The most important thing you bring to your art is YOU. If your heart for painting has gotten squashed by perfectionism, criticism or fear of failure, let me help you to find freedom to make art you truly love that reflects the beauty you long to share.
Navigating competing goals
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Dear Reader, Over the last month I've been watching the lessons in Watercolour Mastery: Dynamic Values. It's been over a year since I last taught this course and after this long it's a new experience watching through the lessons and learning all over again from the themes and goals of the course. One thing that stands out to me in the way I teach on value is that there is a tension between the idea of value as a technique for creating contrast and form in art and value as a communication of artistic identity. Often I say, "I want my paintings to reflect my heart - my personal style, my values, the things that I notice and care about," but when I paint, I quickly default to a focus on technique that actually says, "I am focused on the appearance of the thing rather than the meaning I found there." Do you struggle in the same way? Are you yearning to express a voice and style that you don't feel like you're seeing? Do you constantly get pulled back toward a more controlled and rigid approach to painting? Creating Freedom Cues While I'm not sure this tension ever really goes away, what I have learned is that there are strategies that will cue your body and mind to be more receptive to what the heart wants to say. There are thought patterns that can be rewired to shift your priorities to a more heart-led approach. There are games that will remind you to let your love, sense of fun and freedom loose into your painting practice, and there is a way to use technique to support (not overcome) your expressive and personal artistic voice. This is the goal of Watercolour Mastery: Dynamic Value, and I am excited to offer this level of instruction, mentorship and community to artists again this fall. The 3 week course offers instruction on technique, but even more, strategies to help you prioritize and balance, a classroom to share your work and receive feedback (the thoughtful comments in the classroom feel like they double the value of what's being taught in the course!), live sessions to expand upon the course content, and it's all taught with an emphasis on shaping the material to fit your own unique artistic style and voice. Watercolour Mastery: Dynamic Values is open for enrollment! If you're actively painting and yearning to create paintings with more confidence, strength or impact, Watercolour Mastery: Dynamic Values was designed for you.
learning together, Angela If you missed yesterday's info session, you can watch the recording here: LINK |
Love your art journey!
The most important thing you bring to your art is YOU. If your heart for painting has gotten squashed by perfectionism, criticism or fear of failure, let me help you to find freedom to make art you truly love that reflects the beauty you long to share.
Hi artist, One of the key principles my recent art retreat was built on is on making a critical mindset shift from prioritizing outside input to learning to look within ourselves for what we need from our art practice. I think we tend to come to painting with all kinds of expectations. It’s easy to focus on our desire to build skill, refine technique, or strive toward excellence. And it's not wrong to want those things. But sometimes the demands placed by those expectations can become...
Hi Reader, Yesterday I spent an hour on Zoom with the students in my Heart-Led Artist Journey course. I started a new painting using a reference photo from my trip to Mt. Baker this summer. At the end of the hour, I didn't have a finished painting, but what I did have was a solid beginning of a process of development that will continue over the next few weeks, and maybe months. My first version shows me what I don't know. It's always humbling to start something new. That first walk through a...
Hi Reader, Early in my art career, I spent a couple of years writing bi-weekly artist profiles for the local newspaper. It was eye-opening to see how many ways people were being creative in our region, from antler carving to pottery to encaustic painting to pine needle weaving. As I talked to these artists, I was surprised and confused by how many artists would talk about their focus not being a finished art piece, but express some variation of the idea that "it's all about the process." "I...