Monet to Come

I haven't posted so far this week because I have yet to finish the book I'm reading about Monet. Since I posted the preface last time I wanted this post to be about an artist, so I'll hold off until I get around to it.
Besides that, I haven't been too creative lately. I have done a few little things, just not what I should be working on. So I'll be finishing that and work more on painting this next week so I'll actually have something to talk about in the next post.

Words to Ponder

Originally, I was going to talk about an artist that I look to for inspiration or that I admire, but I just started reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde so I feel the need to post something about it. I've only read the preface and a few pages, but the preface really stuck with me. And it's rare that I genuinely enjoy a preface, especially one whose words actually hit you with a deeper meaning, so I thought I'd share it and talk about an artist another time. Enjoy.

"The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.
The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.
Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.
Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.
They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.
Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.
The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.
The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.
The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.
No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.
Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.
Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.
From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type.
All art is at once surface and symbol.
Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.
Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.
It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.
Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless." -Oscar Wilde

Struggling

So I had planned on blogging once a week but since the first post was an introduction of sorts I’m going to “officially” blog for this week.

Before I jump right into what I really what to talk about, I thought I’d explain a little about the way I paint and a bit about the thought put into it so that you get a general idea of what’s going on. I usually like to paint landscapes, I do draw figures but they’re usually stylized (non-realistic), and my subject is more about imagining and displaying my own little world and attaching an emotion to it. My work is usually kind of flat so I use layers and overlapping to create depth and I like outlining everything in black to represent shadows and using white to help model the shapes. I also have some free form, organic shapes hanging or floating in the skies of a few pieces. The idea behind that is from when you’re a little kid and you lie on your back and make shapes out of the clouds. I just take shapes and create a puzzle type set up in the sky. It’s something I’m experimenting with and that I like in some of the paintings.

That being said, I’ve been working on ideas for pieces to submit to a scholarship, maybe even my senior exhibition when the time comes, and I’m struggling a little with the piece I’m working on now. It’s not that I don’t like it, but it’s not exactly what I envisioned. Granted, none of my pieces have ever worked out exactly how I imagine them to and I love them because of it. But this time I don’t have other people in the studio or my professor to give me feedback and tell me why it’s more “eh…” than “ah!” I’m hoping it’s just in the ugly phase of the process but I’m also worried that it may just be better to start over while I still can. It is on a smaller canvas than I would like because I’m trying to save money and work with what I have for now. I have canvas and gesso so I just need to buy some stretcher bars, I’m just concerned that if I try and stretch the canvas myself it will be too much for me and it’ll buckle or snap or be too loose, yadda yadda. The canvas isn’t too bothersome though so long as the finished product comes out looking like what I’m thinking it will. Also, I’m just laying out color blocks in acrylic and will use oil paint on top of that later, but it still seems a bit off to me. So here’s a picture of what I have so far and please tell me what you think is going on with this piece.

Trying Something New

Do you like art? Do you maybe not understand art? Do you really not get art? Are you an aspiring artist like me? Do you sometimes feel as lost as I do? Well, hopefully you gave some kind of answer to these because this is why I'm here. My name is Valerie Mills and I'm a young, aspiring artist hoping to find support and feedback in this world of blogs, maybe even use this as a means to network. This space I intend to use for talking about what I experience in my artwork, talk about artists that have or will inspire me, and maybe help out some people that don't really see what the big deal is about paint on a canvas. I plan on updating once a week with something about an artist, my work, any art related events that comes to my attention, or just being an art nerd and going on and on about my favorite color to paint with. As for comments and feedback, I highly encourage them and would love to read anything you have to say, whether you love it or hate it -especially if it's about my pieces (which I hope to post at some point in the future) or about an artist that deserves some attention. I'm pretty new at this, so as time goes on if I get a following of people that want more than a weekly post, then I might make a Facebook page specifically for this purpose. Maybe even a Q&A type thing using twitter to ask me question and me to ask you. Until then, feel free to email me and let me know what you think about what I have going on and the ideas, etc.