often you do not realize you have a particular style,
a unique way of inhabiting this world, a manner
of applying paint until you attend a class or workshop
where the instructor has a different way of
approaching things. that is what happened when
i took katie kendrick's layers of movement class at
studio creshendoh.
katie does not approach a canvas with a
subject matter. she might use a reference image as a starting
point but other that using a few lines from that image will abandon
it altogether and take her next que from the paint itself. she works
in small sections applying paint, looking at the transitions between the
colors and lines and then moves to another small section. at a point she
will stand back a distance to see what is forming, still unaware of a direction
for the whole piece. i feel katie has an innate trust in the process. she stays
with it until she feels it is complete.
i found that while i often start a piece without a subject in mind,
i work on the canvas as a whole, not in small sections. i didn't
know this about myself until this workshop. i thoroughly enjoyed
experimenting with this and found it freeing and allowed me to focus intensely
in the section i worked. normally, i freely apply paint and focus at the end
when an image or subject appears.
i am grateful and admire art instructors
who have the ability to teach what they do.
do you attend art workshops? do you find them of value? how do you
stretch your skills?
i am posting today with my creative friends
