Why Inspiration is Like The Toothfairy

Fairy courtesty of Flikr artist bronwyn (ECG)

As artists, sometimes we go to bed and hope that the Inspiration Fairy will visit us while we sleep.

Perhaps she will slip something under our pillow and into our dreams. (We keep a note book close by the bed just in case…)

A great idea, a seamless execution, something revolutionary and yet almost universally loved. Oh – which prize could it be tonight??

I’ll take all three, please…

Sometimes as artists, we hope that the Inspiration Fairywill visit us on our daily commute.

Maybe she will just give us a sign…

or point out one that’s already there.

Sometimes as artists we wish for the Inspiration Fairy to come knocking on the door.

If she rushed in and knocked us over with the door it’d be ok, but we’d prefer an outlined fax with step by step, no fail instructions.

Sometimes as artists we wish the Inspiration Fairy was a make an entrance kind of gal.

Appearing predictably, as if on cue, to recieve the nightly adoration of fans like us. And to hand out gifts – of course.

What we don’t realize is that the inspiration fairy is closely related to the Toothfairy. Sure, they are both willing to hand out wonderful, surprising gifts – but you’ve got to be willing to pull some teeth first.

Just a thought.

What do you think?

Vacation!!

What a great time of year to get a commission to paint someone’s tropical vacation. I couldn’t help wishing I was there as I painted. I still wish I was there!

Thought I would share the dream with you. I’d love to hear what you think!

Art Smart: Acrylic Paintings

No one is born understanding all the different types of paintings and art that artists are creating. In this series we will be taking a look at the basics of each type of art so that you can feel confident and art smart! Wondering how I got to be ART Smart ? I apprenticed in an art shop for three years and while I was there it was my job to play with everything and teach people how each medium works.

What are Acrylic Paints?

Well to answer that, let me explain quickly what paint is and we can go from there.  All paint is made up of pigment (think of this like powdered colour – so for a red paint you may have a pile of red powder) and a binder that makes it stick together.

In acrylic paints a polymer binder is mixed with the pigments. Polymers are chemicals and if you are interested in the technical explanation of what they are click here. For our purposes think of polymer as plastic.

When you apply acrylic paints to a surface they dry in a thin layer of plastic. These paints dry quickly and when they do they are water resistant, durable and permanent. And really hard to get out of clothing – after putting a bunch of holes in clothes I liked trying to get the paint out I now wear full body protection. It is impossible to “just quickly fix that spot” with out dammage. Trust me, if you ever do this wear a paint suit, your good jeans will thank you. 

How should I care for an acrylic painting?

If it is on canvas, you can hang it framed or unframed away from direct sunlight and heat sources like fireplaces. The heat can cause expansion and contraction of the painting’s surface and over time that weakens the painting’s surface. Worst case scenarios: you get cracks or the paint gets soft enough that you can dent it, scrape it off or leave finger prints in it.

If your painting is on paper, I’d definitely recommend that you frame it with a mat. Not only is a mat a nice enhancement to your painting, it also protects your painting by keeping the glass from touching the paint. Changes in humidity can cause paintings that are next to glass to stick to the glass.

More about Acrylic Paintings

Acrylic paints are pretty new as far as art history is concerned. They were invented in the 1950’s and have been gaining popularity since.

They can be thinned with water to replicate the look of a watercolor painting, or used directly from the tube to create paintings that look like oil paints or they can be used to create looks that no other medium can make.

Some critics suggest that acrylics are not as luminious as oils. (Then again – everyone’s a critic, what do they know?? I do happen to be biased to acrylics myself…) But to get beautiful, transparent layers you can add gloss medium to the paint from your tubes. It creates luminousity and makes your paints last longer.

As a biased acrylic painter, I’d have to say that if you are looking for a medium to play around with as a beginner that I’d recommend acrylic paints. You can get student grade acrylics for between $4-$7 per tube  (avoid the cheap stuff – it will just frustrate you and leave wierd patchy spots in your paintings). Acrylics are quick to set up and clean up with soap and water. (Yay for easy clean up - no fumes to deal with either so you can paint in your closet if that’s where inspiration strikes) And the best part for me is that if you make a mistake you can always paint over areas you don’t like.

Truth or Dare: Challenge

This week has been challenging right from the start. As usual, I armed myself with my “ideal list”. (I sit down at the beginning of the week and I write out everything I can think of that I want to accomplish under headings in this list.)

On my list you may find:

• Personal goals like time with friends, playdates for my daughter and reminders like hit the gym 3x’s this week, “read something just for fun” and “take a bubble bath”.
• Household goals that include cleaning the bathroom and make 2-3 healthy meals this week. I find if I don’t write these tasks down specifically I give myself a pass on them. Somehow dusting doesn’t make it on the list very often.
• Career goals like complete Big THANKYOU paintings, write something brilliant for this blog and returning calls and emails take up the last part of my list.

Usually, I am pretty motivated. Knowing that this period of my life is short and that it can change at any moment is usually a big part of my motivation. I want to get every ounce of goodness out of the minutes in my days. I push hard. I set high expectations and occasionally when all the stars align I actually attain ALL of my goals.

This week however has not been a “motivated week”.

First, my daughter was sick for a few days – and since I was sleeping in her room (due to her waking up crying all night) I knew I was going to get it, and I wasn’t getting much sleep. (you don’t want to know me on less than 7hrs of sleep.) 

While she was recovering and passing the germ baton on to me, I thought about sick days – and how I don’t get them. Other people in my house can lay down and watch t.v. all day – but when I stop everything around the house stops.

I’m not bitter.

I’m not.

ok – well maybe bitter is too strong a word….

Anyways, this week was all about taking the little steps I could and letting go of a lot of the regular goals I set for myself.

That is sometimes hard for me. I hate leaving bases uncovered.

But I discovered something – I managed to get the important things done in small pieces.

• You can feel secure in using all the bathrooms in my house because they are clean.
• I completed all of the work I promised to Big THANKYOU Project people. (I still have commissions to get working on – but I’ve even had a few minutes to think about them.)
• No one starved here. Food in a box is good sometimes. And I did make at least one meal myself.
• Even some of the vaccuuming got done (which is the task I really don’t like doing – dusting is kind of irrelevant to me – but vaccuming comes with a small portion of loathing).

It is good to set goals.
It is good to challenge and push yourself.
It is also good to know when to cut yourself a break.

 

Just something to think about.

A Little Eye Candy – Big THANKYOU Project Art by Londonartgirl

Here are the first three paintings I’ll be mailing as thankyou gifts to my friends and fans.

Eye candy I hope, and more. As I paint these images I try to think about what I know about a person – or what I can guess, and I mix that information up with the colours and styles that the individual has given me with their responses to the Big THANKYOU Project.

Alchemy is fun.

Ps. Sorry for the wonky formating if you are viewing this on the website and not through RSS. I ‘ve fooled around with it and it absolutely refuses to make any sense!

Ps.s. What do you think – what kind of person do you think would enjoy paintings like these?

How to Bribe Your Muse:The 30 Second Skeleton Key to Unlocking Your Creativity

The problem with a Muse is that sometimes she shows you her back and refuses to come.  You may try logic with her “We really have to solve this problem together, the deadline is in 4 hours…” or threats “If you don’t come now, I’m getting a new Muse!” or cajoling “Please, you know how well we work together” only to discover that your Muse has shown you her inner child – her inner sulky, stubborn, petulant two year old inner child.  Now what do you do?

Have you ever offered to read a story to a child who claimed he absolutely wasn’t interested?

Do you remember what happened when you started to read the story aloud anyway- especially to another willing child?  You and the story became a magnet to your wayward little friend.

 This is the stage where you need to pull out something shiny for a bribe. Muses are known magpies – all you need is a good idea of what kind of shiny things your muse likes. But maybe it’s a little more difficult than that. Perhaps you have an inner critic – a voice that sits in the balcony of your mind and critiques the quality of your art.

Now you are managing a two year old Muse and an 80 year old crotchety critic- how do you coax one and censor the other?

30 Second Drawings.

These quick drawings attract your Muse because you can offer her crayons, markers, glitter… anything within arms reach, but there’s no pressure. In fact you are not allowing her to focus on any one idea or drawing for any longer than the average two year-old’s attention span. It’s perfect.

30 second drawings also shut down your critic. How can that inner voice possibly critique scribbles with crayons? You’ve invited your Muse in just to make a mess, knowing that you may throw out every scrap of paper she colours.  I don’t know about your critic, but mine is very type A - a perfectionist to the core. She is short circuited by deliberate mess making with no expectation of genious or quality.

So how do you make a 30 second drawing?

Here’s your supply list (this may be the only part of this article your logical critic may like):

pastels

chalk

pencils

ball point pens

sharpies

markers

coloured pencils

paint

oil pastels

oil sticks

nu pastel

conte crayon

charcoal

powdered graphite  

and of course, crayons

a stop watch or egg timer (if you like)

and as much cheap computer paper as you can get your hands on.

Obviously, you don’t have to use all those things, but if you have them in your house I suggest giving them a try.

If you’re using a timer, set it for 30 seconds, get your first sheet out and scribble. Move your hand quickly and don’t focus on drawing anything in particular. When the timer goes off, start a new drawing on a new sheet of paper. Draw the ideas that are inspired from your other drawings. If you saw a person in your last drawing and you want to refine that idea, go ahead – as long as you stick to your time limit.

I find that my first few drawings are complete crap (that’s why I didn’t post any! I have to have some secrets)- but they give my hand a chance to get moving and some baby ideas start to grow. By the time I stop, I usually have at least one interesting drawing – or an idea that’s worth exploring further.

Besides bribery, what are 30 second drawings good for?

• Getting you past any need to be perfect in order to make an attempt at creativity
• Preventing you from “jumping” right to the end of a project - and being so overwhelmed by the big picture that you just never start
• Helping you get ideas out on paper- even before you can really explain them in words
• Showing you the connections between ideas – when you look at your drawings in sequence you will see how you have documented an idea(s) from spark to flame.

I’m sure that you can think of some other benefits – how ’bout just plain having fun?

I know it sounds wierd – but try it!

I’d love to hear your experiences and see your drawings.

Seeing Beyond the Surface: The Layers of Ballet Art

 

Some of my favourite art work is complicated. It has layers, texture and other things to see in the image beyond the creation that first presents itself. As I was peeking around Etsy, I found Lousine Hogtanian at Ballet Art and I was entranced.

The LAYERS! Painting, drawing AND printing all in one art piece. Does it get any better? I hope you check out her shop for other images to see what I mean. I have to say that the Red Butterfly is the image that drew me in As always all images are used here by express permission of the artist.

Here’s our little chat:

LAG: Tell us a bit about yourself? (things like: when you started creating art, your favorite things to paint, and why you choose to work with mixed media would be good!).

LH: I’m a trained Architect graduated from Yeravan School of Architecture. I always painted and sketched, but never thought of selling them. Mixed media came spontaneously, from architecture… I always liked trying different media, it helps me to think better.

Drawing is a thinking process. I think when I draw. Oftentimes my hand tells me what to do. I think it’s not about what to draw, but it’s more about how do you see them and what do you think about them.

LAG: How do you create your art?
 

LH: I work with layers and each layer carries its own thought. The idea of overlapping thoughts and techniques come from my architectural background ( I still practice with my husband). Each layer is an afterthought that lays over previous thought/sketch just like in architecture laying the sketch paper over the sketch and keep going until there’s no where to go. Conventional techniques are also used… the most important thing is not to be locked with single technique…

How do you combine drawing, printing and painting to create your finished works?

LH: I love browsing in art stores and dig in materials. It’s refreshing and brings lots of ideas. Even the sound of the material touching the paper makes a difference for me. The initial sketch is done on a paper I select and work. Then I print and work over with different media.

Would you say that you are an artist who plans out your art or do you enter your studio and see where the day takes you?

LH: Planning is something I try not to do… we try not to do that in architecture too… the adventure is what makes art and architecture exciting

What piece or series of works has drawn the most response from your clients and fans?

 LH: Ballet, and animals particularly butterflies

Do you have a favorite piece of art?

LH:It’s difficult to say, because the value for me is not in the final product, it’s in the “journey”, in the process and “places” it takes me… each work has to open a door otherwise it’s a dead end.

LAG: Do you have a blog or website where people can see more of your work?

LH:No I don’t, but I’m thinking about it.

LAG: What advice would you give potential Etsy customers?

LH:I don’t know about the advice, but I’ll encourage them to support Etsy.

LAG: What about thoughts for artists thinking about getting involved with Etsy?

LH:One must concentrate on once art not on Etsy, and that’s the beauty of Etsy, it wants you to be yourself and unique.

LAG: Any final thoughts?
LH:Thanks, Etsy- for the opportunity

Thanks Lousine, for taking a few minutes out of your day to tell us more about your art! Enjoy your journey!

Ramping up for the Big ThankYou Project Kick off

It’s been great to hear from so many of you – your favourite paintings and colours are inspiring all sorts of ideas. If this first group is any indication, we are going to have a really fun year, filled with all different types of art. Thanks so much for your participation! PS. It’s not too late to get your own personalized painting for free. Take a peek at how this project works, join my facebook fan page (if you haven’t already) and send me your requests! Each week I’ll draw three names and create a unique painting for each fan on my fan page.

In the mean time I thought I would show you the beginning stages of how I am thinking about your art.

Since there are almost endless directions this project can go, I’ve decided to go back to the basics for tapping my creativity. This is a 30 second sketch on computer paper with the first black pen I could get my hands on.

I had a teacher in art school who made us do hundreds of 30 second sketches over the course of the semester. I thought at the time that she was wasting our time with these scribbles, but I’ve changed my tune.  I think allowing yourself to scribble and see what comes out of it is a great way to limber up and slip out from underneath any perfectionist tendencies ( I love perfect more than I should, I have to say. It’s a definite weak spot.)

I’ll write a bit more about working around artist’s block in the next couple of days.

Until then – go scribble on a napkin or whatever else is close.

The BIG THANKYOU Project

Image by psd

Back in 2009 I wrote a status asking what you thought would be a good way to thank you for being such great fans, and of course someone said I should give away an original painting.  She laughed, but it got me thinking.

I’ve been reading to Seth Godin and listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s audio book Outliers which I highly recommend if you are interested in being a remarkable business or business person. And I am intrigued by Gladwell’s 10,000 hour theory. In short, he suggests that great bands, athletes, artists and others don’t just have “greatness thrust upon them” they’ve all done their time. About 10,000 hours of practice to be precise – which works out to be around 7 years give or take.

In my 30 Days experiment (Nov 09), one of the main benefits I received was skill. The hours of “practice” creating small paintings really made a tangible difference. I feel more confident with colour choices, I approach my work more directly and I have a better idea how things will turn out if I take a creative risk here or there.

Doing more small work really excites me and I want to test out the 10,000 hour theory. I also want to show you individually that I appreciate your attention and your comments. You are my muses and my best motivators and that is a huge gift to me.

So here is how I say ”Thank You”! 

I will create one 5×7 inch original painting for each fan – It will be an acrylic painting, either be on illustration board or heavy weight watercolour paper.

To keep track of people and details, I’ve decided to process everything about this project through my Facebook fan page. If you would like a free, original, personalized painting, join my Facebook fan page (if you haven’t already) then send me a message via Facebook with your current mailing address, your favourite colours and the titles of three of your favourite paintings (that I’ve painted –  after all I couldn’t recreate the Mona Lisa for you – what I’m looking for here is what kind of style and subject you like. )

Each week I will draw three names out of all the names I receive – I’ll announce the names at the beginning of the week and I will post the photos of the finished paintings at the end of the week.  After I’ve posted the pictures, I’ll pack up your painting and take a trip to the post office to get it on its way to you.

Now for the Q & A:

Q: Is it really free?

 A: Absolutely, I’ll create your painting and I’ll handle the shipping (regular post). I want the practice and you want the paintings so I think that is a pretty good win-win. I wouldn’t ask you to pay for a thank-you gift!  =)

Q: How do I send you my contact info and when should I send it?

A: To keep it simple, send me a message through Facebook.  That way I won’t accidentally miss your email in my inbox or in the comments here on the blog. If you have any problems or questions you can still send me an email at lauratetrault (at) hotmail (dot)com.

Q: What do you do with my information?

A: Nothing. Well, almost. I will use it to send your painting to you. I won’t sell it to anyone. I won’t send you junk mail or release your info to anyone else. I do keep records of the paintings I’ve created and the names and addresses of people who have purchased works from me are included in those records.

So what are you waiting for - go send me a note and get a free painting!

Side-Swiped and Tackled by 2010 (but still surprisingly springy)

Photo courtesy of Flickr and Monica’s Dad

Ok , perhaps there are some inherent problems with my title. It might be possible to be sideswiped and tackled at the same time but it takes some real talent and skill to pull it off!

But maybe you can relate to the “sideswiped and tackled” feeling, the word  ”overwhelmed” doesn’t really feel physical enough to describe the feeling, but “totally crushed” is a little extreme.

I always anticipate the coming of a new year. I love the idea of opportunity. I love the planning. I love to think that I will actually attain some pretty great things in the new year.  So I guess you could say that I approach January with a fair bit of spring in my step.

But part of the reason I haven’t been posting much is because I am feeling flattened by info. Great info, inspiring info, info that makes me want to get up and get started on the year. The problem is that because there is so much great stuff coming my way I am a bit immobilized. Somehow I ended up on the bottom of the January  goals dogpile.  

I’m still excited for the year to come, and I still plan to make plans. But for right now I am working on getting into my studio and getting out from under all the worthwhile articles that keep bombarding my inbox.

Here’s a  sneak peek at my bounce back plan:

In Depth reviews of three new artmaking books: 

• Dynamic Acrylics
• The New Creative Artist

and

• Art Revolution  (I did a cursory review last year, but this year it’s going to be more indepth! I’m excited!) 

The Return of 30 Days of Art – slightly modified (Since it will be in the month of Feb it is going to be the 28 Days of Art)

• I have some theme ideas but I am taking suggestions on my Facebook fan page  in the discussion forums. Every day things are cool, and if you have some photos that you took that you’d like to see me attempt definitely send them my way.

I’ve also been chatting with some creative and fascinating artists, so look for new interviews. 

There are quite a few things on my project list for this month – and once I get it all sorted out I am sure I will be posting about them here. =)

Until next time!