"Just Add Water"

This is the third painting I did for my painting class. It's acrylic paints on  a 16" X 20" canvas; titled "Just Add Water". For this one I didn't really follow any sort of theme as I did previously for the first two paintings for this class. Our professor had a basket of fruit set up in the middle of the room for us to paint (for the second unit of fruits and vegetables), and since I had just previously painted my own version of a fruit bowl --I was not overly excited to paint another one. My professor then told me to paint whatever I would like. I sat looking at different objects around the room before I found one.... a watering can. This painting did not look anything like this finished project when I started. Since I had no idea going into class of what I was going to paint, I felt a little like I was forcing myself to paint since I had two hours of class time ahead of me that I didn't want to waste. After leaving class and having a few days to think about what I was going to do; I came back to class and created this instead over the first watering can painting. I like how the background has things going on but they're subtly seen since the eye is drawn to the watering can. Yet if you let your eyes wandering over the entire painting you will find little things here and there. I'm hoping to get some good comments/critiques from my class (or anyone who's looking at this now) that will help me keep figuring out my painting style.

"Fruit Bowl #2"

This is my second painting for my painting class. I used acrylic paints on a 16" x 20" canvas; titled "Fruit Bowl #2". The theme for this second unit was: fruits and vegetables. Hence, the fruit (+ one vegetable) bowl. :)  The inspiration from this one came from an art work (glue and pastels on black construction paper) that I did back in my first grade year of school (1993, age 6; see photo below). After the completion of my pastel, my art teacher at the time entered it into an art contest -my piece won and was displayed at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art (located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) for a period of time. When this unit came up, I was discussing some ideas with my mom when she said, "You need to do another fruit bowl!" I was hoping to keep the fruit in the bowl as similar as possible to what I had originally done, but at the same time still make it its own painting. I'm very happy with how this one turned out. It's life-like but not as precise as a photograph. However, I don't think this is really my style. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist so when I first started painting it, I wanted it to look very realistic (which it does, but my initial vision for the painting did not look like the end result at all). I'm still trying to figure out what my painting style is, and I think this painting helped me with trying to find out.

[[photo of 1st grade fruit bowl coming soon for comparison]]

"a world full of geometry"

This is the first painting that I did for my class. For this, I used acrylic paints on a 16" x 20" canvas; titled "a world full of geometry". The overall unit or theme for this painting was: simple geometric figures. This is what I mental created before class started, and was greatly surprised by what everyone else was making. Most students in the class did a still-life of the cube, flower pot which a basketball sat on, and other trinkets that sat around the cube. That was not something that appealed to me at all. As the professor originally stated that our paintings need to come from the heart; I stuck with what I had. Not only did a feel a stronger connection to paint what I had already mentally drawn up, but it also just felt right. 


I love the randomness of the overall painting, as well as the uniqueness of each shape. There are no two shapes or lines that are the same. Even if they look the same on here, I can guarantee that the naked eye will pick up different textures when seeing this in person.

Learning has no age limits

Last December (2010) I graduated from the University of Iowa. That meant that the year and a half I have to wait until I *hopefully* (fingers crossed) get into dental school will be filled with work, studying and applying to dental school, and the start of paying back my student loans. This doesn't sound like a lot of fun, so as a way to add some fun I decided to enroll in a painting class. Not only would I be learning different skills to grow as an artist, but now I would also have someone help give me some directions with my paintings (tell me things I'm doing well and should keep doing, and give me advice on things I should change). 

The class started on January 10, 2011, and so far has been an amazing experience for me. And even though it's a class; I don't see it that way --and definitely don't dread going to it like I did with many of my courses for my undergrad degree. There are many units that I think will challenge me to paint outside my comfort zone, but ultimately will help me shape and grow into a better painter.

While many of my paintings I've finished so far have been all over the board on the content (and usually relate to the mood I'm in), the paintings for my class already have a theme for what they will contain. However, my professor told us from the beginning that if we weren't feeling the unit that we could paint whatever we were feeling. He said this is the most important part of painting since it needs to come from your heart. Ryan also gave me this advice before my first painting. I think this is a very valuable lesson to learn, and I hope that I will continue to remember this advice the more and more that I paint.


I'll be adding the paintings that I've completed from my class on here since they are also part of the process of me growing as an artist; and should be included in it's documentation. I'm hoping to see a noticeable change in my paintings at the end of the semester when I'm able to compare this first and last paintings of the course. I'm very excited about this and looking forward to it. Hope everyone continues to enjoy what I create! :)

"flower."

This is my fourth painting. I used acrylic paints on a 12" x 12" canvas; titled "flower." My little sister (age 6) has seen each and every painting that I've created so far and kept asking me if she could have something. She is a very girlie-girl who loves flowers, the colors: pink, purple, and light blue, as well as butterflies. I tired to take these favorites of hers and incorporate them into a painting for her.  For this one, instead of throwing on my usual mix of music for when I paint --I decided to listen to music with strong female singers, or songs by female artists that I have an awesome beat that makes you wanna dance. I think my favorite thing about this painting is the overall brightness. My first few paintings were not as bright (although there were some bright colors within; they were more darker in appearance than this one).


=side note= 
    Once I had finished this painting and let it dry, I showed it to my sister.  The first thing that came out of her mouth was "That is so beautiful! I love it!!! Can I have it Katie?"  I cracked the biggest smile and told my sister that I painted it for her. She was absolutely THRILLED, and the look on her face when I told her it was hers gave me one of the best feelings in the world. I only hope that I can keep doing things that will produce the same sort of reactions in others.  :)

"checkmate"

This is my third painting. It is on an 8" x 10" canvas board; titled "checkmate". For this one I happened to be bored at work one day and began doodling on a piece of paper. I doodled a sketch of the chess pieces next to one another, and when I went to put my sketch on canvas I ended up inverting one of the pieces and blending them together. I really like how the chess pieces turned out. For the background I imitated a chess board with the board "dripping" near the bottom.  I think it adds a little character to the painting. This one is pretty basic, but I like the simplicity of it.