Where Do You Start?
- With a pencil and paper (a regular pencil or colored – both are great).
- With a canvas, a brush and some paint (acrylic is best for beginers).
- Time to sit and let anything and everything pour onto the canvas or paper (no judgements on what comes out!). And note it does not need to be finished in one sitting – there have been times I’ve taken months to finish one or I will go back a repaint an old one – Tony and I both do this.
- Remember there are no rules! If there were art would be boring.
And That Is It!!!
Musings From Tony:
Painting is a great way to feed yourself color energy and to work through and/or discover emotional blockages. We all feel the impulse to create — if we could stop reminding ourselves of our limitations long enough and just do it. My mum would take me to galleries when I was quite young and something she said made me aware for the first time of what I wanted to do with my life. We were at a pop art show and I remember her concise commentary. She looked at me with resignation and said, ”Artists are allowed to do anything these days.” Well, that seemed like the job for me.
Painting in both our lives has led us to each stage in our personal evolution. Every time we find ourselves seemingly at a dead end in our development, painting has wakened us from our malaise. The act of painting has taught me to work through a process with faith. I will start a painting freely and with enthusiasm but half way through, I see that it has not turned out as I would have hoped. This is when I start to feel lost. But I work on with faith, allowing the harmonics of one color to suggest its neighbor and the flow of one shape to force the hand of another. The more I can silence my chattering mind and just allow the painting to unfold before me, the more the honesty of the work seems to come through. This whole process is an on going metaphor for all aspects of my life.
Painting is the realm of manifest emotion where we can bring our subconscious to the foreground and watch its workings. Like dancing and music, painting is a discipline that reinvents its self as soon as it has taken form. Breaking the rules is the rule. It is an endlessly fascinating way to tune in to the harmonics of the universe.
See some of Tony’s work.
I have to add that some of my favorite pieces from him are on the walls of his friends and not shown here unfortunately. Tony has been a showing artist since he was 18 so his complete body of work is very eclectic and here you are seeing just one “body” of work. Maybe he’ll post some of the old ones soon’ish – stay tuned.
Musings From Tina
Society has conditioned us to think that we must be trained or have a natural talent to partake in making art. Not so. As my dad says…just do it! It doesn’t matter how it looks, for me it’s about expelling pent up emotion. And it’s a very direct form of colortherapy.
I am a very emotional untrained painter but it wasn’t until I met Tony that I began to trust what I was doing and after a time I became very comfortable calling myself an artist, which I am and painting is one way I express that. The most important thing Tony taught me was that imperfection and the struggle to get an image down is style. I would beg him to teach me figurative tricks but he refused. After a while, I came to see his point – my messy etchings of a face became a style and I still use and love it today. So for all the people who swear they don’t have an artistic side, plunging in and making pictures, in whatever shape or form, is a great way to prove yourself wrong. As you buy your materials, remember, the most important thing on your list is your intention to let go of your preconceptions about art. Art is what you make it. Have you ever here of “Found Art”? It’s when an artist finds something random, usually on the street, and presents it as his or her art – perhaps a few tweaks but the point is art can be and is anything you deem it to be!
I’ve personally found that when I really let my subconscious take over, I seem to draw in a daydream and when my consciousness comes back into focus I usually find an emotional message, or other world, on the canvas. Although most of the time what I’ve made is an abstract indistinct shape, when I look at it I can emotionally feel what I’ve just downloaded and I usually end up feeling relief and/or joy because I released some energy. It isn’t always bad or negative. Sometimes and definintely in the last few years I seem to be painting from a place of radiance and it shows.
Either way, when we allow energy to be released we send a positive message to our energy system. Art is a celebration of spirit. Let yourself experience the joy of what it’s like to just feel present. It is in this state of presence that we truly create.
Let the drawing or painting take it’s own shape. Allow the awkwardness. Life is full of ups and downs, happiness and pain so not all expressions are going to be pleasing but if they are honest they are beautiful no matter what!
I have to get some good pictures of my paintings – will get on that and post a link soon’ish.
