The CREATIVE side of YOU!

Artsy Journeys is the ultimate Art Adventure! There are no rules, no judgments, no special applications and no previous experiences necessary to create amazingly beautiful art drawn from your experiences and imagination.

Become one with your thoughts, ideas, dreams, memories and your goals through random applications of color, embellishments and how you happen to feel that day!

Join me and together we will explore and embrace that Art Adventure and walk that path of beauty.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Working with kids in the Arts

Everyone has ideas about how to work with children in the arts.  No other subject, like ART, has so many different opinions and ideas and confusion as to "what it is."How can something so fun be so confusing?

Artsy Journeys is more about art exploration than disciplined art yet they go hand in hand.The two work together. For instance, it takes discipline to sit down and create something in a journal or on paper. It takes discipline to go to the shop or read a "how to" book or article. It takes discipline to put away your tools, try something different or work till you feel you have completed your project.
Working with clay and armatures

Working with children is often about creativity coupled with "directional" discipline. Kids need and want direction. The ones that jump into a project without waiting for direction are usually the ones that soon start complaining about not being able to "do it." That can have a bit of a negative impact on those kids who are creatively following directions so when the kids start new projects, they get the best results by ...yep...paying attention to me before we start!

There's no secret to it-I keep it short and sweet. "Look into my eyes, let's go over the tools, now we'll look at the examples.......tell me what I just said."
3D sculpture with marshmallows and toothpicks
This works SO well-just as I did with my own children. I love the kids-love to work with them. They love to learn, But too much initial freedom  in the arts is confusing to them and actually gives them mind blank! In art we call it the "blank canvas" syndrom. Writers love to talk about "writer's block." It's all the same thing. We ALL need a direction to start!
 
When the child is given the required tools/materials for an Art project and pointed in a particular direction with a few guidelines, THAT is when the enthusiastic creativity begins to happen!
One of my "grown up" students with her Sculpey sculpture!


Friday, December 27, 2013

Hiking your way to Happiness

Happy New Year!

Well an entire month slipped by...rushed by...and we're already into the end of Dec. 2013. Not sure how that happened but although I missed shouting out Merry Christmas here-it was definitely on my Facebook pages and newsletters!

The rush is over and now is when I regroup, rethink, plan and relax (as much as I am capable of!)
I gave Steve his Christmas present (and the same to me) to enhance our artist rejuvenation..trekking poles! Yep- hiking poles to get us out of the studio and onto the many trails in our area.
It's been in the 30's but the freezing rains and snows across the midwest missed us and went north.

So what do you do with a new backpack and trekking poles on Christmas evening and the following day? You hike :-)

It's a good place for an artist.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The path less traveled-on a very cold day!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Watercolor Wednesdays coming!

 WATERCOLOR WEDNESDAYSwatercolor class

Wednesday December 4 and December 11,  6:00 - 8:00 Instructor Steve
Wake Forest Art and Frame Shop, 139 S. White St, Wake Forest NC 27567student watercolor
First, I'd like you to take a look at the watercolors of barns in a snowy landscape. They were painted by first time watercolor students. Just to let you know that watercolor is not "difficult" nor is "harder than oils or acrylics." In fact all you need is a cup of water, a brush, a few watercolor paints and a piece of paper. That's it. Well, a pencil might come in handy, but none of the fumes or smells that you get from acrylics and oil paints. You can paint on your kitchen table without worrying. Simple.
Our first class will look at the types of watercolor paints, brushes and papers. (The water is pretty much standard, what you get from your faucet will work fine.)
We will experiment with the materials and try different techniques. And of course, we will create a painting, after all, leaving a class with a finished painting sort of makes it worth while.
I will provide you with paint and materials for this first class. I will also discuss and give you a list of recommend paints and brushes. If you have any paints and brushes at home, please bring them along. We will take a look at what you have and how you can use it.
Our second class we will continue by student watercolorcreating another painting the easy way, playing with our new toys.

Now a side note, a few years ago Theresa and I took some swing dance lessons. What I learned from those lessons was that when you go to the second class, you probably could use some review of the previous lesson before jumping into some new steps because I had completely forgotten them. And the practice we did at home, well it probably could have been better. (The instructors didn't seem to have any trouble, but boy was I lost in that second class when they began telling us to do steps that they assumed we not only remembered but were able to do.)  So our second painting will also consist of some time reviewing what we learned, and we will do that the easy way. by painting another watercolor.
Continuing Classes  We will be continuing these classes, sometimes working on a single theme and other times going in individual directions. There might be homework.
Please take a look at the bottom of this page, there as some examples of my watercolors for you to look at. After all, you do want to know what your instructor can do, don't you.
Only $50. for both classes in December.
 You can register on line with Paypal or Credit Card. Please select the option, then click the "Add to Cart" button. You can select the number of students you wish to register at the next step.


Gift certificates available!

Watercolors by your instructor, Stephen Filarsky
steve watercolorsteve watercolor
steve watercolorsteve watercolor

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The bread and butter of creating!

No doubt about it-Christmas is a motivating factor for people thinking about a portrait!
Below are two collages with quick glimpses of what this fall has been like so far...I am leaving out the ones that are gifts that could be seen!
My silk art as well as abstracts have sold as well so a collage composite will be along soon.
I love my job!




Monday, October 28, 2013

The art of creating!

Some images of just a few of October's artwork!

Some of the silk work and the volunteer stick horses (amazingly time consuming!)

Creating my artwork in all its various forms from portraits to abstracts to silk art to stick horses (a volunteer fundraiser project) has left little room for putting things back where they belong and on my list today are the deceptively simple words "clean studio."

It sounds so simple to just put back the art supplies, yet in the midst of creating and running out the door, everything gets moved around, set down randomly, put in and out of car, not empty trash cans, clean up messes, and not return items to their designated spots....multiply that by the 27 straight days of shows that we have also been doing and those two little words become a HUGE item on a long list! So crossing off just this one thing on my list can be an all day event and I have just two days before the shows begin again!


Both Steve and I paint a lot at the shows while we are there but once back at the studio, I personally need an uncluttered space to recharge and be productive! 


So without any more procrastination....off the computer and into the studio to tackle...well at least my half!

Maybe I'll post a photo of "after!"





Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Our ART Studio on Pinterest

We are asked constantly about the perfect art studio. The post before this showcased a few photos and the addition of a new building adding another 240 square feet to our current 720. That does not included 2 spare bedrooms now used for office space, sewing, storage and library! :-) 
So the perfect studio is the one that will work for you. There is also the old saying (one of my father's favorites) "A place for everything and everything in its place!"
I opted to put a Board on Pinterest to continue to showcase or art studios and surroundings areas hoping it will inspire artists to use what they have. You can see it all and follow it here:
 http://www.pinterest.com/theresabrownart/our-art-studio/

LOTS of photos updated regularly...neat, messy, spring, summer, fall and winter....work with what you have. Don't let the lack of the "perfect studio" stop you from creating. Draw your inspiration from what you feel and see around you. We take regular "random driving" trips around our vicinity to snap photos, inhale the aroma of the seasons and in general-absorb your surroundings.

new studio coming along
See the rest of the story here: http://www.pinterest.com/theresabrownart/our-art-studio/

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Colors of Inspiration

Why do we use certain colors? What attracts us to yellows or blues or pinks? Why do we react well with some colors and not with others?
I opened the doors to my studio this morning and walked out with coffee in one hand and a recently completed silk painting in the other.  I paused to revel in the unusually cool morning and admire the colors of dawn. Reds, oranges, yellows and cerulean blue against a backdrop of greens in every hue. The cooler summer has kept the shades of greens vivid this year rather than showing the browns that come by the end of the hot days. 
And then I realized that the silk scarf I was holding in my hands encompassed the colors of all that I was seeing. And I knew then where much of my inspiration was coming from. From within my subconscious came my color palette because it was not until I stepped out of the studio did I realize how the colors around me had influenced my paintings on silk. And that's a good place to be :-)
The colors of morning

the colors of Inspiration