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Posts tagged ‘painting’

Feb 25

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2/25 Weekly creativity contest winner & new prompt

Ah, the eyes have it! Lovely submissions for this week’s creativity contest. Our winner is Elizabeth Beck, for this beautiful collage. Elizabeth writes: “i just finished this collage this week …. and intentionally left out the eyes …. to leave it all more ambiguous and mysterious ….. so … for my eyes entry, i give you no eyes!” (I just love your work, Elizabeth, and I’m anxious to try my hand at collage with the SIX BOXES of potential collage materials I gathered up while packing for my move.) Congratulations, Elizabeth — your $10 amazon.com gift certificate has been issued.

100_79311

 

From Karen Winters, a watercolor painting. Karen writes: “I have always admired the way Egyptian women were portrayed in sculpture and painting, so I decided to do a closeup watercolor just featuring the eyes of an exotic beauty. Unlike the ancient paintings that were very stylized and graphic-looking, I chose to represent the eyes in a more realistic manner. The kohl that Egyptian women and men used for distinctive outlining served more than a decorative purpose. Originally made from the soot derived from burning sandalwood paste, kohl served as a medicinal aid and protection against strong sun. Modern preparations may contain lead, so caveat emptor.”

eyes-3x5

 

From Jen Johnson, a poem. Jen writes: “My submission is a quick little poem dashed off during naptime (because that’s all the time I had this week!) based on something I seem to remember reading somewhere a long time ago. Your prompt reminded me of it — not sure if it’s scientific fact or not (and a quick google search with the kids in my lap can’t confirm it) but I like the idea anyway.”

Moongaze

They say that the dark side of the moon,
The side blind to human eyes,
Has a gigantic crater, so big it could be seen
With ease from our own Earth —

If ever we could see what can’t be seen.
It would look like an enormous lunar eye,
Peering down at us each night.
The huge hole a dark iris, pale moondust sclera.

What myths would have been made,
What stories spun, what gods imagined,
If each night we looked up to see
A changeable gaze staring down from the sky?

 

From Rebecca Coll, a painting that she created this week as a gift to her husband on their anniversary. Rebecca writes: “I stretched the theme of ‘eye’ to include how we use it and experimented with the whole optical illusion thing. I figured after 19 years a marriage is about so much more than you can see on the surface. It’s about who we are and the love we have shared. To show this I painted a tree (growth, stability, branches for our independent passions, etc.) using both of our profiles to create the trunk. Then, up in the tree I added 19 hearts for the 19 years… Can you see them all?”

annivtree1

 

From Kelly Warren: “Pure goofiness…the eyes are two of my evil eye pendants.  I’d say this is me after one too many margaritas.” Love it, Kelly!

goofy-eyes

 

From Cathy Coley, a poem:

Eyes

My eldest son’s mossy deep forest green
glow in the sun and mute to wood.
They are the unusual eyes
of my grandfathers,
both of Carolina Cherokee blood.
I wander lost in those eyes
when they look at me.

At a powwow when he was three
a young Mohegan boy of eight
smiled and said,
‘He has the eyes of my tribe,
the eyes of the wolf.’

From boy to boy passed more
than a stick of rock candy.
This is his second early memory
after the red and licorice
ladybug birthday cake.
He has the eyes of a wolf.

My second son’s eyes kaleidoscope
from bright blue to green to slate.
My mostly Irish father’s eyes are aqua green,
Turn to crystal blue, even lavender.
My boys’ father’s Irish eyes switch, too —
Sky eyes clear blue to thunderclouds.
My young son’s eyes are big as the sky.
I can fall into them, and rarely swim back out.

My daughter’s eyes are deep,
clear, warm bullets,
black brown depths of her father and me.
My mother, my grandmother,
his father and generations
back into the hills and across the ocean.
The deep history of continents
collide in our daughter’s eyes —
founders, natives, immigrants,
brown as earth’s rich soil.

Histories upon peoples read
in our children’s eyes.

 

From me (Miranda): A header image that I several months ago — it’s one of my favorites. Naturally, I am enchanted by the eyes of all of my children, but I have to say that Liam (the youngest) has extra depth to his baby blues.

babyeye

 

This week’s prompt: “Light”
Use the prompt however you like — literally, or a tangential theme. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by 10:00 p.m. eastern time (GMT -5) on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. The winning entry receives a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com. Writers should include their submission directly in the body text of their e-mail. Visual artists and photographers should attach an image of their work as a jpeg. Enter as often as you like; multiple submissions for a single prompt are welcome. There is no limit to how many times you can win the weekly contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) All submissions are acknowledged when received; if you do not receive e-mail confirmation of receipt within 24 hours, please post a comment here. Remember, the point is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. Dusting off work you created previously is OK too. For more info, read the original contest blog post.

Jan 28

6 Comments

Weekly Contest Addendum

Huge apologies to Karen Winters — I filed her contest entry in the wrong folder, and neglected to post it with the rest of this week’s entries. This also means that Karen wasn’t even “in the running” (though I had acknowledged receipt). I’m so sorry, Karen! This is a casualty of the bird-brain induced by my current circumstances — hopefully not to be repeated.

Karen’s submissions (both are oil on canvas): “This painting was created specifically to represent the idea of hope, using a landscape as a metaphor. The title ‘Blue Skies Ahead’ refers to the song of the Depression Era, ‘Blue Skies,’ which helped lift people’s spirits in the midst of a time of financial disaster. I believe that art, like music, can be restorative and healing, and that it can communicate themes that will soothe the soul.”

bishop-california-clouds-b

“‘Blue Skies Ahead’ is a new painting, done just a few months ago after our November trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains in California, at a time when the financial markets were mid-descent. For me, clearing skies, sunsets and sunrises represent optimism, resilience and a positive approach to life. And now, my hope is that someone will add this to their collection as some did the painting below, named ‘Brighter Tomorrows.'”
brighter-tomorrows-dp

Sep 25

6 Comments

Karen: Intro

Karen Winters headshot

Karen Winters, creative journeyer

I’d like to thank Miranda for welcoming me so warmly to this blog as a co-author.

The topic of fostering creativity is very near and dear to me, and I’ve spent my whole life in some kind of creative profession or pursuit. Art was a first love in my early years, but somehow I got put into the “writer” pigeonhole because I seemed to have an affinity for it. After UCLA grad school in journalism, I went to work for an ad agency as a writer. Somewhere into year six of that career I found I was taking all my vacations to work on documentary projects with my husband, so I made a career change and learned how to produce and write for that medium. Excitement, expeditions and Emmys followed. As time passed and the digital era dawned, I learned how to do computer graphics for our productions, which led to publishing an aftermarket book on Photoshop. By this time the circle had started to close and art was once more a major and beloved part of my life. More time passed and with our children launched into college and careers, I revived my passion in art and I am now a mostly full time fine artist. I’ve taught and managed creative people, mentored others and love to demonstrate and teach whenever I get the opportunity. These days I can most often be found doing plein air painting, being a part of the daily painter movement, studying art or getting ready for shows and competitions. My daily art blog is called A Creative Journey because for me that’s what it’s always been about. It’s not a goal but a never ending journey that brings constant challenge and satisfaction. I love to meet fellow travelers and to learn from and share with others. Thanks for letting me hang my creative hat here.

Apr 4

1 Comment

Miranda: What to paint (or write or make) next

paintbrushesI subscribe to the weekly newsletter of Canadian painter Robert Genn. While Genn writes about painting, I often find that his thoughts apply to any creative pursuit, including writing. This week’s newsletter spoke to the dilemma of deciding which project to work on next–something that Christa recently experienced.

Genn’s newsletter is reprinted here in full, by permission.

Yesterday’s inbox included the short and sweet: ‘I’ve been painting seriously for the last fifteen years, and I now have trouble deciding what to paint. How do I decide?’ The email was signed ‘Diane W. Reitz, BFA.’

Thanks, Diane. Maybe the BFA after your name gives us a clue. Maybe you know too much. But don’t worry, it’s a common problem, BFA or not.

The creative life requires a steady progression of experimentation and discovery. While acquired wisdom is useful, your knowledge must work in tandem with the daily exercise of your curiosity. A life in art is more a working event than the application of prior knowledge. Further, as you paint, you are able to decide what to paint. Paintings come out of themselves.

Prime your pump–your work goes viral.

There’s a pile of tricks you can pull to prime the pump. Go to your earlier inspiration–drawings, reference photos, field notes. Recall the direction this material took you in the past, and then go looking for a new angle. Don’t waste time. Commit yourself to the most humble application of paint. Get it through your system and out onto your reviewing easel. Perhaps reward it with a quick framing. Consider again the possibilities and commit once more, perhaps to a larger size.

Don’t be precious. Try to think like Edison when he was trying different stuff that might do for filaments in light bulbs.

First thing you know you’ll feel refreshed and renewed rather than burdened with making a decision. Further, you will see a need for further refinement. Personal refinement of vision makes creativity worthwhile. What you do may not be unique in the greater world of art, but it’s the sweet ignorance of outcome that drives you on.

When artists see themselves inching forward with minor improvements, they begin a natural flow that becomes unstoppable. I formerly told artists who were unable to decide what to paint that they might not be cut out for the game. Then I realized that our very existence is based on ignorance of where we’re going. What’s important is having the fortitude and patience to dig around and try to find out. Actually, ‘having trouble deciding’ is a good part of the fun. Accept the fun.

Best regards,

Robert

Mar 3

5 Comments

Miranda: Show and tell

Light Through the LeavesSome weeks ago, when I mentioned that I dabble in painting as a foil to writing, Bethany (too kind) asked to see some of my work. I’ve posted a few pieces at my Flickr site, just for fun.

It’s easy for me to share my painting, because I am a total amateur and have very little invested in the outcome. It’s much harder for me to share my writing, although over the years I have come to understand that feedback is an essential part of bringing a peice of writing to its fullest potential–at least for me. Sometimes the picture in my head hasn’t made it onto the written page, and it takes a fresh pair of eyes and a new perspective to show me where those rough spots are, and/or if the whole thing just falls flat. (And while exposing the creative self feels horribly vulnerable, it gets easier the more that I do it.)

All this makes me wonder: what processes do you all have for soliciting feedback on your work? Do you have a trusted group that you like to share with? Share things only with your spouse? Do you like to send things out for review in the early stages, or wait until a piece is fully polished? Would it ever be of value to have a way to post content for responses on this blog, specifying the type of feedback you’re looking for?

I hope everyone has a good week, though the politicos among us may well be distracted by watching/reading/listening to the primary news!

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