I don't pull out the paints and brushed very often, and I don't know why exactly why that is... I love to paint. I can guess though...I don't want to screw up, this keeps me from starting most project ideas I have. Just like with scrapbooking I love blending colors, textures and shapes... in fact I suppose most of the things I've done can't really be called paintings so much as collage or mixed media...
I've had several ideas for paintings that I want to do, and I always sketch them in a notebook because I have the memory of a goldfish (aka- none.) Often the ideas come when I am feeling very emotional about something, and sometimes just sketching it out is enough to let whatever it is go. Other times...especially when I am frustrated there is no plan or sketch... just smearing paint on a canvas with my fingers feels the best.
I, being the goldfish that I am, don't remember the emotion behind these paintings... if there was a driving force other than experimentation... either way I loved making the first one so much that I made another, with plans to make many more (though so far I've only done the two)
Do you remember when you'd basically scribble all over a piece of paper, then fill in each space with a different color? I did that a lot when I was bored in school or church when I was a kid, and that was the inspiration I started with... the scribbling, not the bored.
I filled in the shapes with paper, old patterns and paints. I am definitely an abstract "painter" (how many things do you have to make before you can officially call yourself a painter... I think I'll go with two) I am drawn to abstract art and it's the style that I visually communicate in.
Here are a few paintings by Elizabeth Chapman (She is Elsie Flannigan's mom BTW... clearly, beauty and creative expression run in the family.) I don't know how swirls of color and texture that aren't really "anyTHING" can speak to my soul... but they do, I could get stuck staring at these for hours.
What is your favorite style? Who is your favorite artist?
