Progress from Flora Bowley Bloom True Boot Camp.....oil painting, inspiration

I am thoroughly enjoying my exploration of the Flora Bowley Bloom True Boot Camp and simultaneous reading of the War of Art by Steven Pressfield.  I think it is just the inspiration and encouragement that I needed to do some things that I knew I needed to do all along......even if only subconsciously.

I am finding as I read and experience these things that they are open to my own interpretation and therefore, sometimes, I think my own feelings deep inside bubble to the top and I find I am interjecting thoughts of my own as I interpret the words of others.  It is a very validating experience when you find your own thoughts sometimes slip effortlessly into the train of thought of the author.

Some major themes that I see developing from both sources (and from my own deep well of un-thought-out thoughts) are:
I need to paint for the sake of painting and NOT what I think others will like or want to buy.
I need to STOP comparing myself to others or doing things that I think I am expected to do.
I need to remember to have fun and experiment.

And with that in mind I decided to paint what I wanted to paint this week.  Not because I thought it would be a popular mainstream subject, or that I thought it would sell well at my next show, but

BECAUSE      I     WANTED     TO.

Hence the above octopus painting.  I fell in love with the photograph when my DIL, Heather, took it when we were visiting the Estuarium on Dauphin Island in July.  I instantly wanted to paint it.  So, this week I did.  Don't know if it will sell, but it makes me happy.  

Bloom True Boot Camp as it applies to me....(and you, perhaps)

You may not be able to tell what this photo depicts, but it is a message to myself written on my bathroom mirror with lipstick.  It says:

"Do Small Things with Great Love"

It is part of a quote from Mother Teresa.  The entire quote says "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."

Why is it written on my mirror, you may ask.  As I mentioned in my last post I am taking the Flora Bowley Bloom True Boot Camp 30-day online program.  

The first day's message encourages us to "INVITE THE SACRED".  I have incorporated this message into my own situation to mean this:

• I need to ask for God's help (and with that how can I do anything BUT succeed?)
• I need to remain open to the everyday magic that happens around me
• I need to remind myself to focus on things that are important to me (hence the mirror message.)

I think that these ideas and goals can be useful in any career or lifestyle.  So feel free to jump on the bandwagon and create your own "New Beginnings".

New Beginnings....Art Inspiration

Hello folks.  It's time for new beginnings.  I have come to an impasse in my art career.

I looked up impasse do be sure I was using the correct word and spelling. (don't want to appear ignorant on the internet and all)  One of the examples of how to use it in a sentence was...

"She had come to an impasse in her career".

I thinks it's a sign.  It could have said "He".  It didn't. It used almost the exact words I had used.

 It was meant for me.

Here's the deal...I have sort of outgrown my own style.  I want to improve, progress, and expand my way of painting.  But I don't want to change it too much, because there are those that like my style. (and I sincerely love each and every one of you!)

But I don't want to stagnate.  I want to continue to loosen up, which has always been one of my goals. And I want to incorporate some new colors or more of some of the colors that I already use.  I have some color schemes in my mind, but when I start to paint I fall back on the same predictable color groups that I have used in the past.

I see pieces that are painted by others that are of the style or "looseness" that I want to incorporate.  And I see paintings that use the colors that I have in my mind.  But when I try to emulate these other artists the work comes out too literal.  It looks too much like their work and not MY work.

I want to break out of my mold a little....but not too much.

I want to borrow ideas from other artists...but not too much.

So after much thought and consultation with others, here's what I have decided to do.

I am reading a book called the War of Art by Steven Pressfield.  It addresses the fine art of procrastination and how to avoid it in a creative career.  I am thoroughly enjoying this book.  Thanks Ellen Langford.

I have also enrolled in an online program by artist Flora Bowley.  It is called Bloom True Boot Camp. Her art is amazing, but what most interests me is her process and approach to creating art.  It is a 30-day program and I plan to post what I am doing and getting from this process.

You may find it interesting to see the inner struggles that some of us artists go through.  But even if you aren't into angst, hopefully some interesting art will happen along the way.

Here's to new beginnings!

Abstracts, Color Explosion, Freedom

I have had so much fun exploring this new way of creating abstracts. I put a few of them in the living room when I first finished them. I like to "live with" a painting sometimes after I finish it. I often see changes I need to make. And sometimes I just like them and enjoy having them around me for a while before they go off to their new homes. Well, these paintings are like no others I have done before. They have such a feeling about them. You would think that having 4 or 5 paintings in one place that all have that much color and action going on would be too busy or somewhat distracting, but I can't explain it....it's just a feeling of positive energy.

This one is one that I did before discovering Flora Bowley.  You can see that it lacks the freedom and abandon that the others have.  However, it will appeal to an entirely different type of person than the others.

New abstract, dedicated to Paula Hallman via flora Bowley

This spring I was looking around online and stumbled upon an artist that offers online courses and monthly newsletters to help you create colorful, energetic abstracts. I have been dabbling with abstracts for a couple of years on and off, but nothing has really lit my fire.

Until Flora Bowley. I read her blog and I viewed an online sample of one of her newsletters and I was just feverishly wanting to try it. I made my plan to start the very next day after seeing the video. I gathered my tools and had everything ready. I woke up at 4 AM (did not say I GOT up, just woke up). Plans for colors and compositions were running through my head. I was so excited.

I got up and got my coffee, did my daily devotional readings, and then checked my email and FB. It was on FB that I discovered that a dear artist friend of mine, Paula Hallman, had passed away. I don't see Paula but one week a year when we are neighbors at the Red River Revel in Shreveport, but we were great friends. I "got her" and she "got me". Her passing hit me harder than I could have imagined.

I thought to myself, "there is no way I will be able to paint today, much less explore a new style". But after a few more tears a realization hit me. Paula could not paint that day, but I could paint. And I did. I went on to paint straight through from 8 AM till 7 PM pretty much nonstop. Something I never do.

I discovered that I loved Flora Bowley's system. I love the music that she paints by, I love the freedom, the depth, the energy. I love that I can paint using her format, but in the end, the paintings look nothing like hers. They are definitely mine.

So I am sharing this first one that I did (with more to follow). In the "system" that Flora teaches one of the ways to start a painting is to write words on the canvas as the first layer. You then go on to add other layers on top which eventually cover up most of the bottom layer. But in this painting, when it was all over and I stopped to look at it.....you can still see part of one of the words I had started with.

I had written Paula.  

Love you girl!  I know your spirit is exploring the universe and you are seeing the places you have traveled to in your dreams...