Where Have I Been?

I have been off the radar for several weeks. My kid is getting older and seems to need more attention. Also, he has been sick for several weeks. Add to that the desire to be the best teacher I can be, and spending every free minute adding to my lesson plans, and all of a sudden it’s been a month and a half since I did any chinese brush painting or any posting to this blog. It is unfortunate, because I had hoped to make a few dollars to cover my web hosting. I just renewed my domain, so at least I have more time to try to make this work.

I was working on the amaryllis, but without making a successful one, I started the morning glory. Boredom, maybe. Could be why I stepped away from it for so long. So I still need to scan them and post my attempts. However, not enough time at the moment. I am noticing that the book implies that each leaf should be one stroke, but if you look carefully at the paintings in the book, they are often more than one stroke. So I am trying to loosen up a little. I also want to try viewing some online videos.

Okay, crying baby awaits.

Orchid Flower Tests

Here are the first color tests I did. The leaves are not too bad, but its still hard to hold the brush correctly. The more I did, the more comfortable I felt. The stems were tough as well. the next day I had better luck when I added the black leaves and actully got one to look pretty good. Then I hit a dry spell. Got too busy and the set spent a week closed and I seem to have forgotten everything. You can see that the more you practice — which can be so boring and monotonous — the better you get.

My first black and white chinese brush painting tests

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about a chinese brush painting kit I purchased a few years ago. I am pleased to announce that I have carved out approximately a half hour each day to work on it. I take a shower while the baby is playing in the playpen and use the half hour he sleeps from 8:30 - 9:00 am for the brush painting. It’s been a week and so far so good. I am seeing improvement by practicing every day and am thrilled to have blocked out a time that I can do it and be focused. I am really enjoying myself and when I get frustrated, I keep at it to prove to myself I can do it.

Let me start with the set I bought.

It is a complete set with black ink stick, watercolors, brushes, water cup and step by step instruction kit. I like it because the first 2 pages are all about supplies and technique. The next two pages are simple letter shapes and bamboo in black ink. After that, author Lucy Wang moves into orchids and other flowers. The instruction includes technique from putting color on the brush to how to hold the brush and how to move the brush across the paper. It’s harder than it looks, but I like to have the book beside me and just keep trying each shape until it starts to look like what I see in the book.

Now, the psychological part of trying to learn a new technique and make it look like the book when I am only a week into this. Just like most people (I think), I have a hard time doing things more than once. If what I am working on does not look it should the first time, I tend to give up too easily. Doing one thing over and over is, I admit it, boring. It’s also the only way to get better. So I am trying to be diligent and practice every day. Not really one of my better qualities.

I want to get good enough to do this as cards for friends and family and maybe even for sale. However, I am no where close. Just focusing on the book I have, maybe I can get there. But when I think about the history of chinese brush painting and all the supplies and books available, it really does get overwhelming. So I am kind of working with blinders on when it comes to resources. I hope in the future to look into other books, but for now, Lucy Wang is the only teacher I need.

Here are some samples of what I did the first few days. It was tedious and I still need to practice, but I am keeping at it. I continually refer back to the book  to be sure I am utilizing the correct technique. The things that I am finding difficult are the way to hold the brush, and to push and pull of the individual shapes. When I started, I was using hard edges, like a left turn in a car (??) but it needed to be a curve. When I figured that out, things went much better. Now I am trying to get the leaves to look like the book. It will take a while. But I will post my struggles.

Another missed day

So I started a list of goals last week. It includes lots of stuff like paying off credit cards and getting to the beach with family. That kind of stuff. It also includes finding time to create. And I am leaving it open to just create. I could do some crafts at home or paint or work on my website or whatever. But if I had to tie it down to one thing, it would be working on my thesis project. I really need to code and start the photo montage. I know you have no idea what I am talking about. I was actually planning another post to go into detail about the piece and to explain it all. So please stay tuned. I promise not to make you wait too long. (Does it work as a teaser?)

Anyway, I wanted to go to the studio on Monday evening, when my husband got home from work. It’s a rough commute from my home on Long Island to my studio in the heart of Brooklyn. I have a view of Manhattan from my window, so if you know the New York metro area, you have an idea how far it is. If not, it’s an hour drive at 5 am, I’ll let you know how long it takes in the evening during rush hour. I didn’t make it. I was just so tired from the weekend. However, I have been redesigning my website. It’s not done. I want to adjust the color of the links and get rid of the boxes around the image links.

Please take a look at it. I am enclosing a jpg and a link to the site. Please let me know what you think. I can use all the constructive criticism I can get.

http://www.kathleenhmahoney.com./

I will work on my theis post over the weekend and tell you more about it next week. Thanks for reading.

Best
Kathleen

The First Painting I Did in the Studio

I got a studio in Dumbo Brooklyn in 2004. I made great progess that first year or two I was in the studio, I came up with a technique taht I thought was so unique and different that I could make something of it. I did a series, but although a couple of pieces got shown in the gallery in the city, I didn’t sell any or get offered a solo show. And in fall 2006, I went back to school for DIgital Art. It’s really cool, but so technical, and I am really not painting. My thesis work includes the painting, and I will be commenting on it in the future, but for the most part, I have found something else to get in the way of the art. And now add a child to the mix.

Anyway, here is an image of the piece that I was so proud of.

I created a non-objective painting focusing on texture and color. I used acrylic paint and oil sticks. I cut it into strips and wove it together with metal mesh. I am really proud of it and I was very disappointed that it was not received the way I expected it to be received. It was the start of a very nice and in my eyes, successful series. But I got sidetracked by school. And I sort of stopped painting. I miss being creative and I look forward to doing crafty things with my son and hopfully finding time to paint again.