Welcome! I'm Frances, and this is my blog about all things ART! I've decided to start blogging in order to help myself focus on my own art and also to bring art knowledge to you. I'll show & tell you what I'm all about and I plan to cover many topics relating to art. Get excited about being creative. Learn to love trying new techniques. Immerse yourself in the wondrous and varied styles and branches of the art world. Let's begin!
This is me in front of some of my early paintings. As a member of the Gallery@501, I had the opportunity to display my art in the Artrium, a nice corridor in the Sherwood Park Community Center. I even sold the painting of the pussy willows titled "Emergence". A bit about me I was born and raised a city girl (Edmonton). I married into farm life and raised 4 children in Sturgeon County. That's where I am today. And loving it! It's lovely to sit out on the deck or front step and just enjoy the fresh air and peacefulness. The scenery can be very art inspiring. Driving down a country road looking for old houses is a fun pastime. A bit about my art I really dove into art as an adult, some time in 2017. Even though I had done some dabbling first as a child and then as a teenager, I never really put much time into art. With 4 children I did not have the time either. It was only when the kids were grown and I cut back on my work hours, that I decided to pursue art more aggressively. Not just doing arts and crafts with the kids. In 2017 I bought a cheap set of acrylic paints and brushes. With no real formal art education, I set out to learn on my own. Well, almost. I searched online for free lessons and came upon Jane Font and her Painting with Jane videos. I enjoyed the lessons and found her easy to follow. I rolled out numerous paintings and seemed to make some headway. However, I felt that after a few months of these videos, I was outgrowing that style of painting. I went from video to video with various different artist instructors.
These are a few of my very early paintings. Done while following along with Jane
Later in 2017, I signed up for an in person class and went through several months of learning and interacting with other artists and a wonderful instructor. By then I was painting every day at home. Working from photos I had or downloading reference photos from free websites. I just couldn't get enough. Everything I looked at seemed to translate into a painting in my eyes.
Wanting to broaden my horizons I joined several art groups. I did a few art walks as a vendor.
Over the past few years I have learned what works for me and what doesn't when exhibiting my art.
A Few Pitfalls
I happen to be prolific and exuberant with my art. When winter ends I get all excited and sign up for events where I can display my work. I do tend to get carried away, applying for events and then realizing I'm going to be exhausted, running from one event to the next.
A clear idea of what I want to accomplish during the year would help. I will talk about that later.
In Closing
So why, do you ask, am I starting yet another endeavor writing this blog? I am hoping it will help me focus on my art, learn more, become more expressive about art and just try something new. So join me on my journey and welcome to My Art Space!
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