The Annoying Tree - 28.06.2014

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" - Scott Adams

...

I've got this strange tendency to over-think things. I'm sure most of us do it. It's not usually a bad thing - to think things through, but with me, it's like an addiction or an illness. If I ever make a decision it's always in the heat of the moment, because if I have enough time to think it through, I'll never come to a conclusion,  I'll just keep on constantly changing my mind and messing stuff up. If you've ever seen me make an important decision I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. I need to talk through all of my options, this is where my friends step in. And then even if I do make a decision, I'll just change my mind on the following day. It's horrible.

I haven't been very active here recently (again) because I recently started being a ''Teacher'', well more of a learning support teacher. I just do some extra maths with one boy, some reading with others and help a couple of boys in English/Latin. It's a very fun job, every day is different but it does mean that I barely get any free time to paint (I get home from work and then tutor in the evenings).
I feel like I'm talking to an old friend right now, so if any of you reading this wanted to catch up with me, here you go, no need to get in touch with me anymore - you know everything now :)

I'm talking nonsense today, but what I write here is not the main subject of my blog. All of this is just extra stuff. The main thing is the painting. So here it is.


It's called ''The annoying tree'' because the tree you see in the foreground nearly made me destroy the painting. I had to repaint it way too many times. I was just never happy with it... I did get there in the end and I'm quite satisfied with the outcome :)

''The Annoying Tree'' using artists' oil paints from Winsor and Newton on a 18" x 14" canvas.



Lots of Love,
Marlena

''Beautiful symmetries'' - 11.07.2014

The word happiness has such a broad meaning. Wikipedia's definition of happiness is as follows:

"Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy."

Fair enough, their definition makes sense. But what makes a person truly happy? You can ask as many people as you want and they would all give you a different answer. Some would say success, money, others will say friends and family, some people would say that working-out makes them happy and so on. You get the picture. The definition, reason or condition for happiness differs dramatically from person to person. We're all different, have our own life experiences which significantly affect our choices.


Sometimes it's not easy to decide whether your decision will result in your happiness... That's why it's always better to give yourself some time. Some time to think, some time to analyse. Not to overthink, just to weigh the options. What I find very helpful when making an important decision is making a list. I write all of the pros and cons of my decision. I also imagine myself making one of them and then I write a page or two of what it feels like after the decision has been made. I do it for the other one too and then decide which version I prefer. If one of the decisions seems daunting and all of the pros are uncertain then it's probably better to go for the other option. Not necessarily the easier one, but the better one in the long term. My goal in life is to be happy. Nothing more, nothing less.

Our lives are full of beauty, love and happiness. Sometimes we just fail to see it all. That doesn't mean it's non-existent. 

Sometimes what we need is a couple of friends who will be able to guide us through our problems and who will make us see the bright side of it all.

One way to deal with problems is to paint.. but this isn't the topic of this post :D

Here's a painting I haven't published here yet... 

It's called ''Beautiful symmetries'' and it was painted using Artists' oil paints from Winsor and Newton on a 30" x 20" canvas.

Why is it called "Beautiful symmetries" if the only symmetrical thing in the whole painting is the reflection in the sea? Well, let me quote my friend "Transformation w is a reflection in the beach axis". That didn't really explain my choice for the title, but it sounds cool :) Yup, we do maths :)

Lots of Love,
Marlena 

''Destiny'' - 06.07.2014

"The only time I feel alive is when I’m painting" 

- Vincent van Gogh

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Why do people paint?

Some paint to get rid of the excess of creative energy, others paint because they want to recreate a famous painting or want to paint like some famous artist; some people paint because they have always done it, since they can remember, they've always been painting; some are forced by their parents and others just want to make some money. There are also people who just like to be creative, they like to make something new, something unique, something that represents their emotions and state of mind.


Unless you're ready to make mistakes and learn how to work with, not against them, don't try to make art. In art, mistakes are a crucial part of the process, just like in life, we learn from mistakes and try to use them to our advantage.
I believe that everybody starts their life as an artist. Not necessarily a painter, but as an artist of some sort.
Some people try writing songs, creating melodies, singing in a jazzy way others try painting, sketching, sculpting and drawing, but most of them give up on it because they believe their passion is just a silly phase, just a childish dream which will never have a permanent place in their life. 

Many people give up on their dreams simply because the society tells them to do so as it's become more acceptable to live a life with no dreams, passion and happiness, but with money, than it us to live a fulfilling one while being poor.
Slowly people are turning into robot-like creatures that live in order to make money they believe they need in order to live. They fall into a never ending cycle. It's sad that money is such an important aspect of our lives.
It's so important that people choose to abandon  their dreams in order to make more and more and even more money. I don't want to live like that. I'd rather be poor and happy, than rich and stuck in a job I hate.
What's the point of life? Isn't it to be happy...? 

Henry Miller in his book [''To love is to paint again''] said that ''poverty is one of the misfortunes people seem to dread even more than sickness''. How strange is that? Surprising? Not necessarily. The main criterion for a ''happy'' life is money. People will not classify your life as complete if you don't reach a certain salary level. How awful is that? People are more scared of being poor than they are of being sick...
The weird thing is that you can't even get water... or food... without money. Money became more crucial to our survival.... than water.

Dreams don't matter anymore... being an artist doesn't matter anymore... then what does matter? money? yes... for some people... 
Money is a crazy invention... It's supposed to give people freedom, but instead it enslaves them.

I don't want to turn my hobby into a job. I don't want others to control my passion. If I did turn this into a job, I would have to start taking commissions, which would mean that I wouldn't be able to paint what I want. 

I paint to keep myself calm, relaxed and happy. I love seeing progress in my paintings... My style changed so much this year.. the first proper oil painting I ever created was in February 2014. And it looks completely different when compared with my other ones. And that's what keeps me going; trying new techniques makes it exciting for me... My dream is to exhibit my work in a gallery, but I doubt I'll ever get there, because if I did, then I'd always be trying to take the paintings off the walls and change something in them :')

...

Here's something I created today :)

It's called ''Destiny''. A bit unrelated to the essay above, but that's the name I find the most fitting for a painting of the sea.

As always oil paints from Winsor and Newton (Artist's range) on a 18"x14" canvas.

Lots of Love,

Marlena 

Elevation 12.05.2014

''People should talk less and draw more. Personally, I would like to renounce speech altogether and, like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say visually.'' - Johann von Goethe

...

While browsing art tutorials on youtube I found something amazing, something I've never seen before... 

''To Paint is to Love Again'' by Henry Miller

[Spotify] or [Youtube]

I wish I had discovered this much earlier in my life... 

Mr Miller is such an inspiring man.

I'm not really a fan of his artwork but I do love listening to him.

Straight after listening to his book I felt like I could achieve anything. He made me realise how different it felt to be an artist.. Recently I started looking at things from a completely different perspective.. I started analysing trees, the way the leaves reflect sunlight, the way the bark is shaped.. the way the clouds move through the sky.. I keep on walking with my head up, focused on the shape of clouds.. I never used to that before.. only recently, when I actually started to paint properly I keep on finding myself doing all those weird things.. I've looked at those trees so many times before, but I never actually saw what I was looking at, like I was looking without seeing, listening without hearing... and Mr Miller made me realise that it is completely normal... so I'm weird in a normal way...

His book (well, audiobook) is simply amazing.

I shared it with my friend and even they started to think about beginning their painting journey.

Amazing right? Maybe teachers should start playing it in schools?

We would have SO many artists around.

Picasso once said ''All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.''

and I agree with him... I bet most of my friends loved creating art at some point in their lives and then they just left it... It's really sad, but it's true.

Why is the number of artists so insignificant when compared to the number of people in business? Money. Money is the answer. But why? There is money in art too. Money AND pleasure. If you love what you're doing, no matter what it is, then eventually you'll be great at it and then if you want to get money out of it, then all you have to do is show it to people and you'll find someone who loves it. There will always be somebody who loves your style and who will gladly buy something from you.

You may ask ''how would you know? you haven't sold anything yet'', well that's true, but not because I didn't have an opportunity to - people have asked about buying my work, but I just get too attached to my paintings. I mean, when you spend 7 hours painting and refining something over and over again, then there is no way not to get emotionally attached to it, well at least not for me.

So here is the new thing I'm attached to:

''Elevation'' 

(I'll change the photo later - I kinda edited the painting since taking this one hahaha)

Oil painting on a 30" by 20" canvas :)

obviously paints from Winsor and Newton :)

Lots of Love,

Marlena

Imagine 3.05.2014

On Tuesday I was watching a lot of mountain tutorials because I really wanted to learn how to paint them properly... they're surprisingly hard.. especially the snow... so I spent a lot of time researching the techniques.. my favourite video was this one [Click], probably because I love Jason Bowen's paintings.. he's one of the artists that I look up to...  His work is amazing and I admire his style. All of the videos are really informative and helpful so I'd suggest watching all of the mountain tutorials on youtube if you want to learn how to paint them :)

I only used 3 colours in this painting - Phthalo Blue, Titanium white and Ivory black all from the Artists' range by Winsor and Newton.. It was my first painting using them and I love those paints so much! They're much better than the Winton series - the consistency is a bit different and they're easier to work with :) I also used sansodor to thin out the paint for the lake reflection.The mountains were done using a painting knife and soft brushes :) The snow on the trees was applied using a small, round hog brush from Winsor and Newton (yup, I'm addicted to them)

This painting was one of my random ones... after watching so many videos and looking at so many photos of mountains in various locations, an image formed in my head and I decided that it was going to be my next painting... so I took out my paints, my brushes and a canvas and started painting... it took me 3 hours to get to the first stage of the painting :D I obviously had a single song on repeat (as always - to make sure I stay in the same mood throughout the painting), this time it was Purple by Harry Harris (can be found on Spotify) :)

Then I left the painting to dry for the next 4 days and today I finally finished it :D 

The last stage took me about an hour, so in total I've spent 4 hours on it *whew!*. 

My mum even said that it's her favourite painting by me! and trust me, she's very critical... she loves realistic paintings and that's kinda what I was aiming for so I guess I achieved my goal :)

Here is the final painting: 

and here's the first stage: 

Lots of Love,

Marlena

Up + Down in Smoke 21.03.2012

I had an amazing evening last night..
I went to see the most talented artist ever! Jim Moray at the Foundling Museum... Here's his website [click].. If you've never heard of him, enjoy folk music, or just want to hear something new, I recommend checking him out! He's a really nice guy who makes amazing songs :) When he started singing acapella. oh dear. He's simply... I don't even know how to describe him hahaha I even had a chance to talk to him, but I wasted it because I was too embarrassed/shy, but I still got him to sign his CD for me :D

He played in a tiny room, and about 100 people were present so it was really nice and cosy :)



Here is another painting done ages ago.. I will probably redo it with better paints - it was done with those cheap acrylics from Lidl :D and back then I had no idea how to actually paint.. I know it was only 2 years ago, but my technique changed a lot since then.

It's one of the few painting that were based on a photo.. it wasn't even my photo.. I'd post the photo here for comparison, but I have no idea what it was called or where I found it... but yes, anyway, ladies and gentlemen, here is " Up + Down in Smoke"

Lots of Love,

Marlena