In January, I blogged about Maggie Price's new book, "Creative Freedom". She asked me to be a contributor to her book about breaking the artist's block. Well, I'm thrilled to say, I now have a copy of the book in hand. It is a compilation of 52 artists' thoughts on moving beyond the block, however that artistic obstacle manifests itself.
The artists are arranged alphabetically. Naturally, I looked at my pages first, and I can attest to the fact that the colors are true to my original work. (Thank you, Liz Haywood-Sullivan for your patience and photographic expertise.)
I contributed two ideas for breaking your artist's block. Contributing meant painting the demo and writing the copy. Really exciting and fun. My first demo is about painting 30-minute studies. Everyone can find a half hour. Each of the four paintings at left was completed in thirty minutes or less. I used an old-fashioned egg timer, and laid the brush down when the bell rang - no cheating. It was tough for the first painting, but no problem at all for the rest. (Which was the first?)
My other idea is painting in an unfamiliar size; even a small move outside your comfort zone provides a freshness to the painting. "Birds of a Feather", shown left, is 8" x 12" - a slight deviation from standard sizes.
Once I left my pages, I explored "Creative Freedom" as a whole. There are wonderful demonstrations, ideas and paintings in a variety of media. Beautiful book, beautifully designed, packed with terrific information. I'm proud to be a part of this endeavor. And, I made the back cover!
"Creative Freedom" is published by North Light Books, and is widely available. Thanks for looking.
Last fall, Maggie Price asked me to participate in a book she was editing. Exciting! The book's subject: strategies for breaking artists' block. Would I like to participate, did I have any favorite strategies, could I meet deadlines with iterative demo photos, copy, and delivery according to North Light Book's specifications? This was new to me, but of course, I agreed to the challenge. I learned a lot in short order, and, thanks to a couple of friends with the right photographic capabilities, it all came together.
"Birds of a Feather" is the result of my first painting demo. My strategy was to paint in a different size than you're accustomed to. The size needn't be drastically different, just different for you, which results in a different energy, different relationship to the edges, and the underlying diagonals. I paired several vintage props from my studio with the Winslow Homer postcard including the pair of friends. The complete demo, including photos from thumbnail sketches through completion will be available in the book "Creative Freedom: 52 Art Projects, Exercises & Techniques to Overcome Your Artist's Block" available in spring, 2013. More news when the release date gets closer.
$125 plus $10 s&h
I surprised my painting class with a pair of live Solomon Island Eclectus parrots, and their owners, this week. Dolly and Pretty Boy were great models, perched on the back of a chair - they looked around, made a few interesting sounds, and sat under the spot light provided. I think our cavernous classroom was a bit cooler than they prefer, so they huddled, and puffed themselves up. After an hour, they took a 15-minute lunch break while my students strolled about and looked at the other easels. Then Dolly and Pretty Box got "back to work" for another hour; leaving us time for a critique at the end of the class. Each interpretation of the two lovely birds was fascinating.
Hoping Dolly and Pretty Boy can visit again soon.
In January, I blogged about Maggie Price's new book, "Creative Freedom". She asked me to be a contributor to her book about breaking the artist's block. Well, I'm thrilled to say, I now have a copy of the book in hand. It is a compilation of 52 artists' thoughts on moving beyond the block, however that artistic obstacle manifests itself.
"Creative Freedom" is published by North Light Books, and is widely available. Thanks for looking. 
