GETTING STARTED

Hopefully I can encourage you to come into a relationship with your painting and record something, perhaps a feeling, or a sense of the place or season, and enjoy the process. Painting on location does help you get away from seeing painting as object oriented and instead, begin to paint without judgment. This is due partly to the time constraints of the changing sunlight forcing you to paint faster and partly from deepening your awareness of the natural word around you. As a professional full time artist, I have to continually reinvent myself. Success can actually stop your process and keep you making the same thing. I search for what really interests me, and then delve into it. It’s a challenge to start each new painting, to question why I paint. Every day I’m asking myself questions regarding my work, does the painting have a sense of space you can walk into, have I shown movement ,does the painting have power? Whether you are a beginner or experienced painter we can keep the beginner’s mind and always learn more about art and painting.  I believe drawing is the foundation to painting, but there is no realism test!  Start with simple basic shapes and experience the rich lovely texture of the paint and the brush stroke. When I give myself permission to welcome all the experiences and feelings, even the rough ones like when I have to scrap off what I started, I usually finish the session wanting to go back and try again