I've moved my blog!

For this new year I have a new website and a new blog site for all my new and creative notions. Please follow me to the new blog site: http://www.joanfullertonworkshops.com/blog.htl and sign up. 

Also check out my upcoming workshops:  http://www.joanfullertonworkshops.com/attend.html

I would love to have you join me in Colorado next month!  Feb 21, 22, 23....2014!

                                                          Renewal, mixed media, 2014
                                                                     Joan Fullerton

                               Workshop Website: http://www.joanfullertonworkshops.com

Art is the Teacher

  

                                          Unplanted Garden, 48x60, acrylic polymer collage


The "ego" makes art like we expect to see.  But if we trust our hunches and intuitions, our art can move beyond predictable.  Giving yourself permission to take risks and rebel against the ordinary, is ultimate creative freedom and is the path for finding your own voice. Painting from the heart, the space of receptivity and non-judgement, allows us to recognize unique expressive qualities when they emerge. Step away from your work and "notice what you notice".  Listen to the art!  

 Play and whimsy are effective tools for creativity (also essential tools for living).  Did you know humor is a right-brain quality?  Larry Bell said in a radio interview, "Relax your vision and daydream within the painting."  Makes perfect sense to me!

A university professor was known for walking into a room of painters saying "keep it rich", then retreating into his studio and his own work.  Edgar Whitney the famous watercolor      teacher told me he could walk into a room of students and say, "make the darks darker",       and he knew it was what they all needed to hear. Teaching an abstract composition workshop last week, I realized my mantra could be "stop thinking and just paint"!  Getting out of your head...how refreshing!   

                                                  Circadian Rhythms, 24x24 on canvas

                               Mixed Media Abstract Art

Preparing to teach my abstract workshop next week, has me contemplating all the many ideas and techniques I want to share with students.  Metal leafing applied either as an accent or as a background, is one of my faves.  Sometimes I use adhesive spray randomly and gently lay in sheets of leafing, while other times I paint adhesive in a more deliberate, designed way.  In this painting a very large amount of leafing was applied underneath gel medium and thin glazes of transparent and translucent color.  This abstract composition changes based on the quality and direction of the light reflecting on the metallic surface.  I thrive on change!



My paintings are dramas...the shapes on the canvas are the performers.  Most of the time I work intuitively and do not know what will show up on the stage.

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."  Albert Einstein

This quote of Einstein's has mostly been true.  I believe this is changing.  Are you are interested in the ideas of left brain/right brain, rational mind/intuitive mind? If so, read the book,  My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor, or watch this Ted Talk:  http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

                                                              First Epilogue, 10x10

This mixed media collage was recently accepted into the 22nd annual International Juried Exhibition of Experimental Artists (ISEA) at the Big Arts Center in Sanibel Island, FL.  This exhibition will be on display from October 18th until November 27th, 2013.  www.iseaartexhibit.org

Designing dynamic compositions happens by creating contrasts.  Visual intrigue is more probable when you balance contrasting qualities, like contrasting areas of many shapes, with areas of few; colorful areas with areas of neutrals; and opaque areas with those that are translucent or transparent. I get a kick out of using yellowed pages from an old copy of War and Peace I picked up from a "free box" on a street in Taos, NM.  There isn't more of a contrast than that of WAR and PEACE!  

                                                   WORKSHOP 

Creating dynamic abstract compositions will be addressed at my up-coming "Telling a Story with Shape and Color" workshop at the Madden Art Museum in Greenwood Village, CO.  October 1, 2, and 3 from 9:30 to 4:30 we will explore abstract composition using acrylic paint on paper and canvas.  Call Hillary to enroll:  303-763-1970