Abstract and Landscape
Sometimes my drawer full of failed inner ear fixes looks like I’m opening my own pharmacy. I’ve been trying to figure out what changes are effects or merely side effects and starting to feel like Gertrude Mcfuzz, waiting for one of the little magic seeds to sprout one or even two little feathers of hope.… Continue reading Feathers
I’ve been holding back on sharing too much of my newer work. It is much more abstract than I’ve ever done. I am completely prepared for the reality that people who liked my old stuff, may not like the new stuff, but a mentor’s advice to keep the thoughts of any potential audience out of… Continue reading Clarity in Chaos and a Shameless Plug
So I realize there’s this one--OK not only one – weird thing I do when I paint lately. I’m trying to get more into working in abstraction, and to “get in the mood“ for whatever try emotion I’m trying to conjure up, I have a playlist of songs. I’ve always listened to music while I… Continue reading Weird things
While I’m working on art for art’s sake, by limiting myself to one art/craft fair for the summer. The unintended consequence of making art and not selling it is that you accumulate a fair amount of it, And not all of my little piggies, as I’m calling them, won’t end up going to market, and… Continue reading Little Piggies
In the months since we visited the Turner exhibit at the Boston MFA, my art practice has undergone a revolution. Turner’s sketchbooks and studies in watercolor and oil pointed the way to constant, blissfully imperfect practice. Another exhibit and then a new mentor confirmed that, even in a modern era when we are saturated with… Continue reading Discovery
I knew the lighthouse would be the most difficult thing to paint. I usually take only palette knives when I do plein air, and my hand has been shaking for the last few months because of my Ménière’s. Still, the beach and dune and lighthouse in Southhaven Michigan are almost obligatory subjects, and I knew,… Continue reading Where Paintings Go to Die
I’ve recently started a painting mentorship with the aim of finding and clarifying my voice and improving my technique. The first few weeks have focused on killing my inner critic (for the moment) and painting with “reckless abandon.” They also came with a recommendation to temporary stop selling work (aside from a fair in September)… Continue reading Re-creation
12 x 12, oil on canvas I see this particular view every time we come back from and the Equinox that I have to go back to again and again because I can’t get them out of my head and they never the same two days in a row. This is another one of those… Continue reading Where the Taconics Meet the Greens
This stand of white birches and poplars has become an annual painting pilgrimage for me. Late in the summer, the colors of the blowing leaves and grasses are comfort food for my soul.
The assignment was to put the intellect on hold for a whopping 10 minutes and just paint from the heart. Disconnect the critical and turbocharge the emotional. I’ve done it several times tonight, and even been happy with the results once or even twice. But as soon as that timer goes off, as soon as… Continue reading Don’t Think, Just do
Zigging to landscapes, zagging to writing, spinning to abstract. Completely mixed up and, for once, embracing instead of hiding from the jumble that is my creative life. “Mixed Up” 8” x 8” mixed media
We’re at the point in the summer where we open the windows of our earth-sheltered house for an hour in the morning to freshen things up and then close everything up for the day. I go to draw even in the heat which makes the mountains look like they’re melting.
Rachel Barlow Art 