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Afterwards

11.20.2020 by Barbara Grant //

Walking through stocked aisles at hardware stores feels like wandering around a giant art supply shop with huge containers of paint, brushes, all kinds of lumber to construct supports for canvas, and choices of nails, screws and glue too numerous to count. But it is merchandise I’m not familiar with, filling the shelves, stacked 15 feet high, that stimulates my imagination. Examining labels and reading directions on bottles and jars stirs my creative juices. And there’s a tool for everything!

Photo credit: Corporate Home Depot Newsroom

Photo credit: Corporate Home Depot Newsroom

That’s why, one afternoon I was happy to accompany my husband to our local Home Depot in search for just the right tool needed for his current project. As we pulled into the parking lot a storm was brewing and we dashed inside to shop.

By the time we returned to our vehicle a downpour had come and gone, but the sky was lifting in a dramatic combination of peach, lavender and blue. I quickly pulled out my camera to record it for reference. Artists use photographs in various ways: I use them to recall the seed of an idea. In this particular case I wanted to remember how stunned I was at how the heavens had been divided diagonally with dramatic color.

Reference photo

Not too long after that day I used this photo to create a painting for an art exhibit with the theme A Moment in Time. It doesn’t capture quite what I saw that day; it took a different path. Instead of focusing on the colorful sky, I was moved to portray the condition of the horizon. Because my photo showed only dark, vague silhouettes I was on my own to imagine it. I added a circle of textured translucent rice paper rising from the earth. As I spread the glue around to adhere to the canvas, the fibers pulled loose from the fragile paper; I brushed them into the sky the way a tornado would tear apart stalks of corn from a field. Referencing the theme of the exhibit, I created a clock face, numbering the hours but not adding hands to tell time. For added structure I traced one of my favorite found objects, an arc shape I have used in many compositions.

  • Clock face numbers
  • Arc shape
"Afterwards" detail

My creative process took my seed of an idea to an “after the storm” place. After a storm blows through we survey the damage, inventorying what is left. Taking stock of what still stands. This painting makes me think of landscapes that have been devastated by war and crazy weather. The toll that is taken on humanity, the physical clean-up and rebuilding, the means for funding, the stamina…the will to begin again afterwards.

The finished painting was exhibited in 2019 at The Hoard Museum Gallery in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin along with the rest of the series for A Moment in Time.

"Afterwards" painting
Afterwards©️2019 Barbara Grant

Yesterday I pulled it from storage and hung it in our sunny kitchen in order to gather final thoughts for this essay. As my husband was eating soup at the table, he noticed how the noon sun cast an interesting light on it. When he pointed this out to me, I was struck by how it appeared as an opposing slant forming an X across the sky to cause a new balance to the composition.

Shadow/sunlight over "Afterwards"

2020 has been a rough year for all of us, for everyone around the world. So many struggles and losses. And the storm is not yet passed. Traditionally families come together on Thanksgiving Day to celebrate blessings of the past year. It seems surreal that we are presently being warned about the dangers of doing so because of Covid19. My hope is for a better year to come and the strength to rebuild afterwards with a balanced new perspective.

Categories // Creative Process Tags // colorful sky, environment, found objects, Hardware store, photo reference, Rice paper fibers, Thanksgiving Day, weather

Creative Energy from a Visiting Artist

07.20.2020 by Barbara Grant //

Roxy & Ringo

A lot is being accomplished in my studio these last few months. Roxy & Ringo hang out with me all day, and I lose track of time as I become engrossed in various projects. My sweet husband pops in now and then to see what we’re up to. It’s not a lonely environment…

…but it’s been a while since any new energy has been injected into my work space. A recent FaceTime with friends reminded me of their son’s visit to my studio last summer and the zesty vibes he cooked up during some painting fun. I’m so glad I thought to record this episode!

View this video to watch the creation of Goddess of the Sun and to witness the joy of expressive painting!

Young artist
Young artist

Categories // Creative Process, Limelights on my friends Tags // expressive artmaking, fun in the studio, joy of painting, watercolor, young artist energy

Bookkeeper

06.02.2020 by Barbara Grant //

As an artist I’m often asked questions like: How do you get your ideas? How long does it take to finish a painting? Why use a particular medium? and other thoughtful queries. Some of these issues were addressed in an online journal as I reported the progress of a single painting over a period from April through December of 2002.

Bookkeeper

I revamped that old chronicle into an up-to-date format that I’d like to share with you. It’s called Bookkeeper and can be freely accessed here as a pdf document by clicking on the image.

It is also available as an eBook or ePub, but several  attempts to reduce the size to fit on this platform have failed because of the large amount of images in the document. I’m still working on that – a learning curve for me – so any guidance from my more techy followers is welcome!

🎨 I’ve also taken the time to set up MailChimp for emailing my newsletter. There’s a form at the bottom of this page where you may sign up if you like. I average about two newsletters per year to say hello and report what’s happening in my art world. Trust me, you will not be bombarded.

Categories // Creative Process Tags // artwork progression, story behind the art

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