The Tree of Vanishing Point

So what's the point? The vanishing point? All puns aside, which is hard for me to do. I think I get it now. The homework assignment was to draw something using the values learned in the vanishing point perspective. I drew several pictures. One that might resemble an animal, another that was mostly abstract, and my current obsession or crutch the "Tree."

I poetically titled it and wrote it below the picture. But then other phrases popped in my head.

So in keeping with what sparks my inspiration:

Tree of Vanishing Point

As far as the Eye can See

I can See the Point

As long as it grows

In the image of a Tree

Tree of Vanishing Point

Perspective all askew

One point, two, and three

Take the eye to a pleasing point

And the brain knows what you see

Learning to Draw

My last blog was a tribute to a watercolor class that I took a few months ago. This entry is for my current class "Drawing I," an actual, for-credit, college course. I enrolled in this class so I could learn "fundamental principles of drawing" according to the catalogue description.

There is so much that I enjoy about this class. I enjoy the ambient chatter of the classmates as we all work on our current pieces. I enjoy the fact that the class is four hours long and that it is four days a week. I love that I can peek over someone's shoulder as they work and learn from their process.

My husband and I are very different individuals, with different approaches to art, but I love the fact that we can both take this class together.

And finally, each day I come to class I look forward to the exuberant and gentle guidance from our instructor Josie...she not only teaches us to "Draw" as is outlined in the course description, but from my point of view, she demonstrates how one can draw upon that area that is within all of us to make the images we draw on paper come alive.

Deliberate.....Decide.....Design.....Drip.....Done

Watercolor 101

I have signed up to take a watercolor class.  I chose this class because it is titled "Out of the Box Watercolor."  I like watercolor because it bleeds and cries and it helps me get my feelings on paper.  I come to this class to learn a little bit more about structure and rules.  I have learned to experiment with tissue papers and other mediums.  There is a nice camaraderie in the classroom. This is an 8-week class and I am hoping a little discipline and discussion of techniques will guide me onward.  

Now that I read the title that I gave to the piece posted below, I realize that I titled it backwards.  

I first started with a blank canvas and no idea of what I was going to do.  I thought, stared, and blinked a little.   The paper scraps available to me had a bubble and circle design. So I glued, I painted, I outlined and I let go, and had fun. 

Blast Bubbles     Blow   Blink   Blank

Cloudy Days

Monsoons are upon the Phoenix, Arizona community. The weather in July can be hot, humid, cloudy, and sometimes rainy. Clouds roll in and fill the sky. The clouds are voluminous, sometimes white and fluffy and sometimes dark and foreboding. Clouds are nature's Rorschach. What do you see? A ducky, a person's profile, or a mountain range?

Abstract art is the same. What do you see? Sometimes I don't know what I have until it's done. That's the beauty of seeing different images in your own abstract. There's a quiet satisfaction in seeing something new everyday even if it's the same old view.

Inspiring Juices

That which inspires one to write words, paint pictures, create song, or carve images, comes from within and is screaming to get out. Happy, sad, angry, glad or frustrated, these are some of the feelings that spark art.

Many of our basic feelings are coloured by our bodily functions. If you are angry or upset, you might say you were "pissed" or "pissed off." If you were nervous you'd be "sweating" bullets. If you think someone was not being truthful, you'd think they were "full of shit." Tears are a result of happiness or sadness. And well, "blood" is the life force of us all and the word is used as a feeling intensifier in British-speak.

I paint better when I am charged with some emotion. If I feel sad, I imagine gathering up my tears into a bottle. I then select a brush and dip into the tear-well and begin to portray my feelings onto paper. The same goes for when I am pissed off, or if I think someone is shittin' me. So, imagine what you will. I try to reach in to the blood and guts level and put it on paper for all to see.

Blood.....Sweat.....Tears.....Pee.....Poo

Talk

Talking is good. Women do talk. Women talk when they are happy or troubled. It's what keeps women sane. Some men do talk but they rarely talk and share with other men the way women do.

I love the exercise of talking and doodling art. It allows shapes and colors to flow and then you get to see what you are feeling.

Hello Rosemary. Take a look at our last talk pictured here. I see some pretty big smiles. Here's to us enjoying some less stressful moments.

Talk Share.....Don't Despair.....Friends Care.....Forever There.....a Serendipitous Affair

Happy Birthday

March is birthday month in our house. CFMG will no longer be a teen. I will be the year I was born. Warm spring weather is coming to the Phoenix area. Lots of stuff is going on and we are all busy.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, we have added a cat to our household, even though we have no experience living with cats. We have also added another small dog, his name is Frankie. He is an 8 years old Boston Terrier, who is very affectionate and seems to be fitting in very nicely. Our older dog is infatuated with this new dog and well that can make for lively encounters.

Our lives seem to be all over the place with comings and goings and things. But they are all good things. Just go with the flow and the twists and turns and it will all be okay.

Stress......Mess......Confess.....DeCompress.....Supress