Watercolor Success!!

I have had a pretty good year so far with my painting. As I talked about in my last post I had a great trip to Mississippi to see the Paul Jackson Exhibit and got to hang out with Paul and Marla and make some new friends. Just recently I found out the my painting "Reflections of Sedona" won a weekly contest with Daniel Smith Art Supplies and the biggie for me so far this year is that it also will be in the Texas Watercolor Show in San Antonia, TX!!

Texas Watercolor Society

64th Annual Exhibit

The Bright Shawl

819 Augusta St, San Antonio, TX 78215

April 4-May 16, 2013

In addition I recently finished teaching a beginning watercolor class. I truly enjoy teaching watercolor. It is the coolest thing to unlock the pent up creativity and belief in these artists. The look in their eyes when they see that what they actually created, is far better than they imagined they could. Its also is a priceless feeling for me. 

 Ashley (Not quite finished but an awesome job so far)

Judy

Leigh

At this point I believe I will be teaching again for the Plymouth Education Foundation some time this summer. If you have ever said "I gee I wish I could paint" There's an excellent chance you can, if you just give it a try. 

Right now I am busy deciding on the different art fairs and shows to participate in, as well as contests and exhibits to enter. So far I am planning on the following shows:

Marshfield Mothers Day Art Fair...................................May 12th, 2013

Marshfield High School Fieldhouse

Cedarburg Strawberry Festival.....................................June 22-23, 2013

Washington Avenue Cedarburg

Artrageous/ Festival of Arts, Wausau......................September 7-8, 2013

400 Block 

Cedarburg Wine and Harvest Festival..................September 21-22, 2013

Check back as I may be adding to this list! I guess it will depend on how well received my work is received at these!

Chasing Dreams

Each year I take a trip I call my Radical Sabbatical. It’s a time to step away from the corporate world and live my artist life. A time to be inspired and let that inspiration come from where if God sends it. A time for adventure and going where I feel led. And if there happens to be a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives stop along the way; even better.

This year my sabbatical started as a road trip to Mississippi to see my good friend and painting mentor Paul Jackson’s one man show at the Meridian, MS Museum of Art. The show was amazing. It was great seeing Paul and Marla, and Paul was very generous in introducing me to others and telling them of my own art. Before I left for my trip I thought that Paul’s show and spending time with him and Marla would be my inspiration, it was actually the people and scenes along this trip that inspired me even more.


Let me explain.

Matthew 25:14-30 is the parable of Three Bags of Gold. Normally this story pops up in sermons when it is the time of the year to pledge your donations to the church. But one year when I heard it I took a completely different way. In Greek they use the term “talents” to refer to 20 years of a laborers wage. I let that word talent come into my interpretation of the parable. What it said to me is that it is my responsibility to take the talents God has given me and develop them. It is up to me to work at them and make them 5, 10 or 100 times better than when I realized I have them. This is one of the many messages that moved me to work hard on improving my art.

This trip made this all come rushing back to me. While the art was great it turns out on this trip my inspiration has come from music and musicians. Musicians, chasing their musical dream just as I am chasing my artistic dream. On my trip to MS I stopped in Memphis and Beale Street. After the exhibit opening I traveled to Nashville. The music and the neon in Memphis put my brain in gear. The people I talked to and a few I photographed were interesting and wonderful.

In Nashville I was moved. At various stops I talked to people who came to Nashville chasing their dream.
I met a great guy named Duncan Houston who moved to Nashville 12 years ago. He was sure when they heard him sing he would change country music forever. Twelve years later, it’s an early Monday afternoon and he sings his music for tips in a corner bar to 3 customers and a bartender – just trying to make enough to get by. When his set is done he heads to the end of the bar and counts the tip jar, hoping there is enough to cover a bill or two. Then there is Kinsey Rose. She and her band are up after Duncan. She’s young and full of hope. You can see in her eyes the hope that maybe that person who can give her a big break will come in and hear something they like. But for now she sings to one man in an empty bar. But she entertains him like he’s one of thousands.

On the drive home it struck me. We’re all just chasing our dreams. We’re trying to multiply the talents God has given us and share it with the world. The dream may not be the fame and fortune everyone
thinks we’re chasing. It may just be that inner peace that comes with doing what you are meant to do.

Using your talents to the fullest. Growing, and sharing and helping others grow and multiply their talents too.

It’s a pretty awesome feeling. What's your dream?

With this post I’ve included my last painting – the most recent effort from my dream – along with a few
shots from this year’s Radical Sabbatical.


*** Both Duncan Houston and Kinsey Rose have Facebook Pages if you would like to check them out I posted a video on Kinsey's page I took of Kinsey singing a song she wrote.

It's Arrived!!! I'm published!!!

I just received my copies of "Health Connection" magazine. It is very cool and strange to see one of my paintings on its cover.
It is such a validation of the work I have put in to learning to paint. I also know I have so much farther I can go. It is one more event to inspire and encourage my continued growth.
If this is your first visit to my blog, thanks for stopping by. I hope you find it interesting and if you are considering painting, I hope it will inspire you to give it a try. You will love it!!

Really? It's been that long since I blogged?

Life gets so busy and time flies by so fast. There is so much to do its hard to take time to write about. Or maybe it is that I don't really think I have enough to say that is interesting and people would actually read it. Whatever the case, I have downloaded an ap for my phone so I can blog on the go. Excuse my typing errors and autocorrects.

I'm including my most recent paintings in this post. This summer I have taken thousands of pictures, many of which inspire me. Some will drive me into action and I will have a need to paint them as soon as I can. Others linger and almost haunt me. They stir in my brain as I imagine the possibilities.

I'm not sure I will ever be able to paint every inspirational scene or object or person I encounter, but the journey and the experiences that come with it make me keep searching and experiencing .

New Opportunities-Idea Overload 

A freind of mine recently introduced me to a wonderful organization called The Art Guild of Menomonee Falls. I joined and it looks like I will be offering a Saturday Beginner Watercolor class at their downtown Menomonee Falls Gallery. I am very excited and hope to get a good turn out. When I first started painting I can tell you I had a lot of fear. I am hoping I can help beginners overcome that fear. If you have any interest in Watercolor at all, please consider signing up. Just shoot me a message and I will get you details. Or watch my Facebook page and this blog for details. 

Switching gears.Right now I have 6 paintings going at once. That's a lot, even for me. But the idea's keep coming. As my skill improves I realize that it is not my hands that create but my eyes. Seeing the way the lights and the darks work together to create the mood, interest and beauty that could never exist without the other. 

I have been making it a point to look at something that I see everyday and really take the time to see it. It could be a simple as my coffee cup. See the way the light creates hot spots on the rim. Notices an unexpected highlight on the shadow side. Understand how the computer monitor looks in the curved reflection. how the objects on the desk change the shadows and colors reflected back in the various tones on the mug. I may not ever paint the mug but I believe this act of seeing will help on every painting I work on going forward. It is this act of seeing that fuels my fire and keeps my list of "Things to Paint" growing beyond what my life allows. This act of seeing also spreads to people. I love painting people. But I want my paintings to grow and be much more than they have ever been. I want see not only the physical features and record them but see the person and spirit within. So that with just a glance the viewer can feel who that person is. So their spirit comes alive off the paper. It's a tall order. I'm not sure I have made that happen yet. But that's the cool thing about watercolor and art and painting and life; we can try to do better tomorrow. 

May you be the highlight that brings beauty to someone else's shadow. 

Lance 

Rejected

Wow, what a negative title huh? So far 2012 hasn't been a year to stroke my artistic ego. I really debated on saying anything about the fact that my paintings have been rejected from the 2 national shows I entered. But the reality of it is that they have.

I think about it and I hear from really talented well established artists who have a whole alphabet of designations behind their name; "Don't feel bad, I still get rejected sometimes." I guess that should make a person feel better right?

I wanted to blog about it because I feel there are a lot of ways this "art thing" can drive me and my life. I have always loved young people and helping them learn. Especially young artists who I hope will not give up on their art like I had for years. I think I have come far and these rejections are just one more bump in the road. I think it is good for young people to see the bumps. For them to see that I didn't wake up one morning and I was suddenly a talented artist. I have used my formula for an artist before: Inspiration + Perspiration= Natural Talent.

I always laugh when people say I have a natural ability. If it is so natural, why is it taking so long to get good.

I have a number of Facebook friends who are very talented artists. Many of whom have recently announced their acceptance into national shows. I have to admit for a short time there is a sting. Then I look at their work. I really look and I see. I see that I have a ways to go to get that special difference. That style or unique quality to everything I do. I'm not quite sure how I will get there yet or how long it will take. But I refuse to let my artist journey end.

Blogging about rejection may seem negative on the surface. But I guess in this art world I have chosen to immerse myself in, it is part of the territory. My hope is by blogging about my rejection there may be another artist who decides to try one more painting too.

Tisch

Painting Memories!

I talk a lot about what inspires my art. With my most recent painting I found there is a difference between inspiration and a calling to paint something.
When I grew up I was fortunate to have the best childhood a kid could ask for. Of course at the time I thought we were too poor, my parents were too strict, and we never did anything fun. But there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about a friend or neighbor from my childhood, or silently chuckle about a memory of growing up on Schaefer Street in Appleton.
We were a tight group; the Ciskes, Vissers, Huevelmans, Marx's, Christiansons and many more. There were kids everywhere and we played and fought and cared for each other. Our parents had no problem keeping all of us out of trouble. It was a close knit group. I think is tough to find these days.
October of 2011 the father of one of my best friends passed away. At first it was a bitter reminder of losing my own father. But when I looked at the pictures at the wake and the smile in his eyes in those pictures; my childhood came flooding back to me.
And then, I was called by them to paint his portrait. My memories of Mr. Ciske range from getting yelled at for bring junk back to their house because myself, and a few of his sons, couldn't believe the neighbors were throwing something so good away; to playing sheepshead and drinking beer.
I needed to paint MY memory of Big Jim. And I wanted so bad for his family to know how much I value my life in our neighborhood and all they contributed to my awesome childhood.
Call it inspiration, but in some cases art goes beyond that. It is the way an artist expresses what is in their heart and releases a piece of their soul.
Below is my painting of Big Jim.