Quantity is Your Best Teacher

In January I did the 30 paintings in 30 days art challenge with Leslie Saeta. The commitment to show up in the studio every morning and to complete 30 paintings which were posted daily was good for me.

I didn't aways like it, but it taught me a great deal about how to make MY paintings. When you paint on a consistent basis...especially everyday, your art evolves and you discover your unique creative voice.

On the left is my painting on day one, and below is what happened on day 29.

 In addition to moving into greater abstraction, I learned many new techniques via experimenting. New ways of laying paint produced greater visual depth and fascinating textures.


 At a recent workshop Carol McIntyre and I were discussing the story about quantity vs. quality in the book Art and Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Here it is:

                               Perfection

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on it quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pounds of pots rated and "A". Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work-and learning from their mistakes-the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to sow for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

                                                      JoanFullerton.com

                                             JoanFullertonWorkshops.com

"What If" you joined me for an artist's retreat in Italy?

As a mixed media intuitive artist, I put down random marks, colors and shapes, and with each action I ask myself, "what if". "What if" I add a darker, a warmer, or a larger shape? "What if" I over-lapping it? "What if" I scraped through that area, or drizzled a thick paint into that wet space?

Asking "What if" with a sense of excitement and possibility, is creative. It's very different than asking yourself "what if" with a negative, fearful attitude: "What if" I really mess this up, look stupid, or fail.

I am always teaching and reminding myself to be positive; to respond with confidence, and to realize the idea that just popped into my head is a gift.

In the book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell describes the power of "thinking without thinking". When you have a decision to make in life or in art, getting into your head and analyzing it, opens the door to making excuses, procrastinating and coming from "control" rather than from "trust"... it inhibits expansive living. Gladwell provides proof that your gut responses to life are based on more information, more truth, and they are likely to be more satisfying. If that freaks you out and seems too impulsive...you might have a voice in your head saying "be careful...something bad might happen. However, if you learn to trust your crazy notions, fearful feelings will be transformed into "excitement". You will be saying "yes" to more of life's opportunities and you will be making art that is "alive" and more uniquely yours.

These watercolor and pencil drawings from my 1999 sabbatical in Italy are all about saying YES to "what if". "What if I went to Italy to study and paint?" "What if I juxtaposed a Giotto painting with the Grand Tetons of Wyoming, or perhaps framed a watercolor of Cortona, Italy with my drawing of a total eclipse of the moon?"

Have you ever wanted to experience Italy with a journal, sketchbook and camera? With time to savor and reflect? "What if" you said yes to joining me in Italy this May?

Don't wait to register...the deadline is March 1st. http://www.ilchiostro.com/workshops/painting-your-adventures-in-cortona-and-the-hills-of-chianti/