The Art of Letting Go

As an artist you may have found your medium and safely stuck to it because, well, that's what you know! I am very guilty of this. I am a watercolorist. Here's a little scenariofor you: Like many students who have taken a music class, when you first start playing an instrument you pick up something and see if you can make a sound and if you could make a bearable noise, that instrument was yours. That's how it was with me and painting with watercolor. It was the kind of art that I could control and make something bearable, much like that old middle school music class (which by the way was a violin for me after I failed to make a sound out of the saxophone). The funny thing is that with watercolor it can be very unpredictable and takes some finesse to get it to do what you want but I have learned over the years, and am still learning how to control watercolors. This year though, I have decided that I want to experiment and let go and see where my art can take me. This time I'm on a journey without a map and it both excites me and scares me.

I am a portrait artist, I know one of those pretentious portrait artists! But I try not to make it so typical and do some experimentation. Last year I started doing collage with found natural objects and meticulously glued dead bugs and flowers on my canvas, which was both fun and challenging. It took some problem solving and some letting go, but I still worked from a preconceived notion of what I wanted my art to become.

When I create, I use a reference photo and I usually have a vision of where I want the painting to go. Most of the time, it doesn't go exactly as planned but it comes out the way I want it. When it comes to my art, there has to be some control, realism and some sort of portrait that goes a long with it. As an artist, your work will constantly evolve if you let yourself take that leap. My leap of faith is a fusion of my portraiture and abstract art.

With my inclusion of portraiture I still have the embodiment of control but just recently I let go by including alcohol ink in one of my works. At first the ink wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. My heart sank! I already spend 3 hours painting the portrait. I spent nearly $200 on the canvas that I can't paint over ( see my Materials Matter post to see what I use). I almost gave up and put it on the curb, but I kept going.

With abstract art, the art leads you. You chose the colors that you use but you have to let go and let the art consume you.

I stuck to a color palette of three colors. I hope to try and use more and see where it takes me in the future but it worked quite nicely for me. It took another hour of biting my finger nails and trying to balance composition. Too much darkness here, not enough color there, I was problem solving still. Eventually I was having fun and I wanted to keep going. With abstract art it is hard to know when to stop! Finally I took a deep breath and stepped back, it was finished and it looked awesome! (not to toot my own horn but, toot!)

*See the portfolio tab for more information about this series*

With abstract art you have to step back and come up close to appreciate it. I had Jeff look at my painting and give me a mini critique. He is an abstract artist and can appreciate art done so. It was the longest he has ever stared at a painting of mine. Why? because there was much more interest with the inclusion of abstract art. He would look at small sections , the little moments in the painting that was quite interesting. You have to look at the moments of the painting as an abstract work rather than the big picture and it leads to so much more appreciation of the work. In conclusion, that leap of faith opened a door to a whole new world for me.

As this year of 2018 comes to a close and the new year comes upon us I challenge you to see where your art can take you, rather than where you take your art. You might be surprised how far you can go if you let go.

Happy holidays and a new year to all of you. Thanks for reading!