On Being Willing to Ruin It All

 "You're gonna ruin it." 

Those 4 little words are the artist's constant companion as they work. It tends to happen toward the middle/end of a piece, when most of the decisions have been made, when you've gotten it past that awkward teenage phase every painting goes through, and when you're starting to think you might really have something with this one. It's close, but it needs more. But....what if now you ruin it? 

Often times you could actually stop at that point, and people would accept it as finished. You could call it done, even though your eye sees things that could be improved. Do you dare? Knowing that the way these things go, a small area that needs attention usually results in the re-working of a large surrounding area? Knowing how you struggled to get that color mixed just right, scraping it down & painting it over again multiple times? Can you match that color again now? Do you feel lucky, punk? 

The voice in our own heads is often what stops us short of greater things, of pushing past our comfort zone into less familiar waters, even if we've been yearning to get to that point. 

With this painting, I finally let go of some of those fears and waded in. I had a painting that was acceptable, even quite nice. I was very pleased with.... most of it. I set it aside for 3 weeks before I decided I wanted more. The additional work resulted in going over the majority of the piece again, adjusting colors and temperatures. I actually did ruin it a bit, but found I had enough steady steeliness in my heart to wrestle it back. 

Learning to trust your skill is a huge part of making forward progress. And you must always be willing to ruin it, if you ever want to get to the next level you long for.

"Song of the Bluebird" 16x20, oil on canvas. Available for purchase, or to commission your own heartfelt portrait -- contact me for more info.

Lake Blessings

I've been thinking about this for awhile & with my work at the college on hold, I have some extra time. I live about 2 miles from the west coast of Lake Michigan.

Every day, the lake is a different color. It can be anything from blue to green, brown, and I've even seen patches of purple and yellow, depending on the weather and the sunlight.

So I am going down to the lake to quickly paint the colors, just a little 10 minute simple few swipes of the brush.

And given my mindset these days, distracted and worried about the corona virus, and staying in my house or studio as much as possible, I decided to add a blessing or benediction with each painting. 

Here is the first little painting, in a little 3" x 4" watercolor sketch book.

God be with us all.

Catching up, moving forward!

Wow, it's been a long time since I was active here, but I've certainly been active everywhere else! I'm still painting my heart out, loving creating portraits for people and telling their stories. I won't put all of them here, but you can check out more on my website at www.debmarett.com. But here are a couple very recent pieces, as I am working to prepare for having a booth at the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison, in April. I'm so excited about this new direction, incorporating horses in with my portraits of people. The bond between horse and rider is almost magical, and my work celebrates that special connection.

I'm also including some scenes that really capture the action, which is another fun direction.

If you are interested in commissioning a portrait (with or without a horse included!) please contact me.

Announcing "Famous"

Starbucks has a great campaign going: "'Everylove' is for all the relationships in your life worth celebrating." A perfect time to announce my new project which will be unveiled fully in 2016 with a gallery show: "Famous" will celebrate the people I have encountered whose lives have had an impact on those around them, or who have lived in a way that makes a difference. Here are the first 2 1/2 portraits of my "Famous" people. For the next year and a half, these people, and telling their stories, will be my #everylove.  #whyareyoufamous

My Father's Tie, portrait

"My Father's Tie", Travis, Oil On Canvas. It's currently 24" x 30", but I'm going to re-stretch it to be 22" x 27". Removing some of the bottom & area behind him will strengthen the compostition--The image here has been cropped to reflect that.

I've been getting up at 5:30 or so every morning to paint before getting ready for work. It's a lovely way to start the day, with music and a dark house (except the 3 lights on in the studio trying to pretend it's daylight).

WIP, continued

As I work on this large portrait (24x30), I am learning more about trusting the paint & trusting the values. My mantra is "without light, there is no shadow, and without shadow there is no light."

Next I need to go in & really finish up the face (and put on his glasses!) and tie, before I get too surrounded with that background.

New portrait WIP

Started a new portait this weekend--painting looser than I think I've ever done, and loving it! I feel a freedom here that is fun, and a comfort & mastery of the paint that hasn't been there before.

2 more little paintings from my plein air weekend of freedom! :)

Labor Day Weekend Plein Air!

Time for a plein air weekend! I've done this now & again over Labor Day weekend. Just doing day trips this time. So relaxing after the regime of work during the week! Got rained out for awhile, but still did get 2 small pieces. Heading out again in the morning, hopefully will get to be more productive tomorrow!

My mission this weekend is just to paint sketches, quick. These are small pieces, and were done in about an hour.

I will sleep well tonight!

Dream Studio

I've long dreamed of a studio right here at home--but the basement is too dark & in the winter too cold. A small structure built in the backyard would be really cool; but you'd have to run electricity to it & figure out how to heat it. Yesterday a friend suggested adding a room above my garage, which would be really ideal I think--it would even have north light! I have no idea how it could be accessed from inside the house but probably some clever builder could do it. It's great fun to dream about anyway.

Samantha's Teething Face

This was a new experiment--on watercolor paper, I painted a wash of coffee (several layers), and then did the drawing in graphite. I love the feel of it! It gives a lot of texture & character to the drawing. 

A new chicken

I spent last weekend at a painting workshop & started this piece there. I learned so much, I feel like it will take months to incorporate all the tips and info into my painting! I have 6 pages of notes.
Here's the finished piece, and since this is the third chicken painting I think I can officially call it a series now. I definitely intend to do more.

Portrait Show Opening

I had such a nice time this weekend with my mom & aunt, who drove 2 hours to see me at the "Portraits" show opening at Studio 659 in Whiting, IN. I have 2 pieces in the show, which will be up for the month of March. It was very well attended, & we had a celebratory dinner at Chic-Fil-A afterward! 

 

new portrait in progress

WIP, Mother and child

Hazel, finished!

I put the final touches on her today. I'm very happy with this one, and excited to show it! "Hazel Is Always Twirling" Oil on Canvas, 20 x 24.

Hazel Dancing

I started renting a small area in a studio this month. I go there most mornings. I have been amazed at how quickly the time goes; today I was there for 3 1/2 hours, and really could have stayed all day. Will I ever be able to reach my dream of working full time as an artist? I feel that I am making progress, and getting more proficient with each painting. I'm hoping that I'll sell enough this year to cover the cost of the studio rental at least. I'm looking for commissions for portraits.

Here is where I stopped for today.

New WIP, looser style

I've been wanting the try a looser, more painterly style for awhile, and this portrait just seemed right for it. I have some extra time right now so am trying to get a lot of painting done while I wait for some actual paying work to come in! I'm really enjoying this one; to be honest I didn't know I could paint like this. 

The Red Shawl 2, final

WIP, continued

Slowly developing the details of the shawl. This part is much harder and I paint and then paint over, again and again. It would be easier to make the shawl with only suggestions of the details, but I feel it's important to learn this. 

A lifetime of painting, growing, learning

Working on my portrait today, dreaming of the next one.....there are so many that I want to work on & I have a list going: a man dressed in business attire, an old man in casual clothes, a young woman, a little girl. I'm thinking maybe in 10 years I'll have this mastered....or maybe longer....what a great journey though!