* trying to produce work for sale really cut the soul out of it. I am happy to give away (or even sell) my works if someone likes them, but that is not my primary motivation. Whitewatercolor: I love what you say about hunting, and gathering. | ||
Whitewatercolor Senior Member Username: Whitewatercolor Post Number: 372 Registered: 10-2006 |
Snowman, Eugene and Eric--I've wondered what it is that creates the drive to express ourselves to the extent that we do. I think it may have something to do with immortality (when my father died I began to realize how someone could contribute so much to so many for so long yet disappear so quickly), it has something to do with the desire to communicate or reach out to like minded people who we might otherwise pass but never touch (what a loss), I think it also has something to do with satisfying a work ethic that was instilled in us at an early age (at the end of the day we have something to show for the time we've been given). It may also satisfy our hunting and gathering instints--hunting knowledge and gathering the results. | ||
Whitewatercolor Senior Member Username: Whitewatercolor Post Number: 371 Registered: 10-2006 |
AH - I love your cats! It is not easy to stop once we've captured the character of an animal. You've certainly done that. And Joanna, looks like you're headed in a good direction. I'd like to see more of this work. I've been really busy this summer and not had time to check in. Now that the summer is almost over, it will be fun to share thoughts. | ||
Joanna Advanced Member Username: Joanna Post Number: 187 Registered: 10-2006 |
I thought I'd post my newest painting; I'm doing a series of Northern Pueblo people from a group of photographic portraits my dad did in the 80's (he lived in New Mexico for many years.)  | ||
Ahughes798 New member Username: Ahughes798 Post Number: 6 Registered: 8-2008 |
And here's the picture, LOL!  | ||
Ahughes798 New member Username: Ahughes798 Post Number: 5 Registered: 8-2008 |
Thanks for the thoughts. It was my first painting wherein I had to include a shadow, and if you saw the picture that I took that I drew it from, you would see that the shadow I drew was about the right size, I guess. But here's the next painting I did. My teacher didn't like it 'cuz he said it looked like a cartoon. And I like it just for that reason, it looks exactly like both of those cats. | ||
Eric Junior Member Username: Eric Post Number: 25 Registered: 4-2008 |
I agree with Eugene's view. I'm driven to get the most out of my ability and to become the best artist I can be. I started painting relatively late so I feel a sense of urgency to reach my potential. I also get satisfaction out of creating something that looks good. I also like the thought that my paintings will be around after I'm gone, but it's certainly not anything I dwell on. I also like selling or giving paintings away as gifts rather than have them accumulate in my home. But these are all secondary to the thought that I have to continue to strive to be a better artist. | ||
Snowman New member Username: Snowman Post Number: 3 Registered: 8-2008 |
Time is indeed short! And while the farthest thing from my mind is being the "BEST" or being at "ThE TOP OF THE HEAP" I've discovered that the practice of accumulating techniques, for the sole purpose of capturing "my take" on any given scene (imaginary or real), has become more my goal than actually painting or carving etc... I have become what Eugene praises.....a tradesman, and I loathe the feeling. (Eugene, please don't take offense by that last statement as it was meant to acknowledge diversity, not to criticize.) Where did I put my rose-colored glasses? | ||
Eugene Senior Member Username: Eugene Post Number: 462 Registered: 8-2006 |
call me insensitive, but I never feel that I am selling part of myself when I sell a piece of my work. I'm really happy when my paintings get out there where others can see them | ||
Eugene Senior Member Username: Eugene Post Number: 461 Registered: 8-2006 |
I believe that Painting (ART) is no different from any other trade or endeavor. Although there is satisfaction in pleasing others and selling your work I think the real driving force is being accepted by your peers and striving to be the BEST and ThE TOP OF THE HEAP, as in any profession.. There is some ego in all of us. | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 613 Registered: 8-2006 |
Snowman, thanks so much for joining the conversation with these candid thoughts. I think we must be at the same point in life -- I feel the urgency of dwindling time as well! I can understand the problem of feeling like you are selling part of yourself for cash when you sell your art. I personally don't try to sell, and I am fortunate that I don't need to sell, though I have sold a few things. I enjoy giving me work away to those who seem to enjoy it. The only cure for the "pimp" feeling is to be motivated more by the affirmation of buyers that what you offer has value than the cash itself. I personally feel that we are created beings made in the likeness of a creator. As a creative person by nature, affirmed by others as having something that is of value to them, there seems to be an moral obligation to share it unselfishly. There is no shame in wanting to leave a legacy, a footprint unique to ourselves on the bedrock of time, something that may prove to be of some kind of value in the way of beauty, meaning or inspiration to those who follow us on the trail. In fact, it's almost an obligation to trailblaze if we have the ability and time to make our mark. Creating something of value is indeed hard work -- sometimes it is enjoyable, and sometimes, as you say, it is not. Don't quit. Press on. Time is short! | ||
Snowman New member Username: Snowman Post Number: 1 Registered: 8-2008 |
First, thank you all for sharing not only your art, but your thoughts. I've felt privileged to read both the dearest and sincerest of thoughts posted here, which leads me to the subject of this thread. What reason(s) do you give, yourself and others, for the existance of your art? As for myself, I've never claimed to be an artist....more of pimp...no, not selling the flesh of others, but a piece of me each time a bill needed/needs to be paid. Only lately have I found myself lured by paper and pigments as I've been busy in wood and bronze for the past 35 years. But, what I'm feeling now, as I get older, is a sense of urgency that has never pervaded my thoughts before and I'm beginning to question "why". So much so that I ask myself "what are you trying to communicate by painting, drawing, sculpting any given subject in the first place?" Somewhere along the line I've lost my muse. Wicked thoughts have entered in......the likes of which are...."Are you trying to create your legacy?" or "Why paint, draw, sculpt if you're not enjoying the entire process, let alone the fact that you don't have a reason to "create" anymore?" Your thoughts may help me to rediscover my muse.......thank you in advance! |
