"Paintings With Personality"

Opaque watercolor on paper

     Two of our grandchildren were here last week to decorate Easter eggs. I gave them acrylic paints, food coloring, glitter, sequins, whatever I could find around the house. They put on their aprons and made Razzle Dazzle! Those eggs became anything and everything their minds could imagine. Their creativity was inspiring. How about you, is the work you are creating inspiring?

A friend sent the following excerpt to me suggesting it would make a good blog post. It came from the 2001 International Artist Magazine. I wish I could credit the author but she didn’t know who it was.

    “When does a painter become an artist? There is a huge difference between being a painter and being an artist. Stage one is a painter, stage two is an artist. A painter paints with 5% soul and 95% mind while an artist paints with 95% soul and 5% mind. What I'm really trying to say is that a mature artist starts with academics and then allows the soul to lead the mind through the endeavors of art. While the painter can only be judged by technique, the artist is judged by technical expertise as well as emotional impact.”

            My friend suggested that the quote is the difference between paintings and award winning paintings. I think she is right. Many people remain painters all their lives and never move on, some are brilliant copyists, some emulate other artists. Somewhere along the way they lost their creativity. They are in charge of what they do and how they do it so, getting it back is up to them. But where can it be found?

Many artists can only draw and paint from what they see, they do not challenge themselves to go past that and paint what they feel. Every painter has experienced that fear because every artist has been a beginner. Beginners don’t think about telling a story with their art, they are only involved in making the painting look exactly like a photograph or of the scene in front of them.

            My passion is creating ‘figurative work’. Sometimes I use watercolor on paper, other time’s acrylic paints on paper or canvas. I want to show the personalities of the people I paint, to analyze their character. Thirty years ago, when I was working as a floral designer, a friend told me, “Don’t paint a flower shop, paint what you smell when you walk into a flower shop.” I wondered how in the world you paint a smell and thought about it for a few years. That friend is why I got past technical painting to emotional painting. My people are identifiable but my first goal is to design and create a work of art.

    It takes a lot of courage to leave the safety of your comfort zone but it’s the only way to grow and mature as an artist. If you use a small round brush, begin with a 2” flat. If you paint in watercolor on paper, go to acrylic or oil on canvas. If you paint realism, try abstract. Move away from what is in front of you and design your paper or canvas. Paint boldly and fearlessly be an artist, not a painter.

Shirley Trevena said, “Many artists have a style which works for them and they become stuck with it. The trouble is working in the same way can lead to boring, predictable paintings.”

What do you think? Does your work Razzle Dazzle? Do you design your paintings? Do you paint feelings taken from your own experience?

18"X24" watercolor on paper