A Beautiful Mess

This ALWAYS gets me out of my slump!    Though, it's a love/hate relationship.  I know what I have to do,  but I always drag my feet getting started.  I dread the preparation, dragging all the canvases out, arranging 6-10 of them strategically on the floor, prepping all the paint, brushes, mixtures, buckets of water, planning out the order of application, what brush should go with what color, etc... Some days I just want to go in the studio, dip a brush in the paint and start painting.  But, no that's not to be for me, somewhere along the line I got the "action" painter virus.  Which entails using 10x's the paint, canvas, and energy that a somewhat "normal" (I use that term loosely) artists uses.

So, getting past all that, now I get to the fun part.   The part I love, the pouring, splashing, squirting, brushing, dripping, going from one canvas to the next, just getting paint on canvas, watching the colors merge, beautifully formed shapes that I couldn't make happen if I tried.  Love, love,  love the spontaneity + freedom of this method.   This process never fails in getting those proverbial creative juices flowing again!

Now we wait for the paint to dry....

Naming Artwork

Some artists prefer not to title their work, but I for one feel compelled to name my work.  For me it is the final part of the painting process, the work is not complete without the name.  Usually the name comes to me right after I complete the piece, as I am sitting there with my evocative  thoughts, feelings, and memories.  Out of this my titles usually come to me, thus adding another facet and finality to the work.

10 Easy Steps to Making a Painting

I've been working on this particular painting the last couple of days and when I get to certain stages I take pics of it with my I-pad to isolate it to get a better idea of what I need to do next.  As I was looking through my pics today I thought it would be a neat idea to do a slideshow of the progress of this painting. The size is 40x60 on canvas.  As for the title-I wish it could be as easy as 10 steps!

Enjoy!
Melissa Mason

Planting Seeds

Seeds Planted Long Ago  42x33 acrylic, torn paper, on canvas

As I start my blogging journey, I've decided I am going to post everyday (except weekends).  What exactly I am going to be posting, I do not know yet.  There will definitely be pictures of art.  My head is full of ideas and I am wanting this to organically evolve into something that feels right for me.   I don't have all the answers right now.