Gallery Organization… still in progress, but a little closer to being my HAPPY PLACE! I did take a break from cleaning and sorting and organizing to “play” a little. I finished up 7 new small collage pieces for the original art blank cards I have available at Fifth Avenue Art Gallery, in Melbourne. A great way to share original art with someone special… or keep it for yourself.
Finally getting the new studio somewhat organized and so happy to get some time to work on a few small pieces.
I sorted so much of my supplies while packing that I can’t find a lot of things. Eeeek, moving is stressful. The new small works will be used for original blank greeting cards.
I really enjoyed painting this piece focusing on the composition of the tattered leaves of the Bird of Paradise. Using lots of bold colors to represent the tropical environment, I replaced almost all the greens with teal, reds and pinks. I also incorporated collage, with my hand-painted patterned papers applied to some of the leaves.
Work is underway for my solo-exhibition. I was originally scheduled for October 2022, but due to delays and obstacles… it will happen next year. I’m happy for the additional time to explore and enjoy the process. I’ll be working in acrylics and mixed media collage, sharing my love for all things southern, even alligators. Stay Tuned!
I probably start most of my blog post the same way. I talk about how it’s been so long since my previous post and how busy I get and I’m going to try to do better! It’s all true.
I had a show in February with two artist friends at Fifth Avenue Art Gallery, in Melbourne, Florida entitled Open for Interpretation. The three of us, each submitted three words and all of us had to “interpret“ all nine words. So the show consisted of 27 artworks. The nine words were: tree, oyster, spicy, sunflower, honeybee, fishing, collection, vintage and origami. The three of us have very different styles and mediums that we work in. I am a mixed media artist, my friend Lori is a watercolorist and my friend Barbara is currently working with digital ink transfers. As I sometimes do, I didn’t get started on the project as early as I should have and in the end worked feverishly to get all my pieces finished. But I did enjoy the process and I like the playfulness and directness of my finished work for the show.
It’s taken some time, but I’ve learned that creating art intuitively is the very best approach for me. Not to say that it takes less effort or discipline, but the overall process is more enjoyable! Listening to my inner art voice is usually smart. Sometimes it guides me to trust myself… go in a different direction or be brave in my choices. The “process” of art making is why I make art after-all, if it’s not enjoyable, then I’m doing something wrong. These 2 turtles are a good example of starting a new piece intuitively. In the midst of playing with a very bold palette they appeared 😊. They are on their way… lots of collage and paint to come.
I LOVE to escape into creativity! it’s why I named my studio “artescape ” Lol. Escape… Lately… Not a, chance! I’m sitting at my studio this morning, oh so briefly, wondering when in the world I’m going to spend 3, 4 hours… the whole day, making art! Everything (nothing fun) lately has prevented that from occurring. Sometime or another, life is overwhelming, everything sort of stinks… Reflecting back to the 80’s of my young adulthood… it’s like Roseanne Roseannadanna says: “like I always say, it’s always something, if it’s not one thing it’s another “.
I’ve decided to embrace preparing for those glorious opportunities to be free, to be creative! So I’ve been painting papers, again. It’s amazing how much painted paper one needs to create a large mixed media piece, like a cow or a goat or a sea turtle. A lot! So when I don’t have time to fully escape, I enjoy playing around with my art stuff. Paint, rollers, stencils and paper, along with a fairly clean table (sometimes the floor) and I’m happy. It’s wonderful to turn on some music and just start painting with nothing particular in mind.
Like a lot of creative people, I’m messy… so every so often, when I’m spending too much time looking for the one thing I need but can’t find, I stop what I’m doing and organize to some degree. This is another way of preparing for future creative opportunities. I find that “thing” that I saved or a scrap of something I painted a while back, and ooooh, it leads to spotting another bit of something that is so perfectly paired with the first thing and so it goes. I start little piles of gathered items and eventually, they will be used together to create a piece of art, like the 2 square pieces in the photo below. (Works in progress) Just imagining the possibilities… I feel better already. Preparing can be creative and often times more enjoyable than finishing a piece of art. Soon, very soon, you’ll find me at my studio :)
It’s been a busy summer! I like a good thing when I find it… and 16 years ago I heard about a wonderful place to go to in July (when it soooo hot in Florida), up in the mountains of North Carolina and make art.
For the last 16 years, minus the summer I broke my leg, and last summer leaving early, I have spent a week at Wildacres, NC with the continuing education program of Ringling School of Art, located in Sarasota, Fl. I love it there… the location, the tranquility, the comradery, open studios and some years there have been very “memorable” events.
I was so happy to get back there this summer! I spent the week in a mixed-media with beeswax class, taught by Elena De La Ville with 12 other artists, working with paper and wax. I have always loved work with a wax element… it’s such a wonderful tactile medium that is difficult to control but has so many options as to how it is utilized. We had several assignments involving composition and one was to photograph our surrounding looking for examples of good composition, then re-create the image with our materials.
I took lots of photos on my morning walk, but the last one was an elongated shadow of myself standing on the pathway. I liked the design and the emotion of the picture…and used it to create a piece. One of my classmates pushed me to work on a series of “selfies” and I ended up creating 5 pieces.
It’s good to step out of your artistic comfort zone… although my work is definitely “out there” at times. It’s also good… even though I don’t love it, to listen to other artists about my work. I love challenges in all aspects of my life. I never want to be too comfortable in my art, but to push forward and hope to discover and relate more about who I am and what message I want to share.
RENEE DECATOR, life stories 