I started oil painting when I was ten years old; I loved these painting classes out in the country, in a log cabin with my cool art teacher who told the most interesting stories about the ghost that lived in her house and the things the ghost did. I loved the little house where she and her family lived next to the studio, it was decorated in a simple vintage, natural style, very unlike my house. There were about 10 or so students in the classes as I remember and the teacher would tell stories and go to each student to advise them. I used to describe waiting for my art lesson each Saturday like waiting from Christmas to arrive; I gained a love for art from the five years I attended these classes and I learned how to mix colors.
I started oil painting as an adult in 2020 during the pandemic, I took on-line classes from several artists who's work I admired. I learned how to "see" color, how to properly apply it and from observing the teaching artists' work, I learned how to think differently about subject matter.
I use my three girls as subject matter a lot, they are my muses. As I think I have the oil painting technique down that I prefer (realism), I now spend a lot of time thinking about how to come up with more imaginative creations. I use my time in front of the easel to listen to music, podcasts, NPR radio and Ted Talks. I think my long hours of painting are either to "not think" or to think very deeply about a subject.
Realism is a challenge to me, some believe that painting a subject so it looks like a photograph isn't very creative, but for me it's challenging and I love the challenge. Sometimes I think there might be something to the argument that a painting that looks like a photograph takes little imagination, so I'm trying to come up with realistic paintings with better compositions. I like graphic elements so I think they will be a good thing to incorporate into my paintings.
I don't push very hard to sell my paintings, even though I like to sell them. I'm not sure what I'll do with all the paintings I accumulate, many times I give them to friends and family members. I believe my dream is to have a sold out opening of critically acclaimed paintings and to be an artist that people aspire to buy one of my creations. I feel that I might have started a bit late in life to a become so critically acclaimed, maybe that's just an excuse. I think I have a lot to learn yet so I'll get back to it and think about fame another day.
