Blind Painting

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Art Detour was held recently in downtown Phoenix. Art Detour is an annual, self-guided tour of artist spaces, art spaces and other art venues and is organized by Artlink Phoenix .

At Warehouse 1005, one of the many Art Awakenings art studios around Arizona, I painted this while blindfolded. I had a palette of paint colors, an 8" x 8" canvas secured on an easel, and a few brushes. Since I am left handed, I used my right hand as a way to register the location of the canvas so I would not be 'painting the air'. As I picked up the first brush and tried to remember the colors on the plate, 'tree' came to mind so that is what I went for. Then some grass and some birds.

There was a band playing music just outside the studio doors. So I listened to the music and let myself paint. It is an awesome experience to paint while blindfolded. No judgments, no inner critic chatter, no worrying about others, no corrections to make - just painting. I highly recommend the experience.

People came through all day and created their own blind paintings. All of the paintings will be included in a community exhibition on May 4th through May 18th at Warehouse 1005 in downtown Phoenix.

It's All in How You See It - A Spontaneous Painting

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I did this painting with modeling paste, a palette knife, a sponge, a piece of grid fabric and a piece of sequin waste. I wanted to create something just for peaceful meditation that comes from just letting a piece emerge. My only goal was to let it have some texture, which it does.

I first mixed purple with the modeling paste and applied it with the palette knife. Then I mixed up some red with the modeling paste and applied that. Then it came to me to try applying the green with a sponge, just across the peaks left by the modeling paste. I painted onto the grid and then pressed the painted side of the grid down into the paste. I used a sponge to paint through the holes in the sequin waste. It was a creative adventure. Fun.

Painting, well creating things, is very meditative for me. The actions, the process are a joyful zone for many of us. Especially when I am free of worrying what others might think. When I am free from the nattering of my inner 'what were you thinking?' critic. When I am perfectly alright with painting over it and doing something else once I am finished.

What is it like for you? When you are on the inside of creating something?

When I was taking pictures of it, I realized that depending on which way I turned the piece, I saw different things.

This one makes me think 'The Red Sea'.

Red Sea

This way I see 'Stormy Weather' with lightening and turbulent winds.

Stormy Weather

These two make me think of trees.

 

 So kind of like life, it seems to be about how you choose to see things.