Blog

Happy New Year 2023

Here’s a catch up.  To make it more useful/targeted/tailored to you it is by section – in no particular order.

RECAP

I had a very disappointing year painting 2021.  Nothing seemed to work.  So I went on hiatus…playing in sculpture, in the garden, and in thinking. 

In a management seminar I heard a story about a prisoner of war, perhaps from the Hanoi Hilton, who liked to play golf.  When he was repatriated and during his first round of golf at his home club he took many strokes off his best score. All were astounded.   Every day during his captivity he played 18 holes in his mind practicing shots, getting out of trouble.  Even though the big muscles weren’t playing the game the most important one was.

CLASSES                            LEARN – TRY – PLAY - FAIL – REPEAT until it clicks

In early spring 2022 I took a class at MIAD – Milwaukee Instituted of Art and Design from Todd Morowski, a great printmaker.  The class worked in many different mediums.  I was re-energized working in conte crayon.  On Facebook can you guess which are the pictures of my back yard?

In 2021 I spent an enjoyable weekend at the Chicken Coop farm and teaching venue. Wisconsin artist Kyle Martin named the colors as he mixed the paints.  Now as I drive I often look at colors and mix them in my head. It is great practice.

We also did a side-by-side painting of a pear under radically different lights.  This sits in my kitchen and reminds me of color temperature.  His work is bright and joyful.

The best demonstration I ever have witnessed was in a spring 2022 workshop by Tom Nachmier.    Working with a limited pallet for color mixing I finally learned to mix good greys, blacks, and decent greens.  I see a more homogeneous result. 

This weekend I heard myself repeating Mama Bear, Baby Bear, Papa Bear while putting in various shapes.  I watched me checking the layout paying attention to the grid quadrant lines of three to document where the interest usually lies.  And I checked my corners to make certain they were all different.

Steve Puttrick taught me many things in a very well organized class in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

            Work fast.  Steve sculpts intricate, layered works with high contrasts that often changes radically from beginning to end.  Each stage is a WOW but his pictures mutate and emerge anew and with intricoes.

            80 – 20 rule in painting.  In business it is often said 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers.  So too in painting.  “Where’s the hero?”  What is the center of interest?  What can I peripherally fade out?

            At the Dubuque, Iowa Bluff Strokes event he talked about how he learns from the works of others.  “What is interesting?  What draws me in?  What doesn’t work?”  In short, what lessons can I learn from every painting?  Another tool for my improvement.

How to mix a great green – Cerulean Turquoise and Indian Yellow – WOW – why have I been struggling so much?  Another formula from the internet is Prussian Blue and Yellow Ocher.

Moving – Updating

As I sat in the street in Mineral Point, Wisconsin painting a lovely porch quick paint a lady started talking with me.  Nothing unusual until she told me where I lived.  Flabbergasted I asked her how she knew.  “I read.” 

You never know. 

That’s when I knew it was way past time to update.  I had moved two and a half years ago.

I went down in my old basement to paint.  The overhead pipes and crummy lighting said, “This is not fun”.  So I called a relator and asked for Great Lakes water, one story, and a studio room.  Three weeks and two showings later I had a signed contract.

Now I live eight miles away in suburban Milwaukee with floor to ceiling windows overlooking my backyard to the North.  I have gardens, a golf course, and the Milwaukee River.  Spectacular.

SUCCESSES in 2022

This year I discovered screaming orange at Kekoinga Plein Air in Fort Wayne.  Two of my quick paints won awards with color jumping off the page.  At the Dexter, Michigan Plein Air the quick paint winner color was bright chartreus lime green.  The patio umbrellas at Erratic Ale Company begged, “Paint me!”  so I did – twice.  And their local brews were great too.

GROWTH

I received a great, thought-provoking complement from the judge at Steelville. MO Plein Air event.  “This picture has complete chaos underlaid with structure.”  The calm duck on top frantically paddling underneath feels like a lot of my life.  What a gift.  Now I’m being called that chaos girl!

Surprise of surprise – I won Artist Choice at that event.  It’s almost a triptych.  I finally am developing a style and saw it several times during the 2022 season.  It’s loose and free not much like the photorealistic leaning pictures frequently seen.  My mantra has been “Art to Enjoy”. 

NEXT

For the first time I am graduating from travel pen and inks to gouache paintings during this year’s snowbird journey.  My guess is North Africa with be a riot of browns, umbers, and rusts.  We’ll see what comes.

And maybe this year I can be more organized.  After all painting is most joyful – in the creation and in the picture appreciation.

Best,       Smiles,       Margaret