The Gathering

The Gathering

12 x 18 soft pastels on Kitty Wallis Professional White

by Miki Willa

I finished the painting today and I am happy with it. I like that there are very few sharp lines. I love the play of the light from the oven surfaces and the corrugated wall. I am happy that there are hints at structures and oddities, but they are not so well defined. I am glad I waited until I was ready to finish this piece. I think it is one of the loosest things I have done so far.

I think I am done with this series for a few weeks. I am feeling pulled to landscapes again because of the incredible spring days. Even the rainy ones make me happy. Our back yard is constantly changing, and I am loving the new surprises every day. I didn't move here until early June last year, so this is all new to me. I am sorry to say we lost the lavenders over the winter, but we are going to replace them as time and money allow. The blueberry bushes are going great guns. I think we will get a great harvest this summer, if we keep them all watered on the dry days. We also have a new gala apple tree that Tom got me for Mother's Day. It had several blossoms, so I am hopeful for fruit. My lilac tree is in full bloom. I was thrilled to be able to cut a bunch. I will have to get out the ladder and cut some more. They smell so good.

Have a wonderful spring weekend. Take a look at the new paintings Casey Klahn is posting at the Colorist. They are really wonderful.

WIP The Gathering

The Gathering WIP

12 x 18 soft pastels on Wallis Professional White

by Miki Willa

I am having a hard time finishing this painting because I really like what it looks like right now. I like the roughness of the sketch and the contrast of the blues and yellows and oranges. It looks somewhat cartoonish, but gives an idea of what it is all about. I will finish it so it works with the rest of the paintings in the series, but I think I will go back and do some more in this style.

This is a glass furnace at Avalon Glassworks in West Seattle. Son Hugh has just picked up more glass on a bubble that will become a folded plate, or taco. This furnace is very high tech and different than the other ones we have seen. It is opened by pressing down on a pneumatic foot pedal. Very cool.

I have taken the plunge and started a new blog dedicated to my exploration of collage art and visual journaling. You can take a look here.

Glass Blowing Series - Glass Furnace I

Glass Furnace I

12 x 9 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

In working to convey my impressions of glass blowing studios and glass art, I find myself more and more drawn to non-realistic representations. In this painting, I deliberately left the top portion dark and vague. It could be anywhere, maybe even a cave. I did add some detail to the furnace itself, especially at the bottom, which is further forward. One of the things about being in a glass studio is the intensity of the heat, light, and creativity makes it difficult to really focus on the details too much. At least it is for me because I get caught up in the heat, light, and creativity.

So many people have no idea what goes into creating a piece of glass art. We see so many "hand blown" vases, plates, cups, and glasses at places like Crate and Barrel for such low prices, we are astonished at the prices in glass studios. We forget that most of these pieces are made in factories where repetition is the bread and butter. The glass artists I watch work hard. They often sketch out their designs before they gather any glass. They need to understand the properties and chemistry of glass, especially colored glass. They have to have respect for their chosen medium. Then there is the heat and physical endurance, especially in the upper arms and lower back. Next time you look at a piece of glass art that is made in your local area, be sure and look closely. You will be amazed.

In this series, I am paying tribute to these glass artists.

Glass blowing series #7

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Painting 5 x 7s

Color Rods

5 x 7 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

On a recent visit to a glass studio, I got a lesson on how color is added to glass art. I won't go into the details here but to say that glass artists purchase color rods in various lengths, colors, and opacities. I happened to spot a few short pieces on a nearby shelf. I was taken in by the colors and the arrangement. I decided to try portraying them in a 5 x 7 format.

Why 5 x 7? I recently had a brainstorm about my upcoming show (July). I decided I would have three to five 5 x 7 paintings for a free drawing. Visitors to the show would fill out a card and drop it in a bowl (glass of course), giving contact information and first choice of painting if they win. At a designated time, I would pull out a card or two, and l would award the painting(s). I think this will be good PR. First, I have to create the paintings.

I have not painted in this size before and it is quite interesting. I had some left over pieces of paper I had been using to test color for larger paintings. I brushed the test colors out and created an interesting under painting. I wanted to keep the strokes fairly loose so it would be in the same style as the rest of the paintings in this series. The reflections of light and of the rods on each other was very interesting to me. I also like the pattern of the shadows. All in all, this was fun to paint. I am not sure the power and intensity of the ovens would work in this small format, but I will have to try.

I also painted a small landscape. I will post that tomorrow.

The Glass Artist

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The Glass Blowers Garage

The Garage

18 x 12 soft pastels on Wallis Professional White

by Miki Willa

I took the reference photo for this during a recent visit to Viscosity, south of Seattle. Once again, I was intrigued by the geometric shapes and the colors. This particular garage has two openings, but I chose to only do the one on the right because it had a piece of glass parked there. I decided to use a vertical format to stretch the image and give it more interest. I really like the abstract quality that came through in this format. I worked primarily in Ludwig dark purples, reds, and the grays. I also used some Nupastel reds and oranges. The ochres on the glass are Great American. The yellows and golds in the background bricks are a mixture of Ludwig and Great American. I adjusted colors and values as I went which worked out well. My next painting in this series will have a glass blower at work. This will be a challenge for me as I don't normally do figure paintings. Stay tuned for that in a few days.

The glass blowing garage is a place for the glass artist to park pieces he/she doesn't want to cool down, but has to leave for a while. One example of how these are used is when you create a goblet with a stem, bowl, and foot. The separate pieces are parked in the garage until it is time to assemble everything. In the above case, the glass artist was not finished with the process for making a sphere, but needed to take a lunch break. Just amazing what you learn when you hang around artists who work with a different medium than your own.

Creativity

Pipes and Punties

12 x 18 soft pastels on Kitty Wallis Professional White

by Miki Willa

I have run across a series of questions about being an artist and creativity at Textures, Shapes, and Color. I have been thinking about the answers to these questions and decided to tackle the question of creativity first. Here are the questions:

1. What is it that I want from my creativity?

2. What does my creativity want from me?

My first step was to look up some definitions for creativity. Wikipedia, not always my favorite source, defines creativity as a "mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts." Another online definition is the "re-evaluating or combining old ideas." Websters says, "Creativity is marked by the ability or power to bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill." And finally, Carl Rodgers, writer and philosopher, defines creativity as "the emergence of a novel relational product, growing out of the uniqueness of the individual." With this small research done, I can now begin to examine my own creativity.

As an artist, I have, and continue, to evolve along the creativity curve. When I first started out, I wanted to recreate exactly what I was seeing - photorealism. I actually started out doing technical illustrations, then moved on to other forms of illustration. There are many artists I know who don't believe there is any creativity in illustration. Skill, yes, but nothing of the individual self. At the time, I thought I was being very creative. Now, I am not so sure.

Over time, I have moved more in the direction of painting my impressions of what I see, bringing my own individuality to the piece. Is this creativity? It is hard to fit this into the first couple of definitions I found unless you accept the premise that art is always new if it comes from within, and is not a copy of another artist's work. It is much easier to fit my work as an artist into Rodgers definition.

Now, what do I want from my creativity? I want joy, clarity, and fulfillment. I want to continue the enjoyment of watching my inner vision emerge onto a blank piece of paper. I want to continue to learn to express my own individualism, to continue to find new relationships between existing concepts. I don't want much, right?

What does my creativity want from me? It wants continued growth and practice. It wants silence of the inner critic, but guidance from the inner critique. It wants to be shared. It also wants me to continue to stretch, not only in my mind, but in my creations. It wants me to continue to practice creativity.

About the painting: This is the punty warming oven at Uptown Glass in Renton, Washington. I am particularly happy with the oven and the intensity I was able to achieve. This is number four in the glass blowing series.

Blog Comments - Do you or don't you?

Heating It Up

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

This is one of the glass heating ovens in the hot shop at the Tacoma Glass Museum. When I took the reference photo, I was not sure the intense heat would really show around the edges and bottom of the door covering the oven. This is a very hot oven that heats glass to a molten stage. Glass blowers pick up glass from the oven on pipes or punties to create bubbles or other glass starts. Yesterday, I went to see my son working on glass spheres and he gave me a short lesson on what all these things are called that I am currently painting. I love the intensity and the geometry of the lines. I already have the next few ready to sketch and paint. I may even get brave enough to put glass blowers in the paintings one of these days.

On another note, I was thinking about making and receiving comments on blogs. I know I get far more viewers than comments. I am guessing it is the same for most bloggers, at least in the art world. I am wondering why some people leave comments and some people don't. Does it have to do with the art or the text? I have tried asking questions, and very few people answer. Some people have surveys on their blogs, but the number of people who participate is nowhere near the number of people who regularly read these blogs. I know time is an issue for many people. I try and make sure I post a comment or two each morning as I read my favorite blogs. I am very grateful for all those people who stop by to look at my blog. I am even more appreciative of those who leave a comment, however brief. Don't get me wrong. I love the blogging community and all it has to offer. I am not complaining, just observing. Anyone have anything to add?

Glass Blowing Series II

Uptown Furnace

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

This is the second work in my glass blowing series. If you want to see the first one in the series, you will find it here. I love being in the glass blowing studio. The intensity of the colors, the labor, and the heat are very inspiring. Sometimes, I forget to take reference photos, so I have to use Tom's. You can see the original photo here. To do this painting, I had to really plan everything ahead.

I was worried that the glory hole (the furnace) would completely overpower the painting because of the intensity of the color. To balance the rest of the painting, I exaggerated the colors and wall surfaces, using some of the colors from the furnace as they are reflected on the walls. I love all the forms and lines in the studio and wanted to bring that to the painting, as well. I used a somewhat limited palette for this painting. I stuck to the deep purples and blues from Terry Ludwig, and a variety of ochres, as well as some very light colors from Unison. This painting was great fun to do. I can't wait to get started on the next one in the series.

If you are interested in seeing and/or purchasing very beautiful hand-blown glass pieces, be sure and visit my oldest son's Etsy shop, French Curves.

On a completely different note, I wanted to share a photo I took a half hour ago from my front porch. Bear in mind that I live in Western Washington, south and east of Seattle a bit. This should not be happening here on March 9.

Kalihi Stream Series No. 3

Tropical Stream WIP

12 x 9 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I know I have shown you my portable studio before, but I just really like it so I decided to show this WIP on the easel. I have a closer photo of the painting below. I have a painting hanging in one bedroom that keeps reminding me of how I want my paintings to look. I looked at it over the weekend so I had it fresh in my mind this morning. This painting is very different, but I used many of the same techniques in stroke and approach. I was also very happy to be working with my own palette on this one. The rocks are going to be so much better.
I was hoping to finish this one this morning, but ran out of time. I started out thinking that the palm leaves would be the focal area, but realized I wanted the area where the branch comes out into the stream to stand out more. I think the branch really makes a statement. It is forked on the bank with one side staying in the shadow and the other coming out into the middle of the stream. I need to work both sides of the branch to make that stronger. I did this on a strange brownish ground that Art Spectrum creates. I don't really like the color, but it makes a fantastic ground for these tropical paintings.

I have decided to join in Katherine Tyrrell's study of Japanese art from the period that influenced the art world in the mid-1800's in Europe. Look for posts from time to time. I grew up surrounded by this art, Japanese wood bock prints and paintings on silk. It will be fun to really study the masters and share what I learn.

Painting Small Places

Concrete Weeds

7 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I had an idea when setting goals for the year that I would like to do a series of small seemingly unimportant places. The first one was the Poppy from a couple of days ago. That was from a small corner of my old garden. This one is based on a photo I took at the bottom of a set of concrete steps a long time ago. I really like the composition, and I decided to use a complementary pallet. In this case, I used my favorite of blue/lavender and yellow/orange. This combination never fails to get my attention in a positive way.

Now that my pastels seem to be settled in their new homes, I thought I would share what I use. I started this pastel journey with a student set I purchased at the local Ben Franklin craft store. It was fine enough to get me hooked. Then my husband shared his Rembrandts. We purchased a small set of Unisons and a small set of Senneliers. Then Tom took a workshop with Terry Ludwig. It was love at first use. His was my first choice for a couple of years. Last summer, Tom and I decided to try new sets after a Pastel Artists of Hawaii meeting where we got to try different brands. As a result, I now use Terry Ludwig's, Great Americans, Unisons, a small number of Girault and Sennelier. We don't have large quantities, but we are having fun with what we have. Now, if I could only learn to like paper other than Art Spectrum. I really like that surface.