Christmas Time! And...Fall Leaves?

Last weekend, I taught a couple of my seasonal workshops at my studio in Star, ID; they were a bit out of order, but it was a success none the less!

On Friday the 3rd, we gathered to create little works of Christmas-y art to give as gifts (or to keep for ourselves!) at the Christmas Gifts workshop.

They all turned out so fun and festive!

____________________________________________________________________

The next day, we painted fall leaves on Aquabord, an absorbent clay surface. They had a great time painting glowing leaves while learning the tricks of lifting, glazing, adding textures, etc. to their artworks.

Very nice job, ladies!

More Rust in Oregon, with Some Tiny Abstracts...

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Oregon and taught a couple of my newest workshops to some very excited artists who were ready to learn some new techniques!

First up, was the Tiny Abstracts mixed media workshop, where artists used acrylic and other media to create small works of art. They were all so good!

Here are some examples:

After finishing them & placing them in frames, they are ready for hanging and look wonderful.

____________________________________________________________

The next day, I taught my new Rust & Corrosion workshop, which focuses on creating the look of rust with different color combinations.  

They all turned out looking so good and so...rusty!

                                                             Excellent job, all of you!  Keep up the good work!

Look at Me! Did I get your attention?

With “Visual Pollution” as I call it, we may need to rethink our art game. We all have an overload of visual stimuli. With the constant interruption of the internet, voicemail, texts, emails and other social media we can have way too much to see and respond to. I like to have the concise information in an email as most of it will not be read. I may lose a few of you in this one-page article. J

So I will try to be brief.

Even in the grocery store the visual choice for something as easy as toothpaste can be crazy, how many choices of the same brand do I need? I just want clean teeth and fresh breath.

How does this effect the artist? I believe to get someone’s attention to actually stop, view, enjoy and possibly have interest to purchase our art takes a lot more work and creativity than in the past.

How do we answer the challenge of getting attention? We can be bold, subtle, imaginative, colorful, textural, compositionally creative etc. in our paintings. I have a number of directions I have changed my work for this dilemma…one is having a series of new works. Some of my new art is large 3 feet by 4 feet and some is tiny art 4”x4”. Capturing either the bold or the need for a tiny space of viewing.

One of my new exciting series is addressing the thought of quietly getting attention. Without concern for sales, more a quiet statement.

It is a series titled “A Breath of Fresh Air” that is purely dedicated to the idea of slowing down for beauty.  Paintings that their purpose is to interrupt the viewer just long enough to take a breath, sigh and enjoy! One such painting is at the Carr Gallery in a show in Idaho Falls right now. It is 3 feet by 3 feet and in calming colors and movement (see above). Titled “Whispers”.

I would love to hear of some of your inventive thoughts.

Keep painting and creatively entice the public to see your art!!!

 © Linda Aman-Aman Arts– November 2017