Do you believe that the moon reflects the changing light? And that the flowers that died away will someday return? Do you believe that you, personally, have a chance to begin again? And how different are they anyway?
The Circle Collection explores the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, as well as the mystery that holds it all.
]]>And as I cracked an egg, I took a quick in-breath because I was immediately struck by how magical it was. An egg. It’s pretty damn magical. I still remember the first time I had retrieved an egg from a chicken I had raised. I was so excited, you would have thought I had won the lottery. Seriously, it’s still a highlight of my life.
“Look kids! It’s a magic wand,” I said as I lifted up a hairbrush that I kept in the car. “Just wave it over your head, cast a spell, and your hair will immediately be transformed.” The kids bought into it and we started putting the word “magic” in front of everything, until the magic hairbrush eventually gave us all magic lice. Turns out, hairbrushes, like all wands, work best if you use your own.
So, now, one of my mantras is, “Life is beautiful. I just have to pay attention.”
Of course, sometimes that is easier than at other times. And this painting "However the Light Comes" was inspired by one of those times. My daughter, Amelia, had just come home from school and took this pose, and I had another one of those quick in-breaths.
I also have been known to cry to while picking up my oldest from soccer practice—not because after 10 years I still don’t know the rules, but because I’m overcome by how beautiful all the girls are.
And that’s why I’m a painter. Because I’ve been deeply feeling and crying my whole life. Except now, I mostly cry because the beauty is so overwhelming, and I try and capture it in a totem I call a painting.
A totem to remind you of the beauty during the moments you can’t see it.
So, have a magical day and a magical week, because I think you are a pretty damn magical. Gotta go, I’m starting to cry.
Much love,
Mary
]]>Secondly, I think NO artists are self-taught (well, except for maybe a very few). Just by opening your eyes, you become aware of what other artists are doing and what you like and don’t like. And certainly there are classes, workshops, and books. Y’all know I love learning, and I’ve thought more than once I took up painting so I could begin exploring a new section of the library.
Here are my top 3 book recommendations if you are interested in becoming a “self-taught” artist like I am.
Wish you had some of those fabulous life drawing skills? Betty Edwards believes that art skills can be taught similarly as the way reading can be taught. We don’t throw books at children without any guidance and call the ones who can read “talented.” Full of exercises that are fun and encouraging.
I waffled for years as to whether or not I should recommend this book because much like its title, it is thick and dense and long. Written by a neuroscientist, it really could have been edited to half or even a third of its length and retitled “Your Brain on Art.” But I’ve decided to go ahead and recommend it, because there is information in here that has stuck with me for years, things I have never come across in other books and have definitely affected the way I paint. If you like neuroscience like I do, this is the book for you.
This guy was Georgia O’Keeffe’s teacher. Or her teacher’s teacher. I forget. Anyway, she credits him for completely changing her art. And if it’s good enough for O’Keeffe, it’s good enough for us. Written in 1920, the text is a little dry, but really, principles of composition do not change through time. Stare at the pretty pictures and you will begin to intuit good art just like sexing a chicken.
Mary, what is sexing a chicken? Funny you should ask. After a baby chick has hatched it is separated into male or female so the next stage of its life path can continue. The problem is, there is no obvious thing that one can point to and say “that’s a boy or a girl chick.” The only way to train a future chicken sexer is to stand next to a master chicken sexer who says “hen” or “rooster” without ever explaining anything. Eventually, the student chicken sexer begins to inuit the sex of the chicken but no one knows why. Crazy, right?
I think the thing I miss most about not getting my art education in a “proper classroom” is the shoulder to shoulder experience of working next to other artists. And if HGTV has taught us anything, it’s that we really like watching other people work.
With that spirit in mind, I created an online class simply called “In the Studio with Mary James Ketch” which will be available beginning on the 28th. In this class, I’m creating a floral painting from beginning to end, and I will be telling you more about it next week if you are interested.
Until then, do you have any favorite art books?
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