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My Visit to San Miguel de Allende

April 17, 2022 By Carol McIntyre

My visit to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in March, brought me intense colors, wonderful food, old cobblestone streets, fascinating murals, rooftop restaurants at sunset, ancient cobble stone streets and much more.

International travel is one of my favorite ways to experience our world and open my eyes to new perspectives, cultures and life styles. In addition, it challenged me physically because San Miguel de Allende (SMA) is built on a hill and there is rarely a flat area larger than a block. Stairs are everywhere and the old streets and sidewalks require vigilance to avoid tripping. Despite this, I walked for miles. I can’t remember when I last walked 2-5 miles a day for 8 days (thanks to my Fitbit I know)!

visit to san miguel de allende

Why SMA? It was an art workshop that enticed me to Mexico. Last fall I had decided that I wanted to improve my ability to convey drama and to be more consistent with impactful compositions. When a workshop taught by an abstract painter entitled “Contrast and Composition,” crossed my email, I decided to sign up. I was also ready to travel after a long dry spell. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Art Travels & Preparations, Inner Artistic Journeys Tagged With: an artist's musings, Carol A. McIntyre, Colorado artist

What are the Major Lines in Art?

April 16, 2021 By Carol McIntyre

When was the last time to the lines you use in your work or in someone else’s? What are the major lines in art? What do they convey? Try to name the five types of lines in art before reading further.

I confess, I hadn’t consciously thought about it for a long time until I was in the early stages of  creating my latest series entitled Colorscapes.

Early in 2020, I began this series for a solo show that was to happen in 2021. (As you may know, it has happened! Visit my portfolio page). After I had completed a couple of paintings, I saw a horizontal line continue to show up. This got me curious to learn more about this line to bring it further up into my consciousness. Below you will notice this horizontal line employed a few different ways in “African Winds,” yet all in one area. There are additional lines incorporated as well.

lines in art

What are the Five Major Lines in Art?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Art Material & Painting Tips, Inner Artistic Journeys Tagged With: abstract artwork, an artist's musings, art tips, Creative Process, painting tips

How Did I Create a Solo Show During COVID?

March 15, 2021 By Carol McIntyre

Back in December 2019, the gallery owner of G44 Gallery, Colorado Springs, surprised me with an invitation to have a solo show in 2021. Not only was I honored and excited, but I also had a strong visceral reaction of “Yes! That will be perfect timing.” Ha! Little did any of us know what the future had in store for us.

How did I begin creating for this upcoming solo show?

At the time of the invitation, I had just begun experimenting with a new medium — cold wax with oil — followed by an excellent cold wax workshop taught by Tish Lacy Reed in January. Subsequently, I dove in with great gusto. At this point – about the Feb/March time frame – I wasn’t thinking about a series or my show, I was dedicated to learning about cold wax with oil. create a solo show

During my 30+ years of painting, I have worked in watercolor, pencil, oil, pastel and acrylics, and in that sequence. During each medium, I focused on just that one medium. In other words, I have never jumped from one to the other and back. Why? Because I wanted to get to know the medium as well as I could and enjoy all of its characteristics. My subject matter also evolved along with these medium changes. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Color Mixing, Tips & Concepts, Inner Artistic Journeys Tagged With: abstract artwork, abstract painting fused with realism, an artist's musings, artistic process, Creative Process

Letting Go: A Painting Demonstration

April 22, 2020 By Carol McIntyre

How did this painting Destination Unknown,

letting go, abstract painting

become this painting?

letting go, cold wax medium

The simple answer is, “I had to let go.”

Most likely you have heard the statement, “You need to let go,” many times throughout your life. I know I have, particularly from painting instructors. My internal response was always, “…and how do I actually do that?”

No one ever gave a good explanation to the process of letting go – at least to my satisfaction – until I took an abstract painting workshop from Joan Fullerton about three years ago. She  literally made us become unattached to our work. Joan is funny and a great teacher, as well as creates beautiful paintings.

How did I learn about letting go? It took practice and belief.

During the workshop, we would start an abstract painting with gestural mark making, and then we had to turn our canvas 90 degrees. Next, we applied paint using various tools and collage papers. Once again, we had to turn our canvas 90 or 180 degrees. If there was a color combination or shape we really liked, we were to cover it up! There was a lot of groaning from fellow students and a few gasps, as we were stretched artistically. You could feel the resistance in the air.

This process was continued for several more layers until we individually could see a painting to start to develop. From there, we continued working on our paintings until we felt they were complete. Let me add, it took me over a year to become comfortable with turning my paintings and to freely apply paint without over-thinking it.

The feelings of uncertainty have evolved from nerve-wracking to exciting anticipation. Often I am rewarded with delightful outcomes. This happened in the demonstration below.

Letting Go to Learn a New Medium

As you may remember, I have been learning how to use cold wax medium with oil paints. From those who have not worked with cold wax, it can appear to be merely a new technique. However, it is similar to learning a whole new medium. For example, I went through this long learning process when I went from watercolors to oils, oils to pastels and pastels to acrylic.

The tools are different, oil paints are messy (which I had forgotten!), and timing is another factor to take into consideration when working with cold wax. Consequently, many experiments are necessary – and continue to be – to obtain a rhythm and deep understanding of this medium. In order to do this, I have had to become good at letting go!

You should see my studio. (Maybe I will do a video of it.) Every surface is covered with paints, tools, papers, books, good and bad attempts, rags, examples, etc.  I can’t remember the last time it was this messy nor that I spent so many hours in the studio.

Progress is happening, which makes me do a happy dance periodically, yet there is more to learn. Meanwhile, I wanted to share my process with one painting.

In this example, I am experimenting with combining one of my mixed media paintings with cold wax. This meant I would be painting over an existing painting. Hence, I chose letting go of this 20″ x 20″ painting on panel.letting go, cold wax medium, creative processOnce I honored it and acknowledged parts that I liked and some that I did not, I moved to the next step.

As you can see below, I painted black – it is black gesso – over areas of the painting. Embracing my fear of letting go and engaging in the excitement of trying something new, were on my mind. It was invigorating to tackle the unknown, despite thoughts of doubt. By the way in my mental dialogue, I have decided to change the phrase letting go to moving forward.

The areas that I left visible were chosen intuitively.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

Next, I chose and mixed the colors I wanted to apply. They were based on the colors that were peeping out from under the black. Below, are the stripes of colors I applied thickly. This approach is something I came up with. In other words, I had not seen a demonstration or video of what I was doing. It was a risk and I had no idea what the result would be. I dove in with curiosity.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

To blend the paint I used one the squeegees – probably the red one – and began moving paint around. letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

My intuition led the way. However, I was conscious of not creating muddy colors. I added some white here and there as well. After the cold wax paint set for a couple of hours, I then went in with some scraping tools. You can see the lines where the paint from underneath shows through. It felt a bet like a mess, yet I liked the colors.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

Next I turned the painting 90 degrees and I put it on my easel. (My first layers are done on a flat surface.) I couldn’t believe what I saw! A burning candle. It was a sign of hope during this trying time of COVID-19 and made me smile.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

This is the point when I begin to have a conversation with the painting. Now I further develop its content and focus on its composition. More layers were applied in various areas.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

After applying more layers, I took a stop back realize, it looked too much like four separate quadrants. Therefore, I applied more paint and blended colors. Below is the finished 20″ x 20″ piece entitled Cake and Ice Cream.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

One unanswerable question, “How is the pandemic influencing my ability to let go?” What do you think?

I believe it is at some level, because we are being asked to change many parts of our lives during this crisis.

FYI, there are several books available about subject of letting go, as well as inspirational quotes. Another book is Comfortable with Uncertainty, as well as this classic The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. How do you deal with letting go and uncertainty?

Please leave your thoughts and comments below.

Gratefully and colorfully yours,

Carol

PS This blog only provides an example of letting go with an abstract painting. It is applicable to any and all styles of painting.

color mixing, cold wax medium, letting go

Filed Under: Creativity & Painting Concepts, Inner Artistic Journeys, Step-by-Step Painting Demos & Commissions Tagged With: abstract artwork, an artist's musings, artistic process, Creative Process, step-by-step painting

Don’t Fret! Learn Where the Creative Process Gets Sticky- Part 1

January 20, 2020 By Carol McIntyre

Being creative, be it painting, writing, composing, sculpting, problem solving, etc., is something that is essential to our souls. We have to do it and for lots of reasons. As much as creating is a driving force in our lives, it is never a smooth ride. We all run into times when we feel stuck or it feels like quick sand or we bemoan, “This is hard!” Yes, it is and you are in good company. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

Have you ever stopped to think about the common places when creatives get stuck or question their ability to continue? Or considered the general phases of the creative process? In this blog (Part 1), I will be discussing the latter question first.

The creative process has been studied by various scholarly fields for centuries. Because it is a mysterious process, creativity has always enamored us. Many attempts have been made to articulate it so that it can be better understood.

When I researched literature about the creative process several years ago, I learned that the sequential stages were first defined into only four phases.

In Graham Wallas’ 1926 classic The Art of Thought, he summarized the creative process as follows:

    1. Preparation: The mind prepares for the creative solution, which requires study and thinking intently on the subject—whether it be a musical composition, a new invention, a mathematical formula, or a business dilemma.
    2. Incubation: A germination period follows. The person steps away from the problem and takes up some form of activity like daydreaming, walking, or meditating.
    3. Illumination: Often as a flash, a brilliant idea shoots across the mind, frequently during a mundane task or while one is involved with something else.
    4. Verification: The idea is tested to determine its validity. The composition is scored; the mathematical formula, proven.

Variations of the above creative process have been developed over the last century with a few additional tweaks and language changes. Boldly, I added a stage that I thought was missing!

The Creative Process Delineated:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Creativity & Painting Concepts, Inner Artistic Journeys Tagged With: an artist's musings, artistic process, Creative Process, tips for artists

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