Exploration

Just a Spoonful of Moss

Sorry I've been M.I.A. I've been off exploring exotic and far off places. Like, for example, my backyard. Hanging out with a toddler is great for training the eye and soul to notice and delight in little things. On our explorations we picked up dozens of acorns, some with "hats" some without. To most of us, one or two of these treasures would have sufficed, but not so for my 14 month-old. She had to have as many as she could hold in her tiny hands and when one would slip out and roll away, she'd chase it down crying, "Oh no!" My favorite discovery was this cheap, cafeteria style spoon partly buried in the dirt with moss growing in the bowl. We live in an older house and finds like this always lead me to wonder how they got there. A little boy digging in the dirt? A family picnic in the yard? What do you think? Any ideas?

Sweet Little Feet

Sweet Little Feet

There is no making a 1 year-old sit still for a portrait, however I did manage to catch her little crossed feet at she sat in her high chair. Ah, the magic of graham crackers to keep a toddler still!

The art of lying fallow

Whew! Y'all. This last month has been crazy! Good crazy, but still, crazy! With the Eclectic Art Social Club show at Parkside October 19th, my daughter's (kind of big) first birthday party October 28th, and Moss Rock Festival this past weekend (which I realize I didn't even TELL y'all about!), I feel like I've hardly caught my breath. Throw in normal, everyday life and needless to say, things like home-cooked meals have taken a backseat.
I'm aware that not everyone feels this way, but I actually like to cook. Especially if I can take the time. So that's what I'm doing- taking some time. Slowing down. Getting my house back in order. Spending time with my husband, baby, and dogs. And making chili.
I have some new projects on the horizon. Ideas are simmering in the back of my head for new subjects, new techniques, new formats and I know I'll be back in my studio in just a couple of days. But for the time being, like my tiny summer herb garden, I'm lying fallow and regaining my strength.

Lessons learned

I mentioned in my last post that I had learned a few things from my most recent painting experiment. So, in no particular order, here they are!
Lesson #1: Prime, prime, prime!

It's important when using oils on wood that you prime the surface. Over time, oil degrades wood and paper, so you need that primer as protection for the wood. This I knew and I did apply a couple of coats of clear matte medium to protect the wood. What I didn't fully appreciate was the importance of preparing the surface for me, specifically. If you look closely at the image above, you can see the bumps and roughness in the surface of the wood. I didn't realize how much that would distract me. I swoon for super smooth painting surfaces, so the texture of the wood bothered me. 

So, in short if you're working on wood with acrylics and you like rougher surfaces and texture in your work, don't worry about priming. Jump right in! If you're using oils on wood and like texture, a couple of coats of gesso or matte medium should work fine for you. But if you're a lover of glassy finishes like me, sand, prime, repeat ad nauseam.

Lesson #2: Use a good reference photo (or model if working directly from life).

This was my reference photo, which wasn't absolutely terrible, but didn't provide me with what I needed for this picture. Had I been striving to recreate this picture, it would have been doable, but to recreate the patterns and shadows of the face in muscle and patterns, I should have used a clearer, not so blown-out picture. 

Lesson #3: Get out of your comfort zone.

This experiment was pretty far out from realistic portraits of everyday objects and their reflections and that was great for me. Try a new painting surface, subject, or technique! You'll never know your own style unless you explore. Who knows, it may turn out even better than you imagined! Or it may turn out that it's not your cup of tea at all. Either way, the experiment will be a success. 

So what about you? Learn anything new lately? Discover a love of a different subject or technique? What have you been experimenting with? Let me know about it!

Like this post? Check out:

New Goodies

Life is just a bowl of... doorknobs?

A few of my favorite things

Magical Mystery Painting Revealed!

At long last, as promised, here it is!

"First let me put on my face" by Erin Hardin
5"x7"
oil on birch

Like I said, pretty different from anything you've seen from me, but not ENTIRELY different from anything I've ever done. A couple of years ago I did this:

"Emotional Skin"
by Erin Hardin

for "Heads Up, Alabama!". "Heads Up, Alabama!" was a public arts display sponsored by the Alabama Psychological Association to raise awareness of mental health care. I was one of 30 artists in Alabama chosen to decorate one of these huge fiberglass heads. Here's an article in the Birmingham News about the program (with another photo of Headley, as I affectionately called my Head). Here's another photo so you can see the size.

The inspiration for my design, "Emotional Skin" came from one of my professors in grad school. I've probably mentioned before that I have a M.Ed. in counseling from the University of Montevallo. During my internship one of my professors described a person with borderline personality disorder as "having no emotional skin," because he or she feels all emotions more strongly than normal and they all hurt. That image stuck with me and so for this project I thought of how a person might patch their emotional skin in healthy ways. I loved that project, so I thought I'd experiment with a few paintings based on that concept. However, I ran into a few challenges with the painting. All good learning experiences, but challenges nonetheless. I'll go into what those challenges were and what I learned from them in my next post. For the time being, here are a few more close-up images of Headley for your perusal (that's kinda a fun word). 

One clear, bright sky, eye

And on stormy sky eye

If you enjoyed this post, you may like:

Art Bite 1

Art Bite 2

Art Bite 3

Art Bite 4

Art Bite 5

A few of my favorite things

 One thing you should know about me- I love, I mean LOVE mixing colors. It may be my favorite part of painting. Rarely do I ever use a color just straight out of the tube. So, now and again I'm going to tell you about some of my favorite colors and how I use them.
My mentor, Dori DeCamillis, taught me that when laying out your palette you should put out all, or almost all, your color whether you think you need them or not. The reason nothing is truly only the color you think you see. For example, what color are these apples?

Greenish yellow, right? So you only get out your green and yellow paints. Look again.

Do you see it? There are so many other colors in there. Pinks in the skin, dark grayish blue in the shadows, white in the highlights. I even see a little light blue in the highlight on the top of the apple to the left. So don't be scared of wasting paint and go ahead and get it all out. You may surprise yourself. Oh, and my color tip for the day? Try a little caucasian flesh tone mixed with blue for that funny little color you see around the base of the stem. 

Do any of you have any tips or favorite color combos you'd like to share? I'd love to learn from you. 

Field trippin'

Disclaimer: I'm holding a teething, squirmy, 6-month-old in my lap as I type, so forgive any typos, please.

I'm excited about the painting I'm currently working on, but there's one part that's just driving me crazy! I can't seem to get it right and I just can't seem to leave it alone. So, I'm going to force myself to take a break from it. You know what that means...

FIELD TRIP!

Today I visited the Loretta Goodwin Gallery a well-established gallery in the Lakeview District of Birmingham which bills itself as "Birmingham's premier fine art gallery." I must say, I was very impressed. A charming courtyard welcomes you off the street and into the gallery where neutral colors form a backdrop for an array of styles. The staff seemed very friendly and knowledgeable and the artwork was beautifully displayed. I, of course, was not able to take photos in the gallery, nor do I want to infringe on any copyrights by posting images of paintings actually hanging in gallery, but let me tell you about a few of my favorite things:

Milt Kobayashi's portraits- The faces reminded me somehow of Toulouse Lautrec. They were lovely.

Bruce Adams' "Tea and Lemon"- We all know how I love simple, everyday items. This painting by Bruce Adams was, in subject, the simplest of all this artist's paintings that I saw there, however it was my favorite. I studied his depiction a turquoise cup and saucer, with slices of lemon for probably 10 minutes. I was especially impressed with the roundness he managed to convey in the string of the tea bag. Sometimes the simplest things are the most important.

Emma Boyd's "Egg Basket"- A beautiful, close up, oil on paper painting of, as the title suggests, eggs and a basket. This another one that I looked at for a while. The eggs looked like they would just roll off the page. Gorgeous! Another painting by Emma Boyd, "Big Yellow Pear," also fascinated me. The pear almost glowed with light and Ms. Boyd beautifully handled the speckles and variations in the pear's skin.

Lee Wilson's "Haven"- "Haven" is completely unlike any of the other paintings I've mentioned so far. It's a large, acrylic, abstract painting. Chaotic splashes of colors suggest rambling brush and wilderness, however the eye is constantly drawn to a clean-lined cabin in the distance. The simplicity of the house indeed makes it a haven from the busy feel of the rest of the painting. There is a picture of it on the Loretta Goodwin website (click Lee Wilson's name above and it is in the gallery), however to truly appreciate it, you need to view it in person. This is another that captured me for several minutes.


So, in short, I think that this excursion from my studio was time well spent. Plus, I came back to my painting with fresh eyes and believe I know how to fix exactly what's been bothering me on my painting. Score!

Have a taste

Here's another bite of my current work in progress

I'm having so much fun with it! Stay tuned for more bits and pieces.

Magical mystery painting

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was trying out some new painting surfaces since painting on metal takes so much time (not to mention the fact that I mount my own metal pieces). As promised, here's an update on how it's going.

This week I'm working on this...

lovely birch panel. At first glance (and first touch) it was super smooth. But, alas, wood is made of fiber so it didn't stay that way. Since I use oils and oils will, over time, degrade wood if applied directly, I primed the panel with a couple of layers of acrylic matte medium.

I'm super excited about my newest painting. It's WAY different than anything I've done in a while. I'm having a blast. Instead of showing you the whole thing in progress, I thought it'd be fun to show you little bits and pieces along the way. So, here's a tidbit:

You can probably tell from this little piece of the painting that  the surface is a tiny bit rough. So far, I like it pretty well, though. Stay tuned for more little puzzle pieces of my mystery painting

Work in Progress Finished- Take 2!

Oops, I lied. In my last post I told you that Bright Idea, my work in progress that you have watched me finish step-by-step, was done. However, the more I looked at it, the more I felt that something was missing. Let's play the "What's different?" game.
Here's the "finished" painting that I showed you in the last post:

And here it is now:

Do you see it? It's not the bolder color. Sorry, that was a photography error on my part. The second photo is truer to the actual painting. Look again. It's subtle and tiny, but I think that it makes a big difference. Do you give up?

It's the filament inside the lightbulb. I left it out on purpose originally because, though my work is classified as realism, I purposefully don't make it exact or photorealistic. That's where creative license comes in. Like I said, though, the more I looked at it, the more I realized it NEEDED the filament. My husband (and art critic in the best sense of the term) agreed. 

That's what I love about painting. No mistake is totally permanent. Some take more work than others, but everything is fixable. it's nice to have an area of life that's so forgiving. 

What do y'all think? Do you agree that the filament was a necessity? Have you ever thought something was finished and then revamped it? Maybe even totally. I'd love to see or hear about it!

To see the full journey from start to finish, check it out, here,  here, here, here, here, and here (in that order).

Work in Progress- FINISHED!

Here it is! Bright Idea is finished at long last.

To see the many stages it went through click here, here, here, here, and here (in that order). Now, I just need to make a frame.

New goodies

Guess what! Bright Idea is finished! I'm waiting for it to fully dry so that I can put a coat of Liquin on  it (to seal and finish it) before I unveil the finished piece. Stay tuned! In the meantime...

I love new art supplies! After finishing Bright Idea I decided to take a little break from painting on metal and give some other surfaces a shot. So, I headed over to Forstall Art Center and got a couple new things to try.

First up- this lovely artist panel. Already primed and ready to go. I like the deep profile (it comes in a smaller profile as well). The surface isn't as smooth as metal (what is?), but it's smoother than canvas. Plus, the fact that it doesn't give and flex like stretched canvas will preserve the painting over time.

I also got this Birch panel. It's got a deep profile like the artist panel. It would actually be fairly easy to make yourself- it's basically a shallow box, but time is at a premium for me right now. I love how smooth it is- almost as smooth as metal. Look how pretty! Plus I like that if I wanted to I could let some wood show through in parts of my painting. The downside is that you can't use oil paints directly on wood (it degrades over time), so it needs to be primed. I think I'll use some clear Golden Matte Medium to prime. So, I'll try these out and give y'all a full report.

P.S. I also got a new filbert brush. Not that y'all REALLY care that I got a filbert. I just like saying the name. It makes me feel like I've given my tools a nickname. Maybe I'll come up with nicknames for some art supplies as well!

What about everyone out there? Are you trying something new? What's your favorite thing to paint on and why? Do you nickname inanimate objects (like Filbert)? You're not alone. Let's chat!

Work in progress: Movin' right along!

Thanks to my wonderful baby getting on a nap-time routine, I've really made some progress on Bright Idea. I've decided that in a weird way working around baby girl's schedule has actually made me a little more disciplined. I know that I only have an hour to paint and I get right to work rather than letting other stuff get in my way and distract me. Here's how it looked my last post:

The next time I painted I mainly focused HERE: 

And here it is now:

I think all I have to do is figure out those silly corners that are giving me such trouble. Any tips anyone?

Autism and the Arts

Warning: This post might be a little wordy. However, I think the information is useful and interesting.
Thursday I did a presentation at UAB (University of Alabama in Birmingham) entitled A Different Point of View: A Discussion of Autism and the Arts. It went so well! I had a great and attentive audience and we had a really good discussion after the presentation. A few people who weren't able to attend have asked me for more details about the presentation, so here's an overview!

Involvement with the arts can have great therapeutic benefit for anyone. Specifically, though, we talked about autism and the characteristics of a person with autism and how the arts can be used as part of their therapy. For brevity's sake I'll just briefly outline some benefits of art (as well as specifics of why they are benefits to someone with autism). Then, I'll give some ideas for creating art with someone with autism (or other disabilities as well).

Social benefits:

Most arts do not require language skills- Many individuals with autism have a hard time with language and communication. Art can be a way for them to relay their emotions without needing to speak.

If done in a group setting art can give everyone in the group a sense of community and common ground- Many individuals with Asperger's syndrome (a syndrome on the autism spectrum, but usually differentiated by strong language skills) suffer from depression because they realize that they are different and would like to belong, however their difficulty in understanding emotions and relationships makes it tough. Art done as a group can help that.

Art in different forms can help them to understand emotions- Some people with autism have an easier time understanding emotions portrayed in books and movies than in real life. I knew a little boy who loved Dr. Seuss and when he didn't like a situation he would yell, "I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM! I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM I AM!" The written word helped him to communicate his emotions.

The art community may be more accepting of the unique qualities of someone on the autism spectrum- There is a documentary called Autism: The Musical about a woman who discovered that people she hired from the local theatre made better progress with her autistic son than many therapists she'd hired. She ended up starting a theatre group for children with autism.

Physical benefits:

Art can help develop motor skills- Many people with autism have trouble with fine or gross (large) motor skills. Fine motor skills can be developed through painting, drawing, cutting paper, making jewelry, etc. Gross motor skills can be developed through dance and theatre

It can be a way to introduce new smells and textures gently- Some people with autism have a strong dislike for certain textures or smells. If, for example, a person dislikes gritty textures, art can be used to help them get over their aversion. You might first have them finger paint with smooth paints, then, if they're enjoying it, you can gradually add just a little bit of sand or salt to the paint. If they start reacting badly to the texture, you can backtrack by having them use a brush instead of their fingers. Eventually, you may even get them to paint on sandpaper.

Behavioral benefits:

Art can be used to either calm and focus a hyper individual, or relax an uptight individual. More on how, specifically, below.

Art can be an outlet for favorite subjects or topic or give them a chance to be as repetitive or detail-oriented as they like-
Many people with autism or Asperger's have a favorite topic. They usually have volumes of knowledge about that one thing, however that may be the only thing they want to talk about. Also, sometimes that thing is not socially appropriate. However, art can give them some freedom. While some people might say that they should not have any opportunity to explore their obsessions, I think that everyone should have a place where they are allowed to be exactly who they are. I knew one boy who was obsessed with toilets... he knew the model number and the flow volume of every toilet on the market and that's all he wanted to talk about. Obviously, that's not a very socially acceptable topic to always discuss. However, he could have painted pictures of toilets and no one would have batted an eye. Us artists sometimes paint weird things. After all, we all know how obsessed I am with my sink and the shininess of my faucet!

Ok, so now some ideas for getting someone with autism involved in art so that they can receive the most benefits possible:
1) Reduce distractions. If possible avoid florescent lights and loud rooms if the person you are working with is easily overwhelmed or distracted. If they are VERY easily overwhelmed, start with familiar items. For example, if they have never used paint before, try ketchup and mustard instead.
2) To calm and focus someone with autism (or anyone, really) don't give them a large canvas and paint. That will only make them more unfocused. Instead give them a small piece of paper and a pencil and maybe a small item for them to draw. Conversely, if he or she is uptight, a canvas and paint may work well.
3) Follow his or her lead. Making someone create is not going to be an enjoyable experience for anyone. Maybe he or she isn't enjoying painting, but is interested in music. Explore all your options.
4) Is he or she practical? Some people may not see the point in creating a painting to hang on the wall, but they may like making something that they can use. Some ideas are: A name plate or "keep out" sign for their room, a bowl, decorating a picture frame, decorating a table or chair, etc. I know you can come up with more!
5) Make sure the setting is safe, both emotionally and physically.
6) Be aware that they may or may not be ok with you in their personal space.
7) Accommodate any physical limitations. If they have trouble using their hands, don't make them make jewelry with tiny beads. You want this to be fun! You can gently add in challenges later at their own pace. There are paint brushes with large, short, rounded handles for easier grip and control as well as other adaptive art supplies on the market.

That's it! If you're in the Birmingham area, VSA of Alabama is a GREAT place to volunteer (all the pictures in this post are courtesy of VSA alabama. I work with them a lot). They have all kinds of arts programming for children and adults with disabilities or terminal illnesses. VSA is a national organization, so no matter where you are, you probably have a local VSA affiliate near you.

So what about y'all? Any of you work with special needs? Have any great ideas, tips, or projects that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them!

Work in progress (or "Guess who's back!")

I have an announcement. I, yes I, mother to a 5-month-old (and disorganized owner of 3 dogs AND now aspiring Pilates instructor- more on that later) am FINALLY feeling back to normal and am painting again. So, back to my work in progress, tentatively called Bright Idea. You may remember MONTHS ago, back before I wasn't so pregnant that painting was an aerobic endeavor, I started a painting. You can see the first posts here, here, and here. Well, I've gotten to work on it a few times lately and here's the current progress:

I'm going to have to stop categorizing my progress by day (day 1, day 2, etc.) because sometimes I get to work for 10 minutes, sometimes 2 hours, but the important thing is, I'm working and it feels great!

I need some help, though. The corners are bothering me. The bowl that I placed the lightbulb in to "pose" for this painting has a lattice-type pattern around the lip. I'm not sure how I feel about it in the painting, though. So talk to me people. What do you think? Is it distracting? Interesting? Does it add to the picture or is it just pointless? 

Tell me what's going on with y'all, too? Life changes making time for art difficult? How are you coping? Update me. 

Whoa! I have a baby!

Created using the ZenBrush application on iPad

Well, as you probably gathered by my subject line, I had my baby! A beautiful, healthy baby girl born October 29th.  I expected it to be an adjustment, but wow...I feel like I'm really just now getting my feet back under me. I haven't gotten to do any art since she was born, but I think we're finally getting into a groove. I'm loving being a mom, but I can't let what makes me, me completely disappear.

With the new year and new life stage, I've also had some new thoughts on art. As a fairly new artist, I've been trying to follow all the rules. One of those rules being, "Your art must have a consistent theme." I agree that themes are good and I agree that it's best if my art all looks like my art, but that's not something that can be forced. I've got some new ideas that I'm excited to explore- new textures, new painting surfaces, new themes. I'm not the same person from minute to minute, so how can my art be the same for the rest of my life? There are different aspects to me and there are different aspects to my art. With time, I believe those different facets will all join to form one big, consistent, crazy quilt of a picture... with time. 

And as usual, my attitude about art and about life change in sync. I'm not a super-organized person, I'm not a super-schedule oriented person, however I tried to make myself that way believing that that was the way to be a productive artist. Instead of being productive, though, I usually was just frustrated that scheduling was not working out as planned. I've realized in the last couple of months, though, that I need to capitalize on the fact that I'm flexible and enjoy.

So, here's to life and all of its changes and stages. Here's to art and adaptation. Here's to 2012. Happy New Year!

Work in Progress- Day 3- Making (slow) progress

Work in progress- 2nd coat

I don't know if you can tell it or not, but I've started the second coat. I got about 1/4 of it done today. This stage is always just a little frustrating because, since it's my second coat, I feel like it should look better than it does. However, once I step back from it, I realize it really is coming along. I started at the top left corner , however I wiped off that paint and am going to go back to that part. I felt that the lattice work was looking too sharp and may draw attention away from the lightbulb and its reflections. I'll have to experiment with how best to do the corners.
On a side note, I'm thinking of calling this piece "Bright Idea," (Get it? It's a lightbulb...). What do y'all think?

Work in progress- Day 2- First coat finished

Obviously, I finished the first coat- it's always my least favorite coat, however it also goes the fastest. I don't get to really get lost in the colors and details of the painting during this coat, though, because it's all about mapping it out generally. Plus, since I work on metal, I can't get too detailed with the first coat just because the surface is still so slippery. Now the fun part :)

Work in progress- Day 1 "Work past the ugly"

My friend Sunny Carvalho took a class once from a woman who kept reminding her students that "ya gotta work past the ugly." That has become my mantra because most paintings, especially the ones that turn out well, have at least one point where you look at them and go, "What am I doing? This looks terrible!" As visual artists, I think it's really easy to immediately cast a work of art aside when it gets to that stage, whether it's because we're afraid to proceed, embarrassed for others to see the ugly stage, or because we don't know that even the most beautiful of swans has to spend some time as an ugly duckling.

I started a new painting today and currently, it looks pretty awful. I've come to expect that, though. However, its ugliness inspired me to share the many life phases of my paintings with you. So, here it goes!

Day 1: I drew an outline in pencil of where the main objects and reflections of the painting would be, however I didn't take a picture (it probably wouldn't have shown up anyway). So, we'll skip just to the painting part. I didn't quite finish the first coat, but above is what I got done today.

Not lookin' great, huh? The prettiest part of the painting currently is the copper which has yet to be painted. Be patient, though. It'll get there. I'll be posting in-progress pictures of the painting in the next few posts and we'll see how it turns out. In the meantime, take it easy on yourselves. If you're working on something that just doesn't seem to be flowing, remember, "Ya gotta work past the ugly."

Today's featured artist...

A sample of Cecily's miniature Guatemala paintings

Today's featured artist is Birmingham's own Cecily Hill Lowe (aka CHill Art).  She does these amazingly beautiful abstracts using acrylic wash. Sometimes people look at abstracts and think, "Anyone could do that," simply because they don't understand the skill that goes into creating the composition and manipulating the paint. Trust me, I could not do what Cecily does. Currently, Cecily is selling miniature paintings to fund a mission trip to Guatemala. The paintings are acrylic wash on paper and they're tiny- 3"x4"- so you don't have to worry about finding wall space for them. They'll fit anywhere. Plus, they're only $25 a piece! Don't miss out on that! To view them, check out Cecily's blog.

Once again I have to apologize for being an absentee blogger. I'll make this my last apology. Not because I will never agin be so untimely in my posts, but because I will just trust that you understand that with a baby on the way, I'm a little distracted. I'm officially 31 weeks now and we still have to basically rearrange the whole house to make a nursery... and all I want to do is sleep and eat. :) Now I'm off to have second breakfast. Take care!