Finding the Joy

The mental shift that occurs throughout the course has to be the main benefit from doing Nicholas Wilton's CVP program.  I feel more deeply connected to my work and more committed to doing it.  I feel an eagerness to get to the studio, and much of the fear and resistance has been removed.  I still have sticky points when I'm afraid I'll mess up a painting that's going in a direction I like, or when everything is in that yucky area of no direction at all, but I have more confidence now that I can get through those periods by just showing up, finding something I love, and doing more of it.

Nick teaches to find the joy in painting instead of allowing yourself to get sucked into self-doubt and wallowing in a dead end.  If you like that little area of polka dots, do more of them.  Put polka dots all over your entire painting!  They might not remain in the end, but they allow a shift to occur where you are painting from a place of spark and joy, and that moves you forward.

Painting on multiple panels at the same time is essential for this process.  If you find you don't know what to do or are getting negative about your painting, it's time to move on to the next.  One painting will inform the next.  This little patch of turquoise against olive looks gorgeous here, so let me try that combo in this painting that isn't working so well.  They lift each other up.

This painting is on my easel right now.  A work in progress.

It's at a stage where I'm happy with the energy in it, but need to do more and clean it up some.  I need to be open to the fact that I might kill what I love in the process and end up having to take the painting in an entirely new diretion.  It's hard not to tighten up at this point and hang on to what's working there, but I'm learning to accept what arises to eventually get a better painting.  Who knows when that might occur, but I have more faith now that it will.

Getting my Bearings

The problem with stepping out of blogging for a while is it feels impossible to catch up.   I've been on a whirlwind of travel and art classes and my thoughts are swirling.  In brief, I took a beautiful cruise in the Mediterranean with my mom, came home and took a quick trip to California for my niece's graduation, and now I hope not to leave home until next fall!  

One of my big objectives for summer is to try to absorb what I've been learning in Nicholas Wilton's CVP program.  I wasn't able to finish the last three weeks because of travel, but we have access to the material for a whole year, so after I finish the remaining lessons, I think I'll go back slowly and revisit exercises and lectures.  There is such rich material in the course, and so much of it, that I still have quite a few hours of video to finish and a bonus 10 hour documentary of Nick painting one of his large paintings from start to finish.  What a heavenly treat for summer afternoons!

The course was so profound to me, and I want to talk about it, but I still need to do a little digesting.  Nick is so generous with his knowledge, you really do feel like he holds nothing back.  Usually I'm hesitant to share what I've learned in classes, thinking that belongs to the teacher.  At the end of the CVP course Nick said, if this was valuable to you, share what you learned with others!  Who does that???  I've never had a teacher say, "go out and share this information that I make a living on" before.  So as I start to settle back into painting and have time to reflect, I will be talking about the course more.

Right now I want to step back into painting and need to loosen up.  Working in class and trying to balance all the principles Nick was covering, left me painting very self-consciously.  I'm hoping the material will be absorbed soon, and I'll not be thinking so much as I paint.  I decided to return to black and white, as that always feels like a relief from too many color decisions, and paint as freely as possible.  Now I can go into analytic mind and come in and make some corrections, but try not to lose that spontaneity.

Another nice outcome from CVP is I felt encouraged to show some of my work.  I am thrilled that I applied to two juried gallery shows and had work accepted in both.

These two pieces are currently on show at Gallery 114 in the Pearl Dist. in Portland, OR, and up through the end of the month.  1100 NW Glisan St, right across from Dick Blick.  They made a video of the show, you can see here.  

The theme is "Everything is Music".  Music often plays a big role in my painting and can determine the energy of a piece.  These are inspired by songs that make you want to dance.  This first one is called "Every Little Thing's Gonna Be Alright."

 And this one is "Blame It On the Bossa Nova."

This next piece will be in Verum Ultimum's "Living Mark" exhibition.  The show opens June 30 with a reception from 6-8, and runs through August 11th.  I'm planning on being at the reception, so hope you can stop by. 3014 NE Ainsworth, Portland, OR 97211.

 "End of the Day" was inspired by a winter's walk at sunset.  Everything was drab black and gray, then the vibrant colors of the sun poked through.