Month: March 2017

Switching Gears

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WATER WORLD

“Water World” In a private collection

Today is one of those days when I start “Switching Gears”, wrapping up all my projects, that are due now and planning for the week ahead’s media for a marketing blitz.  Then packing and planning for my road trip to the Central Coast of California starting next week.

It always takes me a few days to switch gears…  Frankly it is hard for me to leave the studio. It really is my sanctuary and a place I love to be.  It is my creative space, meditation space, growing space, and retreat. It is where I self-actualize, move from one thought to the next, place one stroke and then another on canvas creating my story.

Road Tripping is a way to gather more inspiration to bring back to my studio; to constantly keep my flow going and to stop the blocks that hit me as a sledge-hammer hits a brick.  So it is time to switch gears, move forward and seek some down time.  Down time to me is seeking the ocean, feeding the gulls, dinning on fresh fish, sipping my favorite wines and visiting old friends.

After a long trek through the deserts of Arizona and California, my first stop will be at Hadley’s.  Here is where I replenish my supply of nuts and the sweet dates that grow in the Coachella Valley, below the towering mountain of San Jacinto.  The wind blasts the hot air captured by the giant arms that whirl along the highway, and I will need a drink to quench my thirst.

As we drive up California Route 101 after the smog and grit of LA, I will switch gears again.  That first waft of salt air and the feel of moisture that gently pats my cheek and caresses me with a kiss, signals it’s time to let go.  The ocean will come into view and the green rolling hills of the Central Coast will beacon to come further and I will have reached my inspiration.

So follow along as I travel on my first “Road Trip” of 2017.  Let’s see where inspiration will lead me as I gather resources for my “Road Trip” series.

 

CREATING POSITIVE -ENERGY ART

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FOREST BASIN

Forest Basin

I have discovered over the years that I love to teach and confab with other artists.  It brings me as much energy as it does the student.  Many times I learn from them how to be a better teacher, nurturer and friend.  This year I embarked on a new journey of discovery with my first workshop on Creating-Positive Energy Art.  I realized I needed to kick  it up a notch, and stretch my possibilities along with my students.

 

What I paint is not all that unique, but how I go about creating a painting may be.  First off I have evolved into a mark maker.  Tiny strokes off nothingness, becoming something.  It feels very magical when an image in my mind’s eye evolves into an image on canvas solely by creating small stokes of energy.

I start off remembering an event, a life circumstance or a picture; than I create a story from memories or feelings.  This becomes my story, unique to me seen through my own mind’s eye.  I hold it in my heart and then I put down my first mark.  I choose my colors by the mood that the memory brings. Slowly I add other colors usually starting from the top of my canvas and moving downward. Magically I start working, sometimes that memory will evoke another feeling, and than I am off in another direction.. It is a journey of self-discovery.  Each painting unique, created in the moment. It maybe realistic or abstracted solely based on the emotions brought to the surface.

In my workshops I try to teach this technique to help open the artist to greater possibilities.  It is not always easy and I see them struggle, it is hard for an artist to lose control and not dictate the direction of the painting. But than the magic happens, I will get an e-mail a few weeks later from a student telling me I showed them a new way of seeing. That it was freeing to let their intuitive side dominate the canvas.  They like the outcome,  they don’t mirror my technique but they create their own story, a story unique to them and a painting that is all their own.

I call it Creating Positive-Energy Art.

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN

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Driving On The Central Coast

“Driving The Central Coast”  11″ X 14″ Acrylic on Canvas

It’s all set.  Reservations are made at the San Luis Bay Inn and we are about to set off on our next road trip, Avila, Pismo and SLO County here we come.  I love our annual trip to the Central Coast of California.  It always comes in the Spring when the hills are green from the winter rains.  This year the wild flowers are spectacular, so I will be doing some Plein Aire painting.  I am sure that the scenery will inspire some great paintings for my “Road Trip” Series.

This study I did from a photo from a past trip, to prepare me for this upcoming adventure. I really miss the Central Coast in so many ways, I lived there for 9 years.  Can’t wait to see some dear friends, visit some of the old haunts and pick up my wines at some of my favorite wineries.  Bayside Cafe in Morro Bay here I come. Some of the best water front dinning with great fresh seafood.  I will need to paint this funky building for my “Road Trip” Series

Peachy Canyon Winery in Paso Robles is one of my favorite places to go for wonderful Zinfandel.  The scenery driving to it is spectacular.  Try them out sometime.

Well enough of my yearning for the Central Coast, I will be there soon enough but first I will do a day trip to Sedona to catch some of the beautiful wildflowers in bloom.

See you soon.

If you want to follow Pamela on her journeys through the Southwest, just follow this blog or stop by her Website.

ROAD TRIPPING

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On The Road To Santa FeThis year it’s all about road tripping.  Around this time of year I usually schedule my upcoming vacations.  I got to thinking let’s design a series of paintings.  So “Road Trips” was born.

One of the journeys my hubby and I  will be taking is to Santa Fe, New Mexico; we will be going with some dear friends.  The other night we met together for dinner and a planning session.  We booked our rooms at the Inn of the Governors and worked on an itinerary where we would be sure to stop at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum .  I can’t wait to see what their latest show is.

I was so excited and it brought up memories of our last trip to Santa Fe and the inspiration  for my newest painting “On The Road To Santa Fe” was sparked.  It is a 14″X 11″ study that I hope to enlarge at a later date for another painting.  Studies are great because they are quick representations of an idea.  I can sell them to my collectors at a lower cost and they can have them framed to their liking.

Hubby and I will be heading to our first destination in April. Not Santa Fe, but the Central Coast of California for our annual beach fix and wine buying jaunt. I am sure this will spark some great adventures worthy of my “Road Trip” series. I can’t wait to see what my inspiration will be this year.  Maybe Bay Side Cafe, or Fat Cats two of my favorite seafood haunts, or one of the winerys that we will be visiting .

Road Tripping, Inspiration and Sparks of Creativity. I can’t wait to get started.

If you want to come along be sure to follow my blog.