more color please

coloristkŭl′ər-ĭst

noun

1. A painter skilled in achieving special effects with color.
2. A hairdresser who specializes in dyeing hair.
3. One who colors; a painter; especially, when used absolutely, a painter whose works are notable for beauty of color.

(thanks to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.)

I call myself a “colorist”… in terms of a painter. Color is such a wonderful way to get a message across! Paint an alligator hot pink, for instance, and it’s going to attract attention. Most people tell me, “Your artwork is so happy! “It makes me happy,” “you must love what you do.” And yes, most of the time I’m making art, I am happy. When I’m painting or collaging, I usually want the viewer to appreciate the subject of the piece in an unexpected way, put a smile on their face. I often address this goal through my color palette. I might limit my color palette to 3 or 4 distinct colors of work in terms of the color tone. Always working with complimentary colors, to adjust colors, highlight the focal point, etc. When I teach painting, my students are limited to 5 colors… and everything is mixed from those colors… it works.

I have been all the following lately: stressed out, BUSY, a little crazy, uninspired, TIRED, distracted, easily distracted, lol. and more. I absolutely need 16-20 pieces for my show in February, “Southern Roots, where the alligators live”. I know this from past experience. Oh, and all the pieces for the show that I started… yes, 2 years ago. None of them are finished. eeek. They are all in various stages of development, but actually finished, no.

But today, inspiration came knocking, today, I looked around and took charge, lol. I will finish what I need to finish, and more. I have hope, and determination and INSPIRATION. I have some artwork in progress that I really love. I started 2 new pieces yesterday, after doing a number of sketches and focusing on a researching for a theme for several pieces. Today, I started 6 new pieces. One of them is HUGE… and will take many weeks to finish. But I can do it and they are all about color. Color is such a wonderful tool. It can make you happy, make you smile, elevate your mood, and make my world a sweeter place. Hopefully, yours too.

Stay tuned!

This weeks progress:

And the BIG one. Waiting for paint.