Paint Program Fun

The AARP painting class with Steve Aimone has been so much fun. We are following his book Expressive Drawing, and he is giving us different projects every other week. We can post our results and see others results. This picture was one of my first attempts at using the Paint program, and I really enjoyed doing this. I found doing the doodles and scribbles so much fun, and I can actually see some beach sea oats in this. This is a far cry from the minimalist work I have done recently, but maybe I can reconcile the two.

Minimalist Again

Here is the latest of my minimalist paintings. It is acrylic on canvas. I am finding that this minimalist way of painting is really expressing what I want to say, and it is interesting to be able to reduce the painting down to the bare essentials and still feel that I am getting the message across. I love to play with the materials and can go on forever working on a painting, but it is a challenge to reduce it down to a minimum of action. This painting is named "Beside Still Waters"

and is another of my "still places" series. My suggestion for a website to visit is http://ruth-hunter-studio.blogspot.com.

Abstract Acrylic

I am posting an abstract acrylic painting done recently. It is a real reduction of "busy-ness" into a simplified design. I am enjoying doing these simplified big shapes with few details. One of my artist friends who is a more realistic painter and a detail person said she liked it, so I took that as a real comliment! My website recommendation for the day is http://www.emptyeasel.com/. This is a great website for technical information and inspiration.

Finishing

After having a few days away from home, I am inspired and excited to get back to work on paintings. Getting a painting finished is the hardest part for me; I can start a painting easily and get almost done, but the finish is hard! I always let paintings sit for a while and come back later to reevaluate, and I have a stack of unfinished work! I have set the goal for this summer to go through the stacks and either finish or throw out, and I am actually enjoying this. My studio is looking better! Moving towards abstraction is still the pull I am feeling, and I am finding myself more satisfied with what I might have considered unfinished in the past. I am attaching one painting which is an abstract landscape, and I do think it says all it needs to. My website recommendation for today is http://www.dailypainters.com/. I look forward to seeing this site everyday as it always shows wonderful work from wonderful artists.

Another Artist Website

As I said in my last post, I am going to share some artist websites that I have found to be of great inspiration to me. The one today is http://www.dailypainters.com/. I look forward to checking this site every day to see what is new. I have even tried the "painting a day" concept, but I have found that I get stuck painting small and don't do any bigger pieces. Also, it is hard to do a painting everyday. It is amazing to me to sometimes see that other people are working on the same things that I am, and I love to see what they are doing with it.

Inspiration and Vacation

I have been on vacation for two weeks. Or should I say, I have had children and grandchildren visiting, and although it was a great time, it was no vacation. I think I need a vacation now! Needless to say, I have not been painting! I am going to start posting some of the websites and blogs of artists I follow; I find great inspiration in seeing what these wonderful people are doing. Especially when I am not finding the time to paint, it is so nice to be able to see what is going on in the art world. The first site I would recommend is www.arthousecoop.com. I love all the projects this site has going on, and I am participating in the Sketchbook project and hope to see the exhibit in Atlanta next spring.

Minimalist Abstract Painting

I found an older painting of mine last week and realized that it is akin to what I am working on now. I think I can use this to continue a series of more minimalist abstract renditions of my same theme of "Thin Places". I have found several blogs that I now love and am following, and I will try to link them to my blog as soon as I learn how!