Hindsight is 2020 - Thoughts on the Year

2020 has certainly been a strange year.  I retired from teaching public school art at the end of the 2018/2019 school year with the goal of making art full time.  I started renting a lovely studio above a wine bar in York, PA.  

I thought I could get a few part-time teaching gigs to help me pay my rent.  I did, but they were not quite what I expected.  I loved the classes I was teaching, but after February, classes cancelled and we went virtual. 

I did have some successes in 2020.  I won an Award of Excellence for Healing Arts
from Manhattan Arts International in February.  I also won Best of Show in the Yorkfest Adult Juried Exhibition over the summer. The painting that won is Living Forest.  It is a painting of what was my neighbor's creek in the woods.  This is 30"x30" oil painting on canvas.  My painting style has changed over the years.  I earned my MFA in visual arts in 2017.  That experienced helped me to think of making art in a different way.  I am no longer trying to "copy" nature.  I am experiencing nature through the process.  

Most of the paintings I will be showing were created in the studio using photos that I took while walking through the woods.  We purchased our neighbor's 24 acre wooded property in December.  It is a magical place.  I also hike at the state park which is five minutes from my home with my dog and my husband.  He also retired this year.  Nature continues to inspire me. 

The Great Falls of the Potomac and "Purple is the New Black"

The Great Falls park in Virginia is an absolutely beautiful place that I visited in early October!  We went for a hike and I took a lot of photos with my phone.  This painting is a result.

What do I mean by "Purple is the New Black?"  We all know the TV series about the women's prison.  This has nothing to do with prison but it has everything to do with color.  So here is the second painting I did in this new series. (See post of December 19th for the first).   I changed my usual format to vertical (36x24).  I did not use any blacks or browns in the paintings.  This is an experiment for me and I am liking it!  One Artist who inspires me is the famed artist and teacher, Robert Henri.  His book The Art Spirit is on my side table.  I have read and re-read the book at least 20-30 times along with Wassily Kandinsky's Concerning the Spiritual in Art.  Henri recommended using a palette that corresponds with the colors of the rainbow and I tried it.  I start with a red-violet to violet to blue to greens, yellows and ending with a cadmium red.   I mix colors directly on a large paper palette.  White is added for lightening and adding opacity on the second or third day.  I am thoroughly enjoying this new color palette.  I am currently working on the third in this vertical series.  I have a few more that are in square and horizontal formats that I might post soon!

Renewal of Negative Space

So I have not posted on this blog in a while and I'm wondering if there is still a viable audience.  I retired from teaching and I am now working as a full time artist.  I'm not sure if it is sustainable yet, but I love what I'm doing.  I've moved from pure abstract/non-objective painting back to landscapes with a new color palette.  No blacks or browns!  If anyone still follows, let me know.  I will either blog here and connect to my website or start a blog on the website.