The Journey and Process in Life and Painting

| Flora Doehler

I paint because I’m in love with my subject and I am delighted by the process of applying colour to a blank surface.

In the book Art and Fear the writers suggest that the observers who admire the finished piece of work have no interest in the artist’s process:

MAKING ART AND VIEWING ART ARE DIFFERENT AT THEIR CORE. To all reviewers but yourself, what matters is the product: the finished artwork…In fact there’s generally no good reason why others should care about most of any one artist’s work. The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars.  One of the basic and difficult lessons every artist must learn is that even the failed pieces are essential.

Continue reading →

Advertisements

But What Should I Paint? – Choosing a Theme for an Art Series

| Flora Doehler

I went back and forth about the overall theme of this painting series I’m working on. For a while I wanted to paint something connected to Ancient Egypt after revisiting the amazing display at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. I borrowed books and tapes from the library and listened to podcasts. I still AM listening to an interesting one, Eric’s Guide to Ancient Egypt. However, I didn’t feel connected enough to the subject to paint it. Continue reading →

Painting in Luscious Colour – one step at a time

| Flora Doehler

As I prepare for a solo painting show in Bear River April 15 – 23,  my 1st step is to create a colour archive of all my acrylics.

There are so many ways to approach creating a body of work for an exhibition. I have to tell you that my head space up until late December was far away from painting. Our elderly cat was very sick. She’s quite a bit better, but time is catching up with her.  She is such a sweet kitty, it’s hard to see her age. And, like the rest of you, I was and am still distracted and distressed by the political scene south of the border. Continue reading →

Creativity is Part of our Humanity

| Flora Doehler

 I’ve been reading and thinking about ‘creativity’ and where it comes from. Years ago I purchased Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, about accessing your inner creativity. I didn’t get around to reading it until we moved here to Bear River 9 years ago. I was so busy working in a library office that my limited ‘free’ time was spent painting, not reading about it. The book was a reminder of my frustration about my lack of creating time.  I never imagined that I would be living in a gorgeous little village with years ahead of me to make art. Continue reading →

The Painted Door

| Flora Doehler

Earlier this year I was invited to paint a door for a fundraiser for the Yarmouth, Nova Scotia branch of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

At the time I was swamped with painting my musician series and I almost turned down this opportunity. I thought I could be practical and adapt one of my photographs or an existing painting or drawing for the project. That would save time, right? Easy and fast, right? #famouslastwords Continue reading →