Songs
acrylic, collage on w/c paper 10 X 10" |
|
| Imagine With Art Newsletter |
|
|
I welcome your comments!
susan@imaginewithart.com
707-824-8163
Table of Contents:
Art Play
Susan Adams
Workshops
Article/video
Book Club
| |
|
Contact Us
|
2550 Lewis Dr. Sebastopol, California 95472 707-824-8163
|
|
It's been hard to concentrate today. My seven new chicks, now teenagers, have been enduring the inevitable hazing from the two adult hens who are establishing the necessary pecking order. Every few minutes the chick alarm goes off. No doubt this state of affairs in my studio life has effected my art (case in point, the above self portrait).
July was an exciting month as I got to teach in several different venues from Rileystreet Art Supply to Dominican University and Osmosis Day Spa. This kept me on my toes and gave me the opportunity to explore new ways of teaching and working with a variety of groups.
It was also a month of playing with self portraiture in the Muse Groups. In this issue you'll find a video slide show of rollicking Muse art as well as some suggestions for bay area exhibitions where the art of the human face can be enjoyed!
I'll also share some memories about my great and beloved art buddy Susan Adams, who passed away two weeks ago.
And I will suggest that you try painting with your hands. Remember kindergarten? That stuff still works.
Cheers,
Susan
|
|
|
|
|
|
Art Play: Painting with Hands
acrylic, dark wash pencil on w/c paper, 10 X 11"
I start many of my paintings by dipping my gloved fingers into color now. This sensuous beginning forges an immediate connection with the medium and with the paper.
When you squeeze paint onto the palette there's such a sense of great possibility!Close your eyes and imagine the satiny feel of acrylic paint on your fingertips as it slides across the paper. You're in touch with your creativity now and its flowing out your fingertips, unfettered by interference from the conscious mind.
I have a lot of dreams where I'm (almost) painting the perfect painting. Almost. If only I could remember exactly what was on that canvas. . . But it's always an experience noted by the senses rather than the rational mind. Painting without the barrier of the brush puts you more in touch with the inner and outer senses. You are more likely to even hear the sound of fingers touching paper.
And why not also employ the fingernail, which is far more precise an implement than a brush and moves in concert with the sometimes dramatic flourish of the arm.
Mix colors together? What better way to feel the blending of pigments than with the exquisitely sensitive tip of the forefinger.
Is the paint too dry? Dip your finger in the water before heading over to the painting.
Want to cover a larger area? That's what the palm is for. Load it up with paint and smooth it onto the surface, caressing it lovingly until it is evenly spread. Better yet, load up both palms at once.
Should I go on? I think you get the idea. Try it for yourself if you haven't already. Remember finger painting in kindergarten and you're all set. And I do recommend Nitrile gloves, which you can purchase at the drugstore, to protect the hands. They're not particularly comfortable, but believe me, you won't be thinking about that while you're caressing!
|
|
My Friend, Susan Adams
My friend Susan passed away last month after a fierce and valiant battle with cancer which could not be won. Like so many people who knew and loved her, I watched her go through the illness, feeling helpless, even though she always expressed gratitude for my calls and visits.
Years ago when I first visited her open studio I became enamored of her flawless watercolor paintings. She had that combination of talent, grace and physical beauty and personal style which we artists crave for ourselves.
After that I got to know her as a friend and fellow painting teacher. At a ten day painting intensive workshop that we took together with other local teachers, we shared the experience of totally reevaluating and rebirthing our painting practices, painfully and joyfully.
We quickly realized that we had such mutual admiration and trust that we could share our hopes and dreams as well as our fears and shortcomings with each other. Ironically we had the same (boring) first name, were both water media artists and teachers, sometimes shared students and more. We were both only children caring for an aging mother and pondering our own aging. Most important perhaps was that we often talked of our experiences of the healing aspects of art and meditation, and the underlying source of it all.
When her passing came, it was a blessing of peace after all she'd endured with pursuing a cure. She is survived by her son and grandchild and beloved by her many devoted students and art collectors. She has also left the rich legacy of her award winning paintings and poetry that will live on.
In my heart she lives still as that lovely friend who taught me about beauty, determination and inner strength.
You can see the art of Susan Adams on her website.
|
|
Imagine With Art Workshops this Fall
Inks and Textures Galore! 
There's still space in this workshop next Saturday!
Learn to express your inner voice in this playful mixed media workshop. Your imagination will take flight as you paint, draw, stamp, comb and splash colorful inks onto papers textured with collage. When: August 11, 2012 Time: 10am-4:30pm Cost: $80
Painting Laboratories for Creative Expansion!
Join a Muse Group this fall! New sessions starting in September and October.
Learn to paint intuitively, capturing thoughts, feelings and intuitions in the playful format of art journaling. Each session features a different mixed media painting technique which you can add to your repertoire - from textured collage to painting techniques with inks and acrylics. Meditation and writing are added to the mix to evoke that powerful Muse energy!
Monday Muses (meets weekly for 8 weeks)
When: Sept 17, 24, Oct 1, 8, 22, 29, Nov 5, 12, 2012
Time: 1:30-4:30pm
Cost: $280 for 8 weeks, $40 for drop in session if space allows
Saturday Muses (meets monthly for 6 months)
When: Oct 6, Nov 10, Dec 8, 2012, Jan 12, Feb 9, Mar 8, 2013
Time: 10am-2:30pm
Cost: $270 for 6 months, $50 for drop in session if space allows
Sunday Muses (meet monthly for 6 months)
When: Oct 7, Nov 11, Dec 9, 2012, Jan 13, Feb 10, Mar 9, 2013
Time: 10am-2:30pm
Cost: $270 for 6 months, $50 for drop in session if space allows
The above workshops are held at Susan's north Sebastopol studio. For more information and to register email Susan or call 707-824-8163.
|
|
|
|
Self Portraiture and Collective Psyche
One of the reasons most of us avoid making self portraits is not wanting to portray ourselves in unfavorable light. This comes from a mistaken belief that we have the patent on - whatever it is we don't want people to see. But some artists jump over that gulf of ignorance and portray themselves in art as embodying many of the qualities we seek so strenuously to avoid. . .
When I saw the posters for the Cindy Sherman retrospective at San Francisco's MOMA I thought - who would want to take a bunch of "bad" pictures of themselves and why would I want to look at them? Those pictures are posted all over the city on posters now!
But having now seen the show, running July 14-October 8, I must recommend it, especially to any Muse students who want their minds blown.
Working as her own model and dressing up in wigs, costumes, makeup, and even prosthetics Sherman has managed to give us self portraiture that crosses over into disguise, caricature, fantasy and most of all, social observation. The effect is at times that skin crawly feeling somewhere between repulsion and ecstasy which is the territory of "true" art. You may have a similar reaction to watching this video of self portraits painted and collaged in Muse Groups this past month!  | | Mixed Media Self Portraits |
There are two more "local" two art exhibits featuring the human figure/face I would recommend. The current exhibition at Sebastopol Center for the Arts is titled FACE ME. The show runs July 26 - September 1 at 6780 Depot St., Sebastopol, CA, Tues - Fri, 10am-4pm and Sat 1-4pm. I have a triptych self portrait in the show, "Color Me". At Healdsburg Center for the Arts the current show is GO FIGURE, showing Aug 2 - 27 at 130 Plaza St., Healdsburg, CA, open daily 11am-5pm. So even if you don't want to venture into the shark filled waters of your own self portraiture, you can still indulge in this fascinating art form. |
|
Book Club
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is my newest favorite book. That's right. It's not the Art of War, which makes more sense. . .until you read the book.
The subtitle is Break Through the Block and Win Your inner Creative Battles. So the book is about resistance, which I thought I totally had a handle on. But turns out it's more like the other way around.
The author has nothing good to say about this inner enemy. For instance, "Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify, seduce, bully, cajole. It will pledge anything, then double cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit."
Right on! You know the voice that double crosses you by telling you that the house needs cleaning, laundry/bills/emails/gardening/etc just until you've run out of time to do your creative work, then puts its feet up and gloats? So it's good to know all the tactics of this enemy, which is what you'll get in this little book.
I particularly like this one "Resistance is fueled by fear. It has no strength of its own. Every ounce of juice it possesses comes from us. We feed it with power by our fear of it." -Steven Pressfield.
|
|
There's always new art to see on my blog or on my Facebook Page.
See you back here next month.
Cheers,
-Susan Cornelis
To share this formatted newsletter with friends, use the Forward email button below.
|
|
|
|
|
