Do you Doodle?

    A doodle is a type of sketch, an unfocused drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied elsewhere. Doodles are thought to engage in idle activity, but are really drawings that often have concrete representational meaning. Everyone has probably doodled in notebooks, while daydreaming or  produced a collection of doodles during a long telephone conversation. It is said by some that doodling can aid a person's memory by expending just enough energy to keep one from daydreaming, which demands a lot of the brain's processing power. Thus, it acts as a mediator between the spectrum of thinking too much or thinking too little and helps focus on the current situation.
     I’ve been a doodler for as long as I can remember.  My mom doodled, and  I’m guessing my grandmother and great grandmother could have been a doodler.  I come from a long line of doodling. Recently I have expanded my doodling skills to make some worth while art work. These are an advance doodling technique, if you will indulge the definition, known as zentangles.

     Zentangle is an organized doodle used to create images by drawing structured patterns. They normally do not have a preconceived idea of your final result, although I have varied this process to allow for a finished piece to have a recognizable image. In spite of the fact that I may start out to draw a cat the finished creation is not restricted by any expectations.
     Zentangles are reported by many to  increase focus and creativity, provide artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well being.  I can't say that my drawings have given me personal well being, but I do delight in the activity. Doodles can certainly reveal something of a person’s mental state, would mine reveal something of my cerebral faculties? Maybe I just like cats, and colorful designs.

Loveland Sculpture Show

From Mary Beth Dodson: Last weekend, I went to the Loveland Sculpture Show with Mary Tanner and LynnDee Nielson, both sculptors in their own right. But first we registered at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver and spent the first day touring the new wing of the Denver Art Museum. If you haven’t seen it yet, make arrangements to go! The architecture itself is mind-blowing. Looking down from the fourth floor over-look made me so dizzy I had to hold on. The gift shop was fun. We toured the new wing, watched a couple of videos of how artists worked and arranged their studios. The most memorable art work we saw was was of the Clay Woman, a massive sculpture built on site. It was a Native American Story Teller with children.   It had been constructed of straw in netting, then

coated with clay. My friends standing beside her were dwarfed by her size. We toured the Native American section, with totem poles, Indian beading and dolls, pottery.

    The next day we spent the day touring the tents of the nationally famous Loveland Sculpture Show. Sculptors came from all over the U.S. and the average price of the works was $3,000. There were sculptures of bronze, glass, clay, wood, numerous other metals. After seeing every piece on display we  walked to an adjacent park for the Loveland Art in the Park....again, overwhelming.

    The next day we drove to Ft. Collins for West Fest, an annual art on the streets event. Two hundred bands played an hour each,on ten stages  over a period of two days. My grandson, Cory Call, has a band called Arliss Nancy, and won a gold medal. It is composed of blocks and blocks of booths set up in Old Town, with art, vendors, food booths, and of course, music. Any of these events could have been a trip in itself, but we did three long days in a row. Oh, and went to Jerry’s Artarama in Ft. Collins for our own art supplies as well.

    But what memories we made!

http://www.picturetrail.com/sribbonpress

summer olympics

Did you know that Art competitions were part of the events at the at the Olympic Games from 1912 to 1948?  they were discontinued due to concerns about amateurism and professionalism. Since 1952, a non-competitive art and cultural festival has been associated with each Olympic Games.  Do you get inspired by events like the Olympics? There are many events during the summer games that would be amazing to capture on canvas.  Think I'll go work on something: lets see my favorites, cycling, swimming, archery, equestrian, or gymnastics. I think I'll have to do something for all of those.

original aceo drawing Swimmer olympics

WANT TO KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT THOSE WHO CHOOSE RED AS THIER FAVORITE COLOR???
 
RED IS THE COLOR OF STRENGTH, THESE PEOPLE ARE USUALLY OUT SPOKEN AND CAN GET THE JOB DONE.
THEY ARE USUALLY OPTIMISTIC, AGGRESSIVE, VIGOROUS AND GENERALLY IMPULSIVE. THEY MAY BE 
PLANTING RED GERANIUMS IN THEIR GARDEN THIS SPRING !!!! WITH THIS DISCRIPTION A RED ROSE CERTAINLY FITS THE BILL.


thoughts from Sue Condon

We all get 'artist's block' at some time and just don't feel like painting.  How do you get out of your 'funk' and regain your creativity and inspiration?   Personally,  I treat my art like it's my job.  If self-motivation is not one of your strong points, then you must set yourself some deadlines.  A painting done by the end of the month, or a sketch or photograph a day might work for you.  Working on something everyday will keep you focused. Work on  an old project that needs some tweaking.  Finishing something that has been setting in the corner for a while has a way of clearing your head for new ideas. Another thing that helps me, is to keep a book handy to write down sudden inspirations. Often times after waking from  dreams, where a mind can roam free, I have instant inspiration.

Try re-visiting a favorite painting that was done years ago, and do it in a completely different style .  When going back over these old ideas, they often seem even more exciting than 2 or 3 years before. Possibly you could paint in a monotone or just use complimentary colors and set your inhibitions free. It is refreshing to see what you have learned in the years between paintings of the same subject.

Some times switching mediums will bring new life into your art.  Learning a new technique will take you out of your comfort zone and bring out your creativity.  Or you can make a long list of diverse words, and then pick one a day and make a sketch, photo or painting using your image of that word.  [example list: heat, euphoric, scandal, infinity, youth, sorrow.]    Recently while visiting my folks in an assisted living home, the aged wrinkled faces that told the different stories of life, and screamed to be recorded in some way.  Start a story of your life, using impressions or portraits of people that have been important in your life. What a great treasure; to be able to record some family history using representational imagery.

When all else fails I take a walk and notice the beauty all around.  Nature has a way of making you want to put something beautiful to share with others, on canvas.   Enjoy every day and exercise your imagination.

Chaos of Creativity --acrylic-- by Sue taylor Perez
Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.
Oscar Wilde.

I don't plan. My paintings start out as chaos, and my life seems to parallel my art. Often times my paintings become an unorganized race to conclusion, on a scale of chaotic disorder never before witnessed by anyone outside my family. My life and my palette is out of whack. First of all I don't use a real artist palette. I use a paper plate. I thought I was smart, it's disposable and fits neatly into a plastic zip lock bag to keep acrylic paint overnight. Most times when I paint I put the color I plan on using anywhere on my disposable palette without a plan. Often times I mix right on the canvas, so my colors aren't uniform. I paint in chaos.

I had read Robert Glenn's Twice Weekly letter on “Tales the pallettes tell”. He states that “Whistler believed proper palette organization was the key to all the good stuff. Seurat, as we might imagine, kept his mainly primary pigments in a pretty rigid and unwavering order.”

Glenn goes on to explain how many artists value the organization and planning of their palette as a fundamental part of their creating.

It sounds way too left brain and type A, to me. I prefer my art and my life in mayhem. I don't organize, I don't schedule. I jump into everything with both feet and start with no rhyme or reason. With my art, I may have a vision of what I want to do somewhere in the back of my head, but often times my paintings take on a mind of their own and mutate into something very different than I envisioned. Has it worked? Hmmmm... I think I need to rethink thumbnail sketches, plan my colors, and decide where my art is going. My chaos must be reformed. It almost sounds like work. I'll let you know how that works for me. ......Sue