You know what "They" say... "Today is the first day of the rest of your life". Well, I'm not certain that this is the rest of my life, but it is definitely a new step in a different direction for me... blogging, wow! Who'd of "thunk" it? I certainly didn't. Mind you, writing is not foreign to me. I've written newsletters for my own businesses as well as a number of not-for-profit organizations, over the years. I even tried to write a novel, but after the first three chapters I was absolutely, totally exhausted and gained an incredible respect for published novelists!
I have friends who blog:
Collage artist Michelle Casey (http://www.collageyourworld.com/);
Acrylic artist Hala Al-Madi (https://halaalmadi.wordpress.com/about/);
Artist and teacher Kerstin Peters (http://www.kerstinpeters.ca/),
and I'm sure there are others out there that haven't let me know that they are blogging... yet! (If you are one please let me know!)
Art is what I do... I create it, I share it, I teach it. This is the purpose of my blog. To share with you my creating and my teaching. I recently shared photos of a painting in it's various stages from start to finish on Facebook, which was fun and got good response from my Facebook friends, which I will do, from time to time, on my blog, but what I most want to share with people are tips, techniques and information that will help my subscribers to make art more comfortable for themselves and create pieces of art that they will be proud of.
When I was much younger... I made a decision that I would not become a secretary, nurse or teacher, which were the main job options for girls at the time. (Yup, dating myself and also making my mark as a feminist!) I faint at the sight of blood so nurse/doctor was a definite no-go, but if I had known then how much I enjoy helping my students achieve things they didn't think that they were capable of, I would have become a teacher. What is it that "They" say... "Too soon old, too late wise." Learning is an ongoing process for both you and me. I'm delighted that you are interested in learning from me, but I also welcome the opportunity to learn from you. To that end, I invite you to let me know what kind of things you would like to learn about. Even if what you want to learn about it is not a subject that I actually teach, I will endeavour to find someone who can respond to your questions. Just let me know! I want my blog to be just as much about you as me, almost like we are having a conversation, a dialogue rather than a monologue!
I often say that art education is cumulative... If we all had to start at square one we would all still be producing paintings similar to the cave paintings of our ancestors. Thankfully, all that has been learned along the way (perspective, colour mixing, atmospheric perspective and much more) comes to us without having to start at the beginning. Just think of the millennia we are saving ourselves by letting others show us the tricks and skills acquired over those centuries.
This past week I did my first in a series of classes for a local senior's residence. While the residence is privately owned, a large number of the residents are subsidized and so things like art classes are not on the agenda. For this reason I am volunteering my time to teach the classes. My friend and investment advisor, Lynn Cain, http://www.cainandosborne.com/ raised the funds for supplies for the classes from some of her clients, for which I am truly grateful! Thanks Lynn!
As always, my students amazed me with their enthusiasm and with the beautiful journalling pages that they created. They were so thrilled to find out that the journals are theirs to keep, rather than having to hand them back to me at the end of the class. (Wasn't expecting that!)
To start the journalling experience I wanted to keep things simple... cutting, pasting, stamping, sticking, writing and adding some bling. Wow! Next week I'll be stepping up the process because these people are serious about creating their pages! I can see that they are going to keep me on my toes! Well, that's a challenge that I enjoy... giving my students what they need to grow and develop their artistic skills and thereby increase their pleasure in creating art.
Today's Painting Tip:
Spring brings the emergence of new leaves on trees and bushes as well as lawns coming back to life. Spring greens are yellow-greens, rather than blue-greens. To darken your green you can add a touch of red, which will make it darker by slightly neutralizing the green (great for shadows). To lighten a green use your green-yellow (Hansa Yellow Light; Lemon Yellow; Arylide Yellow Light) rather than white. Try the combinations on your palette. See the differences? When creating highlights on green foliage use your green-yellow straight from the tube. It's a colour match that will add true life to your foliage!
So, I invite you to subscribe to my blog (you can unsubscribe at any time), tell me what you are interested in learning, and let me show you some of the things that we have learned over the last millennium, that will help make your journey of learning much easier. I'm ready to get this blog launched and I hope I can count on you to help me get it there.
Thanks and best wishes,
Susan
I have friends who blog:
Collage artist Michelle Casey (http://www.collageyourworld.com/);
Acrylic artist Hala Al-Madi (https://halaalmadi.wordpress.com/about/);
Artist and teacher Kerstin Peters (http://www.kerstinpeters.ca/),
and I'm sure there are others out there that haven't let me know that they are blogging... yet! (If you are one please let me know!)
Art is what I do... I create it, I share it, I teach it. This is the purpose of my blog. To share with you my creating and my teaching. I recently shared photos of a painting in it's various stages from start to finish on Facebook, which was fun and got good response from my Facebook friends, which I will do, from time to time, on my blog, but what I most want to share with people are tips, techniques and information that will help my subscribers to make art more comfortable for themselves and create pieces of art that they will be proud of.
When I was much younger... I made a decision that I would not become a secretary, nurse or teacher, which were the main job options for girls at the time. (Yup, dating myself and also making my mark as a feminist!) I faint at the sight of blood so nurse/doctor was a definite no-go, but if I had known then how much I enjoy helping my students achieve things they didn't think that they were capable of, I would have become a teacher. What is it that "They" say... "Too soon old, too late wise." Learning is an ongoing process for both you and me. I'm delighted that you are interested in learning from me, but I also welcome the opportunity to learn from you. To that end, I invite you to let me know what kind of things you would like to learn about. Even if what you want to learn about it is not a subject that I actually teach, I will endeavour to find someone who can respond to your questions. Just let me know! I want my blog to be just as much about you as me, almost like we are having a conversation, a dialogue rather than a monologue!
I often say that art education is cumulative... If we all had to start at square one we would all still be producing paintings similar to the cave paintings of our ancestors. Thankfully, all that has been learned along the way (perspective, colour mixing, atmospheric perspective and much more) comes to us without having to start at the beginning. Just think of the millennia we are saving ourselves by letting others show us the tricks and skills acquired over those centuries.
This past week I did my first in a series of classes for a local senior's residence. While the residence is privately owned, a large number of the residents are subsidized and so things like art classes are not on the agenda. For this reason I am volunteering my time to teach the classes. My friend and investment advisor, Lynn Cain, http://www.cainandosborne.com/ raised the funds for supplies for the classes from some of her clients, for which I am truly grateful! Thanks Lynn!
As always, my students amazed me with their enthusiasm and with the beautiful journalling pages that they created. They were so thrilled to find out that the journals are theirs to keep, rather than having to hand them back to me at the end of the class. (Wasn't expecting that!)
To start the journalling experience I wanted to keep things simple... cutting, pasting, stamping, sticking, writing and adding some bling. Wow! Next week I'll be stepping up the process because these people are serious about creating their pages! I can see that they are going to keep me on my toes! Well, that's a challenge that I enjoy... giving my students what they need to grow and develop their artistic skills and thereby increase their pleasure in creating art.
Today's Painting Tip:
Spring brings the emergence of new leaves on trees and bushes as well as lawns coming back to life. Spring greens are yellow-greens, rather than blue-greens. To darken your green you can add a touch of red, which will make it darker by slightly neutralizing the green (great for shadows). To lighten a green use your green-yellow (Hansa Yellow Light; Lemon Yellow; Arylide Yellow Light) rather than white. Try the combinations on your palette. See the differences? When creating highlights on green foliage use your green-yellow straight from the tube. It's a colour match that will add true life to your foliage!
So, I invite you to subscribe to my blog (you can unsubscribe at any time), tell me what you are interested in learning, and let me show you some of the things that we have learned over the last millennium, that will help make your journey of learning much easier. I'm ready to get this blog launched and I hope I can count on you to help me get it there.
Thanks and best wishes,
Susan
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