Talking to Paper acrylic and ink on crinkled Masa mounted on w/c paper 10 X 10"
"Talking to paper is talking to the divine. It is talking to an ear that will understand even the most difficult things." -Burghild Nina Holzer
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| Imagine With Art Newsletter |
Issue No.33
| September, 2012 |
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I welcome your comments!
susan@imaginewithart.com
707-824-8163
Table of Contents:
ARTrails Open Studios
Workshops
Article/video
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Contact Us
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2550 Lewis Dr. Sebastopol, California 95472 707-824-8163
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I keep hearing from people who have a strong desire to make art but can't seem to get started on it. I've found that when it comes to making art, your habits are more important than your talents. So if you want to start or improve your habit, you best learn the 20 second and 21 day rules. More on that in this issue.
Some of us who already have a habitual art making habit, are interested in the refinement or transformation of it. I am in this continual transformation mode, which involves a lot of experimenting with new media, and results in no end to "surprises", happy and otherwise.
This month I'm taking some of the inspiration from the Muse Groups and moving to larger canvases which I'll be showing at ARTrails Open Studios, coming up in less than a month. I hope you'll put the dates on your calendar and visit my studio October 13, 14, 20 and 21.
This coming week a new Monday Afternoon Muse Group starts and there are still a couple spaces in the monthly weekend groups starting in October. In this newsletter I am also announcing an all new Painting With Hands workshop in November. Come paint with me!
Cheers,
Susan
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Hit the Trail, October is ARTrails time! 
These days you can view art each week at festivals, galleries, museums, not to mention wine, culinary, fundraising, environmental and other events. I attend a lot of these, but my favorite is the open studio shows where you can view and buy art directly from the artist in the studio where it was created, and even see demonstrations of the art creation techniques. You get to hear the personal story of how the art was conceived and executed and see the tools used. I always get inspired and want to fill my home with art so that I can live in that beauty all the time!
So I'm delighted to, along with more than 150 other Sonoma County artists, invite you to visit our studios during this annual open studios event. Introduce a budding artist in your family to the studio world or add something to your new or ongoing art collection. Pick up a new art technique or find out about workshops offered.
Here at our home studios in Sebastopol see my husband Bob's luminous abstract, figurative and landscape photography. If you want a preview, take a look at his website.
And walk down the path to visit my studio in the orchard, next to the chicken coop, filled to the brim with mixed media paintings on canvas and paper: abstract landscapes, figurative expressions, whimsical Party Chicks and more. I'll have my painting and collage mediums spread out along with art journal books and, of course, bird's nests collection. My book Conversations with the Muse: The Art Journal as Inner Guide will also be available for sale.
ARTrails takes place over the weekends of October 13th and 14th, 20th and 21st from 10am-5pm daily. ARTrails catalogs with maps can be picked up at any of our studios and various locations around the county, including galleries and art centers. You can view the catalogue online here.
And don't miss the ARTrails Preview Exhibits around town, a great way to see samples of the artists' work and plot your route. Here are a couple of the ones I'll be showing at:
ARTrails Preview Exhibit at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, featuring all 155 artists. Opening reception Friday, September 21, 6-9pm Exhibit dates: Sept 21-Oct 26 Hours: Wed-Fri and Sun 12-5pm, Sat 10-5pm (during Farmer's Market) and 1 hour before selected Wells Fargo Concerts. Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Rd., Santa Rosa. Park in the south lot (gallery opens toward the back of the Center).
ARTrails Preview Exhibit at Graton Gallery Opening reception: Oct 7, 2-5pm Exhibit dates: Oct 3-Oct 21 Hours: Tues-Sun, 10:30-6pm Graton Gallery, 9048 Graton Rd., Downtown Graton
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Imagine With Art Workshops this Fall
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)Wait List
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 9, 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 10, 2013
Time: 10am-2:30pm
Cost: $270 for 6 months, $50 for drop in session if space allows
Painting With Hands
Loosen up your painting style and forge a new connection with your art media in this workshop devoted to the sensory experience of painting. Enjoy the sensation of texture, movement, color and line, using your hands as painting tools on paper and canvas. A variety of mixed media acrylic painting and collage techniques will be explored.
When: November 17 and 18
Time: 10am-4:30pm
Cost: $175
The above workshops are held at Susan's north Sebastopol studio.
For more information and to register email Susan or call 707-824-8163.
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The 20-second Rule: How to Get Rolling
You might have recently seen the PBS fund raising special featuring Sean Achor, the Happiness Advantage guy. I tuned in just in time to catch the sixth (of seven) principle for attaining Happiness. The 20 second rule is based on our natural gravitation to activities which are easy to get started in. Turns out we always default to the activity that's most accessible, even if there's something else we'd really prefer to do, except that it takes longer to get started.
Clearly I'm not interested in interfering with your television watching or your eating the piece of pie left on the counter even though you're on a diet. I'm talking art activation time here. Do you have to get your paints and journal book out each time you get inspired? You've got 20 seconds to start or you'll lose your momentum and reach for the magazine in front of you, once again reading about art rather than making it, blogging or Facebooking rather than dipping into the messy business which is art.
I thought I had this all figured out when I had my week of forced post operative rest last month. Knowing that I'd have to keep my legs up at a 30 degree angle, I packed a box full of art supplies to have next to my pillowed nest on the couch. . . and hardly touched it. Because it was just out of reach, behind the coffee cup and phone and computer and books on CD and DVD's and magazines and books which I'd also assembled to keep from getting bored and out of touch in my convalescence. There was no water for the brushes or paper towels or side tray to hold them. There was no waste basket, apron. . . we're talking, way over 20 seconds to get started, so I never did.
So if you really want to get started, or get back to, or make sure you continue to do your art, get it all set up so that you can jump in with only 20 seconds start time. And then, if you want it to become an irresistible habit, apply the 21 day rule. Do it, for however long you want, each day for 21 days and it will become a positive, maybe even hard to shake, habit.
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There's always new art to see on my blog or on my Facebook Page.
See you at ARTrails and back here next month.
Cheers,
-Susan Cornelis
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