A few minutes in an Art Journey!

Want a brief glimpse of what you missed at our Ladies Art Retreat last weekend?  Don't miss the next one scheduled for Saturday April 13 from 1-4 pm! We sold out last week so  Reserve your spot today!
http://artstudentacademy.com/Ladies-Art-Retreat-2.html

Abstract Expressions

Artsy Journeys are all about creating random art and exploring options, mediums and ideas. I have another "job" as an artist (for many years) and that is my portraits and abstract paintings. Yes the two can co-exist beautifully.....for me the abstracts evolved in high school as I explored the brush strokes created when the brush dipped in India ink, or seeing how to make a painting "move." 

"The Race" by M Theresa Brown. Conte crayon on paper 18 x 24

And the other day, while in the attic of our studio putting away Christmas decorations, I found an early example of what I would later add back to my repertoire....this drawing on the right was created in conte art crayon and was an early effort at depicting the horse and rider in movement in 2-D format. Looking at it decades later...I like it! And I now see this particular sketch as a thumbnail to a larger work on canvas :-)

Ain't life grand? :-)

The disruption of routine as we know it and what to do...

Quirks of nature are nothing new to weather patterns but I don't think anyone expected Halloween storm Sandy to rise up from the Caribbean and wreak such destruction on the northeast US coastline.
There is a certain twinge of survivor's guilt in thinking "Wow that could have been me". 
But the undeniable truth in such circumstances, is that the world does not end.  Your life may have been forever disrupted or altered but elsewhere, people still get up in the morning and go about their daily tasks.
On such a large scale of news coverage of an event,(weather related or not) it is hard to be unaware of others' misfortunes.Unaffected? Well, the US is a big country. If a personal misfortune happens on a small or individual scale, people usually are simply unaware.

Time has a way of moving on-with or without us. Often..... well, it's all about what begins to bring your world back into focus. Art is one of those areas that encompasses so many arenas of healing...music, dance, painting, sewing....all of it good and all of it necessary in some format. And when the pull begins to happen, even just a little, you know you are on the emotional road to recovery. Art in any format, is good.

Blue Corgi  (sold)

Flash in the Grass 11 x 14

Miniature art journal

Moonstruck 16 x 20 (sold)

Artsy Journeys tends to be more about what I personally explore  in the arts-away from the discipline of portrait painting which has paid my family's bills for many years.














I love to create portraits-every face is different. Every clients wants are different. But there is NO denying the energy and release and total absorption that comes with exploring random areas of art-experienced in it or not. No holds, no boundaries, no rules. But the main value of creating art in all its various forms?  The temporary experience of being in the ART ZONE.  It's a good place to be. Whether your art project takes 30 minutes, 2 hours or a day, the Art Zone is a private area in which everything else fades away and your mind, regardless of what has transpired around you, is absorbed in the creation of art. It's a very good place to be.

May you be there soon!

Exploring an Art Journey in a Care Facility

Think art journeys are only for the busy moms, young kids, single people or retired people? How about those in rehab or extended care facilities?
We go twice a month to such a facility and the rewards are priceless :-)
Some of these beautiful people have never painted. That's right-never! So last week we painted "Sunset in the Mountains" and for an hour they were engrossed in the Art Zone. A wonderful place to be when life has changed all around you!
Try it sometime!