It might surprise people to find out that I am actually quite a good painter. In high school and college I won all sorts of awards for my paintings and had them featured quite a few places. Since then I get the urge to paint about every decade. I am not sure why I don't do it. Maybe it's because I stare at that blank canvas and get so overwhelmed with ideas that I never know which one to settle on.
In fact anytime I stare at any solid white surface my brain goes into overdrive then just shuts down until I can sort through them. Our lives are filled with proverbial blank canvas's. Our homes, our bodies, our blogs, our art...all canvas's begging for life and color, movement and texture.
The nearly blank canvas concept is really popular these days. You see it on websites and blogs everywhere. You saw it on my website if you visited, and on my newly re-designed blog. Chances are you're going to see a lot more re-designs before I am happy. Once I am happy, I will probably decide it's time to start over with something completely different. Such is the nature of being an artist.
Like so many others I am inspired with those big white empty spaces, but I always want to fill them up. I am never satisfied to just paint the bowl of flowers, I have to have the table it's sitting on, the room the table is in, and a glimpse of the countryside peeking through the window. I am trying to learn that less is more. It's a hard concept for me, I like lots of stuff going on and I want to incorporate every idea at once. Maybe that is a reflection of my life? I am not sure. I just know that I get over inspired every time I see one.
What does a blank canvas inspire you to fill it with?
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2 comments:
I know exactly what you mean about having so many ideas flashing through your mind that it's sooooo difficult to settle on one and not put everything into it! Especially now that I'm working on big floorcloth mats too..... Just grasp one idea and get started OR paint a couple of pieces at once. It's very hard for me to keep it simple, but I'm getting better at it. Kelly, you are not alone :):):)
I think your style of 'more' is lovely, it reminds me of an antique shop, filled with mystery and wonder... and all of it with a story to tell.
When I would paint in college, if I didn't have some sort of 'theme' I was trying to go for, I would choose a palette based on what three colors appealed to me at that moment, an then randomly dab some paint using those colors on the canvas.
Then I'd walk away from it for a while... come back... and see what story it had to tell me.
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