Art Junk Girl~

painting on the side~

Noticed this yesterday when picking up daughter from camp... Note to self: Check for paint on body be-fore leaving the house...

Why did I wait so long to take a painting class?

why did I wait so long to take a painting class?, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

Dear Friends~
Ok, so, I went to the Saturday Painting workshop and I LOVED it!! I don't know why I waited so long to do this. Oh, yeah, I have been a little busy raising kids, but, you know, I wish I had done it anyway. Fit it in somehow. I learned so much in just one class, plus, it was a very relaxing, fun day to get away and do something I really like by myselves. Well, I was by "myself" because I left my critic and my taskmaster at home...lol.
The class happened to be fabulous because, for one, I had a great teacher. A working Artist/Painter/Teacher. She was very patient and wonderful and I learned so very much about paint and approaching painting, especially as a beginner. I also learned that this may be a little more "spensive" than collage. But, just like a cook needs the best ingredients to make a fabulous dish, so does the painter. So, I bought some real "butter" with my 30 percent off coups they gave us and I am going to be doing Lots more painting.
Thank you all for encouraging me to keep going and not get discouraged. I am glad I got through my "nutty" and now I am pressing on.
I have more things to share, but I am oh so exhausted today from several things I had to tend to today...I will be writing more soon on little things I picked up that have already made a difference in how I'm approaching the whole painting experience. Thanks for listening my friends. For those of you that wrote and said you've been wanting to paint or take a class too...please....do it now!!! Don't wait~it will be worth it!! xoxo lia

Some thoughtful discoveries....

Dear Friends,

First of all, I want to thank you all so much for your kind, encouraging words & wonderful nuggets of wisdom that you left for me on the previous post regarding my painting conondrum. I want you all to know that it helped me so much. I took a break the last few days from the "painting thang" to kind of regroup. I came up with an additional and enlightening discovery while working in my collage artjournal last night. Even though I know you all are right on the money that it's really about being stretched, and that I am indeed out of my "comfort zone", I did, however, discover another reason for my frustration while working on the painting below.

First of all, I hadn't worked on my art journal for a few days, and collage, after all, is my "therapy" if you will. Especially scrap collage. When I sit down to do an art journal entry, I have a host of goodies waiting for me in a nice little box. I have images, words, letters, familiar papers and writings to tell my "story". So many tools and tricks to say what I want. Sometimes, one image can say it all. That is the wonderful part of mixed-media art...you can have your cake and eat it too! Sometimes I don't really know what I am going to "say" on a page.. I do know (now) that when I grab an image, it's purposeful. I pick one up, pass up another, then finally go to one that reflects what I feel at that very moment. Yes, I do think about it that much. For this is how I express myself. Those things that I cannot put into words, I find in the bits of papers. So, you see, THIS, I feel is ONE of the reasons I got SO frustrated with painting the other day.... I sat down to compose my story, but I didn't have the ability, or skill to translate onto the canvas what I felt inside.

This is how personal art is to me. I know some of you may not understand this and others of you will. I feel I was trying to play a song, but I didn't know how to read the music. So, when I was done, the part of me that wanted to speak or "sing" was muzzled. That made me very frustrated!
So, where do I go from here? Well, for one, I cannot stop my regular shin dig (my journalling and collage) while I'm painting. The painting cannot take the place of the 'work' I do in my journal. For now, I will approach painting without so much emotion...I will try to start back at square one and learn the basics. I will be easier on myself, and I will certainly take a class to see if that is something I want to pursue. So, my friends, this is where I'm at right now. I've learned a lesson I didn't know was going to be in the curriculum! You all have been wonderful teachers and classmates on my art journey here! I thank you all SO very much for listening and helping me through this. I hope to share more of my heart and my colors with you this year. xoxooxo lia

Painting and whining....alot

Ok, my friends....I have quite alot to share today. I'm going to get down to the nitty gritty about this whole painting thang. I've learned alot in the last month of this experimental class of mine. What have I learned? I've learned that painting is really hard...I've learned that I really, really, really need to take some "real" classes. I've learned that I have a huge propensity for whining and self-loathing when it come to trying something I don't know how to do. I've learned that whatever people ask for their paintings should be triple that because painting takes a long time, alot of skill and loads of concentration. I've learned that making squares and doing collage is much, much, much easier for me. I've learned that I like playing more than I like trying to make something that's, well, something you can hang. A blank canvas and nice new paints expect something from you. I think I've broken the world record for telling myself how much I totally suck at this and that this really, really wasn't a good idea. So, I am hanging up my brushes and looking into some classes. I have alot of thinkin' to do. Has anyone seen my art journal...looks like it's time to work some things out with my leftover paint...thanks for listening my friends. Sorry if I was a downer today, but this is just how I feel. Inside and out. xo L.

It's all about painting right now....

Dear Friends, I wanted to update you all on my painting "class". It's been going pretty well. My "teacher" has me painting everyday. I am really enjoying it and I'm glad I am sticking to it this time. My "classes" here at home vary. Sometimes they are held at 11 p.m. when the house is quiet, for I have found that painting requires a bit more concentration than other things I've worked on. I don't know if it's necessarily a "concentration" thing per say, but definitely one where you want to be "in the moment". It is, to me, by nature, a very relaxing activity...SO, if I hold class during prime time noisy hours at home, it doesn't work as well. My "classes" last until I get tired. Some nights they are 20 minutes long, and sometimes 2 hours. The main objective I have is not "skipping" class...for if I skip a few days, I get out of my groove. I've come to the conclusion that I am a firm believer in the "creative habit". You must make it a habit or hours, days and years will go by and your paints get all dried up, as well as your energy and resolve.

So, I digress, as per usual. I did want to update those of you that are following my painting adventures. I say adventure because anything that is new and inviting, and colorful and exciting, is an "adventure" to me. Right now, I keep painting because I want to find my voice...what I want to paint and how...what is my favorite thing? What makes me happy? These are the questions that go through my head with every stroke. I'm looking at patterns, things I repeat. I'm looking at the colors I tend to use too much, and I'm reaching for different one's. I'm telling my critic to hit the ROAD! My critic isn't as concerned with my results as with just telling me I am too grown up for this. After all, that is one of my main "tissues" with my critic, as those of you who have followed my journey know. Many of you identify. We have decided, however, to keep on keepin' on, regardless of the unwanted resident critic says. I've found a few ways of silencing the critic...
1. Just get started. The critic's number one success is getting us not to even get started.
2. Get lost in the process. When the critic says, "if" or "but", I get a really bright rebellious color out and splat it down and say, "so there"!

3. Do something everyday. Making creativity a habit helps us to learn to live with the critic, know it's tactics and have the resolve to follow through anyway.

Sooo. those are my thoughts on painting lessons this month. Here are a few of the things I've done in my wallpaper book. Have those of you that wrote me gotten out your paints yet? If so, please leave a link so I can come see! REmember, safety is numbers. WE are gonna bust our critics and share our colors with the world! :) xo lia

p.s. I will share some links soon on favorite artists I'm discovering online...as soon as I get that organized! I'm finding that I am drawn to abstract painting and of course, mixed-media, mostly with emphasis of a portrait of somekind. more on that soon, in the next "episode".

Scary white females and other painting tales...

OK, so, I've been in class so much lately that I haven't had time to update and journal on my blog! I love my new painting class! So much so, that I don't even want to cut out. I haven't been marked "absent" one day. I even went on my first field trip! Yes, and guess what? I didn't organize my field trip. The "principal" of my school (aka Bruno) took me down to the NGA to see the Rauschenberg Exhibit! Wow, that was a very enjoyable and enlightening experience. It definitely changed the way I thought about my process. (more on that in a bit). On the way down to the exhibit, I wrote out a "loose" curriculum on what I will study for the next two "units". I had quite a few of you express interest in joining me. I'm scared for you. lol. No, really, you are more than welcome!! I will share what I am doing here and you can adjust it to your needs. I have much to share. I cannot do it all right now as I have to go, but I'm going to try to get the first main points down. Ready? Ok.

Here's what I've learned so far: ~I tried to make it enjoyable by working with my habits, preferences. Who says I have to paint on canvas or watercolor paper? I immediately felt more comfortable when I started painting in my old wallpaper book...it really took that "fear" factor out of it for me... The sketchbook is too "serious" for me right now...too "school like"...lol. I love working in the wallpaper book because it also has lots of colors and textures. Plus I have enough room to move and once more, it's like a coffee table on my lap, lol... ~I have learned (and I know I've been told) that just jumping in and doing it is where the learning begins. Yes, you must learn basics, you must have an understanding and respect for principles, but you need to "work it out" by actually touching materials and trying different things. This way, you can learn what you prefer and see where you want to go. I know I'm painting a lot of "scary white females" right now, but I'm learning alot from them....lol.

Here's what I want to learn:

Unit 1: The Color Wheel. (Learning to mix my own paints..no delving into hours of color theory, just basics).
~Learn about Primary, secondary, tone, hue, and complimentary colors.
~Experiment with mixing my own colors while painting (I usually use the cheapo stuff, but I'm really learning more by mixing my own, etc.)
Unit 2: Art History (Identify/Study the movements I like and learn more about my top 5 fave artists). This is an "ongoing" unit.

Ok, so I hope I have made some sense here today. I must go now, but I will be back with more lessons and painting tales. Let me know how you are doing and if you have started something! Don't forget about groups like Creative Everyday and vlogs like Suziblu who encourage your creativity. We are in this together! Let's go paint something. xoxo lia

The Art Junk Unschooling Program~

[4/365] learning to paint~speak to the hand.., originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

Ok, so, parents can homeschool or un-school their kids, right? So, why can't I develop my own curriculum and learn to paint this year? I say you are never too old...and hey, this is right up my alley being that I can't go to school while I have two kids in college. Try splaining that to big Bruno...Anyhow. Today, I started my own school. These are the materials I brought to class:

1. A paint wheel. (which I had to ask my 4th grader to splain to me...I usually don't understand things that can switch direction)..but that's another story....
2. A disregarded wallpaper book. Oh...this was my fave supply. I have several that were given to me by my local hardware store. Great to practice with, and on my budget...talk about art junk! woo.
3. My good paints. The one's I never use...that I got for Art and Soul last year. Yup. Need good paints to learn.
4. Brushes, a variety of hoarded one's sitting in my pencil holder...
5. Gesso. Lots of Gesso.

Lesson One: Learn the color wheel so you can mix your own paints.
~ I learned to mix paints and make the color violet all by myselves. It was super cool. Talk about being like a little kid...I found the whole color mixing thing to be fascinating...I can make a dozen versions of teal...lol...how cool is that (make mental note: need more white paint for mixing). I will probably spend a few weeks, maybe more on this portion of the curriculum.

Today I also discovered that Gesso is my BEST friend. Yes, gesso is paint's "eraser". I love Gesso. We are getting married tomorrow. Stay tuned for Lesson Two.
xo Lia

Painting, a lot...

So, I've been doing alot of painting as of late. I've decided I have a love/hate relationship with painting...that is painting, painting. Not painting journal pages and the like. I'm talking, painting a painting that is supposed to look like a painting. I say it's love/hate because I love to paint. I say hate because it frustrates me, I don't know how to, and I end up with alot of crap, and a huge mess to boot. But I digress.....because, after all , I can't do anything half way. I have to get obsessed about it....I yearn to learn so much. You think I could just pick up a brush and throw a few strokes on some paper? Noooooooo.....I have to start reading everything in the world on the subject, buy books that will show me how, and generally, start painting anything and everything around me that doesn't have a heartbeat.
I share this with you because I am trying to make sense of it myself. For those of you who have been following my art adventures (and messes), you know I've delved into the wild blue painting yonder before. But, each time, I get, well, scared. Why am I scared? Because I have to deal with doing something in my relaxing, down time that demands more of me. Scared because I like being in my comfort zone. Scared because I fear it will distract me from other things I "should" be doing. Scared, because I imagine myself becoming a recluse and being holed up in my basement, talking to myself and losing touch with reality. Scared because I may start thinking of taking painting classes, and that would be delving into new territory.... It seems much easier to collage. I mean. I love collage. It's SO forgiving, and I never feel scared or unhappy or annoyed when I'm doing it.
Well, let me tell you another thing....which I've only told one friend. When I started doing my art "thang" again, about 3 years ago, I made a painting on a large piece of wood. Well, one day, when I was particularly upset about my art junk all over, etc., I took it and broke it in half. I then threw it away. Ok, now, I'm sure you are thinking, "this lady...this art junk whoever is totally wacked.
Well, I can tell you that I am as normal as the next person....just a little cooky is all. Actually, people do mistake me for being 99.5 percent normal even when I tell them things like this.... but anyhooo.....I forgot my point..oh, yeah, my point is, that even with all these mixed feelings, I really want to learn to paint. I'm going to show you guys some of my crap pretty soon. really, I will. I am also trying to combine the collage with the painting (which will make it far more enjoyable for me). I am very, very inspired by the work of Kelly Rae Roberts and Leah Piken, now Leah Piken Kolidas..(.hey, that sounds greek...you greek?) I know they say that in order to learn, you must study great work. Their work is SO amazing...I want to eventually learn how to incorporate collage work into my paintings, but also learn to paint so I have something good to paint over the collage. Now, you think they would let me be their understudy for a few days? Hmmmm...maybe not after the breaking my painting in half story... lol. Actually, Leah is one of my greatest creative inspirations, yes, you are Leah! She continues to inspire artists of every level with her challenge to be Creative Everyday. Ok, so that's where I've been. Painting and thinking. thinking and painting. Wow, it feels good to get all that stuff off my chest...

P.s. while I had the paints out, I painted a bunch of pages in my moleskine journal. I figure that while I have the paint out, I may as well do something useful. Talk to you all soon. Hope you are inspired to pick up something you like, even if you are afraid...and don't break anything...capish? xo Lia