Beginnings--I discover art and my niche in it

Retirement is a wonderful thing--well, that, and moving out of Southern California to Albuquerque.  Together, they have allowed me to reinvent myself.  My left brain had always been dominant, and having time has given me the opportunity to create art and use my right brain.

I started taking art classes at UNM Continuing Education--probably around 2005.  I began with Lea Denise Anderson's take on Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, based on the Betty Edwards book.  I am not a painter, but I could draw a little.  And pencil gives me control that a brush does not.  I also took Lea's part 2 of the same course, and then I added her color theory class based on another of Edwards' books.  It was that class, and learning in it to use acrylics--plus reading some other books--plus a trip to Spain--that inspired me to do my first project in Lea's "Anything Goes" open studio class that put me on the road to mixed media mania!

I wanted to create an art project that would incorporate the above elements to epitomize artistically the trip my husband and I took to Spain.  I will list my resources following this post; suffice it to say, I had learned about acrylics and then taught myself about acrylic mediums--gels, grounds, pastes, etc.--had located examples of using slide mounts in art--and had printed out a bunch of my photos from Spain.  The result of all this was to create a "Spain Slide Show" out of slide mounts, photos, acrylics , and acrylic mediums.


acrylic, molding paste, garnet gel

I picked the photos first--then created artwork on the slide mount that extended the colors, designs, and/or themes of each photo. Though I did this mainly with acrylics and acrylic mediums, I also used colored pencil and oil pastel. Amazingly, this early work, which I completed in 2008, is my all-time favorite.



colored pencil

RESOURCES:

Lea Denise Anderson My teacher and mentor at UNM Continuing Ed., now teaching "Art Fix," the update of "Anything Goes," at Harwood Art Center.

acrylic and micaceous iron oxide

Nancy Reyner Wrote the book Acrylic Revolution, which taught me the use of all those acrylic mediums--she operates out of Santa Fe, and I've attended a couple of her demos at Artisan art supplies in ABQ.

Lynne Perrella  Edited the book Artists' Journals and Sketchbooks, which contained many examples of using slide mounts for art projects.  I later took a workshop with her, which I will describe in a later post.  Her works, articles, and the people she has chosen to put in her books have been a great influence.

oil pastel

Lynne Perrella