Hello everyone,
As you may have surmised, I have not achieved my 'painting a week' goal. In fact, I'm coming to the conclusion that it might not be possible, for a few reasons. To be fair, I did start a floral painting just over a week ago (which would have been painting 03, and my first attempt at flowers), but the subject literally died on me right in the middle of painting it. I was only able to complete two flowers before the whole bouquet started wilting on me. Perhaps keeping fresh flowers in my 'cold at night' painting room was not the smartest idea. Lesson learned. :) So the piece I've submitted this week has a two-fold purpose. First, I wanted to revisit painting with acrylics, since it's very likely my students will be using them instead of oils... and I'm out of practice. I certainly don't want to have expectations of my students, if I can't accomplish the same thing myself. Secondly, I had the pleasure of joining a dear friend of mine for lunch... a Professor of Art at the U of U, who reminded me of an acrylic technique he'd taught me quite a few years ago. The piece below is the first stage of that process, and is a wonderful way to understand the value scale as it relates to distance in landscape situations. If I have the opportunity to offer a landscape painting class through my non-profit organization, this is definitely one of the techniques I'll be teaching. I better cut this post short. I still have so much to do today, but didn't want to neglect my web page. If you were hoping for weekly updates, I hope you'll forgive me cutting back to perhaps only twice a month. I simply have so many responsibilities/opportunities with my non-profit job, I can't afford the luxury of painting as much as I'd like. Nothing sad about that. I just want to make sure I'm giving my all to the organization, and that will require a whole lot more of my time. I hope to see you all in two weeks. Smiles, Justin
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Greetings everyone,
My Week 02 painting is finally up. (Some may have noticed it's been up for a few days now... I just needed the blog entry to go with it.) This one is entitled "Nostalgia... and a Vase', because hey, it's stuff that holds significance for me... and I needed a third object to round out the composition. :) This past week has been one of my favorites in the past many years. So much change in so little time. To be honest, I'm trying not to let my ego creep in and remind me I should be, at the very least, overwhelmed by all the changes and challenges I'm facing. I suspect I've gotten old enough now that those kinds of fears just don't hold as much power as they did in my early, less confident years. It's amazing how un-intimidating making bold choices can be when you already know what more stress and less joy feels like. This week has also been a little sad for me. A dear friend is having problems at home; the kind every parent hopes won't happen, but that almost seems unavoidable... children growing up, taking risks, and scaring you silly with their choices. I know he and his dear wife are really struggling right now. I know they worry deeply about recent events, and hope their daughter will eventually see the light and the love of their recent choices. The only wisdom I have for them at this time is to remember to make their choices from a place of unconditional love, and leave words of fear and anger to the less experienced people of the world. These two are beautiful people doing the best they can. Now their absolutely brilliant, awesome, 'nearing adulthood' children are wanting to carve out their own existences. This is the critical time when parenting begins to take a back-seat to just being a friend to your kids; and from mine and Cheer's experience, this stage is not very fun at all. I'll leave you with a story I recently heard through the grapevine; a truly life changing idea expressed by a guest speaker at a weekend retreat on loving kindness. From the podium, the speaker asks the following question, "By show of hands, how many people out there feel like they would be more confident, more hopeful, and generally better off in life if their parents had shown them more love?" ... to which the crowd unanimously raises their hands. He then asks the follow-up question, "Now, by show of hands, how many of you think your kids would say the same thing if they were sitting in these seats right now?" Words are a wonderful tool for opening us up, and I plan to keep sharing these little gems with you as my blog continues. For now, my best wishes to my dear friend, my hopes of happiness and peace for all of you, and I hope to have another painting/blog up by the end of the week. Warmest regards, Justin I'm still not sure what to make of the last 24 months. I only know that I've mostly recovered from what looked like permanent nerve damage in my arms thanks to an amazing spinal surgeon, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm unable to continue my 21 year career as a Graphic Artist due to lingering nerve damage, and now it's time to start my working life over again.
Originally, I'd planned on going back to school to get a Bachelors of Fine Arts... maybe even become an art instructor, if the cards played out. But even that appears to be changing now. In the last few weeks, I've quite literally been handed one of those 'DO NOT TURN THIS DOWN' opportunities to work for a well respected Non-Profit organization that helps at-risk youth through art and music programs. At the very least, I will be teaching drawing and painting classes to aspiring young minds. And ultimately, I've been given the green light to wear just about any hat I want in order to help them expand. In a surprising turn of events, my life seems destined for the very things I've always wanted: to be creative, and to help others. So here's the deal... the commitment I've made to myself. I don't want silly life drama to ever derail this wonderful opportunity I've been given to paint again. It quiets my mind and puts a smile on my face. It reminds me of who I am inside. Essentially, it makes me feel connected and in love with life in a way almost nothing else can. I'd be a fool to give up on anything that can so easily put me in that space. So, on the heels of having just finished an awesome semester in an Advanced Oil Painting class, I've devised a plan to make sure painting stays a priority in my life... I plan to complete a painting a week for the entire year of 2016 (that's 52 paintings for those counting). I know it looks like I'm already off schedule, but the painting below was in fact completed Thursday of last week. It just took me a while to decide on a web-hosting group for this little project of mine. (...and to build the actual site of course.) I hope you enjoy this, my first piece of 2016. I plan to start my next painting tomorrow, so you should be seeing another post before the week is out. Personally, I'm very excited by the challenge, and am already tossing around a few ideas to push this little experiment further. But those details can wait until a later entry, once I've proven I can stay the course. Smiles, Justin |
AuthorHello everyone. I'm Justin Mackay. I'm a creative soul, an explorer of life's mysteries, and a big fan of all the beauty in the world. If you're just here for the paintings, then head on over to my Art tab. If you wish to delve deeper into the odd thoughts of a pondering mind, then this is the place for you. Archives
February 2018
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