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Greetings,

 

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.  Today we are going to talk about those two words up there in the title:  ignorance and oblivion.  And I'm here to tell you they are positive words.

 

I know, I know - when someone calls you ignorant, you are not feeling so positive.  You're feeling more like you want to smack them.  And oblivion is often tacked on to descriptions of those of the senile sort, and not very highly rated either.

 

But!  Let me explain:  this morning, because we're off schedule around here this week, was a run morning.  Because there is a high wind warning scheduled  (and who makes that schedule anyway?) for 11AM, I was out there at ten minutes till seven.  Wind is not my running partner.  As you are probably already guessing, I rounded the corner to head south, and whamo.  The schedule maker was off by about four hours.

 

My attitude immediately went downhill, and let me tell you, when you are a person of my age and attempting a morning run, it's all about the attitude.

 

Okay, back to the wind.  403 miles per hour straight into my face.  Yes, I exaggerate.

 

Still, my thought processes morphed into:

 

- I don't like running when it's this windy

- I can't run when it's this windy

- I won't run when it's this wind

 

 And then I remembered why it was I decided to go run in the first place.  Running seems to be the one form of exercise I can stick with (my running "career" has a born on date of spring 2003) and once I've accomplished the morning effort, I DO feel better, both physically and mentally.

 

But that wind!  Aaaargh!

 

Those of you have been to this blog place before know that I normally apply life knowledge to the canvas.  As in, there's always a good analogy from life, to apply to painting.  Brace yourself, we're going to reverse it this time.  Here goes:

 

Those of you who paint:  you know how we are taught to focus on the big picture, the big shapes, not the details?  In fact wouldn't you say that the equivalent would be ignorance and oblivion to the details?  Ha!  Caught your attention, did I?  When we are ignoring and being oblivious to the details, we are, by default, onto the big picture.  Seeing the big shapes.  Didn't I say I was going to show you how those two negative words are really positive, if you just give'em a chance??

 

Okay, back to the windy morning run now.  When I am out there, trying my darndest to be a morning runner, I find that if I focus on the details:

 

the wind; the ache in my left pinky toe; the wind; my hair coming out of my ponytail; the wind; my sock that's sliding down; the wind; and then more wind-

 

the whole event immediately gets tougher.  If rather, I apply a little ignorance and oblivion (to those pathetic details at least) I stand a decent chance of going my route successfully.  So I mentally wrote this blog post while I ran.  I thought how great it would be to get my run done and my blog post done (sort of) at the same time.  I focused on getting the big stuff done, and ignoring the little stuff.  Did the oblivion thing on those details.

 

Really, the big picture concept, it works with paintings, it's only logical that it works for running, right?  I thought you'd see it that way!

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Later, Cooper

Greetings,

 

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.

 

Now that we've all read several outstanding articles about the new year:

 

- preparing for the new year

- forecasts for the new year

- goals for the new year

- resolutions for the new year

 

I would like to take a minute and share a thought about the old year.  You know, 2011.

 

- WouldaCouldaShoulda

- arm-chair quarter backing

- hindsight with 20/20 vision

- remorse with a capital R about things you didn't get done

 

Are you an artist reading this?  And was the same painting on your easel 12/31/2011 as was 01/01/2012?  As in the last day of the old year and the first day of the new year?  And did that excellent body of work get completed before 2012 showed it's face?  Or maybe it's ongoing and ongoing is good?  You know, some things are just meant to carry on.  Continue forward.  But they usually have a common character:  they are positives. 

 

And while we're using the P word, have you notice how all those new year's resolutions-goals-plans-etc are POSITIVES?  (And of course all the logical folk out there are raising their eyebrows and murmuring "who's dumb enough to make a negative goal?")  Right.

 

But what about WouldaCouldaShoulda?  What DO we do with that critter?  Those resolutions lost?  The plans unaccomplished?  The goals not met?

 

 #1, we certainly don't let them overwhelm us, and wreck the next three weeks time in the studio.  But then Auld Lang Syne and all of that - we shouldn't just pretend they never happened either. 

 

I think there's an ongoing role for them called guidance.  If we use those 2011 goals not met (yet!) in small doses, surely they still bear some merit for direction in 2012.  If we take that canvas that we WouldaCouldaShoulda done differently out on rare occasions and gaze upon it momentarily, surely we can gain a bit of insight to future paint brush action?

 

Am I suggesting WouldaCouldaShoulda is not necessarily a case of Bah Humbug after all?  Sure, why not.  Keep it in small doses.  Maybe just a little bit of looking back will propel you forward in the exact direction you were meant to go.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Later, Cooper

 

 

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.  There's this painting on my easel at the moment--oh, wait.  Let's start at the beginning, when you've got the magic going on.

If you are an artist, surely you've been there.  The canvas is on the easel, the paint is flying into place, the exact right place, mind you.  And it's happening, you've got the magic going on.  You can't seem to make a wrong move.  Your hand might be attached to the brush, but you are certainly not controlling it.  It's just happening. 

I know, I know.  I don't believe any of that mumbo-jumbo either, but I certainly do believe that one little success making you feel good, sets you up mentally to achieve the next little success, and the next, and the next, with increased certainty.

Then what happens when the canvas is not done, but the person attached to the brush has to be?  Oh come on, you know the scenario.  The light is changing/gone.  You're worn out. Somebody has to go make some dinner.  You've got a meeting you absolutely cannot skip.  Those of you with kids at home---another whole list of interruptions there.  The magic is forced to come to a grinding halt.

The next day/studio time dawns bright and clear.  That canvas that was painting itself yesterday is still on the easel.  Nope, it didn't finish painting itself overnight in your absence.  Can you pick up where you left off?  The brush hand begins to shake a little.  What if you can't get back into it?  What if today, in your attempt to finish the painting, you can't get your act together and  you wreck all the good you did yesterday?  What's an artist to do?

What IS an artist to do?  I think we have to become Gretzky artists.

 "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

I've always liked that quote.  I think it works for painters as much as it does for hockey players.  You've got to take the shot.  Yup, you might mess up what was looking so good the day before.  But what about the possiblity that, renewed and refreshed, you find exactly what the canvas needs for the final brush stroke?  To not go for it, is certain loss.  Give it your best shot, and the sky's the limit.  I like that possibility.  Happy painting.

Later, Cooper

 

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.  I just watched a video, and it caused me to come right over here and ask you this question:  "who's perfect?"

Who is so perfect at their work that they have achieved it all?  They can do every task in front of them without flaw?  First time, every time?  Every canvas they put up on the easel becomes paint covered with perfectionionist technique and no critique out there would dare to say other wise.  Every competition the painting is entered in, is just another award won.  But who's counting because the perfect person wins so many?

Wow.  Am I ever off in la-la land this morning!  We all want there to be a place like that, right?  There might be a few people who think they are there.  (steer clear of them)  But.  If I know nothing else, this is one thing I have learned:  there is always more to learn.

Sometimes I like to para-phrase that as "if you're not growing, you're dying".  I've heard that there's a scientific basis behind that thought as well :)  But surely we all know the living proofs of that version of "who's perfect?", don't we?  Think about the artist whose work is exactly the same as it was ten years ago.  We are not talking about recognizable style here, we are talking about no growth within that recognizable style. They got to where they are and stopped growing.  Stopped looking for new.  Stopped seeing.  If you are reading this and not an artist, well guess what?  It still applies to you.  Just going through the motions---ooooooooh no.

That should be a blood-chilling-scary concept for anyone.  Why does it happen?----sorry, don't know that one.  Ways to keep it from happening to you?  Got a couple of suggestions for you there:

1.  Read a book.  Better yet, read a book designed for beginners.  Sure, you know all that stuff, but how much of it have you been ignoring?  Maybe you even wrote the book!  What if you look at beginner stuff from an advanced learner point of view?  Where does that take you?  I contend that looking at what you are sure you already know, with a fresh eye, can make it all new again.  Hey, that's kind of like review, isn't it? :)
2.  If you are almost perfect, then you know all the rules, right?  So go break one.  I am pretty sure that would go in the experimenting column.  Usually experiments flop, once in a blue moon something great happens.
3.  Okay, now we are back to paragraph #1, where I mentioned the video that's to blame for all of this post.  God bless the person who invented videos.  There are a ton of them out there lately, and hey, half a ton of them are free.  Just click.  Knowledge at your finger tips.  Who could ask for more?  They talk it at you, and show it to you.  Okay, okay, not as good for your literary talent as #1, (therefore books will always be my #1) but videos are a resource for growth/learning that you shouldn't be ignoring.

"5Simple Design Elements That Will Improve Any Painting"  Yep, that's the name of the video that started this pep talk.  It's over at emptyeasel.com  

"design and composition isn’t generally something that you think about while painting, it probably should be. A good design ensures that your viewers will stay interested in your artwork, even over a long period of time—and the truth is, good design doesn’t have to be all that complex, either.  In today’s video, Mark Mehaffey shows us several simple design elements..."

Sure, it's about shapes, and values, and placement, and stuff that we all know.  But.  If you watch the video, or read the book, and it's all refreshed in your mind, and then you walk over to the easel and that spanky-clean white canvas, what will happen new and different?  The guy with the old dog/new tricks issue--he was just crazy.  Learn something new.  We all can.  We all should.  And better yet, it might just show up evidenced in what we do.

Later, Cooper

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.

Flipflops, sunglasses, cool beverages, cutoff shorts, beach sand, sunny days, vacation time.....feel free to add you own personal favorites.

  Gossip With A Glass Of Wine, an acrylic painting original on a wonderful little 12 x 12 inch canvas, as seen outside the Wine Bar, Arnolds Park, Iowa, on one fine afternoon last summer.  (portfolio)  I do believe this painting carries through with that flipflops, tank tops, cool beverage theme quite well :)     

  Strawberry Smoothie, an acrylic painting original on a slightly larger but still wonderful 24 x 24 inch canvas.  This painting talks strawberry smoothie, and of course, what better cool summer beverage?   Flags fluttering in the warm breeze...   (portfolio)

  Summer Loop, also a delightful little 12 x 12 inch canvas, colored up with acrylic paint, comes complete with two of those slushy drinks you get at the little stand on the Loop.  Loop, for anyone needing Arnolds Park (Iowa) nomenclature, is that delightful little stretch of lake front off Okoboji, where summer vacation rules. (portfolio)

  Lazy Afternoon, also acrylic paint, also on canvas, this one a little larger at 20 x 30 inches.  But the good summer memories are here.  Sharing a conversation, a dock, a couple of Coronas, and a lazy summer afternoon. (portfolio)

  No Worries, this canvas is a lovely 16 x 24 inches.  While I suppose "no worries" could refer to the physicalities of the painting, I was really referring to the folks in the painting.  They are at that place we all want to be---relaxed, with a good book, summer sun shining down, no worries.  My husband suggested that they probably had a couple of coronas at hand also---I must have missed that part of the scene :)  (portfolio)

Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio.  The paint is almost ready to spread, but first I wanted to share an article with you.  It seems very timely to me, the one who is trying to sell a house and get moved on to the next location!  I wish I could say I wrote the article, but no, it's written by a guy named Jeffrey Gitomer.  My business minded husband got me started reading the Gitomer newsletter, which is normally a sales-rant, or salesperson peptalk.  This morning's article is on the subject of happiness.  I highly recommend you read it.  It was certainly just what I needed.  Time to go paint :)

Later, Cooper