Random Musing

On Tuesday night, I went to Kat's studio.  She had invited people to come by and paint items for Art 4 Shelter.  This is a fun and unique fundraiser for a well deserved nonprofit, Simpson Housing Services.

At some point in the evening, Kat was talking about the Chuck Close self portrait at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  She mentioned that if you look carefully at the edges of the canvas, you can see his markings where he divided up his canvas.  This observation thrilled me and I want to go to the MIA soon and look at this painting, again.

This has stayed with me for several days.  I'm using this same technique on my tiny, tiny painting surfaces.  Across a wide spectrum of experience and mastery, there are a bunch of people using the same tools.  Now, of course, there are.  This is hardly an original thought, but the world of creating art has been a black hole of mystery.

It also makes me think about a friend of mine taking mandolin lessons from a well-known teacher. Apparently, this teacher starts his beginner classes and his master classes with teaching the same technique.    

Creating art is a process.  I didn't realize that.  This is why I am so intrigued and smitten with learning how to draw and paint.  I love process.  You get to break a large thing into smaller parts.  For each part, you can ask a bunch of  questions such as "how does this work", "how can I do this better", or "what tools do I need",  This also is the part of my work life that I like the best.  I love figuring out the puzzle involved with creating a good process.  Add on to that the need to mix and play with color and that pretty much explains why I am hooked.    

Over the last two weeks, I painted 4 items for Art 4 Shelter.  Here is the one that I like the best.  It's the first time that I've painted a dog.  Although it does not look like the dog in the picture that I was painting, I'm still pleased with the result.