Creativity Workshop

I've been working hard on putting together my Creativity Workshop. The hard part is cramming all my ideas into one day. 

Creativity is: making, creating, seeing, feeling, moving, breathing, laughing, sharing, paint spilling, loving, colors flying, having fun, crying, sounds soft and loud, slowing down, filling up and giving.

 I've been in my studio a couple days and think I have finished 3 new large paintings that I'll photograph this week.

Creativity Workshop

cre·a·tiv·i·ty (noun)

 originality, imaginative ability

Synonyms: imagination, inspiration, ingenuity, resourcefulness, vision

In my own words creativity means coming up with something new and original, out of the box thinking and problem solving. 

Creating does not just mean making art. We create our lives every day. I'm  talking about creating drama, or creating an atmosphere of calm, these are things you can create anytime, anywhere. 

If you want to make art it's a simple as describing your day in your journal with colorful details, moving your body to your favorite song or deciding to wear a color that makes you smile. These are a few examples of creativity and once you get the hang of these you just give yourself permission to go a little deeper and risk a little more. Talent is the ability to reveal. My most wise acting teacher told me this and when I put my expression of thoughts and feelings on a canvas for all to see I reveal who I am and what I'm all about. 

I'm teaching my first Creativity Workshop on Sunday June 7th 10-4 p.m. 

Play – Explore – Discover – Experiment
with artist Linda Celestian

Through guided exercises in creative writing, movement, painting and mixed media collage open up to fearlessly enter new territory and discover your authentic self expression. Walk away reenergized and inspired to tackle your projects and life more creatively.
 
No experience required.
 Supplies provided. $65.00

The Buzz Ware Village Center
2119 The Highway Arden, DE
 Sun. June 7th 10-4 pm., 2009

to register call 302-478-1329
or email linda@lindacelestian.com

Finished Work, New Work

I photographed the work I call "The Bottom of the Ocean". This piece is 48 x 46 inches. Before and After. Not much of a change but I worked in the center of the dark hole giving it some subtle color changes that draw you in even more than just the darkness. It's intense and maybe a bit too predictable but I needed to paint it. I think it serves it's purpose and now I can move away from the central bulls eye imagery. Also like I said last post I'm trying to move away from the turquoise blue depiction of water to explore other color schemes and see where they lead me. Here are the beginnings of 3 large oil paintings. I started first with painting the whole canvas a color in acrylic because it dries so fast and then I poured a color in oil paint.

The shiny parts are just glare, they were still wet when I photographed them as I was running out the door. I'm really excited about these and hope to be able to finish them in the next 3 weeks. Working in oil the drying time is a huge factor but I enjoy all the variety of surface texture I'm getting by layering pours. Well in the meantime I'm working up some new encaustic paintings also and just bought a few more colors today. Here's what I have going right now.

Encaustic Painting

I did work on the painting from my last post, but I haven't photographed it yet. I'll post it soon. These are a few encaustic paintings from last week.First I had this.














I felt the colors were a bit tame and controlled so I said " let me see where I can let it go." Not where I can take it but where it can take me. We often stand in the way of our own development, so I repeat to myself while working, "step aside". I ended up here.














Quite a different painting. I kind of wished I kept the old one too but it's not good to be too sentimental about your own work. Like I've said before you have to be willing to let go sometimes to arrive where you need to be.
I'm always asking people to look at my work and give me their thoughts. I need to know, does it appeal to someone other than myself? I'm still learning how to manipulate encaustic paint and in the process making some work. The medium can be thrilling and exasperating all in the span of 2 minutes. I like it because it dries so fast. You can work up many layers especially if you're working small and melt or scrape it down when you decide you hate it.

Here's 2 more. These are 9 x 12 inches. I guess you could call this my phthalo blue phase. I'm in the process of priming new large canvases and my challenge is going to be to work up some oil paintings that aren't all blue to fit into this new body of work. I'll keep you posted.

Back in the Studio

The week before vacation and the week after vacation always seem to be so busy! I was able to pick up where I left off in the studio and get some work done. I have to, because I'm feeling the rush of only having 5 weeks left in my studio before summer. I worked on this large oil, but I'm not sure if it's done?

People always ask me "How do you know when it's done?" It's a gut reaction, you feel settled. If you feel restless when you look at it then it's not done. It seems to be calling to get your attention while you work on other things. I think this is what is happening here, but I don't know what it wants. I think the center needs some color variation but I'm a little scared to work on that area. I know you should never let fear hold you back from moving the work forward.

I also worked on a few encaustic paintings this week. This one I declared done a while back, but I knew I could make it better if I was willing to lose what I had to get to something better. Here is it after I worked on it. Is it better? I don't know, maybe I should have left it alone. This is the risk you take.

This seems to be a metaphor for life. You can get to a better place if you're willing to let go of where you are and what you have, to get there. A concept that is so hard to accept and actually put into practice, don't you agree?

Bubbles and Abstract Photos

Here's something you don't see every day. This is my niece Kim in a bubble, blown and held in place by her brother, Ryan. The kids had alot of fun with bubbles in the pool.
















I had a lot of fun taking these abstract shots. Inspiration for new paintings as soon as I can get back in the studio.

Living in the Moment

I'm off to Florida for a week! Here is my favorite encaustic painting , for the moment at least.

The title is Bubbling Up and it's 6 x 6 inches. I just sent some images to a gallery in Philly and this was one of them along with a new artist's statement. The statement took days to write, and feels good, for the moment anyway.

Artist Statement 2009

My artwork acknowledges my love of nature and my childhood spent immersed in it. I view nature as a metaphor for human experiences and emotional states of being.
Recently I’ve been working on a series of works that explore the many properties and characteristics of water. Water can be either still, tranquil and peaceful or stormy, rough, and raging. Water supports life and yet can be responsible for the loss of many lives as in the case of a natural disaster.
I’m interested in depicting the energy and life force of this natural element to elicit an emotional response. This desire has led me to explore and invent many techniques to apply and manipulate the mediums I use. I’m pouring and splattering, in the case of oil paints and inks or melting layer upon layer of wax then heating it to let the under layer bubble up in the case of encaustics. I feel akin to nature by making art in the same way the earth came to be, and continues to evolve. Volcanoes erupt and pour molten lava down the mountains to form new land masses and glaciers melt to feed bodies of water. Everything in nature is constantly changing and I try to depict this in my work.