Tuesday, April 05, 2016

When I was young....

When I was young....

I heard about some paintings and sketches recently discovered from a famous artist, when he was young, before he knew how to paint.  For some reason these "beginner" works were highly regarded, maybe because they showed the origins of his greatness?  I can't even remember who it was.  But, that might be more about my age now.. ha!

So, back then, I made a conscious decision to save my artwork, you know for when I became a famous artist.  It is great to dream big! 

Well, I have been wading through my life as I unpack the towers of boxes from my studio.  I am simplifying my life and my studio and it means getting rid of a lot of things that I thought I needed to keep.  And now I am making a conscious decision to release these drawings back to the universe, these drawings that are from my childhood that I long ago forgot I had.  So I took pictures of them, and tossed the original crumbling papers that I saved for so many years. 

I was about 7 when my mom signed up my brother and me for a community art class, just to keep us busy.  It turned out it was for adults, and my brother was quickly ejected from the group.  I wanted to stay though.  And as the teacher kept "teaching" us about pastels and still life compositions, I just brought in my toys to sketch.  And, now I get to immortalize them on my blog, so I hope you enjoy these, from my childhood.  They bring back many fond memories!
This one is acrylic.  I remember being frustrated at how hard it was to control the thickness of the paint for the black line.  I really like this one now.  The bright flowers really pop!

A pastel, one of many of my good friend, Gumby! The pastels are not fixed.  It is amazing how much clarity still remains despite some obvious smudging is many of them.

My grandmother gave me this little lion.  I still had the lion too, who was really decomposing in the box where he was stored.  I let him go too!

One of several still lifes before my teacher gave me permission to bring in a toy to sketch.
Thanks for indulging me.  I am currently busy reforming my backyard gardens.  It is great weather, hard work, and I am sleeping really well! I am also too tired to make art right now.  And the gardens need to be done before it gets too hot to work outside.  Well that, and, I am not inspired.  It is hard work moving back in to the studio.  It is hard to let go of all the stuff I have accumulated over the years.  It is necessary work though, and I firmly believe the extra empty space will allow me room to grow!

2 comments:

Deb said...

It is hard to let go of things but I find it refreshing and motivating to pare down things and keep it simple. It is sort of like decluttering your mind as well. We've recently done a huge house remodel and with it, my studio has been redone. It is much simpler now, has more work space instead of clutter and I no longer have a mess of stuff I will never use. And it is nice to know that someone else will enjoy it. Thanks for sharing. I love your art and have had the pleasure of seeing it in person.

Peas & Carrots said...

Thanks for sharing these, I think they are wonderful. I am also trying to purge some things in my life and can relate to this. I love your little lion, I bet he would have some stories to tell if he could have talked to you. :) You are such an inspiration, keep sharing! :)