getting over perfection

-- rhodonite, tiger's eye --

18 x 24

setting out to make something wonderful and perfect is a tough goal and will ruin a painting before it's even started! letting that go and enjoying the effect of smudges made this piece go in a different direction and the process more enjoyable. art -- it's a microcosm! who knew?

zen drawing

lavender and sage

partial blind contour

By placing your pencil on the page and following the outline of what your looking at without looking back at the page, you access the right side of your brain. Both sides of the brain serve different functions, but somedays ...... let's just say maybe you need a little more of the right side. Here's FASCINATING video on why.

There's also a great book called "Zen and the Art of Seeing" that describes this technique. No "artistic ability" needed! Just put the pencil down and become one with your subject....

-- tiger's eye, rhodonite --

18x24

for Jorgen Hansen...

My dear, wonderful art teacher passed away. I am so grateful to have had a short time to work with him. He was insistent on tapping into your own imagination for creating art, and without that push, none of this would have come about like it did. How can you thank someone for helping you find out you have something worthwhile to say? He was 85, a lifelong artist, son of an artist, and was still teaching and passionately discussing art up until his death, a quiet passing in his sleep. This painting was done the day before he died. The piece was always ethereal and not of this world, the perfect piece to dedicate to him. Thank you Jorgen, we'll miss you!