Color Therapy

Do you every have those days when you MUST have color?  I had one of those days this last week.  I had just finished several months of traveling and teaching lots of classes and workshops with well defined artistic parameters, answering the  questions generated by those brilliant creative minds that participate in said workshops. I love teaching those classes but find that sometimes my inner artist is starving for painting with no rules, no compositional formats, no well planned designs, no assigned palettes.   I just need to paint with abandon and throw color to the wind.

As I began reorganizing the studio and returning all the supplies to their respective spots, I discovered many jars and tubes of paint that were nearly…..but not quite….empty.  What to do?  What to do?  Then I spotted my old workshop suitcase sitting in the corner.   I've used her for close to 15 years to transport my supplies.  She was still wearing her rather dog-eared original black and to be honest, she was pretty bedraggled looking.  She was nothing that any self-respecting artist could pull around with any pride whatsoever.  Hmmmmm…….What if I thinned down all those scant bits of paint I'd just  discovered and did a little redecorating of the poor old thing?  An hour later, she was a feisty and beautiful  old girl with a fun personality and I had spent a cathartic hour binging on color, purging my soul of all the 'shoulds' and 'coulds'.

While adjusting to these new grayer days of fall, what could be more medicinal than an hour spent simply bathing in living color?  It's the cheapest and most fulfilling form of therapy I've ever found.   Sometimes we need to reset our creative clocks and find new joy in the season that's ahead.  Instead of bemoaning the loss of summer, I'd like to find ways to enjoy the same barefoot warmth of spirit (albeit it might be with wool socks and colorful mittens) that warmer weather brings.  

There you have it.  That's my prescription for you for a fun fall and winter in Minnesota. (Take two brushfuls and call me in the morning!)



   

When the Cat's Away.....

What's a girl to do when her better half is hiding away with his buddies wayyyyy up north in an ice fishing shack for the weekend?  Well, it didn't take me long to figure out that this little mouse would spend the weekend playing while the cat's away.

For many people I suppose that would probably mean a few days of partying, shopping or heaven knows what shocking activities.  For me it just meant stocking up on a few quick fix meals at the grocery store (chicken wings of course), creating a mini-studio in front of the fireplace and setting Pandora to playing endlessly (with time out for the Downton Abbey finale. (sniff).

A few hours painting in the studio on Saturday morning with the talented and inspiring Saturday morning group primed the creative pump.  Then I hunkered down for the duration armed with  watercolors, old paintings to cut up for jewelry and a whole bucketful of Sharpie markers for making coffee cup studies for the next Saturday class.  In this class, we've set ourselves an assignment to pick a common household object and draw it, paint it (or Sharpie it) every day for a month.  That's not as easy as you'd think.  It's a great discipline if you have difficulty getting to your art table as often as you'd like and it's surprising how many of them are actually quite nice.

All in all, I think this art glut weekend is just about as close as one gets on this earth to Heaven, Nirvana and Valhalla all rolled up into one.  I actually think I've quenched my creative thirst for a while and I'm looking forward to rejoining society.  I might just pull the car out of the garage and drive my weekend's projects up to the gallery and see what comes of it.

Happy creating, all!

The Saturday painters, minus two.  These ladies are amazing.  I have to work twice as hard just to stay ahead of them.  They're great and they keep me on my toes.

In case you've been thinking of throwing away those 'old dog' watercolors, hold on!  Look what fun things you can make from old paintings.  Some of these will become jewelry.  Others will be added to journals or who knows what else?

I love these watercolor paper necklaces.  They're so light to wear and they're sealed with a resin and/or polymer coating to make them tough.  Mixed with just the right beads and chains, they're lots of fun.

  

I must have a bit of Spring fever.  It was so fun cutting up old paintings and assembling them into these  layered flower shapes.  I'm not yet sure what they'll become when they 'grow up' but it will be fun to experiment with them.











   

Jeanne Larson Quietwoods Art: Let's Try This Again

Jeanne Larson Quietwoods Art: Let's Try This Again: THE WEDNESDAY PAINTERS Maybe someone should invent a word for a person that blogs only once a year.  I think that would make me an  'a...

Let's Try This Again

THE WEDNESDAY PAINTERS

Maybe someone should invent a word for a person that blogs only once a year.  I think that would make me an  'annualogger.'  Shameful as that is, I've realized that I enjoy reading others' blogs so much that I should be working on mine again.  Let's give it another try for 2013.

I have the greatest group of women in my classes here at Quietwoods Studio this year.  My lovely Tuesday ladies have been with me (I think) 4 years now and continue to inspire me every single week.  The Wednesday group just started a little over a year and a half ago.  Their continual growth just amazes me.  I'm so lucky to know each of them.  They're very accomplished and successful women and it's obvious that they apply that same hard work ethic and tenacity to painting that they used to achieve success in their "former lives" as professional people.  There is also a terrific group that meets in the studio every other Saturday and I have to work very hard just to stay ahead of them too.  I just love the way they are so willing to try every crazy thing I throw at them!  Besides that, we have a blast solving all the world's problems and bragging on our children and grandchildren!

I'm now the victim of a triple obsession - painting, collage and jewelry making.  On these -0 February days, I've discovered the pleasure of sitting by the fire and working at designing paper collage brooches, making author inspired bookmarks, stringing beads on a bracelet or other small lap-size projects.  No one is more thankful for a beautiful studio in which to paint and teach than I, but sometimes there's special comfort in taking your art to a different spot in your home with a different view (and a warm fire) just for the sake of change.

I've just sent off a box of 18 author themed collaged bookmarks to a very special book club (started by my daughter, Kelly) in Kingwood Texas.  I've never had so much fun painting, pasting, embossing, stamping and ribbon tying.  If I were to market them, they'd probably be the most expensive bookmarks in the universe that no one but John Paul Getty (is he still alive?) could afford, but sometimes there's nothing so satisfying to an artist as a labor of love.

I also just acquired an extra bedroom in our house.  It's still a guestroom, but it's also equipped with a large desk and cabinet that I've turned into jewelry heaven.  My latest brainstorm has been creating brooches and other jewelry from my baskets of old watercolors that just didn't make the cut.  Combining collage papers, tiny letter stamps and beady dangles with the torn and cut watercolor paper, they are repurposed perfection to me.   Each paper pin (or pendant) is then coated with a resin like glaze and displayed on tea dyed and aged tags.   Each tag is then stamped with a handcut linocut design of my Handsongs jewelry logo and sent off to find love in the world.

People have been liking my jewelry at the Up North Gallery in Lindstrom MN and I'm bringing several new pieces to them in time for Valentine's Day.  I also continue to show my paintings at Fineline Design Gallery in Door County, WI,  Kah-Nee-Tah Gallery in Lutsen, MN and Peter Kess Gallery in Ely, MN.  I'll be bringing new paintings for them in the next couple of months (April in Door County, does it get any better?)

My favorite pins are the little houses.   Each one is different and collaged with special little messages like hope, love, faith, etc.  The little bluebird of happiness pins are fun to make too.  I don't know how long I'll continue making them though.  They're definitely a limited edition project.  I always feel a little guilty whiling away the happy hours putting them together,  knowing that I probably should be out in the studio creating "great art," (if only I could) but I'm in love with smallness these days.

THE WEDNESDAY PAINTERS

 Rev Joanie, hard at work on her beautiful poppies.

 Karen, loving those gorgeous reds.

 Mary, finding out how fun a full sheet is to paint on.

Isn't that just the happiest painting you've ever seen?.

 Judy, poppy painter exceptionale.

THE REPURPOSED WATERCOLOR PAPER PINS

 The new 'houses of hope' pins

The new 'bluebird of happiness' pins

That said, my studio and teaching passion this February is painting huge floral watercolors in gorgeous, saturated colors.  The Wednesday class (shown above) had a blast splashing those gorgeous Winsor reds, vermillions, quinacridone corals and yellow oranges on their paper.  Incredible successes for first time full sheet (22"x30") painters!  This group is fearless.  Most of them have only been painting in watercolor a year or so or are revisiting watercolor after many years away.  I'm so proud of them!

My favorite patron of the arts (my husband) just "commissioned" me to paint a massive (5'x6') acrylic of #1 son Ben's winter ice kiting experience a couple winters ago.  Although the photo was taken on a blustery, frozen day on a lake near Duluth, MN, I'm already envisioning sneaking some wonderful oranges, pinks and lavenders into the mostly gray and white wintery scene.  I'll need to paint it in place on the cabinet above which it will be displayed since it's too big to work on anywhere else.  It should be a very fun project.   I think I'll start working out now in preparation for all the stretching I'll be doing.

Happy New Year, everyone and may 2013 bring you great creative satisfaction.