What if?

I love Mary Buek's blog, "What if I ...?" She posts experiments in collage daily and has some great new ideas to try. Her descriptions of her ideas and process are insightful and a pleasure to read. I look forward to reading it daily. I found her blog when Google Alerts notified me she had mentioned one of my books. That was a nice surprise, too.

Shopping for a Style

One of the top ten questions in creative art classes is "How can I develop a style?" The bad news is you can't pick a style any more than you can choose a new personality. You can copy someone else's style and some artists are really good at this. But that isn't authentic style.

Your true style is like your handwriting. After you learn to form the letters of the alphabet and make them into words, your handwriting takes on a life of its own, influenced by your personality, physical energy and circumstances. You don't even think about it. And if you deliberately try to change, it may deteriorate beyond repair. I know, because I tried. My sixth grade teacher didn't like the slope of my natural handwriting, so she forced me to write "backhand." As a result my handwriting became an illegible scribble. So I took myself in hand and taught myself rudimentary Italic writing. For awhile my handwriting was fantastic. But when I let down my guard, I slipped back into my old ways, and now I can only say my editors are grateful for my computer and typing skills.

The good news is–you have within you the resources for a unique artistic style. But you have to let it find you. Read that sentence again. Your style finds you. You don't magically find your style. Style is the imprint of your personality–your spirit–on your art. It comes about as a result of your experience, as well as your choice of materials and the way you handle them. Style doesn't happen in a flash. It evolves over a long period of time. The only thing that can stop it is your determination to master a style that might be totally wrong for you. Don't force style, or you'll never cultivate one.

Even beginners have a style. After a couple of weeks of basic watercolor classes, I see differences in the way each student handles the brush, applies a wash, mixes color. It's important for a teacher to notice and encourage these differences, not to insist on a single "right" way of doing things. In time, when you hang a collection of your work, people will say they recognize your style. This may come as a shock to you, because you think you don't have a style. Well, you do, and it is always hovering somewhere under the surface, looking for a way out. Yes, style can change, but it's usually a gradual change, not a big jump.

Try many things and see what works best for you. Keep on doing it. Don't paint by imitation. Make every artwork a statement revealing something of yourself and choose the materials and methods that best express what you want to say. Tell your story your way–no one else can do this for you. Believe in the value of what you have to say.

The artist must have something to say, for mastery over form is not his goal but rather the adapting of form to its inner meaning ....That is beautiful which is produced by the inner need, which springs from the soul. Wassily Kandinsky

Creative expression

Canadian artist Emily Carr was influenced by a book written by Ralph M. Pearson, How to See Modern Pictures (1925). Here is a passage from the book:

The Creative artist...begins to draw with his conceptual vision turned inwards searching the storehouse of his mind. That storehouse is well-stocked for he has made preliminary studies in plenty--probably has drawn a model accurately in order to possess himself of all knowledge of details. And now he is ready to use his material to create a picture. The inner fire burns. He comes to his canvas filled with a suppressed power that urges hand to vital, swinging expression. Does he feel the bending weight of sorrow? His hand flows the bend of sorrow into line. No thought of detail. Hardly a glance at the model. The feel of sorrow flowing into form! His problem becomes one of controlling the exuberance of spirit, of holding it to the slow, laborious process of organization, of conserving the force in him to hour after hour, and day after day, and week after week perhaps, of controlled release.... What was in him has gone into the work, where, 'if his power has been great enough', it will live forever. Thus is the felt nature of a thing eternalized into design.

Southwestern Watercolor Society workshop

Today I'm off to Dallas to teach a four-day workshop--Adventures in Art, Color and Creativity. It has been fun expanding this workshop based on The New Creative Artist. On Wednesday I'm doing a program for the SWS and looking forward to meeting the cover artist for the book, Cheryl McClure. We met once in Shreveport years ago, shortly after we first became acquainted online with the Paint-L group. I'm taking a break from my computer, my phone and my studio until I get back. However, I will be working on a new book, getting ready for a full-bore assault on that job when I return. I'll be home on Friday. Catch you later.

Creative quilter's site

Cathy Jeffers has a new web site. I love her colorful, creative quilts and fabric pieces. "Lexis at 13," shown here, is included in Chapter 2 of The New Creative Artist. I've always loved quilts. My mother and grandmother collaborated on many while I was growing up, following traditional patterns. In recent years quilters have elevated the once humble quilt to fine art with their original designs and exciting colors. And even earlier quilts are now getting the appreciation they deserve for the ways individual quiltmakers selected colors or altered patterns to express themselves. Google Art Quilts for links to the work of many talented contemporary quilters.

Quilter's Muse Virtual Museum

Thanks to Pat Cummings for her online review of The New Creative Artist. Be sure to bookmark her site for links to quilting and other fiber-arts sites and much more.

New Jersey Workshop Highlights

Teaching a Pine Shores Art Association workshop is always more than just doing a workshop. This was my fourth since 1999 and I've grown very fond of the people who organize and participate in the workshops there. The membership comes from a wide area surrounding Manahawkin, the site of the workshop, including Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach Island, Atlantic City and even North Jersey. During the first two workshops I stayed on the beach in Surf City. In 1999 they entertained me with Hurricane Floyd, which was in tropical storm mode as it lashed the building where I was teaching a color workshop. We had been evacuated from the island and stayed in Manahawkin until early evening.

In 2001, a month after the September 11 terrorist attack in NYC, I taught a creativity workshop, which had an unusual spiritual element with so many having been affected by that terrible event. Then in 2004 we did a lively design and collage workshop without any disasters to contend with. That year I stayed with one of the PSAA members in her lovely shore house on the bay of Long Beach Island. I returned to her place this year. She wasn't there when I arrived, so I watched a sailing regatta from her dining room. Before the weekend was out, we enjoyed a spectacular fireworks display from a marina across the bay. During the week my hostess wined and dined me, drove me up to Barnegat Light House and other sights on the island. Long Beach Island is a beautiful, sometimes overcrowded, vacation destination during the summer. In September, it's idyllic with little traffic, pleasant weather and visual treats for an artist's eye.

The Sunday book-signing was held at Watermark Gallery in Tuckerton, where I first saw some of the work I used in The New Creative Artist. Six artists attended and signed books along with me for visitors to the gallery. They had a good crowd and wonderful food. I'll put photos on a web page as soon as I can get them in the right format.

On Monday evening at the regular meeting of PSAA I gave a slide program using slides of eighty paintings from the book. I talked about the principles each piece illustrates in the book, and also about how I found the art or the artist through my travels or reading.

The workshop and demo were held on the mainland at Manahawkin, where PSAA has outfitted the top floor of a frame house for classes and meetings. (The lower floor houses an American Legion post.) The large room is well equipped with demo mirror, books and setups for a wide variety of ongoing classes and workshops, plus a compact office with copier and other office machines. There's even a small kitchen and microwave at one end and a double sink. While it isn't "state-of-the-art" like some fancy art centers, it has everything you need, plus an atmosphere that makes meetings and classes friendly and fun.

The workshop, an intermediate to advanced color workshop based on my book, Exploring Color, extended from Tuesday through Friday. We reviewed basic principles, then moved on to color contrasts, color schemes and special effects in color. The class was wonderful, really getting into the swing of things. I should have a few photos soon.

But, of course, Friday was the highlight with heavy winds, rain and flooding. This was the real thing. It rained heavily all night, but the roads didn't seem that bad when we drove over the causeway to Manahawkin. However, by noon six inches of rain were expected. Within the hour the schools were closed and traffic in one direction was completely at a standstill. We heard that no one was being allowed on the island. Two of my friends left to pick up lunch and it took them a long time to get back with all the rain and traffic. I stood at the front door of the building and wondered why the guy next door was piling up sand bags along the curb in front of his house. A short while later, a young woman (who may have been his wife) came to us nearly hysterical, worried about her house and children. This got several of our group somewhat agitated.

We were just finishing lunch when someone from the fire department came up to talk to us. The first visit was FYI about the danger to the foundation of the house next door; the second was to tell us to pack up and evacuate the building in case that house collapsed. It was leaning our direction. They invited us to the firehouse across the street. We couldn't have gone anywhere else with all the flooding. They suggested we load our cars and move them to the firehouse. It was pretty chaotic until I said I would bring my supplies into the firehouse and go on with the workshop. Which I did. They gave us soft drinks and offered snacks, making us feel welcome. There was plenty of room, nice tables and decent lighting on the table where I set up my demos. When I finished my Friday afternoon lesson, the sun was starting to peek out and the rain had stopped. We couldn't leave, though. The roads and traffic were still very bad. So I continued to teach from my book, adding "design and color" to the syllabus, until it was safe to leave.

After class it took another 45 minutes or so to get my materials packed and shipped from Staples. Then we headed across the bridge to the island. It was very slow going with bumper-to-bumper traffic. In many areas we encountered high water, mostly at intersections. Police officers directed traffic through congested areas. Orange construction cones narrowed traffic to one lane in places. Quite a few cars were stalled or pulled over. Only SUVs and trucks were high enough to clear the flooding in places. People waded across intersections through knee-high water. Not far from the shore house we reached slightly higher ground, where there were puddles instead of flood-waters.

Saturday was anti-climactic (in a good way!) without extreme weather. My hostess drove me to Atlantic City to catch my flight to Cincinnati, where I made my connection to Dayton without a hitch.

I've told my friends at Pine Shores that they don't need to go to such extremes to entertain me. They haven't done hail or a blizzard yet.

Small World Department

Ben Rayman, publisher and online webmaster of Art-to-Art Palette tells me he has created a new page for book reviews online. Katrina Exposed by Steven McClansky and Alternative Kilns and Firing Techniques:Raku by James C. Watkins are both reviewed, as well as The New Creative Artist.

Commenting on my upcoming workshop in Manahawkin, New Jersey, for the Pine Shores Art Association, Ben remarked that his wife, Pat, is from the East coast, born and reared in the Passaic-Upper Saddle River area. After college, she ventured West, and took a teaching job with the Delphos, Ohio, City schools some years ago. Ben says Pat soon starts her fall classes at the Wassenburg Art Center. She told him, "Nita's book is really going to come in handy, and become part of my classes and workshops." Pat also teaches occasionally at Wright State University--Lake Campus.

Here is more information on Pat Rayman.

New Creative Artist Reviews

I'm deeply appreciative of the people who've posted reviews on the Art-to-Art Palette Online and on Amazon.com. Palette publisher and editor Ben Rayman suggested that I might want to thank them on my blog. Sounds like a good idea. Thanks to these people for Palette Online reviews: Joan Crawford Barnes, artist, Lima, Ohio; Kate Eglan-Garton, (Indiana) senior editor, Art-to-Art Palette; Dr. Ralph Stuckman, educator, potter, editor, Celina, Ohio; Ben Rayman, editor and publisher, Art-to-Art Palette, print edition; Kay R. Sluterbeck, artist, writer, Van Wert, Ohio; Suzanne Kinstle Nocera, artist, Lima, Ohio; Janet Ravas, artist, Scotia, New York; Patricia Rayman, Ohio artist, educator, founder of Art-to-Art school program.

Many thanks, too, for five-star reviews on Amazon.com by Judy Galford, Sharon, Massachusetts; Pauline H. Healey, Fort Myers, Florida; Joan Barnes, Lima, Ohio; Kate Eglan-Garton, Indiana; and Roy Boston, New Zealand.

To all who are reading these words, please take the time to send an email to your favorite author or write a review on a book that has meant a lot to you. You have no idea how much it means to an author to read these reviews and know that his or her book has become an influence in the life of another person. This is what keeps us going. Thanks a thousand times.

The Book Signing

At last it all came together. I didn't have the red shoes called for in Annette's comment below, but the ones I wore worked better with the outfit. The Little Artist helped Grammy get dressed and loved the twirly skirt. Fashion matters aside, the event was a huge success, I think. I got to Books & Co. about twenty minutes before seven and the seats were nearly all taken--25-30 people. They went back repeatedly for more chairs. By the time we began, the seats were filled and people were standing in the aisles. Sharon Kelly Roth, who runs the book-signings, estimated about eighty people were there. I gave a brief talk, then the artists began signing their pictures in the books while I signed at center stage. They had such a good time gabbing with each other. My good friend Virginia brought a bouquet of roses for the signing table. Leonard and Angela helped set up the flip-easel for my talk and Virginia passed out the nametags with the artist's name and picture from the book (with page number) to make signing easier. Renee introduced me--she has been there for most of my book-signings and does such a conscientious job. The audience was filled with artists, current and past students, friends, relatives--and a lot of people I didn't know--who all seemed very receptive to the occasion. It was wonderful. Thanks to all who came to celebrate the publication of The New Creative Artist with me. I'll share photos tomorrow.

Painting Shadows

Yesterday's watercolor class was a brief course in light and shadow. I showed them the text and diagrams on pp. 114-116 in Exploring Color . These pages describe how shadows are a translucent veil that allows the color underneath to show through. Shadows can be a neutral gray color, cool blue or violet, or a warm color suggesting the bouncing sunlight. Next we looked at pp. 68-69 in The New Creative Artist which include definitions of qualities of light from highlight through shade, reflected light and shadow.

Then I talked about perspective in shadows and how they are harder-edged and darker at the base of the object and become gradually softer and lighter in value as they move away from it. I stressed the importance of establishing at the start where the light is coming from. In plein air this involves careful observation and being aware that the light is changing as you work. You can paint your shadow pattern first in neutral monochrome and then glaze the colors on top. If you're working from photographs or sketches, careful observation is equally important. And if you're changing the light source, you must be constantly aware of how that affects every aspect of the subject. We also talked briefly about how shadows help to describe the surface of a subject, where hard edges suggest corners and soft edges indicate soft contours. This is true of any subject from figures to landscape. Shadows are key to the illusion of reality in your picture.

Art-to-Art Palette

A new review of The New Creative Artist has been posted on Art-to-Art Palette online magazine. This one goes into more detail on the contents of the book and how you can read through it or skip around and do whatever strikes your fancy. I've never met any of these reviewers, but I'm delighted that they're putting in writing how they feel about my book.

The New Creative Artist BOOK SIGNINGS

Sunday, August 13, 2-4 p.m. Barnes & Noble, 6646 Youree Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Area artists will be present to sign their pages in the book. Read article.

Thursday, August 17, 7 p.m., Books & Co., 350 E Stroop Road, Kettering, Ohio. I'll give a brief talk on the myth of talent and area artists will be present to sign the pages on which their artwork appears in the book.

Sunday, September 10, 1-4 p.m., Watermark Gallery, 115 Water Street, Tuckerton, New Jersey. Area artists will be present to sign their pages in the book.

The Art of the Press Release

Years ago, when I was active in most of the area art orgs, I served on several boards as publicity chairman. Back then it was extremely difficult for a visual artist or local art group to get into the print media or on TV. It was partly because the arts editors back then had a bias toward the performing arts and didn't think local visual artists or groups had anything going for them. But also because the groups in question didn't do a very good job of PR. I helped to turn that around by working up a list of one hundred media outlets that covered the arts, including small weeklies from surrounding communities. I also established a press-release format to be used for all events. That seemed to help at the time. Now, our local papers are more involved in promoting visual arts, partly because of the interest of the editors themselves and partly because of the advocacy of the Dayton Visual Arts Center (DVAC).

My publisher has a PR person who was given my bio and information on The New Creative Artist. He told me he has an extensive media guide and there is a procedure for putting out publicity on a new book release. I have no idea what this means. So to be on the safe side, I decided to send out some publicity of my own regarding my book signing next Thursday, August 17. I reduced my original list to about forty newspapers and sent press releases on the signing, including a background of the book and a brief bio. I should have sent them out about a week sooner than I did, but couldn't get to it in time. Nevertheless, I'm hearing reports that notices are appearing here and there in the suburban and small-town papers. There was also a brief notice in the Dayton Daily News this morning. I targeted one arts writer in that paper with a more detailed package, but I haven't heard from her. The Shreveport artists have gotten more publicity than the author has in her own home town so far. Well, maybe there will be something over the weekend. Ya nevah know.

I'm getting excited about the event, working on a brief "audience participation" program that should be fun. Then I'll sign books and the artists will sign the pages their illustrations appear on. We did this with the original book and I frequently had students in my later workshops who treasured their books and took them to demos and workshops so artists in the book could add their signatures. So far, seventeen artists have said they'll be there and I expect a few more than that.

Reviews of The New Creative Artist

My cup runneth over. Art-to_Art Palette online magazine has posted three great reviews in the News briefs column. I'm enjoying reading how each artist reacts to different aspects of the book. A couple of the reviews have been posted on the book page at Amazon, along with others that were posted early on. I'm psyched. (Sorry, I keep saying that. But it's true.)

North Light Book Club

The New Creative Artist is the main selection for the book club this month. Someone told me you can see a few actual pages from the book online. I didn't know they had such a feature--very cool. Here's the link. You need to have java-scripts enabled to use this feature.

The book club bulletin looks great, too. I'm psyched.

Willis Bing Davis, an extraordinary artist

In the 1970s I had an opportunity to take a one-day creativity workshop from Bing Davis, an acclaimed African-American artist from Dayton, Ohio. I had met Bing on a couple of occasions and knew that he was not only a personable individual, but also a dynamic teacher who had been a force in the success of the Living Arts Center, an experimental arts and humanities program for school children in the late 1960s. The workshop was unforgettable, partly for the ideas presented, but even more for the simple, direct approach Bing used to open our eyes and minds to creative thinking.

The workshop was held in the aging art center where I had taken other classes, a familiar venue. But nothing was familiar about the opening of the workshop. To enter the classroom we had bend at the waist and walk through a curtain of beads that wasn't normally there. Needless to say, our senses went on alert as we looked into the room. But wait! What was that crunching noise? We looked down and found ourselves walking on Rice Krispies and laughing at the unfamiliar sound. In the background an old record player was playing an African drumming recording, something completely beyond the experience of anyone in the class. Everything in this once familiar setting seemed strange. The chairs, normally lined up in rows to face the instructor's table, were scattered randomly around the room. If it had been my class, I would have straightened the rows, but instead I sat quietly, thinking about what had happened in the first 60 seconds of my experience. Soon, as others arrived, we began talking and laughing about the oddness of the situation. Bing soon joined us and we discussed how small changes help us to think and see more creatively. The day was filled with projects that expanded on this principle. To this day I think of that workshop as one of the best I ever had--and I never picked up a paintbrush.

At that time Bing Davis was well on his way to becoming well known throughout the United States and international art communities with strong ties to his African heritage. He has participated in numerous artist-in-residence programs, taught at several universities, and been featured in many exhibitions, including a recent show at the Indianapolis Museum of Art Star Studio. Bing's paintings have been purchased by many discerning art collectors. He is presently teaching at his own EbonNia Studio and Gallery.

Amazon.com is shipping pre-publication orders at last and taking regular orders for The New Creative Artist. Whew! I've been holding my breath for a long time. I have no idea why. I guess just knowing my book is really "out there" now is a big relief. Someone wrote in a comment a few days ago that a Barnes & Noble salesperson had told her they weren't going to carry the book. Not true. It's offered online and at Borders, too. Let me know when you see it on the shelves. Sometimes it takes awhile. A few reminders from customers help to get them into the stores. That's especially true with revisions, but let me assure you, this is a major, major revision and more like a whole new book. To read more about it, click on the image or go to my web site.

Autographing books

Today I started signing The New Creative Artist books that are going out to artists who contributed artwork for it. There are 105, including those whose work was carried over from the original. That's a lot of books to sign! I decided to take my time so I don't make mistakes or get writer's cramp. Ten artists picked theirs up by this morning and I've finished twenty more. They're all packed, labeled and ready to go to the post office in the morning.

I don't quite understand what the fascination is with an autograph, although I'll admit that I usually ask authors to sign if the opportunity arises. I've always signed contributors' copies since my first Exploring Color was published in 1985, but I did two signings at North Light--1985 and 1990--and couldn't personalize the message because it would make shipping too complicated. In 1994 Virginia Lee Williams and I signed and shipped our book from her studio with a personal note in each one. I liked the personal touch. So I was upset when the publisher sent out contributors' copies for Exploring Color Revised without an autograph, because I knew some of the artists would be disappointed--as they later told me they were. I insisted on doing whatever had to be done to sign this new book. I finally picked up the books at the warehouse myself and brought them to my studio.

It isn't easy thinking of 105 different inscriptions for the artists, but at least I'm not in a rush. I'll try to get them done over the weekend so they won't have to wait too long for their books. They've waited long enough already, some for nearly two years.

Amazon.com featured The New Creative Artist!

Now and then I check the sales rank of my books on Amazon.com. When The New Creative Artist first showed up as a pre-publication entry, the ranking was somewhere over 3,000,000. A few people must have bought it early on, because the ranking went up to around 300,000, with bounces up and down. The highest I saw was around 35,000 a few weeks ago. I don't check it every day. On Monday I nearly fell off my chair. The ranking was 1,378! I was sure it was a mistake until one of my artist contributers for the book emailed me that she had received a newsletter from Amazon.com promoting my book. I'm ecstatic. I felt sure when I first saw the book that it would be well received, but I'm amazed that it has taken off so fast and isn't even in the stores yet. Today it's hovering around 4,000. I hope they printed enough to fill all these orders.