The simpler the better

If you followed me on Facebook or Instagram last summer you'll remember the time I painted these waterfalls.

It was such a thrilling thing to paint, but my painting didn't turn out well. It was really a case of sensory overload. A painting needs focus to communicate the feeling of a place. In this case everything was so beautiful and I didn't focus on one particular aspect of the place to focus my painting.

Back in the studio, with my memory, the failed painting from that day and a few reference photos I was better able to construct a painting that communicated (1) scale and (2) the cascading falls.

I arranged the painting into a light area (in the center) and a dark area (surrounding). I minimized the contrast in value in those major shapes and GREATLY simplified the edges where the dark met the light.  I also prepared a board with an aspect ratio better suited to eliminate extraneous information (i.e. the water in the foreground, the sky in the background).

Swallow Falls

5x8, oil on board

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The Change in the Sky

Setting

July 17, 2014, Deep Creek Lake, MD

6x6, oil 

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First Lights

July 17, 2014, Deep Creek Lake, MD
6x6, oil
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These were painted the same evening as the sky transformed minute by minute. It is amazing how quickly the colors change. By the time one color is mixed and applied it has morphed into another even more beautiful hue.

Oh, to paint the evening horizon. So difficult, so magnificent, so overwhelming... but so rewarding.

Starts with Why

 

Reflections of Indigo

6x8, oil

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I had a conversation with my cousin while on vacation about my art career that triggered me to thinking about why I paint. Why I paint in the style that I do, why I paint the subject matter that I do, why I want to sell my paintings, increase exposure of my work, take commissions, etc. Why do I do everything I do?

My cousin Bryan recommended a book by Simon Sinek called "Starts With Why". You have probably heard of him and his message. He gave a fantastic TEDtalk with the same title.

The premise of his argument in the talk was that people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

I've always thought that I'm very clear on my Why. Because it's the same reason I do (or rather, want to do) everything in my life.

A couple days after talking with Bryan I read Psalm 27. Verse 4 is my Why.

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple." Psalm 27:4

My personal why is "to behold the beauty of God every day and be amazed by His person, character and majesty."

Now I am just like everyone else. I am distracted by the to-do list, the phone calls and text messages, the people who need things of me, health issues, family issues, peripheral goals and "putting out fires" as they call it. After my conversation with Bryan I started writing a little every day about my Why. I was shocked to see how often I unconsciously switched into "How" and "What" mode. It proved to me that I need to focus my mind more each day, beyond 20 minutes of reading my Bible, on my "Why" for existence. The how's and what's will come naturally when I am clear on my Why.

While Simon Sinek's why for having a Why is to have a more successful business/career/life, my why for having a Why is this: It it what I was made for. I was made to behold God's beauty. I was made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (as states the Westminster Catechism). It is the very reason I exist. This reason was not chosen by me. It was woven into my soul by the One who brought me into existence in the first place.

I hate how easily I forget it. Those empty feelings, those feelings of dissatisfaction, those feelings of "if only ____ then everything will be right again" are really reminders from the Holy Spirit to return to my Why, my purpose. 

And this purpose, this Why, has everything to do with my artwork. If you don't mind, I'd like to write a little more about it and how it directs the How of my art-making and art selling in subsequent posts. Simon Sinek and my cousin Bryan were good reminders that this is something to be shared.

Sketchbook from Deep Creek Lake

Got a few sketchbook pages from our travels last week to share with you. 

 

(Mark's hands on the wheel while driving to MD)

(A little boat house/shed on the lake)

(The vacated former restaurant/inn next door to the condos we were renting)

(This is Anna Joy, my cousin's almost-two-year-old, wanted to help out with filling a few pages of my Summer Challenge Sketchbook. Drew her portrait from a photo on one of the pages when we got home.)

Paintings from Deep Creek Lake

 

When painting is your job as well as your passion you take work with you on vacation. In fact the thing that most excites you about vacation is "working" in a new location.

Last week my husband and I joined my extended family for a family reunion at Deep Creek Lake in MD. The week usually involves water skiing, tubing, sailing, sun burn, a lot of good food, staying up late and catching up on everyone's lives.

Of course I also brought my paints. Between the activities I managed to squeak out a few paintings, including my first nocturne. I chose simple compositions to paint and focused on capturing the color of the moment. This enabled the essence of the scene to be captured quickly so I wouldn't feel like I was spending hours upon hours away from all the family festivities.

Take a look:

 

Edge of the Water

5x7, oil

 

Day's End

6x6, oil

  

Clouds Float By

9x12, oil

 Crimson Glow

5x7, oil

 Ten-thirty

8x10, oil