The Artist must struggle

My struggle is to preserve that abstract flash – like something you caught out of the corner of your eye, but in the picture you can look at it directly. (Andrew Wyeth)

All artists struggle with their art…. that is, if they are challenging themselves.  Its part of the process. I struggle often, mainly when it comes to my style.   You see my style was developed by allowing myself to look for cues as I painted, which would give me direction.  Using this method I have found I’ll often use colors not usually planned or sometimes I’ll add or take something out of the painting.  Waiting for the painting to give me direction is sometimes like waiting for your cat to eat one of the four or fives types of food you put out for her.  You may be waiting awhile.  Allowing the painting to develop en route so to speak is easy unless you find yourself in a creative block

Creative blocks are  sometime also part of the struggle. Nothing new and, it sometimes means a change in your style or a new direction.  You may have to just” go with it” even if you hate it.  Who knows, It could be a break thru.    Rather than following an outlined plan. I’ll have a concept in mind, an idea or something I want to explore. Usually this is incorporated in a series.

when I start a new painting, I try to develop a composition and choose some color families then I decide the medium & thats it, I start. This can lead to a lot of painting and repainting, and this alone can make you feel lost. When I get stuck, there are several things I do to help break out of these doldrums. One is to paint other paintings while leaving your “Problem Child” out and in front of you…. say on an easel.  Another is to draw in your sketchbook, even if its only doodles.  If you paint, try doing something else some crafts or perhaps write a short story or go for a long walk taking your camera along.  It seems anything creative can jump-start that spark.   So if your struggling with your next painting or any creative endeavor, remember your not alone and perhaps you’ll find just what you need to be on your way and that day is worth the struggle.

All dogs go to Heaven #42 4 by 6″ 30.00 watercolor

All Dogs go to heaven #41 watercolor on paper 4″ by 6″ watercolor $30.00

“Koi babies” watercolor on home made archival paper 11 by 14 $120.00

“Batik Koi” Watercolor on handmade 100 % archival paper 11 by 14 $85.00

Little Tree Frog 4 by 5″ (oil on paper )

This little gem is painted in oil and as you may be able to tell is still wet. It will get slightly darker as it dries, which may take a week.

Spring Time Friend

18 by 22 watercolor on paper $300.00

Sunflowers and lady bugs” watercolor 15 by 20 inch

The price on this piece is only… $200.00 a 15 by 20 inch archival watercolor ready to be shipped to your home.
shantmarie@aol.com for inquiries pay pal accepted
If i said I struggled with this painting it would be an understatement. It isn’t my genre and illustrative works can get the best of me. I don’t use line as often as some artists and I paint mostly using value and color. This can be tricky for me as this little fairy was a little animated and I liked that but I needed it to be fun and didn’t want it to be realistic… so I had to find a happy medium. Sorta realistic sorta animated.

Sorta? is that a word?

November Snow

This watercolor on paper is on sale! The unbelievable price is $200.00 Usually this piece would be three hundred dollars, so thats a hundred dollar discount. Yeah!!!

The size is 15 by 11 inches

a second space to paint

I’m painting in watercolor these days and also in oil…. so I had to set up a small easel in my upstairs bedroom. You can see G man my funny guy giraffe. This is just the first pass and I will tone down the bright blue background. This painting is from my animals with attitude series. I painted it in Watercolor and I decided ….I’ll do this one also in oil.

The butterfly above is watercolor and gold leaf… I need to get that painting finished… also a large Koi painting in oil is hanging there and needs to be re-stretched and finished.

Ancient ritual 130

16 by 16 acrylic on wood 200.00 plus 10.00 s & h

I think this is a cross between the “monet” series and the ancient ritual series.   This acrylic is very textured and the photo isn’t really showing how beautiful the paint looks.  The white area on the right is actually a bit of glare its more gold then white.   I painted it with a palette knife. 

Monet tribute in red

Acrylic on panel 7 by 10 $75.00 plus 5.5 for shipping and handling

This colorful painting is part of my fantasy series which includes some water paintings.  The red in this painting isn’t showing as well as it should. The light area in the middle upper area is actually red but it’s reflecting the light and looks like light or white.  In the morning I’ll take another photo in the daylight so there won’t be any glare bouncing off the painting.  It really has a lot of texture and is actually impasto in many places. 

Oh and I forgot to mention I bought some baby Koi.  I’ve had them for a few weeks but didn’t want to post anything about them in case they didn’t make it. Real confident huh? I’ve had lots of fish 

(including salt water) in the past but never Koi.  I want to post some pics of my little koi, their adorable, I know Koi can’t be adorable but these guys really are cute.  Their pretty small but very active and have lots of personality.  I haven’t named them yet, we’re still in the salad days of our relationship.  We’ll see how it goes.  I had to put some ice in their water today ( the ice was in plastic bags)  it was nearly 93 degrees F.  The water was over 85 degrees F.  Koi can live in very hot water but I’ve been known to baby my pets.  

Check back with me and see the little guys. 

 

 

Fantasy Koi lV

16 by 32 inches watercolor on Gessoed . $ 400.00 Masonite.
This is one of my larger paintings and it is very intense.

Fantasy lake

SOLD 5.75 by 5.75This is watercolor on gessoed masonite. Sealed with a fixative and ready to ship.

Little ones 3 by 5 Koi painted on clayboard

3 by 5, watercolor on clay-board with fixative $30.0 plus shipping and handling