It’s difficult to believe that almost a whole year has passed since my last entry; however, not because I’ve given up my art quest.
My art quest is still very much on my mind and keeping me busy. Several paintings have been completed and I’ve travelled to Spain to expand my horizons thanks to Open Your Art (http://openyourart.ca/), including a trip to the fabulous Barcelona. Gaudi is one of my favourite architects and I was in awe of his creativity!
I did “open my art” in Spain at the painting / yoga retreat. It was a wonderful experience and to let my being exist with no expectations was a real treat that I’ve never quite experienced in that way. I let myself be me, no expectations, no one to answer to…I just listened to my heart and desires.
One of my self-imposed pre-Spain expectations was to come back and say that my painting style had changed: pre-Spain versus post-Spain. Somewhat like when Emily Carr went to Paris to study – she came back with a new style adopted from post-impressionism. However, I realized my expectations of such a style-change were quite high for a 12-day retreat, and I am certainly not putting myself in the category of the great Emily Carr.
I did experience an unexpected aha moment while in that little village of Juseu though on Monday, September 18. I was just surprised that it wasn’t about the style-change that I expected, but rather an acceptance of MY style as it exists.
I decided I would just be me and say what I feel even though it felt so different. I was there for the art and to find out if I could be an artist. I always thought that being an artist would look loose, flowing and free. However, I learned that I like the technical aspect of painting. I like mixing colours. I like learning new techniques and following “rules.” At the retreat, I enjoyed learning a looser palette-knife style for when it would serve me (perhaps en plein air). However, I also realized that I can be myself and be ok with the way I paint because it’s me!
On that day of my aha moment, we painted abstract paintings which was way out of the box for me. I did let loose though and used colours for my impression of Spain:
-yellow ochre for the landscape
-transparent earth red for the ceramics
-alizarin crimson for the geraniums
-black for the dark skies
-ultramarine for the rain and wind
-lavender for the mid-morning smoothies
My homage to that day was a little abstract “Juseu Abstraction,” painted upon my return home using those same colours as a wonderful reminder that it’s ok to be different and to be me.