Motivation . . .

Although I've been creating art for a long time, there are times (more frequent than I'd like) when I feel completely uninspired, think that I've made nothing wonderful, I'm a failure, woe is me, etc.

I can snap myself out of it by viewing what I've made over the years, and Pinterest is a great place for me to do that.

There's nothing like seeing a LOT of my art spread out on one page. I see pictures I'd forgotten I'd made. I see pictures that I distinctly remember making and I wonder why I didn't keep on making a series of THAT.

Here's a link to my work on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroleigh2013/carol-leigh-art/

I also see how scattered and varied my work is. Other artists have a "look," a "style" about their work that makes it immediately recognizable as theirs. So I worry that I don't have a style. But just briefly.

My attention span is apparently short. I get worn down and weird(er) if I'm making something that's similar to something I've previously made.

As a result, I've learned to embrace my scattered-ness and accept that this is who I am, and why force it?

My ever-growing Pinterest board is one way for me to show my work to a larger audience. It's also how I bump myself out of artistic self-pity and rejoice in what I've made over the years.

Do YOU have a Pinterest board that features your work and only your work? If so, let me know. I'd love to go over and take a look.

Copyright ©2019 Carol Leigh

Follow-up to yesterday's blog post . . .

Before I posted yesterday's article about finding inspiration, I wanted to get permission to do so from the artist who painted the image I used as an example (Lisa Pressman).

As I went through her website looking for an e-mail address, I saw she had a calendar of her workshops posted. And it turns out she was conducting a workshop here in Coupeville THIS WEEK!

She kindly granted me permission to use her painting photo in yesterday's post, and then also invited me to come over to the Pacific Northwest Art School to chat and see what the class was doing. Bonus!

We just got back home from our visit. The big room they were working in was a complete mess. It was supposed to be a complete mess! It's encaustic painting, after all, and there was colored wax everywhere, lots of tools for scraping, stencils and strings for texture, and more. And everyone was having a great time.

So I ask you: What are the odds that I should post an article using Lisa Pressman's encaustic painting as an example yesterday, that I would e-mail her and receive an immediate response, and that she (this woman from New Jersey) would be just seven minutes up the road from us?

Art. Art is messy. Art brings us together. Art is fun. This was a fun set of circumstances for me, all about art.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Finding inspiration

From time to time I'll refer to what I call my "inspiration file," images I've saved that, for whatever reason, I was drawn to. And when I'm sort of adrift, feeling nothing's going right with my art, I'll riffle through other people's images to see what might pop out.

That's what happened here when I saw an encaustic painting done by artist Lisa Pressman that appeared on her blog in 2009. She titled it "Between the Lines 11."

What I found intriguing was her color palette, the soft celadon in the background, the yummy yellow/ochre, the touches of black, and the deep reddish-orange bits. Colors I wouldn't think of using on my own.

And so I began. I began with color and then added additional items such as torn paper, ink scribbles, etc. for the texture. I also used a photo I'd taken of a piece of metal that had a number of crosshead screws in it, and so up top and down at the bottom you can see the little "x's" that are those screws. And then I wondered what if I included a photo I took a few years ago of a vine clinging to an old wall, a wall that featured two iron reinforcement anchor plates in the shape of stars. I call the piece "Reaching for Stars."

My resulting image, inspired by Lisa Pressman's exquisite painting, was fun to make. Her inspiration took me out of my comfort zone, both in selecting colors and then putting together a composition.

Are these colors I might use again? Not sure. And what about the orange-red color Lisa Pressman used? Why didn't I use the same color in mine? In my case, it was a little too much, and didn't work as well for me as Lisa's color worked in her encaustic painting.

Let me show you her blogpost from 2009, and then her current blog postings. She is a wonderful artist and creates exciting pictures. Check out her work. You might just come away inspired, as I did.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Quiet confidence

I found this quote in a painting blog and I think it's a quote from the actress Amy Poehler. I then wrote it in my own journal because I liked the quiet confidence it has.

In case you can't read my writing, she says, "Care about the work you do, but not about the result. Care about how good you are, but not how good people think you are."

Basically she's saying, work at your art and care about improving, but don't rely on external validation for your sense of self-esteem.

Here's a photo I took of some toothbrushes. The response from certain people is, "Now WHO would photograph toothbrushes?" But I really like this photo! And I know WHY, which is important. I like the bold colors, the bizarre subject matter, the unusual composition, the repeating pattern, and the absurd wiggly movement of the brushes, almost a dental conga line!

So my point is to always be improving your work. You want to be the best you can be. And if you think your work is good, is the best you can do, then don't worry about what anybody else thinks.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Internet = Despair or Inspiration?

Every morning I read Laura Lein-Svencner's blog (Lone Crow). She's a collage artist and I am happy to have one of her works on my mantel. Here's a link to her website: http://www.lauralein-svencner.com/art.html

She was talking about going online, looking at other artists' works, comparing her work to theirs, and momentarily feeling "less than."

I do this a lot, too. In fact, my morning routine is to get up around 4 or 4:30 and work on my own photomontages, have breakfast later with Chris, and then spend maybe an hour online, reading other artists' blogs as I sip my coffee.

"Wasp Waist" photomontage created this  morning.

I know what Laura means about feeling "less than." There's an incredible array of wonderfully creative art out there, from simple sketches to photographs to quilting to encaustic to collage to oil painting, etc. Sometimes I think, "Who am I kidding? Me? An artist? Look at what this person is creating."

Luckily, most of the time, instead of feeling "less than," I feel inspired. Look at that color palette. Look at the bones of that composition. Look at how she used image transfers. Look at that brayer technique. It's exciting and it's motivational, encouraging me to experiment, to incorporate, to continue creating in different ways.

I relate to Laura's "less than" feelings when I read about everything she does. She teaches classes all the time; she creates and sells calendars; she makes her own journals; she's making video tutorials; and she sells her work at art fairs. I feel "less than" because I don't do much of that at all, but feel maybe I should. (Well, except for doing art shows — did that in southern California and it was brutal — never again.)

But I digress. . . how do YOU use the Internet? Is it a source of inspiration or is it depressing? Do you use it to remain excited, be motivated, to learn/see new things? Or does all this surfing bring you down to an almost paralyzing low? Do you feel there's no point continuing on with your photography when you see others' amazing work?

My neighbor's a reader and we share books. She mentioned the other day that there are so many books out there to read that it's daunting. And my response was thank god there are a lot of books out there to be read because I know that in this lifetime I will never be bored, there will be no end to my enjoyment.

Cruising the Internet, comparing, analyzing, ingesting, studying, admiring — it's all good, and I believe it's good for you. So much creativity in one place — you cannot help but benefit from it. By pushing the "less than" feelings to one side, you make room for inspiration, which in turn makes you a better artist.

This has been a public service announcement . . .

©Carol Leigh

Two from the "Wheel o' Pith"

Happy Winter Solstice to you... A new beginning of sorts... What are you working on? What artistic endeavors will you pursue this new year? Here are a couple of cards from my "Wheel o' Pith." (I've mentioned this Rolodex idea holder a couple of times this past year, here and again here.) (Click to enlarge.)

In this flurry of holiday activity, take a few quiet moments and think of one artistic thing you wish to pursue this new year. Just one. Maybe it's getting up the nerve to photograph people, something that might really scare you. Or maybe it's to take one good photo a day. Or a week. Or maybe you want to learn one new Photoshop technique every month and really master it. Or perhaps you will give yourself an assignment every couple of weeks. Buy flowers for the house every two weeks and photograph them. Shoot the cat. (You know what I mean!)

DO something, CREATE something, and do it CONSISTENTLY this coming year. The time's going to go by anyway. Have something to show for it.

©Carol Leigh (who pretends she's talking to you, but she's really talking to herself)

From the wheel o' pith ...

Pith: Soft, spongy cells which store and transport nutrients throughout a plant. Pithy: Having substance and point, tersely cogent.

Remember Rolodex files? Offices used to store (some still do) names, addresses, telephone numbers on small (1.75 x 3.25 inches) notched cards which were attached to a "wheel." You spun the wheel to find the card holding the info you wanted.

I have so many photo ideas, art ideas, and quotations I want to remember that are scattered throughout notebooks that are scattered throughout the house. How to keep all this info in one spot? How to find a pithy quote? How to remind myself of ideas I had maybe five years ago? How to inspire myself to keep on going? Enter the Rolodex.

Note: The cards that come with the Rolodex are incredibly thin and flimsy. So a lot of the time I make my own, cut up a photo I'm throwing out, let's say, use a special punch to create the slots, and voila! Instant (more substantial) card. Or I'll glue a scrap of painted and torn watercolor paper to the card to give it substance.  The result is a Rolodex wheel bristling with mismatched and often colorful cards. A visual treat (to me) as well as a mental one.

I showed the Rolodex to some of my workshop students who thought it was the coolest idea and who sat at the table just rummaging through it. I offer you a few examples here, hoping you'll find it interesting as well. These cards are not meant to be polished works of art, just colorful little pithy quotes, ideas, reminders. As usual, click on each one to enlarge. ©Carol Leigh