This week I went live on my business Facebook page (www.facebook.com/teresakogut) and created “Ashleys’ Guardian”. It is to be donated to fundraising auction in June. The mix media painting was painted over scrapbook papers on cradled board and measures 18 x 24 inches. I added a special touch to this painting….the heart on her choker is painting with shimming gold paint
She’s been in my sketchbook for over a year now when I sketched 40 angels over the 40 days of lent. I thought she was perfect for the donation.
Here’s a bit of information about the organization from my friend Melinda Brawner:
“NGA is the name of the 501(3)c that I belong to. We donated over 27,000 items in the Genesee county community in 2017, mostly for young children. We support Catholic Charities Center for Hope, Crossover Downtown Outreach ministries, Old News Boys and The Hurley Foundation. At Hurley we purchase hats for Peds Oncology, clothing for the NICU, and clothing for the ER. Recently we added our receipts and found that we generally pay .16 to .20 cents on the dollar . Our organization has 35 members. We are anxiously awaiting our annual auction and Teresa’s beautiful angel painting! 50 percent of our funds come from our annual auction.”
From my Instagram post “Needed to get this out! My florals are such good medicine for me. I have no plan. I have no limits. I just go for it. I paint with wonder and vigor…. just letting go and see where inspiration takes me.”
Tilly the goat came to life yesterday from my sketchbook. She and Wilbur the pig became fast friends. I really enjoy painting these quick & cute farm animals in between larger, more sophisticated paintings. Hope you enjoy!
“Tranquility” is an acrylic painting on 10″ x 20 x 1.5″ cradled board. She is the 2nd in my “Beauty Birds and Blooms” collection. I really enjoyed painting her. This is the first painting where I’ve combined my figure painting with my intuitive florals. I will continue this collection until I have 10-12 paintings finished or until my show….whichever comes first. However, I will be taking next week off from painting for the collection in order to paint three commission angel paintings, which I will also share with you here.
Thank you for being here and sharing in my artful journey. God Bless!
Her name hasn’t came to me yet as with most of my paintings, the title reveals itself to me after the work is done or close to being done. Just wanted to show you the work in progress (WIP). She’s coming along nicely and hope to have her finished tomorrow. Planning to add a couple of birds, too!
Anyone who has followed by art career knows I like to paint a HUGE variety of themes & subject matter. Is this a good thing? It’s up for debate. I know it’s important as an artist to build your brand so that when someone sees your work out in the world they can say “that’s a (fill in artist’s name) painting”.
But I’ve never been known to follow the rules of the art world. My business name Teresa Kogut’s Creative Whims, Inc. says it all, right? I paint what inspires me at the time. I don’t put limits on my creativity. I don’t want to be pigeon-holed into painting one look or one muse. I let my “whims” guide me, so, yes, I’m kinda all over the place with my art…..but that’s me.
I’ve had Wilbur and his farm friends in my sketchbook for a while now and I decided they needed to come to life! Wilbur’s friends will be joining him soon.
Wilbur’s also a painting lesson at Kogut Studio Uncut. For more information about KSU, visit www.gatherdreamcreate.com/uncut
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!
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.
ALL ART, SKETCHES, PATTERNS & PHOTOS ARE THE PROPERTY OF TERESA KOGUT AND ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED. ANY USE OF IMAGES FROM THIS BLOG IS PROHIBITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF ARTISTS.
