| Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike. ~ John Muir |
I’ve been catching up with family and friends recently and the conversation invariably turns to current events and politics (which I generally try to avoid). I’ve also noticed a correlation of my thoughts and mood have trending more negative recently. Part of that is, I have no doubt, due to a lack of sleep (teething baby) and other external stressors. As an optimist, I don’t like feeling negative and greatly agree with the premise of this short thought: cheer up!
- This week’s artist is – Avory France – who came into the Art Supply House a few months ago. We had a delightful conversation and I made sure to get contact information so that I could keep following this young artist’s progression. Check out Avory’s website for more work!
- Jon Bailey will be showing new work at Studio & starting Friday! Stop by for the Covid-safe opening reception for Migration on Friday from 5-9. The exhibit runs until July 5th.
- My typing doesn’t sound so hot as jazz… maybe yours sounds better.
- As a portrait artist, I know how easily portraits can become boring. Here are 3 ways to inject more personality into portrait projects.
- Here’s an exercise to help you better see lights and darks for your drawing/painting process.
- Have some time and extra paper? Why not make some paper airplanes.
- Here’s a guide on making a mixed media piece. And here are 5 ways to take it up a notch.
- Negative space is vital to making comfortable designs. Here are some thoughts on adding it to your composition.
- The book of the week is – The Artist’s Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love by Jackie Battenfield. This is another of the books that I worked through while earning my art degree in college and has a spot on my shelf to this day. It is a great reference guide for anyone who wants to make an income from their art – whether full- or part-time. Best of all, it’s written by someone who has gone on the journey before us and can point out the pitfalls so that we can (hopefully) avoid them. Get your digital or paper copy.
Though I may have mentioned this in the past, the experience has been on my thoughts recently so I thought it worth sharing again. A friend and I recently met up for some plein air painting. There’s nothing quite like getting out for some good conversation, fresh air, and art making to help one feel better! One topic of conversation was that of being a new parent (on my part) and how I felt about the state of the world. I had to ponder the question for a bit before giving a reply, but here it is, in a nut-shell.
Parents have always worried about their children and always will. It may have been wars, famine, a disease, or just them tripping and hurting themselves. So any current issues are just the current version of living life. We will keep on keeping on, remembering that “this too shall pass”. And what better time is there to be alive than right now? When I was a child, my parents couldn’t have worked from home if they had to. There was no internet to research on for school projects, keeping in touch via voice-only phone calls was expensive, ordering something meant it would arrive eventually, and cutting-edge medical procedures would now be considered barbaric.
I can’t imagine what the future will bring, but the technology, medical advances, and social climate that my daughter grows up in will be better than mine was. It might not seem like it at first glance, but the world is such a better place than it was only recently. Even now, it’s better and moving in a more right direction than it was a month ago. We certainly have more work to do and there is great progress still to be made. Change and growth is often stressful and I’m confident that we’ll end up somewhere better.
Until then, take advantage of the weather and where we live. Get outside, turn off your gadgets for a short while, enjoy nature and fresh air. I would even recommend taking some art supplies and making art. After all, it will make you feel better, and then you’ll be better for the time spent. You need your art, and the world needs you!
Cheers!
Matthew & the Art Supply House crew
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