On Talent

A few times lately, I’ve been told how talented I am.  It is meant-and I’ve taken it-as a compliment.

It does, however, indicate that it is because of some innate ‘talent’ that I can paint a decent painting-sometimes.

Here’s what bothers me about that.

If you can’t paint a decent painting, does that mean you don’t have a talent for painting? 

I think many people truly believe that their first bad attempts mean they don’t. So they give up. 

You should have seen my first paintings.  On second thought, no, you really shouldn’t have!

I like what Stephen King has to say about it.

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

I don’t really think I’m all that gifted with a talent for painting.  I believe that if I were, after all the years of painting I would be really top-notch-and I am not.  I am merely adequate and sometimes not even that.  Occasionally, all things come together and I create a pretty darn good painting, but that happens only rarely.

What I do think is that I’ve been determined…perhaps even stubborn.  I’ve been dedicated to learning all that I can learn about it before my time is up.  I’ve been committed to my desire!

My whole reason for writing this is to encourage anyone who has a desire to paint… or sculpt…or sing...or bake….or write….or raise chickens…to give themselves the opportunity to push through the bad beginnings, the mistakes and the failures.

Don’t assume that you have no talent.  Please.  You are robbing yourself-and maybe the world-if you do that!

However, also don’t assume that if you do have ‘talent’, it is enough to make you good at what you do.  There is no substitute for the hours of practice and hard work necessary to achieve a degree of expertise….or even adequacy.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
Calvin Coolidge

If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke. (Brendan Francis Behan)

We're all filled with naturally recurring patterns that make us unique – they're called talents. And our charge is to bloody well use them. (Marcus Buckingham)

Don't be vain because you happen to have talent. You are not responsible for that; it was not of your doing. What you do with your talent is what matters. (Pablo Casals)

 

Now.....go  paint… or sculpt…or sing...or bake….or write….or raise chickens…or take photos....or make balloon animals....or quilts.....or a garden...Go wherever 'desire' leads you!

When I first began painting, all I wanted to do was landscapes of my Sonoran Desert and the surrounding mountains.  I was…and still am….so enthralled by the special beauty of this desert…

the colors, sometimes subtle, sometimes surreal

the shapes…soft and feathery…. hard and jagged….

It was all those paintings which made me truly at home and comfortable with paints and brushes.

I still love to do landscapes, although I have seen a real change in my approach to them.  Now, I’m more after the ‘feel’ of the place than a true representation of it.

And, I have become much more interested in trying to either tell a story with my painting…or invite the viewer to create their own from it.

That has led to new subject matter.  I’m doing lots more still-lifes, especially those featuring old things…things which prompt long-forgotten memories…or ever present  ones…

.things which have meaning for me....things which I have loved for many years…..

….things which I never used in my life-time, but I can imagine my mother or my grandmother utilizing in their daily life.

Connections to the past enrich and shape our ‘present’, don’t they?

Painting, for all these years, has led to fun and frustration. 

… sadness and celebration….

But always, ALWAYS a source of great and abiding joy!

It is a gift for which I am truly and deeply grateful!

FALLING OUT OF LOVE WITH TED DE GRAZIA

This post mortem love affair I have with Tucson artist Ted De Grazia might be over.


As of right now!

I am struggling to get the crazy shapes and lines of his little chapel painted correctly. I am also having strong visions of him, laughing maniacally, from his grave.

The turkey!

I have probably done at least twenty paintings of this place. This time, however, I am determined to be a tad more accurate in my portrayal. And the perspective I chose, makes it imperative that I get it right. You see, there's this one part that is really odd. There are no straight lines...some really weird curves...and if you don't have this right, you just aren't 'getting' the chapel.

Ths is why, in the past, I've always painted something to try to hide that one really crazy looking part. I've always used a well-placed cactus or tree to disguise my inability to 'get it right.' Heck! I even think that there were times that I just invented my own shape for this particular part of the chapel! Who needs accuracy?

Also, there's these funky little 'holes' in the chapel walls. Every time I try to paint them, they wind up looking like bullet holes. Not exactly the 'mood' I'm after. So, I usually just leave them out.

Sigh.

Here's the real thing.

Here's my pitiable initial lay-in of it.

Again, I say, "Ted, You turkey!"

And again, I hear him laugh from his grave!

I don't know why this seems to be so difficult for me.  I have seen many paintings of this chapel which are quite good likenesses and don't seem to have any trouble at all with that buttress on the left side of the building.

I just don't know what my problem is.

It doesn't help that my reference photo is devoid of interesting light and shadow.

It would help, if I would just drive the few miles to this place and take a picture in the more dramatic evening hours.

Why don't I do that?

I don't know.

Perhaps I have even more emotional dysfunctions than an imaginary love affair with a crazy, dead artist.

I am grateful for any vestige of sanity.

IT FEELS SO GOOD

...to feel good again!

I still have my moments, but for the most part, I'm back to normal....or to whatever passes for 'normal' with me.

I've been painting.  Anyday I feel like painting is a good day, for sure!

Wanna see?

This one is of the high desert area around Tucson featuring Century plants.  Soon, they'll start putting on blooms, but not quite yet.

HIGH DESERT

16 x 20 acrylic on canvas

This is what finally happened to my little timed painting I did from the photo friend Gini shared with me.

I would love to spend the day right here!

COUNTRY CREEK

14 x 18 acrylic on canvas

And this one looks like an inviting place to take a walk.  I'm not quite finished with it and I haven't come up with a name for it, but it's 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas.

Our beautiful weather is tempting me to go outdoors and try to make my back yard beautiful again.  But I have to paint, too. 

HAVE to!

And you know what?

I am extremely GRATEFUL for that compulsion!!!

P.S.  Obviously, the automatic publishing option is not working.  I'm sorry this is so late getting posted!

BE MY GUEST

I asked him...and he said, "Yes."

I have a link to a wonderful artist, Peter Yesis' blog at the bottom of my page here.

But, that's just not enough today.  He posted the most wonderful blog entry a couple of days ago and I want you to see it........

So, I'm not doing my blog today....Peter is! 

You are about to see a really fine artist at work.  And a couple of great videos of Winslow Homer's art paired with perfect music.
 
I  bet you will be grateful I shared this with you.

I am grateful for his blog each time I go to it!

Enjoy!!!

http://dailypaintingpractice.blogspot.com/

If you live anywhere near Nebraska, you might be lucky enough to see Peter's work in person!

Lucky you!

INSANITY

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.”


I’ve heard that said.

I’ve been there and…..

I’ve done that.

Which is why, I’m going to do something different.

I might be pretty one-track minded, here on SKaySpeak for a while.

I have painting on my brain…..some very specific things about painting.

Mainly, the things that I’ve been doing over and over

and over and over

..until I’ve gotten in a rut. I get so frustrated with myself because I don’t get the results I want. Then, I get mad at myself. Then all the critics, which reside in my brain, have a field day with my self esteem. Bah!

The other day when I painted that lemon yellow tree in the forest, it was because I had ‘discovered’ a new yellow in my paint box. It’s been in there ever since I bought an entire box of oil paints at a swap meet…years ago. But I’d never used it.

My ‘go-to’ yellow is cadmium yellow. Just like my go-to blue is pthalo and so is my ‘go-to’ green. I could repeat that over and over for the reds and oranges and purples.

Are you getting the picture that all my pictures come out looking the same?

Duh!

I’m not saying that my painting skills haven’t progressed any in the 15 years I’ve been painting, but I bet if I’d made a point of trying new colors, techniques and methods all along, I would have been a better painter today.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”


That only works if you try something different. Doing the same ol’ same ol’ is just gonna get you the same ol’ results.

I intend to break out of as many ruts as I can which is going to mean trying new colors.
It’s going to mean trying new techniques, too. I have a really hard time keeping myself from getting all caught up in the minutiae of a picture thereby losing the soul of the painting!

So, I am going to start doing some timed paintings. I am going to give myself one hour….max….to capture what it is in a scene that makes me want to paint it in the first place.

I started today in oils. But I’m going to work in acrylics starting tomorrow. They dry so fast that they force me to work faster.

I can’t believe it, but I’m going to show you what I do as I go along. Sometimes, it’s gonna be really B.A.D. But I’m gonna do it, ‘cause it’s a way of keeping me honest, so to speak. If I commit to showing and telling here on SKaySpeak, I’ll be more likely to really do the work.

Here’s the plan.

I found a photo I took in Monument Valley. It has some simple, but interesting elements.

 I am going to paint this every day for……I don’t know how long….maybe 3 or 4 days…maybe longer. The idea is to get the most impact into the painting with as few brush strokes as possible.

Then, I’ll repeat that process with some other photos and/or trees, etc., in my yard.

I need to learn to see what I see better. A tree is not a brown stick with a green cotton ball at the top. Right?


I need to get some of ya’ll painting along with me! We could help each other grow.

I’d be ever so grateful!

COLOR! COLOR!! I NEED COLOR!!!

I worked on Lori’s big painting every day last week. It has lots of color in it, but doesn’t have a colorful look, at all. The overall look of it is green, but subdued green. It’s very soft and peaceful, intentionally.


Also, last week,  Tucson’s weather was unusually grey and dreary. Sun? What sun? Nothing but grey clouds, grey mountains, grey trees and grey moods.

So, one day, I took a color break!  Here's what I did...and what I wrote on that day.

***************

One of the things I love about painting is the ability to actually ‘do’ something about the weather! If you don’t like the weather outside the window, you can just paint whatever weather you want! Is that not cool?

I feel cold. So, I painted me a hot sky!

It is wet, wet, wet!!! I 'm grateful, very grateful, for all the rain, but my bones want dry, dry, dry!!! So, I painted me a dry riverbed.

Everything is just so grey! So, I planted me some chartreuse trees. And who knows what else might wind up in here!

COLOR MY WORLD

16 x 20 oil on canvas

I feel warmer, dryer and sunnier already.



Now, please, excuse me….I am going to go paint some more COLOR!

PALO VERDE BRANCHES

16 x 20 oil on canvas

ok...just one more....

MEXICAN FLOWERS

9 x 12

oil on masonite

I am grateful for every opportunity I have to create my world the way I want it!

BALANCING ACT

For some reason, I keep thinking of the word ‘balance’ and how important it is to have some in our lives.

I’ve written down these first few words.

I’ll have to let it stew around in my head a little longer to see where this leads.

***************************

I wrote the above several weeks ago. So, the stew has been simmering in my head for quite a while now.

Unfortunately, the thought has produced little, if any, results. I struggle with balance. Always have. I have a tendency to go overboard…to go to extremes…to be manically obsessed with one thing or another.

When I’m painting, I want to paint. That’s all.

When I’m writing, I get completely lost in the words.

When I’m reading, I read one book right after another.

When I’m cleaning, I want EVERYTHING cleaned TODAY!

That’s pretty much my pattern about anything and everything you could name.

That means I’m either creating something or cleaning up something. I am never maintaining anything. I’m just not into maintenance. Or the mundane. Like paying bills. Or dusting. Or doing quick pick ups that would make the house more orderly.

There has only been one time in my life that I was a good housekeeper. And I wasn’t just good…I was darn near perfect! Yes! Me….really.

The only thing is that I was doing it because I was desperately trying to create some portion of my life over which I felt I had some control. That is NOT a good reason to clean house.

I admire and envy people who seem to be able to parcel out hours of their day for different purposes. I just don’t know how they do it. And perhaps, truthfully, I don’t want to know how they do it. I suspect it requires some self-discipline. And restraint. Yuck.

Wouldn't that mean that at a given time, I would have to put down my paintbrush...regardless of what wonderful effects it was producing?

And wouldn't I have to stop a flow of words from spilling out at my fingertips when I am working on a blog entry or a poem?

That is just not something I think I want to do.

My mother taught me...or tried ...to do the maintenance first...before beginning the fun stuff.  My problem with that is that my creative juices run the free-est (I know that's not a word.  Ask me if I care.) and the freshest  first thing in the morning.  Doing the mundane takes my best energy and turns it into nothing more inspiring than an orderly house.  Giving my all to creative endeavors often tires me out before I can get to the mundane.  It's a dilemma.

I watched  my mom sacrifice her creativity to the god of house cleaing.  You know...that whole 'cleanliness is next to Godliness' thing.  That and for crying out loud don't let somebody drop in and catch you with your housework not done- 'cause whatwilltheythink?  And what 'they' thought was REALLY important!

I had a relative who was known to be a very bad housekeeper.  She was much looked down on in the family.  I know nothing about that person except that she wasn't a good housekeeper.  I'm sure the woman had other qualities besides being a bad housekeeper.  As I was growing up, I was 'threatened' with this admonishment whenever I didn't keep my room clean enough.  "If you're not careful, you'll grow up to be just like _____!"  Apparently, that was about the worst possible outcome for my life!

I don't buy the 'cleanliness is next to godliness' idea.  And I would much rather be remembered for something other than my housekeeping abilities...or lack of them.  However, I admit I do care what 'they' think and I am not happy when someone drops in on me.  I want to make the house 'presentable' before I have company. 

 I imagine that I will continue with this lack of balance in my life. I suspect that I will paint and read and write while everything around me goes to hell in a hand basket. And then, once every week or so, I’ll turn into a cleaning machine and stay in that mode until I’ve restored order.

And then……….



I’ll start making more messes.



I am grateful that I am at a time in my life when I am free to be as un-balanced as I want!
Unbalanced, yes, but at least I'm not senile.  Yet.

IT DOESN'T TAKE LONG

Remember, just the other day when I got my studio all cleaned up, straightened up and organized?

One project is all it took to produce this!

Can you believe the mess?

I am going to blame it all on my good friend, Lori. Yes. It is all her fault. Yep, that one….. the one who often comments here. Feel free to chastise her in your comments.

She needed some prints and paintings for some walls in her new home and so we dug through my stash and found her some. Then, we went to a really nice thrift store, here in Tucson, and found enough frames for everything at really low prices! Cool!

But this is what happened to my nice, neat studio in the process of getting all the prints and paintings into the frames.

Sigh. I got it cleaned up again, but guess what?

Now, she wants a huge painting done for their bedroom. It’s happening……but you cannot believe my studio. There is no room to move. There’s nothing but easel and canvas. It’s a monster!

It's so big that I can't even take a picture of it without all the lights in the room being reflected in it.

Hello, you big, beautiful, 3 foot by 4 foot  baby! 

So now, the studio looks like this.

All I can say is that mountains and forests and rivers sure do take up a lot of room!

Seriously, I am having a ball with this big canvas!  And I can hardly wait to get another one and make another mess!

I’m grateful for the opportunity to create mountains, forests and rivers...and another fun mess!

ACCIDENTAL ART

My paintings often have a mind of their own.

I think I'm painting one thing....but as I go along...something altogether different just seems to happen.

This is absolutely NOT how other people work, I don't think.  I see how precisely other people plan out a painting....doing  a careful drawing and then an underpainting, including all the components of the picture they intend to produce.  Sure, they might make some changes...some corrections...but they have a map, of sorts.  They know where they are going.

I'm sure I would benefit from following their good example.  I'm sure I would produce more paintings that are acceptable.

But, I would kind of miss the surprises that happen.

I would miss the things I learn, in spite of myself, by just letting the paint wind up where it wants to and how it wants to.  Bob Ross, rest his sweet soul, called them 'happy accidents.'

For example:

After I got my new supply of paints last week, this happened........

I had first put in a nice blue sky with a few wispy clouds...obviously a day-time scene.

But then, all kinds of vivid colors started appearing on those mountain peaks!

Wow!  That was fun!

But...now the sky has to be changed to more of a sunset kind of sky.

Lots of things have changed.

I didn't do color corrections on this photo..which explains why the sky looks absolutely turquoise in this.

Time for lunch.  And a nap.

I couldn't go to sleep, because I kept thinking about this painting and feeling really dissatisfied with it.

Suddenly I knew why.

Those mountains have a really loose feel to them.  The sky, uncomfortably, does not!  Also, the sunset colored clouds are fighting for attention with the mountains. It's just all too much.

I remember hearing a wise landscape painter say once that it is usually much better to attempt to paint the effects of sunset,  than to paint the sunset itself.

So...

I gave  up trying to nap...went back to my easel.... totally re-did the sky.

And finished the painting.

SUNSET PEAKS

16 X 20

ACRYLIC ON GALLERY WRAP CANVAS

I am so grateful for 'happy accidents.'

THE AWESOME TRUTH

I'm gonna paint me a picture!

A picture of a brilliant, gaudy sky

with a fireball dead center!

I'm gonna make the darkest darks you ever saw

and the brights so bright

they'll hurt your eyes!

I'm gonna wield my brush like a mighty sword

and cut through to the nitty-gritty

of the awesome truth!

I am THE CREATOR OF MY WORLD!

Name this painting.

16 x 20 acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

I am Grateful for my world!

THE COLOR ORANGE.

Yesterday, I received my long-awaited, much needed new tubes of acrylic paints!  I was completely out of some of them...and almost out of others.

So, in celebration of color...glorious color......we're going to go orange today!

Cholla Blossoms. 

There are 28 varieties of this type of cactus.

Aren't you happy to know that?

My neigbor's chinaberry tree in the fall. When the sun hits it just right, it simply blazes!

If you're talking orange...you have to have marigolds, don't you? 

And maybe one magenta and white striped petunia.

And how about an orange house?  This one is in Barrio Viejo, here in Tucson.

I found this metal "LOVE" wall decoration at a flea market.  It's about 28" long.  Ordinarily, it hangs outside on my patio, but I kinda like it hanging on my studio wall for a change.

Some wildflowers on the Navajo reservation.

One of my paintings with an orange sky.

A recent sunrise in Tucson.

An old orange basket that I use for storage.

My Aunt's depression glass creamer.

This might have too many other colors to really qualify as "orange", but I'm throwing it in here anyway.  This is the only time, in probably my whole life, that I have ever used fake flowers.  But they sure seem to fit the pot.  It usually lives on my patio table.

And then, there's this!

Yes...there is actually a wedding veil attached to this very orange, very sparkly baseball hat!

I hope you enjoyed all this orange!  It's such a happy color, isn't it?

I might just do this same thing with other colors someday.

 

If I had some clothes on, I'd run down the block and take pictures of oranges on the neighbor's tree.  Yes...oranges in January.  That's Tucson for ya!

One of our beautiful sunsets with my saguaro rib cross in the foreground.

That seems to be a perfect way to end this blog, don't you think?

I am so GRATEFUL for my new tubes of paint!

Excuse me, while I go play with them!

I HAVEN'T PAINTED IN........

…….well…….since before I started this blog.




I might have been experiencing a bit of burn-out due to the sheer volume of paintings I produced before the Holy Trinity Monastery Art Festival.

This morning, (the day after Thanksgiving, actually) it was time.

But what to paint?

A blank canvas is a scary thing.

See? What did I tell you?

Just like a blank piece of paper is a scary thing, too.

Or a blank word document when you're trying to write a blog entry.

I learned a good lesson a long time ago about such things.

It doesn’t much matter what you do…as long as you do something…anything…to eradicate the blankness of it all!



Write ‘Mary had a little lamb.’

Or a grocery list.

Or….a gratitude list, maybe!



But this morning, it's that blank canvas staring at me.


Since I just posted my DARK-THIRTY blog, I have early morning on my mind so I think I'll play around with some soft, rosy, early morning colors and see what happens.

First, it is helpful to ask the paint which colors want to come out and play this morning?  I quite often do that and even ask it out loud....and  hope no one is listening.

OK...here we go. 
paint...check
palette....check
water.....check
brush....check
paper towels....check

uh-oh...I forgot something really important!

Gratitude Mug filled with fresh coffee....check.

Now, I'm good to go.

No rocket science here.  Just throw some blobs of paint on there and swish it around a little with some water.  I'm using acrylics today, by the way.

Throw in some purple and keep blobbing, mushing and schmushing.

Those are honest-to-goodness, technical art terms.

Well....maybe not.

It is probably not necessary to tell you this, as it is most likely self-evident.  I am not a trained artist.  I, no doubt, break all kinds of rules and go about this all 'wrong'.

So, sue me!

This is all about having fun as far as I'm concerned.

If you want to see how a really good trained artist works, check out Peter Yesis' site, listed on my blogroll.  He's seriously good.  And his blog is seriously funny.

But, I bet he says 'blobbing , mushing and schmushing", too.

My Catalina Mountains are looking especially pretty this morning….so, I create me some basic mountains. 

'Creating' entire mountain ranges, with a few brush strokes makes me feel very powerful.....in a wierd and wonderful sort of way.

 While letting the paint dry, I check my e-mail and Facebook.

And decide that everyone I know is in a post-Thanksgiving stupor this morning ‘cause they’re nowhere to be found!

So, I have some breakfast and a little more coffee.....

.....and get back to my painting.

Suddenly, things take a turn away from that soft, hazy feeling toward a more dramatic one.  And wouldn't you know it!  As soon as I get out the Pthalo blue paint....this happens!

I don't know what it is about Pthalo Blue.  But I swear to you, I cannot use it without getting it all over me!

Now, I’ve got something on that blank canvas…and it isn’t so scary anymore. As a matter of fact, it looks downright friendly.



I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Man Oh Man!  Am I ever GRATEFUL to my husband for 'making' me start painting!