Create...

Yesterday I had this little painting out to give to a friend.  She commented on it in instagram, and honestly knowing her...it was the perfect little "happy" for her own studio!  Mailey came up the stairs and saw it laying out for her and said, "Mom, where'd you get this painting?"  "I made it."  Mailey said, "What?  Wow.  I really like it.  It doesn't look like your normal paintings."  "Why thanks Mailey....I think.  Maybe I should paint like this more?" 

Which leads me to this.  BTW my friend's deep chocolate eyes lit up so BIG when I handed it to her I knew I'd done a good thing.  :)  Sometimes I find myself wandering away from the normal thread.  The birds...the trucks...the bikes....they get old to me.  Less fresh.  Too forced.  Bland....blah....Ew....The series of paintings I'll be sharing with you over the next 2 weeks are totally not blah...ew...or tired.  Rather they are totally fresh and fun.  You see, I still like to learn and grow my artist vocabulary.  So what do I do to inspire this growth?  I take classes.  I read books.  I GROW.  I never stop learning how to push myself. 

Now, if you are one that likes to search the internet and find inspiration out there and try and copy it I caution you.  Honestly that road will only lead to frustration and is not a way to grow your own personal style.  I encourage you, if you are seeking growth in your work, to take a class.  Learn a new technique.  Allow yourself room to make mistakes, paint over the mess and start again.  That's what happened above.  It was a part of an online class.  A game actually.  And it looked like a freaking hot mess when the game was over.  Not one to ever be defeated by my own art I started finding shapes in the negative space.  And in the end the result was quite rich, textural and happy.  Not really a part of my normal thread.  But still happy.  And that is always a part of my thread!