"Paintings With Personality"

            I was sitting in the dentist’s waiting room this morning, waiting for my turn, when I began this post. I was actually writing in longhand on lined paper! Something some schools aren’t even teaching any more. I was alternately writing and looking out the window watching the first part of “the blizzard of the century.” It seems like the weather always ends up being much less vicious than the forecasters predict, and when it is all over, we look around ourselves wondering what all the hoopla was about. Sometimes the same thing seems to be true in art. We think we have created a winner and the art world declares it a “dud”.

            I have learned a lot about art by reading, going to art museums, art exhibits, and most of all by painting and drawing. Two weeks ago, I took our granddaughter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. In the morning, we enjoyed walking through the museum and seeing the Cezanne exhibit that had been publicized. Next, we had a nice lunch where we discussed what we had seen and voiced our opinions on Cezanne. The afternoon was passed sketching the sculptures and ‘live people’ who were visiting the museum.

            Last Friday, I went to see “Big Eyes”, a film about the painter Margaret Keane, with members of my art critique group. We liked the film and enjoyed dinner afterward where we talked about the movie and everything else under the sun. Yesterday, Honey and I went to two art receptions, 60 miles apart, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Both were great shows.

            By the way, in my critique group, two of us have recently been published in a book and two others were accepted into the American Watercolor Show. That is just to encourage you to form your own critique group (check my blog #15 to read about critique groups).

            Lately, I have been reading “Learn Watercolor the Ed Whitney Way.” It’s a terrific book and I recommend it highly. I especially like the Whitneyisms that are located in small boxes on some of the pages. This is one that I am posting on my studio wall: “No talent can survive the blight of neglect!”  What we might say is “use it or lose it.” Everyone is busy and I’m no different from anyone else. There are days when I simply can’t paint. I try to schedule everything in the same day because I have learned that I don’t like to go to my studio when I can only work for an hour. Just about the time I really get into the thought process, it is time to quit. Another Whitneyism, “Think more and paint less”. Drawing and sketching make me think  about focal point and value shapes; and they can be done in an hour.

            Whitneyisms number 3 and 4: “I don’t want it true – instead, I want a beautiful lie.” And, “You get facts from nature. But you get art from artists!” These two jumped right up on my soapbox with me. Loosen up, have fun. It doesn’t have to be exactly right ... it’s art. Perfectionism doesn’t create beauty. Whitneyism number 5 is another of my soapboxes: “Decide the essence of a thing – then describe it with the fewest possible strokes.” The soul of your subject is what counts,  if you haven’t captured the spirit of your subject, what you have is a dull description of something or someone with no meaning. I have several more soapboxes and Whitneyisms, but I’ll save them for another time.

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