About Painting

Painting used to be something that Daniel did ever since I've known him, but not me. Until a little more than three years ago when I suddenly felt I needed to start painting as well. I had no training and didn't know what to paint. So I raided Daniel's art supply closet and painted my blog header, my very first painting.

Horizon
8" x 10" acrylic painting

After that I thought about what I could paint and at the time, many of the bloggers and artists I was looking at for inspiration painted women portraits and so I started as well. And I love painting portraits - seeing a face come together and suddenly look back at me - that's an amazing feeling.

But somehow painting something so concrete has made me very insecure about my art. Is it any good? Do others like it? Does it look right? Is it too folksy? Is it too boring? How is the composition? Does the nose look like a real nose?

And somewhere inside me, I felt the need to just paint by intuition, not by design.

Bright Spot
5" x 7" acrylic painting

That's what I've been doing lately.  I've just been painting by feeling. Using colors that appeal to me in the moment. Working layer upon layer upon layer. Painting with brushes, rags and my fingers. Painting on paint and wiping it off. Scraping it off. Painting it on again. Wiping it off again. And having a lot of fun in the process.

And getting totally lost in the process. Quieting that busy brain of mine. Allowing any problems that were occupying my mind to solve themselves. Allowing my emotions to pour onto the canvas and show up as something beautiful. To me.

Icy
8" x 10" mixed media painting

I let each of the paintings sit overnight several times and then worked on them again, taking much longer than my usual process. Sometimes I'd turn them around, allowing myself to be surprised and taken into new directions. And then suddenly, it would all come together and I know that the painting is complete.

When I was younger, I tried to do a lot of meditation to quiet my mind (it tends to run away and get overly anxious) but it was hard exactly because of my busy mind! This right here - painting - that is my meditation. My sister and I were talking about that just yesterday. It totally helps us to quiet down and allow problems to solve themselves.

I think anyone who can pick up a paint brush (or a pen or pastel chalk or whatever) and has the desire to use it, can make art. It may not be the best by others' standards, but it will be your very own expression of the world as you see and feel it. And nobody else has that same perspective, right? Plus, it's incredibly fun!

P.S. I've not participated in a while, but wanted to again link to the wonderful Paint Party Friday - where art is always fun!

❧ Silke