WORKING IN THE STUDIO! YEA!

After three HARD days of moving things around...tons of plastic drawers and furniture and all that goes in them I have FINALLY gotten all of it in the right place...now just to fine tune it all.  When we decided to hold off on moving (I'm beginning to think we're NEVER gonna get down the mountain...ha) we needed this place to work better...for me that was paring down on all my TONS of supplies and decide just what I was going to focus on...and then put it all in it's right place! WHEW!

SO, with a little bit of time this morning I'm already on my next piece.  This is one of my signature aspen paper cast pieces; much like the smaller ones I created this past summer, only bigger.  This one will be 20x16" matted and framed and behind glass of course!  I enjoyed working the somewhat abstract background with some whimsical aspen stamps (from an aspen stamp I made).  The tree composition took a few minutes to lay out like I wanted.  Now all that is left to do is to paint the trees! FUN!

AND NOW...a quick discussion on being creative and not listening to the "voice of reason".  When you want to stretch out your creative wings you first must know the rules...and then, and ONLY then, can you experiment and break some of them when appropriate so you can come up with that "thing" that makes your heart sing.

The piece below is actually one I did in the 70's when I was a young art student in college in Arkansas.  I was stubborn and ready to find my own way even back then.  I had an art teacher that drove me crazy!  Back then I thought he was out to get me...NOW, with my added years of maturity and having taught art myself I understand he was pushing me to excel, and not just fit into a mold.  Tricky Arnie!...and I'm glad!  I would spend 30 hours on a perfectly executed drawing and would get a B-...It drove me crazy!...so, one day I went to my dorm room and took my pastels and set up a still life on my bed and in 10 minutes "threw" something together with the intent of driving HIM crazy...and low and behold I got an A+...THAT drove ME crazy!! And so the semester went without me "getting" it...He would say, for example..."You can't do a beautifully executed apple with magic markers Saundra"...so, what did I do...?  Yep, went back and created marker apples just to prove him wrong! HA...Of course...he had my number...and he knew I was going to challenge him...and...the end result was FUN and great...and, yes...I got an A+ for my marker apples...Yep, thank you Arnie Anderson wherever you are...I never gave up, and now I am a happy artist who adores creating and trying to break the rules!!  And, just to make SURE I proved him wrong I also did a huge one with wonderful shading...and one day if I run across it I will share that one too! HA

So...I say...learn the rules, and then find ways to stretch...you WILL find your bliss if you just don't give up!

HAPPY CREATING!!