Talking About Art

One of the hardest parts of teaching art is trying to get my students to talk about their artwork. There is something deeply personal about being the creator of something. I think it is a fraction of the sentiment that parents must feel when they look at their children. I also think that is why parting with my artwork can be so hard. Each painting contains a part of me, and it is both rewarding and difficult to let them go.

Because each idea, color choice, and brushstroke is a deliberate decision made by me, it's hard to talk about what all of these choices mean and why I made them. Sometimes a choice just feels right, and sometimes it has a specific purpose.

I'm going to use this blog in an attempt to tell you about my artistic choices and the ideas behind them. I say attempt because it's going to be a difficult task, but I'm excited to try.

I'll try explain what inspires the ideas for my pieces and the process I go through to make each one. I'll keep you up to date on any new projects I'm working on and what I hope to accomplish with them. I'm also going to throw in some posts that describe pieces I've already made or sold and how I went about making them. In fact that is what my first few posts will be!

I'm staying in North Carolina right now with my sister, waiting for my baby nephew to join the world. I'm away from my studio for the time being (which, of course, means my brain is overloaded with new ideas!) so I'm focusing on my preexisting artwork.

I recently created a Facebook fan page to display my art and keep everyone updated on my work. I chose one of my favorite paintings for my cover page:

I did this piece so long ago that I had almost forgotten about it until I was loading my artwork into albums for my Facebook page. I love the way I made this painting - and the "self-portrait" I created in the same way:

In fact, I love my process so much, I've decided to do it again! Luckily, this process is one I can start here, away from my studio, and you get to be a part of it!

Stay tuned for my next post so you can see what I'm working on!