The morning light was different today. Signs of the changing season are in the air. Yellow leaves are starting to drift and acorns are dropping on my metal roof. Fall makes me feel more relaxed and introspective. I see and feel colors differently too. My palette colors today have the feeling tone of a soft melody…hazy-washy raw sienna, ultramarine blue , umbers and red toned grays and greens. The abstracts are minimal in composition, I am awash in filtered light falling through the trees, Monarchs are fluttering past.
Finally!…after wrestling with this “newsletter” thing as a concept that slid into the jotting notes stage that evolved all the way into the full fledged Teresa Cline Gallery Fine Art Newsletter deal! Woo Hoo!! Am I exhausted! Well, anyway… here it is, such as it is!
And considering the fact that I am operating off skill sets that are so inferior to what they should / could be…it might well be the FIRST and the LAST ONE! I dont know, but it is a big deal for me to get it put together!
you’ll find it parked at http://www.teresaclinegallery.com/newsletter-may-09.htm
the Artist to Artist Interview is here at wordpress on its own page, I really enjoyed this part! hope you do too.
Artist to Artist, insightful interviews
Published May 6, 2009 Artist to Artist Interviews Leave a CommentTags: Artist to Artist Interviews
(See Artist to Artist interview page): questioning the creative process from one artist to another. Ever curious about the creative process, I’ll be probing into the artistic psyche and process of other local Florida artists. Hoping to reveal a different perspective of the why and how of it all from someone who wrestles with “the beast” on a daily basis.
A question I get on a regular basis “Where do you get your ideas or inspirations for a painting? “
The painting process begins with a whisper,,,from someone/some thing other worldly. I would like to say it’s an idea of something that hits me but that’s not how it is, not exactly. After all these years as an artist, I still grapple with words to describe it. Why it’s so difficult to nail this down in a way I can make “it” make sense I don’t know. I have tried to cipher “it” into word form so the next time I am asked at an art opening or a cocktail party where my inspiration comes from I can answer in a way that makes me sound smart and ethereal or at the very least “sound like an artist”.
So, to a point, I can distill my creative process into two important components.
I see my main role as a facilitator of sorts, secondly as a simple laborer. The present minded “me” is required to know how to use my tools and materials, how to mix and use paint and how to draw and render. These are the basics of mark making. Most artists approach their daily work with these essential tools and one day of painting turns into another. But one day I had an experience, a thing happened, I don’t know what to call it, an event happened that shifted my daily working reality in a monumental way. Before this day of epiphany I was starting to feel rather empty and dissatisfied about the artwork I was creating. I started asking myself the question – what was I doing? Questioning my life path and wondering if I could make it as an artist? Artwork sales were spotty which didn’t help my mood either. I knew something had to change as I wasn’t feeling the “joy” and the life of a pauper artist was quickly losing its charm. I tried to be objective about my work, asking myself was it any good? It’s difficult to be objective about something you create yourself, after all you put everything into it, pushing yourself to do the best job that you can. During this evaluation I knew I was still doing what most artists do who don’t have there own style, I was still emulating other artists I most admired. I think I was doing a pretty good job of copying – emulating, but truthfully, the reality was the joy of doing art was gone. Part of the reason I hit the wall creatively ( I recognize this now but couldn’t’ back then) came from painting what I thought people liked, or what was selling. I was making art based on evaluating market trends. This is a formula guaranteed to produce artwork that stinks….as I know it NOW. Anyway, because I was in financial squeeze I started looking for a J-O-B. I did get a job…Man!,,,did I hate it too! but I kept painting on my off days. It was during one of these days after I got the J-O-B that I went to the studio, stood in front of a pile of crappy paintings, picked up a large brush, loaded up the palette with paint and had myself a hissy fit. When I stopped painting or should say destroying by painting over that pile of crap I called paintings I looked at what had happened and was amazed!! this is the moment of epiphany. I painted some of the best stuff I had EVER done, but here’s the point. I am not the one who painted it….while my mind was busy dissing everything I hated about having to do a J-O-B something else painted these fabulous painting! To drive this point home even farther the very next weekend I had buyers come to my studio who bought some of these HISSY FIT paintings. It turned out to be the largest single sales ticket I had ever had at that time!…I made enough money in one weekend to allow me to quit my J-O-B.!
Yep…I can guarantee you I paid attention to this lesson . But It took me quite a while afterwards to figure out that “I” get in the way of a good painting, If I try to describe this experience of getting the “I” or the “me” out of the painting precess the words I might use are -Time Warp. We all know it and we have all experienced it before. It’s the “You” that’s a back seat passenger in the car or the “You” that’s not constantly stoking the brain with all the “me” thoughts. It’s the same sensation you get from going into the cinema and losing 2.5 hrs,,,that spacey feeling you get from Time Warp, of losing yourself. …the sound of the space between the notes.
The “it” thing remained a mystery for a while after the first experience because “it” would refuse to be recreated at will. Defining or explaining my painting process is probably more about Time Warp,,,,,about letting something else take over. Exerting my will only to the end of knowing when and how to check out is about all the control I have over the process now. To say “I” go somewhere else while the painting is in progress is not an exaggeration. The “I” in me is a control freak and when I am the one painting it shows. There is some kind of energy missing from the painting when it comes from my head and not my heart.
When “I” stopped painting the paintings everything about my world as an artist changed. Everything about my paintings changed. The funny thing , well not so funny but interesting , is how long it took me to get the point of this lesson, about letting the art/life just happen.
Sometimes visitors come to my studio and gallery with a certain amount of curiosity about the actual space the artwork is created in.
It’s not a glamorous room, the studio/house is a work in progress, it’s an unfinished room in phase 3 of 6. I am a remodelaholic, I reshape-redo-repurpose EVERYTHING in my life!—(humm…maybe that’s why I’m single)
I did edit the room a bit…removing all evidence of wild parties, articles of clothing hanging from the easels and empty wine bottles….sorry, you know the gallery policy applies to the studio as well. “what happens in the studio stays in the studio!” 
……haha! just kidding!
front entrance to gallery
inside gallery
Come for a visit sometime, gallery hours are flexible by appointment only.
If you would like to be added to my guest list for notifcation of New Work or Exhibits please sign my guest list at the web gallery http:www.teresaclinegallery.com . you will find this guest book on th ‘info” tab.
Easter Sunday. A good day for a first post. I like to start new things on a Sunday or a Monday, things like diets, tax returns, spring cleanings and new exercise regimes have a much better rate of success if started on these days.
My Sunday ritual has traditionally been a day to chill. I usually do a few mundane tasks around the studio, small efforts of cleanup, organization, only puttering around really. I play with my 2 Labrador dogs, Tully and Maddie, and my parrot Merlin. The rest of the day is spent doing as little as possible with some sort of reading material and a bottle of red. Many of my eureka moments about my business or my art or my life have come from those moments when I am in restful lala land! Refueling with a little R&D time!
Studio: today I will also be mulling over the photographs I have collected for the new painting series for the exhibit this fall. This new work will be titled “Characters of 30A”.
I’m taking photographs of local celeb types and interpreting their personality in an expressionistic painting style. The concept, it seems, was really well received because I have had a number of people submitting pics when I put out a “Characters Wanted” request. I sure hope I don’t offend anyone with my abstract version of their visual character! Theres a virtual line up of who’s who at this time…should I reveal a few names?….yes I think so…
here are just a few of the people I will be painting.
- Mike and Angela Ragsdale
- Sandy and Dr. Weiner
- Dave Rauschkolb
There’s 12 portraits in all. The paintings will be executed in large format to allow me to fully represent the effect of the personage being portrayed.
The show is being hosted by Studio b, a Colleen Duffley production. Studio b is a creative laboratory/gallery/venue of inspiration for all creative mediums. The exhibit will located in the prestigious Alys Beach -one of Studio b’s locations.
I am anticipating the exhibits’s OPENING will be a kick ass party…..if you are interested in an invite, shoot me an email…I’ll add your name to the guest list!
NEXT POST:,,,,I will tell you about some of my recent gallery guests, and one of them turned out to be a “hotty “single” architect” from Atlanta…woo hoo!…..( names will not be revealed to protect the innocent)….a general gallery policy….’what happens at the gallery stays at the gallery’…!!
