After my last blog post, I had an email from a lovely lady who came on many of the painting holidays I used to tutor for Malta Art. She has since become a good friend and it's always good to hear from her. She overflows with creativity and bright ideas. She is commenting on the Quintessence series that I described last week.... "Such vitality expressed in your paintings, emanating from your zest for life. This is you as I see you. In your paintings I see the expression of your love for life. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3521889/True-secret-success-Make-LOTS-mistakes-sounds-totally-crazy-uplifting-new-book-MATTHEW-SYED-argues-embracing-failure-improve-life.html As I was reading the article above, I thought of what you said in your last blog; I just sit and look at them for a while, until I see what they need. I sort them into three piles; one to throw away, one to work on a little and one that needs a lot of adjusting. Some get overworked or just messed up while I'm working on them. Some just sing right from the start. Your blogs always inspire me and at the moment I need a kick in the proverbial to get me started. It's good to know that you need to fail to kick start." I agree we often set the bar so high that we stifle ourselves before we begin - and we do it to ourselves, which really is a little crazy when you think about it.
There is a theory that our consciousness changes and develops as we foster creativity. The more open we are to creative thoughts and activities, the more they flow into our lives. This puts us in touch with flashes of inspiration and insight that seems to come from nowhere. Perhaps we really are all connected in a very subtle and natural way, much like the www. We are, after all, made from the same Stuff; recycled stardust that forms itself into humans or rocks or television sets. All mixed with the same water that has existed since the beginning of time. All breathing the same air. How big an idea is that? So, much like the Web, once we tune in to creativity we can pick up whatever we choose to resonate with. Insights flash out of that mass concentration like bolts of lightning. Whoever catches them has the chance to make them manifest in the world. Edison and Tesla were ‘warring geniuses’ who changed the world with their inventions, but in the article “Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison: Who Was the Better Inventor?” DeGraaf told Live Science "If Edison hadn't invented those things, other people would have,"
Their inventions alone opened the door to the amazing innovations we have today. The moral is - If you don’t manifest your Bright Ideas, someone else will! Each manifested idea sparks another and another, not only for the creator, but for those who are touched and inspired by it. Creative thought is like lighting candles; if you keep it to yourself eventually it will burn itself out, but if you share it freely and light as many other flames as you can, the light spreads and grows brighter, even re-lighting your own spark if it begins to dim.
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Every time I set myself up to paint a live performance I am hit by last minute nerves. I cover the floor in plastic sheeting, lay out my paints and brushes, clip the battery lights to my easel, and then, as I wait for the night to begin, I want to run away. I never know if I'll be able to do anything, let alone do it well. And it's all so darned public.
After the first effort, which often misfires, I usually forget to worry and just get on with it. I have to work quickly to get the basic shapes and movement, but the time seems to pass really slowly. I find myself watching things appear on the paper or canvas. I am drawing with paint. I try to capture the essence of whatever catches my attention and work on it until something else comes up, which is when I start another. The faster I work the less I think and censor what is happening. In some ways it's much easier than working slowly with a static scene, when there's too much time to second-guess and 'fix' the picture. I am often asked how long paintings take, as if the length of time is a reflection on its value or quality. I can only say that each one takes me all my life. I have studied nude models in life classes, sketching people and making studies for years to be able to do what I do. Not many artists would even attempt this way of working. I often ask myself why I find it so fascinating! After the event I just want to pack up and go home and let the paintings dry. I haven't really seen the pictures as I paint them; there is no time to focus on them individually. Next morning they always surprise me. Colours are distorted by the artificial lights, and also by my limited palette. I just sit and look at them for a while, until I see what they need. I sort them into three piles; one to throw away, one to work on a little and one that needs a lot of adjusting. Some get overworked or just messed up while I'm working on them. Some just sing right from the start. All I know is that I like to work with figures in motion, usually dancers and jazz musicians. The paintings seem to come from a deep and connected place that I cannot access in any other way. To see the rest of the collection 'Quintessence by Renzo Spiteri" please click HERE Please leave your comments below - I'd really like to hear what you think of these paintings. Caroline and I are co-tutoring a fab painting holiday in Sicily this May - it's going to be such FUN!! To see the whole programme click HERE and then book soon!!
He told me to go and find an artist that I admired and copy their style until I found one of my own. I was quite outraged! Here I was trying really hard to reproduce what I saw and he was telling me that it was so hopeless I should copy someone else? I missed his point at the time, of course. I had chosen to study Illustration at Harrow because at the time Fine Arts courses in the UK had ceased to teach techniques in favour of self-expression and experimentation. I loved the first two years of pure drawing, but when it came to creating full page spreads and doing as I was told, I retreated back to the first year’s drawing sessions. I would hide in the photography dark rooms rather than bother with the typography press. I made a train necklace out of tiny etching plates instead of making prints. Oh dear, poor Mr Bartlett. He was trying to help me make a living of course; I needed to compete with hundreds of other equally talented people in the cut throat advertising world. I left college and failed miserably. Or happily, whichever way you look at it. I still don’t do as I’m told. I now understand what he meant, but I still don’t agree.
I really think that ‘style’ just creeps up on you though. It is born of confidence in your technique and materials. Of practice and experience and just plain hours of slog. And mainly of many, many failures. It comes when you stop worrying about the end result and just get on and have another bash. It develops over time and you don’t even notice it until someone says ‘oh I knew that was one of yours’ and you notice that you’ve actually found your own voice quite by accident.
To all my friends, 'followers', and students past , present and to come, I hope that you have had a wonderful, magical Christmas and New Year celebrations. May 2016 bring a cornucopia of joy, wonder, beauty, good fortune and all other wondrous things spilling into your life!
You may have noticed that I fell off the weekly blog ladder in the last few months of 2015. Sending it out so often was probably too ambitious - I'm going to try and write a monthly one this year, plus a newsletter-y thing about classes and whatever else I've been up to art wise. I am looking forward to starting a new series of Creativity Classes to stimulate and inspire old and new students. The first one will be January 30th at 10am in my Manikata studio and after that on the last Saturday of every month. We will explore different methods and materials, techniques and tools as a path to finding unique and personal work. Everyone can gain from 'playing' like this; it's a great way to push the boundaries of your knowledge and discover new ways of working that will enhance your skills. We'll cover things like textural surfaces using tissue paper and collage, using 'found' objects, creating happy accidents and generally having a lot of fun.
Meanwhile, my weekly classes will begin again next week. Tuesday 12th at Le Meridien 10am - 12.30pm Thursday 14th at Ta Mena in Gozo 10.30am - 1pm Friday 15th at Villa Bologna in Attard 10am - 12.30pm Basic classes for beginners, improvers and wish-I-could-get-going-again-ers will start in February. All classes are 20 euro, or 100 euro for 6 classes paid in advance. Please Click Here! to contact me for bookings or more info. (PS I don't teach children.) Here's to the most creative and fulfilled year of our lives! |
Jeni Caruana I love to paint - and draw - and help others to discover their creative side too..... Be the first to see my latest work and hear of new classes by adding your email address below. Thank you! Categories
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