Mid-October at Radnor Lake as the trees are in the beginning stages of turning. Fall wildflowers are hanging on even though the weather is cooling down.
Category: Art Blog
Week-End Inspiration–Slogging through the Wasteland
“The Muse visits during the act of creation., not before Don’t wait for her. Start alone.” Roger Ebert
It’s been a long week and you are counting on having some time to create art this week-end. You are pumped, you are ready, all your supplies out, then… nothing. A big fat nothing! The Muse has left the building. Major bummer! All the planning to have this time and the inspiration has dried up. All dressed up and nowhere to go. What now?
In Twelve Steps to Stay Inspired the authors have some great ideas such as get outside, go looking for inspiration. If the Muse is gone, go looking for where she went. Do some searching in a park or the shopping mall. Drop in to a local tourist site and mingle with the tourists. Seeing things through the eyes of the tourists may change your perspective.
Listening to dreams is on Artpromotivate’s list of 20 Art Inspiration Ideas for Creativity. That is an interesting one. Can you remember what dreams you had last night? Were you too tired from the week before to even have dreams? If not what was the last memorable dream you did have? Write it down. Sketch it. Think about its meaning. See if there might be some sparks lurking down in your dreams ready to light some fire. Hopefully, you haven’t had any nightmares recently. Or maybe you have!
Smashing Magazine says if you have a regular “go to” place for inspiration, change it up. Go somewhere different. ArtistsInspireArtists.com suggests a look into what other artists are doing. Find inspiration from your peers. See what is inspiring them.
If all else fails, go to the studio and make some marks. Any marks. Taking the steps may bring out the rest. The effort will, hopefully, start to take shape. Sometimes the best things happen when feeling lost in the drought. The defenses are down and feelings dejected. You never know. There just might be a pleasant surprise waiting to show up on the canvas, paper, etc. Something wonderful may grow out of the wasteland!
Colorful Fridays–“Green” Rose Brown
“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” Sir Frances Bacon (from the Painter’s Keys)
Mix cinnamon, ginger and chocolate and you will come up with a color very close to Burnt Sienna, (not to be confused with the rock band, Burnt Sienna). However, you may not want to paint with this mixture. For paint, you will need iron oxide and manganese oxide. Then you will have to set it on fire, unless or course, you are looking for the more yellowish Raw Sienna. In that case, leave off the fire.
Burnt Sienna is an old paint color dating to early cave paintings.. The rose brown of Burnt Sienna was originally called terra rossa or red earth in accounts from the Renaissance period but later came to be known for the Italian city of Siena where the minerals were first mined. Today it is mined on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, in the French Ardennes and American Appalachians.
Rembrandt favored Burnt Sienna as is evident in the warm rosy glow so characteristic of his paintings. Burnt Sienna is favored in most Renaissance paintings as well. Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro was likely achieved with the liberal use of Burnt Sienna in the rich deep shadows that became his signature style. Burnt Sienna was a popular paint of many of the old masters and continues its popularity to this day.
Most makers of Burnt Sienna today give a light fast rating of one as extremely light fast. Golden classifies it as semi-transparent. The Gamblin Company states today’s Burnt Sienna is more opaque than 200 years ago and recommends Van Dyke Brown or Gamblin Earth Tone Colors as better choices if seeking greater transparency. Daniel Smith, speaking of the watercolor, says Burnt Sienna combines well in glazes as a semi-transparent pigment that won’t “sully or stain the other pigments” in your glaze.
Artists seeking to become more earth-friendly in painting can buy natural pigments of Burnt Sienna for home mixing from EarthPigments.com. If you would like to be more “Green” with your browns, try mixing your own earth tones from actual earth pigments. What could be more natural?
Order natural pigments from Earth Pigments here.
Burnt Sienna, the band, talks about their music on You Tube:
Soul Food
“Cross Creek belongs to the wind and rain, to the sun and the seasons, to the cosmic secrecy of seed, and beyond all, to time.” Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
There’s a place in Nashville far enough off the tourist path to remain an oasis for nature lovers and others seeking relief from the hectic pace of the daily rat race. To go there is to breathe in the scent of the flora and fauna of the woods without leaving the city. A bit of the rejuvenation coming only from Mother Nature is just a short distance from the rush hour traffic of the nearby interstate. Radnor Lake is a slice of enchantment to feed the create soul while remaining in the city.
Taking Granny White Pike toward the lake, between the old stacked -stone walls built by soldiers during the Battle of Nashville is a beautiful drive beneath towering oaks. The turn onto Otter Creek Road leads to the small parking area designated for visitors to the lake. Leaving the car and starting out up the short hill to the road beside the lake is to step into another world. The trees are a canopy overhead shading the walk. Leaves scattered over the road crunch under foot. Birds chirping replace the sounds of traffic. The woods become an enveloping blanket leaving the busyness of life behind.
Other people are present but scattered enough to keep the feeling of being in the woods from dissolving. And the people of Radnor Lake are a very respectful bunch, all seeming to have entered into the spiritual presence of a pristine natural world. The occasional bit of laughter rings out or the delighted scream of a child at the site of a scurrying chipmunk can be heard but otherwise voices do not pierce the stillness of the woods.
While ascending the hill to the lake road the other day, I spotted a man standing very quietly looking up into the woods. He was not moving a muscle. As I approached, I realized he was watching something in the woods. I slowed my pace and searched for what he was seeing. A family approaching from the other direction, stopped as well, and peered into the trees. We soon saw what the man was watching. A white tailed deer and her two almost grown babies were coming down out of the woods to cross the road to the creek below the lake. We all stood momentarily transfixed by the sight, as the deer family walked peaceably by the humans not ten feet away without a care and disappeared into the woods again on the other side. The group of humans then dispersed and walked on. The children completely quiet and still as the deer family passed, resumed their happy skipping and chatter. It was a momentary shared spiritual experience.
Radnor Lake is a place I go for soul nourishment. The trees, flowers, birds and other wildlife bring on a magical contentment. Looking out over the lake is a peaceful sight. Passing photographers and binocular-welding bird watchers along the walk, I know others are finding food for the soul, as well. Like Cross Creek, Radnor Lake belongs, “beyond all, to time.” We all need the Radnor Lake/Cross Creek places to soothe and feed our creative selves.
The Breathing Heart
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” William Wordsworth (from Becoming Minimalist.com)
Why do we start blogs? Ask that question and many answers will pop up. The most popular are to make money or to promote a business. But a funny thing happens along the way. The heart starts to get into it. The people that become a part of the community interacting with a blog start to become personally meaningful. The blog content begins to focus on who these people are and why.
A popular blogger, Cristian Mihai, answers the questions of his popularity on a post for The Daily Post at WordPress. Mihai says he began his blog to gain audience for his books and was determined to make a go of it. Along the way he made some discoveries. Of one such discovery, he states, “If every post you write means something to you, it’ll undoubtedly mean something to other people, too.” And secondly, he believes consistency is vital. Make a regular post and stay with it. But follow the heart.
Penny Howe in her blog, The Why About This, has a post entitled, “What do we do next, we bloggers, we artists, we people?’ When the heart has begun the process of making a daily foray into the blog post, what next? Howe says make a plan of action. Plan the next moves based on what the heart has revealed. If the goals from the blog’s beginning have changed, take a look at the new goals and arrange the plan of action around the new goals. But first determine what those goals are.
“The best recommendations are still found in the personal realization that blogging changes you,” writes Joshua Becker in Becoming Minimalist. Becker says blogging not only changes your life, it changes the life of the reader as well. He believes writing a blog will inspire others, and the writer in the process.
In making the plan of action, advocated by Penny Howe, perhaps a look at the heart of the matter is at hand. Self- promotion or business promotion may have been the initial reason but as the heart began to speak more openly and coherently, the reason possibly changed. As the heart begins to breath, encourage it to continue. Breathing is a good thing.
SEO, So So
“I’m not a marketing person. I don’t ask myself questions. I go by instinct.” Karl Lagerfeld (from BrainyQuote)
How does the whole Search Engine Optimization(SEO) thing work and is it important for artists? It may depend on two factors. First, how tech savvy you are may indicate how effective SEO is for you. The second factor depends on how much time or money you have to invest. The whole point of SEO is to get your website on pages one through three of the big search engines. If your website does make it to page one through three, does that equal success?
This is not an easy conversation for artists who really just want to paint. Whether or not it is important to take the time to become more tech savvy is naturally up to the individual. Artist Rizwana A. Mundewadi, writing for Absolute Arts is not so sure it is vital for artists. Mundewadi states the more important thing is to write from your heart about your art. She believes, you, the artist, are the best person to write about your art. You are the one with the passion. Mundewadi states, “This some how is felt even on the net, there is a connection with genuine hearts.”
Duran Inci, writing for Optimum 7, says SEO can be very rewarding for artists and muscians and a strong marketing component. However, Inci advises the use of a company with the know- how and successful track record particularly for artists. His article gives several tips for finding the right SEO company for artists. The most important point Inci makes is long-term commitment. There are no short cuts or quick fixes. The rewards come from staying with the plan.
Smashing Magazine features an article on the SEO topic by Paul Boag advocating the same basic idea as Mundewadi, though with more tech information. Boag makes it plain that people should take control of their own websites and blogs. Boag outlines a good plan for doing this with the point that the primary driver of traffic is good content. If you want more traffic, write good content that people are interested in. Feature useful information people will want to share with others.
The bottom line is SEO may be helpful if you have the time and/or money and especially the interest. If you do not, concentrate on what you do have. Most artists have a passion for their art. That is the key. Write about it. Tell people what you find in your art. Talk about what you are passionate about in a way that is useful to other people. Become as tech savvy as you want but above all, be who you are. Let your heart shine and others will connect.
Sunday Slideshow–Fall Colors
The leaves are turning and the morning is chilly.
Edible Adjustments
“To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that is very good but that most can’t eat it.” Leo Tolstoy (from Brainyquote)
Does making a living diminish the subject of political statements in artist’s works? Many artists feel very strongly about political causes and seek to project this viewpoint in their art. However, artists also want to make a living doing the work they are passionate about. The difficulty may be in finding a marketable role for an artist’s work while maintaining a passionate direction.
“Visual Arts has a role to play in encouraging us to search through the ‘fragments and bigger pieces’ of our world and to piece them together in ways which allow us to explore, describe, contemplate, manipulate and bring them alive,” writes the author of an article for Artstuff.net. The statement suggests a political motivation is a requirement for art creation. Artists must have a higher purpose in their work to adhere to this role for art in today’s world.
The Art Newspaper, reporting on the Frieze London art fair, makes the following observation: “Reflecting complex social issues, political situations and personal causes is important to many artists, but confrontational works are commercially difficult.” Though the artist’s role is to encourage searching, too much searching may not sell art. While one writer is suggesting art’s role is to prod the viewer into a form of enlightenment, the second writer says that politics does not necessarily sell art.
Artists make art because of an inner force. Success comes from the ability to steer this force into a commercially viable direction followed by aggressive marketing. If the goal is to promote a deeply felt political cause it may be worth contemplating how that can be accomplished in a way more likely to stimulate exploration than as an outright in the face statement. The inner drive may be difficult to steer but worth the effort in the long run if seeking commercial success. Making art edible “to the majority of men,” may mean a little creative adjustment. After all, we all want to be edible.
Colorful Fridays-The Queen’s Red
“I love red so much, I almost want to paint everything red.”–Alexander Calder (from Color Research)
Did Lewis Carroll base the character, the Red Queen, of Through Looking Glass, on the War of the Roses or on Queen Victoria? There is much speculation but the monarch was apparently an amateur painter with a preference for alizarin crimson. However, many artists, like the former Queen, love this juicy color. Botanical artists once frequently used this deep rich red. But artist beware. With alizarin crimson, it pays to read the manufacturer’s guidelines.
Alizarin crimson was introduced in 1868 by German chemists, Graebe and Lieberman. Handprint.com states alizarin goes on strong and dark but dries to a much lighter maroon. Both Handprint.com and GurneyJourney.blogspot.com give alizarin crimson very poor ratings for light-fastness. James Gurney states alizarin will fade out of the painting considerably over time. PR83 is the chemical name of this rapidly fading alizarin crimson.
Gamblin paints has solved the fading problem of alizarin crimson by creating a lightfast substitute, slightly less intense, called Alizarin Permanent. And another choice for artists from Gamblin is the warmer but equally transparent Perylene Red. A little experimentation might make either of these reds a successful alternative.
Golden Paints has, also, come up with a solution to the lack of light-fastness in alizarin crimson by blending the quinacridone reds with Phthalo Blue-green shade to come up with Alizarin Crimson Hue. Golden gives Alizarin Crimson Hue a light-fastness rating of I, the best rating, another good substitute.
Brainpickings and Making a Mark are two blogs with a series of Queen Victoria’s watercolor sketches. The Independent has a story on the recent unveiling of the exhibit of Queen Victoria’s watercolors, along with other royals artwork, at Windsor Castle this year. She painted quite a few landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and a number of sketches of her children. Enjoy the Queen’s paintings but maybe not her color preferences!
Poster Presentation
The Painting Pundit will be off for two days presenting a poster on the Art to Heart Project at the University Hospital Consortium Annual Conference in Atlanta. We’ll be back in a couple of days!
Part Two of the Art to Heart Project is at: http://www.arttoheartproject.com