Making the transition from art teacher to full time artist.
Ya gotta wonder if it's too late to really succeed but I am sure going to try!
I don't think I am unique in being a retired art teacher (or retired PERSON of any career) attempting to make creating, selling and showing art a goal in late life.
I was really excited and somewhat anxious to retire and get back into all this time I could devote to creating art. At times it was losing sleep kind of anxious! OMG! Can I build my skills to the high level I WANT to attain? Will I just collect paintings nobody wants? ... Will I eventually WIN in competitions and sell my work? It's all sort of scary, daunting and intimidating. I am not letting those feelings derail me but they are there! The ambition is too. To FINALLY find out just how good I can be in this art thing! I do love the process! I get so excited to be out doors or in my studio spending time with palette and paint! Now that covid is getting under control I can finally plan on taking workshops and travel again to paint!
It's been about three years since I stopped teaching and began to focus on making art. At first it was even scary to try to figure out WHAT to paint or draw! But I remember going on walks and just focusing on what it was I was seeing. The first pull to create a series came from walks along our beach in Michigan. I started to notice the rocks and logs as the waves rushed over them. Those images made me want to paint them and that led to relaxation about WHAT to paint. I knew I would find it if I kept looking.
Sometimes I was really BAD! I look back now at some and cringe. I really wanted to get better at waves..TWO were pretty successful. I will continue to be drawn to the shapes and colors and intensity or calm of a good wave on the water!
The other thing about THIS time of making art is the feeling that there is a LACK of time! I am 64 not 30! You hope you have lots of healthy years ahead to create but... it's a lot more real that there is only so much time and that you are not in that place of a long future ahead.
That being said I realized that in THIS time of making art I have the total freedom to do what I want! I actually don't have to sell anything! I just want to! I am not limited or constrained to create "worthy" subject matter to achieve a lofty reputation in the art world....but I do want to try to achieve a reputation as an excellent artist and to feel that what I make is worth it for ME!
This may be my only entry!
Entry two: I am 65 today. Yesterday I painted plein air at Cox Arboretum and finished a pretty decent 9 x 12. Well,.... maybe finished! I go back Sunday and may tweak the values. A few days ago I finished a plein air piece I was totally disgusted with in the studio and only looked at the photo for minutes... It's now much better! I did a little Falls painting last week and wasn't disgusted! I am having fun! The goal is to continue to TRY! With repetition it's likely I will improve!
Entry 3: August 2021
Progress and fun! I am feeling much more confident in my work and having fun! I am encouraged by some sales! I was working on the bike trail near Charlevoix Michigan on a work with this RV parked along a roadside park. I liked the look of the RV alongside the lake with this little "island" of trees" created by the high water. As I was working the RV owners came along on their bikes and asked for my number. Another biker went by and asked as well. I was pretty excited about this complementary interest in my work and about a month later I got a call and it is now sold! THANKS!
I am now on the board of Ohio Plein Air Society and involved in planning paintouts for 2022. That has been fun and rewarding as it gives me an opportunity to meet artists from all over Ohio.
My local little group is not thriving..... I think I will change the format to a more casual meetup page.
I have begun to make my own frames. I like the simplicity of the wood floater frame.
Goals now are to sell, show more often, enter competitions, attend paintouts , make business cards, take classes and continue to get out there to create. Onward!
Spring 2022: Time marches on and I have continued to explore painting both in Plein Air and studio. It's Spring so it's time to get out there and paint whenever and wherever I can! I do think that there is this feeling that you make progress and then have a huge dismal failure! two steps forward, one step back!.... Those failures can feel very frustrating as if you have forgotten everything you learned! But overall, in looking at the work, I feel I see progress . I put up a studio peg board wall and I use it to study "finished" and unfinished work and it helps me to see what I can do to improve and it shows that improvement has been made.
I went to Yellow Springs for two days of painting and don't feel either of them got to the finish line. I WILL go back on a nice sunny day soon to struggle to the "done" designation! I would like to keep them plein air.
A recent workshop from Ann Larsen has thoughts percolating in my brain and it was a really fun experimental class. We revisited compositional rules, limited palette suggestions, and many insights and reminders of what to push for in the work. I think a big part of the instruction was on the VALUES of colors and how you can manipulate color within the values in your work. We also really played with thick paint, mixing colors ahead of time and doing multiple thumbnails of a scene to better decide on the best composition even if it is within a photograph you take. All of it was fun and informative. Warm/cool, darks/lights, colors and intensity, deciding the major focal point to emphasize and LOTS more.
The future will find me OUT THERE to explore paint as much as possible. The workshops I have taken have solidified that there is a time for plein air and there is a time for the studio and both are just fine. I do like getting out there on a good day and finding a spot that I haven't seen before or a scene I have wanted to paint. Plein air is an adventure. The challenge for me is that I am slow outside. Studio time allows me to study, experiement and add to the work things I don't have the time for outside. I like that studio study! I often need it! That's ok.
Being part of Ohio Plein Air Society does push me to create work solely from direct observation and I still believe in that being a worthy goal for me. I will keep at it!
There are times when I look back with regret that I didn't start painting seriously sooner. I wonder where my art would have been if that had happened. BUT! It didn't so I tell myself to just get to it and do what I want to do and see what I can accomplish. Onward.
Nov. 8, 2023
Still pretty sure no one reads this!
And on it goes this thing of creating art! I am still not where I want to be in terms of skills, sales, shows, awards and more but there has been progress and new goals are made! I think the major struggle is internal along with just the use of the time I have. It is easy to compare your work to others as "not as good" or lacking in some way. Someone complements your achievements and you don't really believe what they say is true. Hm... why? So are they right and your inside voice is wrong or is it a bit of both? The illusive goal of achieving recognition at shows and competitions remains disappointing and can truly make you question your own talent. In studying art of others and your own work you CAN see there are improvements you can reach for. So I have a new chart in my studio reminding me that selling, shows and awards are not the highest goal. Believe, keep having fun with the work, focus, celebrate each bit of the magic of creating something from inside of you, reach for skills, study and paint as much as possible. ( I personally need to get off my couch earlier in the day - I do love to read in the morning!)
Accomplishments:
1. My first show of a collection of work: I did a show of work with two friends and it was fun and rewarding. I feel thankful that we took on this challenge and will move to show more ( after all I have a lot of work in frames now!)
My old career of teaching contributed to the fun of this evening in that many former students came to the opening which was so special and two of them bought paintings! I also had friends from classes taken at Miami University Craft summer come and friends from Ohio Plein Air! Friends who mean so much to me and even neighbors contributed to the fun. A joyful evening!
Any excuse to see people who enrich your life is great but I feel very proud of this big step into showing and selling work in a gallery setting.
It actually is such a GREAT feeling when someone you love and admire buys a painting! It's an affirmation of more than the "object" but rather of the connection to people who have made a difference in my life.
2. Workshops and paintouts: The BEST adventure so far in painting in 2023 was a trip to PARIS to paint with other artists. This was my 4th time visiting Paris but my first time to paint there. WOW! Those moments painting along the Seine, in the Tuileries, in Luxembourg Gardens and in Giverney are documented by the little works I was able to make while there. The cool thing about plein air is that adventure of finding a subject and then spending a significant bit of time just in study and focus on that scene. It isn't just the scene then that you remember. It's the way the sun feels and the passing people chatting with you- there are many moments in our days we forget, but I have never forgotten any of the days spent in plein air painting. Those memories are clear and....happy! This has solidified my desire to do this more often. Travel to new locations even if it is just within Ohio or Michigan is inspirational and being with other artists a camaraderie of like minds! So onward to Italy in October 2024 and painting all over Ohio, Michigan and ... unknown locations!
My painting has improved and I am very proud of many of my works. Sales are happening, getting work into shows has progressed and I still love the process and have MUCH I want to do! Studio and plein air work to persue, people to study with and learn from and getting out there to do as much painting as possible. Today the studio is calling me. Time to go paint!
I went to Yellow Springs for two days of painting and don't feel either of them got to the finish line. I WILL go back on a nice sunny day soon to struggle to the "done" designation! I would like to keep them plein air.
A recent workshop from Ann Larsen has thoughts percolating in my brain and it was a really fun experimental class. We revisited compositional rules, limited palette suggestions, and many insights and reminders of what to push for in the work. I think a big part of the instruction was on the VALUES of colors and how you can manipulate color within the values in your work. We also really played with thick paint, mixing colors ahead of time and doing multiple thumbnails of a scene to better decide on the best composition even if it is within a photograph you take. All of it was fun and informative. Warm/cool, darks/lights, colors and intensity, deciding the major focal point to emphasize and LOTS more.
The future will find me OUT THERE to explore paint as much as possible. The workshops I have taken have solidified that there is a time for plein air and there is a time for the studio and both are just fine. I do like getting out there on a good day and finding a spot that I haven't seen before or a scene I have wanted to paint. Plein air is an adventure. The challenge for me is that I am slow outside. Studio time allows me to study, experiement and add to the work things I don't have the time for outside. I like that studio study! I often need it! That's ok.
Being part of Ohio Plein Air Society does push me to create work solely from direct observation and I still believe in that being a worthy goal for me. I will keep at it!
There are times when I look back with regret that I didn't start painting seriously sooner. I wonder where my art would have been if that had happened. BUT! It didn't so I tell myself to just get to it and do what I want to do and see what I can accomplish. Onward.
Nov. 8, 2023
Still pretty sure no one reads this!
And on it goes this thing of creating art! I am still not where I want to be in terms of skills, sales, shows, awards and more but there has been progress and new goals are made! I think the major struggle is internal along with just the use of the time I have. It is easy to compare your work to others as "not as good" or lacking in some way. Someone complements your achievements and you don't really believe what they say is true. Hm... why? So are they right and your inside voice is wrong or is it a bit of both? The illusive goal of achieving recognition at shows and competitions remains disappointing and can truly make you question your own talent. In studying art of others and your own work you CAN see there are improvements you can reach for. So I have a new chart in my studio reminding me that selling, shows and awards are not the highest goal. Believe, keep having fun with the work, focus, celebrate each bit of the magic of creating something from inside of you, reach for skills, study and paint as much as possible. ( I personally need to get off my couch earlier in the day - I do love to read in the morning!)
Accomplishments:
1. My first show of a collection of work: I did a show of work with two friends and it was fun and rewarding. I feel thankful that we took on this challenge and will move to show more ( after all I have a lot of work in frames now!)
My old career of teaching contributed to the fun of this evening in that many former students came to the opening which was so special and two of them bought paintings! I also had friends from classes taken at Miami University Craft summer come and friends from Ohio Plein Air! Friends who mean so much to me and even neighbors contributed to the fun. A joyful evening!
Any excuse to see people who enrich your life is great but I feel very proud of this big step into showing and selling work in a gallery setting.
It actually is such a GREAT feeling when someone you love and admire buys a painting! It's an affirmation of more than the "object" but rather of the connection to people who have made a difference in my life.
2. Workshops and paintouts: The BEST adventure so far in painting in 2023 was a trip to PARIS to paint with other artists. This was my 4th time visiting Paris but my first time to paint there. WOW! Those moments painting along the Seine, in the Tuileries, in Luxembourg Gardens and in Giverney are documented by the little works I was able to make while there. The cool thing about plein air is that adventure of finding a subject and then spending a significant bit of time just in study and focus on that scene. It isn't just the scene then that you remember. It's the way the sun feels and the passing people chatting with you- there are many moments in our days we forget, but I have never forgotten any of the days spent in plein air painting. Those memories are clear and....happy! This has solidified my desire to do this more often. Travel to new locations even if it is just within Ohio or Michigan is inspirational and being with other artists a camaraderie of like minds! So onward to Italy in October 2024 and painting all over Ohio, Michigan and ... unknown locations!
My painting has improved and I am very proud of many of my works. Sales are happening, getting work into shows has progressed and I still love the process and have MUCH I want to do! Studio and plein air work to persue, people to study with and learn from and getting out there to do as much painting as possible. Today the studio is calling me. Time to go paint!
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