Have you ever “finished” a painting but the more you looked at it the more uneasy you became? Well, that’s exactly what happened after living with Indigo Hypnosis.
First, let me start by telling you about a comment on Facebook from a friend of mine. She asked me, “I’m so intrigued by the creative process. How do you know when you are done with a painting?” I replied, when I’m happy with it and wouldn’t change a thing”.
I thought it was ironic because I believed I was done with Indigo Hypnosis, however, I kept her in my midst and looked at her several times throughout the day. Something about her just wasn’t right. I decided I wasn’t completely happy with the painting. Even though she was well received when I posted photos of her online. I had two people contact me hoping to purchase the painting. However, as the creator of the art, I just had to put her back on the easel and “fix” her.
Big difference, right? The two obvious changes are the background color and the additional Indigo Bunting. The composition of this painting was one of the biggest issues for me. I didn’t like all the space above her head. I was going to add a bird in a nest on her head but decided just an additional bird was enough. I love that he’s singing her a song, too The second sore spot for me was the dark background. I felt like she was being consumed in darkness and I didn’t like the pattern of flowers I had painted. The new lighter, dry-brushed background adds movement and makes her hair even more badass 😉 I also shortened the flower stem, fixed her wrist & knuckles, put more shadows in the dress and a couple more little tweaks here and there.
Now, I’m in love with her. That’s when I know I’m done!
The take away from this post is to live with your painting….hang it somewhere you can see it every day and ponder it. Maybe you love it just the way it is….yay! Or maybe you can make a few changes and go from liking it to loving it.
Blessings, Teresa
PS – Go to the original post and see how she looked before her makeover, here.
For many months now I’ve been planning and dreaming on how to make my life-long goal come true, which is to make a living selling original works of art. Large paintings. Beautiful paintings. There’s a unique feeling of fulfillment when one invests in my original paintings. Each work of art is a piece of me. It’s very personal. There’s a special connection between artist and collector. I crave those connections….not for my pride or ego but to be fulfilled and understood. I get a sense of gratification and peace knowing my work has found a permanent place to live….. someone has connected with my art, brought it into their home and hopefully it’s bringing them as much joy as it brought me when I created it.
You see, I’ve been painting since 1992. I have a library of over 4,000 images, however, the majority of those paintings were created with product in mind. I was painting for the licensing market. Can this art be applied to a flag, quilting fabric, dinnerware, floor mats, figurines? are the colors “on trend”? which licensee will this work for? these questions swirled around in my head as I sketched and painted day in and day out as deadlines came at me like a rainstorm.
Currently, I have many facets to my business; I still license my more commercial art (such as, snowmen, Santas, teddy bears, etc), I design cross stitch, punchneedle & rug hooking patterns, I offer online courses, as well as make prints of my work to sell on Etsy…..although I enjoy all areas of my business, my REAL PASSION is painting from the heart…with no product or customer in mind. It is my bliss. It is my purpose. It is where I feel free. It is a gift from God.
I’ve spent several hours over the past weeks searching online for art fairs in Michigan, looking for “artsy shops” in tourist areas, listening to successful artist interviews on Youtube, blogs and podcasts. Basically making a plan and gathering information in order make a real go of it in 2019.
Last week, I was listening to a podcast and the artist who was interviewed said something that made me stop in my tracks (literally, I was on my elliptical machine), I paused the podcast and pondered what she said; “My days are numbered. I only have so many days in my life to paint.” This was the fuel I needed! It actually freaked me out a bit….I have sketchbooks full of ideas ….more than I’ll ever be able to paint because I keep adding sketches when inspired. I was so fired up that I made the decision right there and then to start painting a minimum of 3 hours a day NO MATTER WHAT! (and pray I can find more time)
I had been setting Fridays aside for painting but it always seemed like “something” would come up and I’d only get a few hours of painting in, if that. Even though I can’t neglect the other areas of my business, aka, my bread and butter, I know I need more time to paint. So I changed my morning routine….I get up earlier, meditate, workout, shower, make lunch and head to the studio for a minimum of 3 hours of complete bliss before starting my “real job”. (I’m not complaining….my real job is creative and fun, too, just not as fulfilling as painting)
The purpose for creating a collection was inspired by an opportunity that landed in my lap a couple weeks ago. A lady in Berkley, Michigan saw my art on Etsy and emailed me to invite me to have a show at her boutique in August. I decided to have a cohesive collection of 10-12 paintings (one will be donated to charity). The decision to name the collection Beauty, Birds and Blooms was inspired by 3 of my loves:
I LOVE the challenge of painting faces, hands, hair…basically everything about the human form.
Birdwatching was something my Dad and I shared before he passed. If I saw a siting of a unfamiliar bird, I’d immediately call him and we’d both search for it in our bird books and he’d call me if he spotted a new feathered friend as well. I miss that time with my Dad so as a tribute to him, birds will be in each painting.
I love gardening. I have several flower beds around our home. It is such a great way to unwind….working in them as well as just gazing at their beauty. When I see bright beautiful blooms, I say, “that’s God’s paintbrush, only He has access to such vivid colors”.
I will be posting works in progress as well as the final paintings here on my blog so be sure to follow so you can see the collection come together. I’m beyond excited!!
About Indigo Hypnosis
The title for this painting came to me when she was complete. When I start a painting, I have a sketch and an idea of composition but as far as color and some of the finer details, they come as I create the painting.
Her eyes are as blue as the Indigo Bunting on her hand and her piercing gaze looks as if she could hypnotize anyone looking into them.
It will be a written lesson with photos for Online Painting Magazine, however, I video recorded the lesson and will be offering it at www.gatherdreamcreate.com/studio along with “Grace” in December 2018! It’ll be two angel paintings in one tutorial Excited!
As an artist, I’m always stretching myself, exploring new techniques and searching for a new muse or a new direction. Maybe because it’s winter here in Michigan and all of my beautiful flower gardens are covered in snow and I long for bright, bold beautiful blooms but I felt compelled to play with florals. I decided to do a #30daychallenge to keep myself in the moment and keep learning and moving forward with these florals.
Take a look at the first 14 paintings of my 30 day challenge. From here I will be posting daily until the 30 day challenge ends. I hope you enjoy viewing these florals and they bring some joy and color into your day.
If you follow my work, you know I paint angels using acrylic paints. Well, I wanted to try something new so I decided to paint an angel using watercolor paints! I started with a pen and ink drawing then added the watercolors. As I was working, I discovered I didn’t like the ink drawing because it was so permanent and I couldn’t change it. It also gave it a rigid look instead of a soft look like watercolors tend to do.
Having said all of that, I really did enjoy the process! It’s so opposite of acrylics for these reasons:
With watercolor I work light to dark. I keep in mind the areas that will be the lightest and work around them. With acrylic I work dark to light. Building layers until you reach the lightest highlights.
I can’t just paint over a mistake like I can with acrylic. There are techniques I can use to minimize a mistake but if it’s a major boo boo, I have to start over or accept it as part of the painting.
Watercolor dries a shade lighter and acrylic dries a shade darker.
Once I lay down the watercolor and it dries, I can still manipulate it by adding water to it and “bringing it back to life”…not going to happen with acrylic.
It’s easy to create a soft, blended look with watercolor but not so much with acrylic.
Watercolors are transparent when using enough water with the paint so you can see the layer underneath. Acrylic is opaque.
In order to lighten a watercolor, I simply add more water and to darken or have the color more concentrated, I use less water. With acrylics, you have to add white paint to lighten for highlights and paynes grey, black or another darker color paint to make the paint color darker for shadowing.
It really is night and day when painting with watercolor compared to acrylics but I love them both! I hope you enjoy watching the speed painting of Ariel.
Blessings,
Teresa
“Ariel” is a lesson at Kogut Studio Uncut, go here to learn more.
This painting pretty much sums up how I think we should talk to ourselves. How we should talk to our children. How we should look at one another. How we are all unique. How our differences are what makes the world so beautiful. But most of all to be comfortable within our own skin. It starts with what we believe about ourselves. Repeating positive affirmations over an over has a powerful effect on ourselves and those around us. Here is the message I posted on my Facebook business page:
“She Wears What She Wants” acrylic Whimsy Chick art journal page is next week’s Kogut Studio Uncut lesson. My original sketch had this saying in it but the background was just white. As I was creating this painting, I wanted to include words that were positive, powerful and uplifting. All of the sentences in the background start with “I am”- it’s her words. Words that she repeats to herself…. saying all of the things that she believes about herself. The words “she wears what she wants” is what the outside world sees…..her confidence. She’s not afraid to express herself in what she does, in what she creates, and in what she wears.
“I am strong. I am confident. I am loved. I am worthy. I am unique. I am beautiful. I am dynamic. I am loved by God. I am whole. I am a fox. I am harmonious. I am powerful. I am loving. I am a child of God. I am at peace. I am grateful. I am one with nature. I am happy. I am worthy. I love myself. I am me.”
Because she knows who she is and believes in herself and her uniqueness, she is free to wear what she wants. I hope this painting inspires you to wear what you want! God Bless.
The new store “Creative Whims” is now open!! I seriously feel like the past 25 years of my art career has led me to this point! I have built up a library of over 4,000 images that now can be featured on products….and I get to choose which ones! I’m beyond thrilled to be able to offer my art on quality products.
So far, I’ve partnered with 5 companies to create products such as, mugs, notebooks, pencil pouches, phone cases, calendars, journals, notecards, placemats, cutting boards, shirts, totes, prints, gallery-wrapped canvases & coasters! The ultimate goal is home decor. The first home decor product has recently been added and it’s pillows! The color and quality of these pillows will knock your socks off.
Hopefully by spring of 2018, Creative Whims Store will be offering wall tapestries, shower curtain, bathroom mats, dog beds, table cloths, table runners, duvet covers, ottomans and more. It’s a dream come true to have a place where someone can go and purchase everything they need to decorate a room.
Be sure to stop by the store often as products are being added a few times a week! To see the most recently added products, go to www.mycreativewhims.com, click “catalog”, then where is reads sort by, in that drop-down menu, choose “date, new to old”. That way when you come back to the site you can see the newest additions to the store.
“In Commmand” measures 20″ x 16″. It’s an acrylic on stretched gallery-wrapped canvas. I painted it for a lesson in Kogut Studio Uncut where I teach art once a week via videos. The videos are raw, unedited, unscripted….uncut. If you’d like to learn more, go here.
Psalm 91:11 – “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways”. This is one of my favorite scriptures not only because it shows God’s love for us in such fatherly way but also because it makes me feel safe. Sending his angels down from heaven to guard us is a very real and strong message.
It’s also important to be “in command” of ourselves….to have the self-control it takes to stay the course; whatever that may mean for you and your life. Being an entrepreneur, I have to be in command of my time. It’s easy to get distracted my “shiny objects”…for example, Facebook, Instagram, spending too much time researching or planning rather than doing.
This angel is very special to me for the reasons written above. The original is spoken for, but she will be available in many products very soon. Watch for them at Creative Whims and my Etsy shop.
May you never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly…..
Welcome! The vision for my blog is to share my life & creativity, give a more in depth look into my YouTube videos, show my creative process, announce new products & patterns and hopefully inspire you to live a creative life.
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The second sore spot for me was the dark background. I felt like she was being consumed in darkness and I didn’t like the pattern of flowers I had painted. The new lighter, dry-brushed background adds movement and makes her hair even more badass 😉 I also shortened the flower stem, fixed her wrist & knuckles, put more shadows in the dress and a couple more little tweaks here and there.
