BIG BLUE

I cannot believe it has been more than a month since I last wrote on this blog! I am sure you are all well into your 2015 goals by now, whereas I have not yet settled on mine...it's called procrastination, and I think I am an expert at it by now! But tonight I am beginning to think of those goals, and writing them down.

I HAVE been working hard, though, and in the last 2 weeks, I have completed 4 paintings. One is a commission, one is for a 6 week class I will be teaching in February/March, and 2 are ones which had been on the back burner for a while, needing detailing and tweaking. But they are all done now, and the 3 which are oil paintings are all in various stages of drying.

The one I have chosen to show you today is the blue hydrangea which I had posted just after I started work on it. It is a sweet little 10" x 12" piece, and is the first on the list of my finished 2015 paintings. Yay! 

I might paint another hydrangea later in the year from a photo I took when I was in Tofino in November. It has pinks, purples, blues, and cream all in the one huge blossom! Hydrangea are the most amazing flowers ever!!

Big Blue
10" x 12" oil on canvas

CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS

Starting on a commission is always exciting for me. I look forward to creating a piece of art that will bring joy and happiness to the people who have trusted me to be their artist. I find that art is a very personal thing...and to paint for someone else is both thrilling and a bit scary, depending on the subject matter. 

This piece, however, is just plain fun! I got this far today, and will allow the paint to set up before I go back into it. What is left now is the center which is white and yellow, so the paint has to be dry before I paint there. Then will come the ridges on the outside of some of the leaves, and the background. I think they are going to like this one! It is 18" x 18", oil on standard canvas. 

I'll post the finished piece sometime in the next couple of weeks, which is when I expect it will be completed. :-)

FAVORED TYPE AND COLOR

I love the color blue...most every shade and value of blue creates a happiness in my soul. I don't know why - can't explain it - but it's there. Right now, as I am typing this, I have looked out the window and I see blue-grey clouds with pinks and yellow-orange in them floating in a blue sky above coastal mountains which are a dark blue-green for the ones closest to me, fading to a purple-blue for the ones farthest away, and varying shades of blues for the two layers of mountains in between. Beautiful!

And for the first time that I can remember, I saw my first true blue flower this summer! It is a gorgeous Hydrangea, of which we planted 6 in our flower beds. The blue one (my favorite type of flower now) was discovered on the Tofino side of the island, and since then, I have seen them in our neighbourhood as well. I got several photos (of course), and have begun a small 10" x 12" oil painting of this blue beauty! In the spring,  I am going to find one to plant in our yard! :-)

Here is a photo of the work-in-progress...

OKAY, I GIVE UP!

Orchid in Bloom
20" x 20"
oil on gallery wrapped canvas

I don't know why I paint flowers. Really. 

I see gorgeous flowers when we are out and about, and I am compelled to photograph them. I can't help myself!

And then, when I am thinking of what to paint, one of those flowers will come to mind, and I find myself on my computer searching for that picture.

Once I have drawn it on the canvas, and begun to paint it, I ask myself, "Why did I choose to paint a flower? I don't even really LIKE painting flowers!" So I sigh, and continue working to complete the painting on the canvas. And once completed, I think they look okay.

"Orchid in Bloom" is one of the many blossoms we have had on the plant our realtor gave us as a housewarming gift a year ago. The blooms are so perfect it is hard to believe they are not plastic. I have always killed any orchids I had before, but this one is extra hardy I think, as it is still thriving.

I was at The Cooperative this week, painting yet another flower (to enter into a show), when a lady came in and asked if I was the artist who had the sunflower painting hanging on the wall. Yes, that's me, I said. She asked me when I was going to teach how to paint flowers at The Cooperative. A short time before she came in, another artist who was painting there asked me if I was going to teach how to paint flowers because he would sign up right now. A few weeks ago, a beginning artist asked if I taught how to paint flowers.  And, while I was at The Cooperative, an experienced and well known artist was giving a class in abstract painting. Each of his students drifted over to see what I was working on (that flower I mentioned), and one of the students asked if I taught how to paint flowers... 

And, I have a commission waiting for me to begin, which is...wait for it...ta da....a painting of a Violet!!!

Hmmmm...I see a pattern emerging here. So, I am thinking of giving in and teaching a class on how to paint flowers either in November/December or in January/February. Now I will need to paint more flowers and pay attention to how I actually proceed through a painting! 

I am thinking of teaching sunflowers, because they make me feel happy and I have lots of experience painting them in several mediums! In fact, one which I painted a couple of years ago in acrylic just went to a silent auction fundraiser for cervical cancer. Yup, I think it will be sunflowers.

So, what's your favorite flower? And what about colors? What colors do you love for your flowers? 

MOTIVATED BY FAILURE

watercolor sunflower beginnings

Recently I told a student that I am not overly fond of doing landscapes or flowers, and after she left, I began to wonder about whether that is really true or not. Is it that I don't like doing landscapes and flowers, or could it be that I prefer to not face and tackle those things which tend to be a challenge, or downright hard-to-do for me? Have I given my friends, students, family and acquaintances the right to "fail", to learn, to move forward from that place, yet not allowed myself the same growth pattern?


Watching the Olympics this week has been inspirational, seeing all of the athletes compete in the various sports. But it occurs to me that if they turned away from all the times they didn't do well in practice, or in previous competitions, or if they didn't practice the elements they aren't overly fond of, they would not be competing in the Olympics at all. In fact, it was the redoubled efforts which came after "failure" that enabled them to progress and get better! 


Last night, watching the Russian gymnast Victoria Komova lose the gold medal was heart wrenching for me, regardless of who deserved to win the gold. This really young girl, who had worked so hard, and done so well, made an error that cost her the medal - she had "failed" in her own eyes. Yet, she is SECOND best IN THE WORLD!!! She rallied to receive the silver medal, but her disappointment was tangible. Still, she will use this experience to practice with more diligence than ever, and to laser focus on the areas which gave her difficulty. 


Art is somewhat similar for me. There are areas that are easy, and which I thoroughly enjoy creating within. And then there are the areas which present challenge and which require more diligence to create "successful" pieces. Engaging in those more difficult areas will only benefit all of my work, and so I intend to embrace and use "failure" to raise my work to a new level this fall. You can hold me accountable, and I would count that as a good thing! 


This morning, I posted this truism as my Facebook status update: "An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail." (courtesy of Christine Kane)  I believe that. I want to live that! 


So, I have begun another small piece (8.5" x 11") in watercolor of a sunflower. This piece is based on a photo which was given to me by my photographer friend, Rick Paradie. And whether I do flowers or landscapes or any other subject well or not is really not my focus. My focus is to enjoy the process, to learn from the areas which are difficult, or don't turn out as expected, and overcome any fears which might be lurking about in the studio, causing me to procrastinate or exhibit avoidance-techniques. Do you feel similarly? Do you have a fear of failure that send you in the opposite direction, or do you use fear of failure to motivate you to higher levels? I would love to hear from you, and be encouraged by your story!

Happy Holiday

Interior of one of my orange poppies, 2009

It's the long weekend, and I am busy in my garden, canning, making applesauce, apple juice, and cleaning up the yard! Hope you have a great holiday, doing stuff outside in the warmth of the fading days of summer. Already our nights are quite cool, and I feel that frost is just a couple of weeks away.

Although I find it difficult to say goodbye to summer, I know that when the cold hits, I'll be comfortably warm while painting in my studio! So... something to look forward to. :-)

Mexican Lady

Well, here she is - the Mexican woman who sells flowers for a living. 

When we were in Guadalajara in May, we saw many women in the markets and on street corners who were selling flowers or jewelry they had made from beads. The work was intricate and would be time consuming and tedious to do... so we did not mind paying a bit more for the earrings and necklaces. Many of these women have their children with them, spending long days in the hot sun - often without shade. This is one such lady, who sits on cold concrete day after day... friends of ours have a friendship with this beautiful woman, and so I was able to take her picture. She is a lovely lady.  

When I visit other countries, I often come away saddened by the disparity between the rich and the poor, especially in places like Mexico. It is good to know people who are working to change that, and to in some small way be a part of helping to rescue children from the streets and a life of begging. They have so much potential if given a chance.

If you are interested in this painting or wish to commission something similar, please contact me:  jogiesbrecht@gmail.com

a work in progress

After spending two weeks in Mexico, what else would I want to do except paint something that reflects the sights, sounds and smells of the fabulous marketplaces which are in every city? So, here is the beginning of a full sheet watercolor of a lovely woman selling flowers.

I told you that we had several adventures on this trip - the first being just getting to the airport. Because of the snow, we had to wait for our plane to be de-iced, which meant we were late taking off. We made it into Los Angeles just in time to make our connecting flight, but when we arrived in Guadalajara, we discovered that our 3 checked bags had not made the connecting flight. It is such a pain to try to explain that you are missing luggage when you do not speak much Spanish, and the forms you have to fill out are not long, but painfully slow to do. Our kids thought we had missed our flight, and were ready to leave the airport just as we came through the customs doors - whew! Glad they waited so long! It was a 37 degree C. day - and we were loving every minute of warmth. :-)

When we got to the house, we found this very sweet message from our granddaughter who had given up her room for us.  There was also artwork on the walls, which had price tags on each one - her own art gallery. We ended up buying every picture of course... what fun! What a great imagination she has!

Our luggage arrived late the next day, to the delight of all. We finally had clothes to wear, and the gifts we took from others as well as us were given out. There was a great deal of excitement in the air. One of the items the children had asked for was a pair of rubber boots, so that when the rainy season comes, they can be outside in the rain. (My daughter remembers vividly her red pair of boots which she wore when she splashed in puddles and walked to school. I am sure she has told her children stories about those red boots!) You will not believe it, but the next afternoon, there was actually a shower. Sydney and Mateo ran to get on their new boots, and played in the yard as the few sprinkles came down. They weren't even wet when the rain ended, but they had "played in the rain"!

Next post I will tell you about our trip to the beach - Manzanillo. Another adventure for another day!

Now back to painting. YEAH!!!