Kimber Scott - In Progress

Life: One and Two

2009-11-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

I did these pastel paintings about six years ago in college. They were my final assignment in Drawing III class. The rules, create a series of two using items picked out of a grab bag for inspiration. I’d never done a series before and I’d never used pastels. Needless to say, I was a little anxious about how things were going to turn out.

As you can see, I picked a candle and a roll of ribbon. The pastels I used were Rembrandt Soft Half Pastels that we were required to buy for the class. I really don’t know how the work came together in my mind. The candle made me think of time and wind. I did a few thumbnails and everything seemed to just fall together. I decided to draw a picture of life.

A Bunny Tale

2009-09-12T01:04:00.000-07:00

I can't remember what year it was. A few years ago, anyway. I'd stepped out front to wave goodbye to my son, Michael, as he left for school. It was a beautiful, bright blue morning, but something was wrong. Giant objects were hovering over the skyline created by my neighbors' houses. There was a Wendy's cup - super-sized - and something from Taco Bell. My memory is a little fuzzy on exactly what it was. Wal-Mart might have been floating up there, I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention to anything except the giant, pink bunny sporting a giant bass drum. It was him! The Energizer Bunny!

Michael ran and grabbed the camera as I stood transfixed in the yard. The bunny floated directly over our driveway. I began to jump - just a little.

"Mom. Mom! Calm down," my son put his hand lightly on my shoulder. I couldn't speak. I jumped a little higher. The bunny was just feet - ok, maybe yards - above my house! Above MY house. Like right above it!

"Hey!" I waved. "Hey!" jumping still higher.

"Mom?" Michael was starting to sound worried. He was in his teens and I was in my pajamas. "Mom. Stop! Please! Go inside! Please?" He tried to steer me towards the door.

"Bunnay!" I yelled. "Bunnnnnnaaaaaayyyy!" I tried to outmaneuver my son when I realized the bunny would soon be over my backyard. I bolted through the front door of the house and straight out the back. "Hey, Bunnnnaaaaay! Come down here, Bunnay! Please!!!!" A man peaked over the edge of the little basket dangling inconsequentially below the bunny's feet. I cupped my hands around my mouth, jumped as high as I could and yelled one more time, "Bunnnnaaaaaay! Please!"

I began to run out of breath, "Bunnay, please?" Bunny? Oh, bunny..." And just like that, he was over somebody else's house and soon he was gone. A pack of French fries floated by and I started to cry. Not a sad, boo-hoo cry. A weird, silly cry that can only come from seeing the Energizer Bunny hovering, however briefly, over your backyard and then just going away.

I wiped my tears on my pajama sleeve. "You're weird, " Michael said.

"You're late for school," I said.

Back to School

2009-09-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

Many of you probably already know, I’m back in school again. It’s my last semester of nursing school. I graduate in December. I have only eight more weeks of lecture and exams. Then I’ll be spending the last six weeks of the semester doing my preceptorship in the emergency department of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix.

St. Joseph’s was the first hospital in the Phoenix area. It was founded in 1895 by the Sisters of Mercy in their quest to help victims of tuberculosis. It began as a rented 6 bedroom house at Fourth and Polk and after the sisters raised enough money to build a real hospital, they broke ground for a 24 room hospital. Now, at Third and Thomas, it has 697 beds, is a level one trauma center and houses the Barrow’s Neurological Institute. St. Joseph’s has been listed in the “Top 100 Hospitals” category several times, more times than any other hospital in the Valley, by Thomson Reuters. It has also been named one of the “Best Places to Work” in the Valley by the Phoenix Business Journal six years running. I’m excited, proud, and very nervous about doing my preceptorship there. I hope I can live up.

So what does this have to do with art? Nothing really - unless you take into account that nursing is an art. It’s not a painting, or a sculpture, or a song, or dance. It’s not a play, or a poem, or a book. It is creative work, though. You acquire a basic set of skills in school. You learn to use the equipment. Then you must take that knowledge and use it in a way that works for your patient. It never works the same for every one and you must decide which tool, which word, which touch will be the one that let’s your patient, a virtual stranger, know you care and that you’re there – for them.

I’m here for you, too. I know you don’t depend on me like my patients do. This is a silly art blog, right? But, we all know art is not silly. It’s our blood. It’s what keeps us alive. It provides oxygen to our brains as much as any old piece of hemoglobin does, right? Well, not exactly, but that’s what it feels like and it’s important to us. It’s important to me. This blog is important to me, but I may not be able to provide all the content I would like to over the next couple of months. I’m going to be busy learning how to save people.

I’ll post as much as I can. I’ll paint as much as I can. Just know, it won’t be as much as I’d like.

Is there something that keeps you away from your art? How do you deal with it? Do you devote a specific time, or a specific day to your work? Do you feel having to find time to do your art, as opposed to having all the time in the world, is an advantage, or a disadvantage? Please, post your thoughts in the comments section so we can talk about it.

My FriendFeed Top Ten of the Week

2009-08-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

Vigil
by Kimber Scott

I’m a FriendFeeder. Sounds kind of funny doesn’t it? One of my favorite things to do in the world, besides painting, is finding cool things in books and magazines and sharing them with my friends and family. I’ve done this all my life. My first grade teacher wrote a note on my report card to my mother, “We really enjoy all the books Kimmy brings to school to share with us.” Something like that, anyway.

I laughed when I ran across that note a few years back. Even in college, in my forties, I had been dragging the latest American Artists, or whatever, magazine to school with me each week to show my teacher.

“Look at this!” I’d say, shoving a magazine in my teacher’s face the minute he said it was break time.

“Augh, that guy can’t paint!” he’d growl.

“Are you kidding me?” I’d almost get offended, like I had painted it.

“You want to see somebody who can paint? Let me show you something. Come in here. I’ll show you who can paint!” We’d go in his storage closet and he’s drag out Loomis, or Daniel E. Greene. “You see, you’ve got to get the planes of the head,” he’d say pointing at the pages of a very old and very expensive book. Then I’d show him a David Leffel. “Oh, now Leffel can paint. He can’t teach, but he can paint. He only likes to teach to the girls. He’d probably teach you.” Obviously, he felt Leffel didn’t give him enough attention at one of his workshops.

We’d go back and forth like this until break was over and I’d try to reconcile my like for a painting and his dislike and vice versa. I’d also wonder if I’d ever be able to paint, if “that guy” couldn’t paint. After a few semesters of this, I gave up on the reconciliation and just enjoyed the argument.

Now, I have FriendFeed and it is heaven. I surf the internet, find amazing art, and share it. What could be better than that? Nobody argues with me, though. They either “like” something, or they don’t. Everybody’s real polite. We all know how passionate discussions can get out of hand online. It’s kind of sad. I miss the “debate.” It’s probably a lot like talking sports. We artists tend to get our feelings hurt, though, so it’s hard to really get into it - unless you know somebody really well. Otherwise, things get taken out of context and somebody ends up looking like a jerk – usually me. I’m happy with polite. Polite will do.

I wanted to share with you the 10 most popular things I posted this last week. Keep in mind, this list comes from a rolling seven day period and some things have been posted longer than others. Meaning, the longer something’s posted the more chance it has to get “likes” or comments. So, while number one, could really be Number One, it doesn’t mean number seven is necessarily less than. It might have just been posted hours ago. Understand? I hope so. Also, keep in mind, I have very eclectic tastes. Ok. Here we go:

Félix Girard's artist portfolio - http://ff.im/6jrRQ
Worlds and creatures - Illustration by Teodoru Badiu - http://ff.im/6gX9z
FFFFOUND! | Iekeliene Stange (March 2005 - July 2009) - Page 136 - the Fashion Spot - http://ff.im/6n2EX
Karin Wells Studio: Red, Yellow, Blue, Black & White - http://ff.im/6o4KM
Artodyssey: Sare' - Evgenia Sarkisian - http://ff.im/6ekPC
Stapleton Kearns: Asher B. Durand - http://ff.im/6o7Pa
Artodyssey - Jacob Collins - http://ff.im/6nEhO
David Jon Kassan - notes and happenings - http://ff.im/6jEby
Artodyssey - Stefan Caltia - http://ff.im/6jH2z
bill's studio: Bird Wrangler - http://ff.im/6ek1u

Which was your favorite? Don’t forget to sign up for FriendFeed yourself! It’s a lot of fun. Kind of like Twitter, but with more words and pictures!

I almost forgot to mention the pears... finished them this morning. 12" x 12", oil on canvas. I really like them.

Wow! Somebody Likes My Blog!

2009-07-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Last week I was very excited to learn I had been awarded the “Wow! Somebody Likes My Blog” award by the wonderful artist, Marge Bennet. Her bright, whimsical watercolor paintings never fail to make me smile. I think her latest painting, “Three for Tea: Van Gogh, Matisse, and Me” has got to be my favorite. Thank you, Marge! I’m truly honored.

Now, this award has a couple catches - duties. First: share seven things my fellow bloggers don’t know about me. Second: pass the award on to seven worthy artist bloggers. Ok. I spent a good amount of time picking out my seven artists yesterday and completely forgot I had to tell you seven things about me that you don’t know. You think that would be easy, since you really don’t know much of anything about me. But, it’s never easy to talk about myself when I’m put on the spot. It’s like going to an interview and the interviewer says, “Ok. Tell me about yourself.” Geez. I just hate that part. The real problem is, once I start, it’s hard to get me to stop!

I could count that little revelation as one thing, but I’m not going to. I’ll give you seven more.

I started painting at my grandpa’s knee when I was about 8 years old. He bought me my first box of paints, some brushes, a pack of canvas boards, and a table easel. That was pretty special. I painted the desert with teepees and Indians. After high school I didn’t really paint again for over 20 years.
My favorite colors are all of them, but really red has to be the absolute best and cerulean blue is just to die for.
Once, when I was in the army, I broke into the mess hall and cooked a pound of bacon at 0200 hours. I never got caught. I did get caught redirecting a 5 pound bag of chocolate chips to my squad. I don’t remember what the punishment was, so it wasn’t too bad, I guess.
I basically live on vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and peanuts. I try to eat less real food, so I can have more ice cream. It’s really not working out very well according to the scale.
I’m married to the most supportive husband in the world. He put me through college to get a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts – Painting. Then didn’t bat an eye when I told him I was afraid I wouldn’t get famous fast enough to keep us afloat and I wanted to get my nursing degree. I went straight back to school and I graduate from nursing school in December. I will be an RN. I plan to spend many vacations in France and Italy learning to paint. (I’m thinking I might have told you that already…)
If you look in my “School Years” scrap book that I kept from kindergarten through high school under the heading “What do you want to be when you grow up?” it will say, “Artist” and “Nurse.” It starts with the very first page and every year thereafter. I was surprised to see that myself! It’s kind of “woo woo,” if you think about it.
I have four wonderful sons, two gorgeous granddaughters and one very handsome and entertaining grandson.

Ok. That’s done. Now, here are the artist’s blogs I have chosen to pass the award on to:

Karin Wells Studio – Karin works in a classical style and her paintings are just gorgeous. Even better, she is very generous with information on technique. She also sprinkles her blog with random tidbits of interesting information.
Underpaintings – Matthew Innis shares the most useful information and the most beautiful paintings. I can’t describe his blog with any justice. You’ll just have to check it out.
Ancient Artist: Developing an Art Career After 50 – I think she’s starting a movement and I like it. It’s hard enough to make art and then have to face the hard reality that there is discrimination in the art world. Discrimination against age and discrimination against women. We can beat this thing. Our time has come. Drop by Sue’s blog and see how she’s handling it. Quite well, I think.
Mary Weymark Goss – Is one of the first bloggers I met when I started blogging not very long ago. Her artwork is heartfelt and engaging. She is very prolific and gives wonderful advice!
Kari Baskets – Her work is exquisite and I so admire the creativity, skill, and patience it must take to bring such beautiful works of art into fruition.
Creative Every Day – is a really fun website that basically lives up to its name. Leah Piken Kolidas is the blogger. She is very open with her work and her thought processes.
FineArtViews Blog by Clint Watson – This blog is a new discovery for me, but I really like Clint’s no-nonsense way of presenting information about the marketing of art. He has some really helpful tips to help manage in the real world and in the inner world where our egos live.

Enjoy... And thanks again, Marge!

Master Copy – Monochromatic Painting

2009-07-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

Master Copy - Leon Bonnat, Self-Portrait
by Kimber Scott

I finished my monochromatic copy of Bonnat’s Self-Portrait. It was an experience and, honestly, I’m glad to be done with it. Although, he is quite handsome and I didn’t have any trouble, at all, looking at him so much! I think I have a thing for 19th century Frenchman – except for the fact they’re all dead.

If you’ve been following along, you know I’ve been working on “Lesson One” in Juliette Aristede’s book, Classical Painting Atelier. I started out by doing a tonal drawing of Léon Bonnat’s Self Portrait. Looking back, I think he resembles Vincent Price a bit in that drawing. Poor Léon. No matter. He is dead and it was an exercise. I exercised. It’s done.

After the tonal drawing came the poster study. Which I thought was pretty good. So, before starting the actual painting I said to myself, “Why should I paint it again, when I’ve just painted it?” I’ve been in school for a long time and it’s normal for me to complain about assignments, I guess. Even if I’ve given them to myself! Still, I painted it again. This time with much more attention to detail and you can see the results above. Better, yes? Perfect? No. Useful? Very!

In the book, Aristede said to use white, raw umber, and burnt sienna. Icopied my drawing on the canvas and traced over my lines with burnt sienna. After they dried, I toned the canvas with a transparent layer of burnt sienna thinned with a bit of mineral spirits. I really don’t like using mineral spirits because it basically turns the paint to dust, but I did it that way, anyway. I’m going to try something else next time. After covering the canvas, and while it was still wet, I wiped away the light areas of the portrait with a rag.

It wasn’t clear in the book if I should mix the burnt sienna and raw umber for the rest of the painting, but I did just to warm it up a bit. I used the white to tint the mixture into nine progressively lighter piles. (See value scale.) In the darkest areas I used raw umber and burnt umber mixed. I needed to achieve a darker dark and raw umber and burnt umber together makes a mixture that is almost black.

If you’ve never done a master copy, I highly recommend it. I’m a willy-nilly painter a lot of the time. Meaning I move willy-nilly over the canvas without much of an overall plan. I’ve learned how quickly things can fall apart that way. This exercise forced me to make a plan and to become familiar with my subject. Except for a couple of anxiety filled moments, I felt more confident as I painted knowing what I planned to do next.

The next lesson in the book is a monochromatic cast painting. As I don’t have a cast to paint from at the moment, it may be a while before I get to that exercise. In the meantime, I’m going to work on a fairly large painting I started a couple years ago. I was going to get rid of it, but I just couldn’t. We’ll see if I can save it…

Have you ever done a master copy? Did you do it in full color or monochrome? What did you learn from the experience?

Master Copy – Poster Study

2009-07-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Poster Study of Leon Bonnat's "Self-Portrait"
Kimber Scott

Painting Exercise

I finished my poster study of Leon Bonnat’s “Self-Portrait” yesterday and I have to say, I’m pleased with the result. I feel I had much better control of the values in paint than I had in pencil.

I did this poster study on an 11” x 14” canvas – a cheap one – and I used only raw sienna and white paint. I started by tracing my drawing onto a piece of tracing paper. I then covered the back of the tracing paper with charcoal, just where the marks were, and laid the paper on my canvas, tracing over the lines again. This is a quick and easy way to transfer drawings to canvas. I did make some adjustments to the drawing. There were so many areas that were just not right.

I laid raw sienna and white on my palette and mixed the intervening eight shades of the value scale before I started painting. This turned out to be a crucial step. It made it very easy to reach for the exact value I needed exactly when I needed it, instead of having to mix as I went along. I can be very good at mixing a palette ahead of time, sometimes. Other times I just get too anxious to paint and jump right in. It never fails to cause me a headache, because I’m too rushed to be able to do it right. I’m painting without thinking about what I’m doing. Full steam ahead, mixing and mushing, pushing and pulling. Suddenly, I’m devastated to see what I have done. Muddy painting. Incoherent planes. An ureadable picture. It can be too much. The painting is destined for the closet, or the dumpster, and it takes me a while to get over it.

You see, this painting stuff isn’t just about painting. It’s a metaphor for life. For my life. Spontaneity is great, as long as you’re prepared for it. That’s why laying out a palette with all the needed values is so important. I must discipline myself to do it every time. It was easy this time – only raw sienna and white!

I painted the background first, laying in flat pieces of value and I continued this way throughout the painting. Referring to the original print of the painting and not so much my drawing, I painted flat pieces of value shapes, one next to the other without blending, or doing any pushing, pulling, or mushing. I laid the paint down and left it alone, progressing mostly from the dark values to the lights. I’m proud of myself for being able to keep from messing with my paint pieces.

When I was almost finished painting, I felt the darker value on the right cheek bone (his left) was too dark, but as I studied it further I realized I actually had the sclera of the eye too light. This is the nature of “relativity” in painting. Everything is relative to something else, just like in the real world. Something is only as light as something is dark next to it. It’s almost like playing with a Rubik’s cube. Everything has to be in place for everything to be in place.

Now, it’s on to the third part of the lesson, in Aristedes’ book, “Classical Painting Atelier,” the monochromatic painting. I’m excited.

Master Copy – Tonal Drawing

2009-07-13T15:47:00.001-07:00

Kimber Scott, "Copy of Leon Bonnat, Self-Portrait"
11" x 14", Graphite on Bristol Board

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve posted and it’s been a couple weeks since I bought Juliette Aristedes’ book, “Classical Painting Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice.” What an amazing book! I can’t give you a full review just yet, because I haven’t finished it. I stopped reading in order to work on the lessons she’s included in the book at the ends of some of the chapters. What I can tell you is the first few chapters, and the chapter on composition especially, have clarified and solidified in my mind things that have been unclear to me since I started painting. I assume the rest of the book will do the same. The chapter on composition is alone worth the price of the book and the paintings she has included are so beautifully printed. The book is a work of art in itself.

The first lesson is to do a monochromatic master copy painting and the first thing to do in this lesson is to make a free-hand tonal drawing of a master painting. I chose Léon Bonnat’s “Self-Portrait,” 1855. Looking at the lesson now, as I’m writing this, I think I may have gone overboard with the drawing. In the example, the student “blocked in” the drawing. It looks much more than “blocked in” to me, but not quite as modeled as mine. Whatever. The intent of the lesson is to learn to focus on “distribution and modulation of values, which helps [the student] get a full understanding of tonal composition.” – Juliette Aristides. I’m not sure I’ve got a handle on the distribution of values, yet, but what I learned from this exercise so far is how much difference the slightest modulation of value can make in your forms. And I mean the slightest. I knew that, but now I really know it.

I’ve also learned it’s not easy to transform a color into its corresponding value. Many times, while working on this drawing, I had to check the values of the colors in the painting against a gray scale. Most times I was surprised to find the actual value was much darker than I had originally thought. You can make your own gray scale by drawing a 10” x 1” rectangle, and then divide the rectangle into 1” squares. Make the first square black, that’s value one, and the tenth square white for value ten. Shade your squares progressively from light to dark. Here’s a good example, but they use only nine tones. How many you choose to use doesn’t matter.

The next part of the lesson is to make a poster study. I’ve never made a poster study. I’d never heard of a poster study until I read this book and I have a BFA in painting! Don’t get me started on university art programs… Anyway, Aristedes doesn’t really get into the dynamics of making a poster study in this chapter, but Tony Ryder has a great slide show demo of a color poster study here.

Some people have asked me why I am doing this, “…when you already know how to paint?” It’s because I want to learn to paint better. It’s like doing scales on the piano. If you can’t do those well, you’re going to have problems playing Chopin. My master copy isn't a perfect copy. If it was, I wouldn't need to make it - and neither are my piano scales. (I haven't practiced the piano in years. My drawing is much better than my playing!)

So, I bid you adieux. I shall be back with a poster study, soon.

Artist's Interview

2009-06-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

"A Few Pears" by Kimber Scott
Oil on Board

I just completed this interview over at WhoHub.com and thought I’d use it for this week’s post. The painting I’m working on right now (part of a new “mask” series, see below) isn’t quite finished. Hopefully, I’ll be able to talk about that next week. I’d love to see some of your answers to these questions in the comments section. Pick a couple/few and share your responses.

ART

	What do you do? How do you define yourself as an artist? I'm a painter in oils, sometimes watercolor. I prefer painting the figure, but when I don't have one that will sit still, or I can't find one in a halfway decent photograph, I'll do a still life, or two. My focus is on color and light and perhaps a sense of pensiveness, or a moment of serenity, frozen in time.
	What is your message? I really don't have a "message." I'm numb to "messages." Blatant messages are like writing morality stories - and the moral of the story is... My art isn't meant to be didactic. It's meant to be felt, if just for a moment, because the moment is all that matters. (Is that a message? Oops.)
	Your biography in four lines. 1. Born in Phoenix 2. Grew a little and started to paint with grandpa. 3. Grew more, got married, had kids, got divorced, joined Army, had kids, came home. 4. Grew more, got married, went to university, got degree, painted, went back to school. Still painting. (I know this is the fifth line, but who cares?)
	Do you upload your work to the web? If so, where could we see it? Yes. I have a website at http://www.kimberscott.com and a blog at http://kimberscott.blogspot.com .
	How is an idea born? For you, what is inspiration? I really don't know. I don't seem to be at a loss for ideas. They just come. Recently, I was trying to learn a white underpainting technique. In the first stages of the painting I was intrigued with how the head I was painting looked like it was wearing a mask. Now, I'm working on paintings and ideas surrounding masks in one form or another. (I'm sure these paintings will end up having some sort of message, but don't hold it against me. Some things just mean things all by themselves. It's not my fault.)
	What role does technology play in your creative process? I use my digital camera to record my progress on a painting, as well as to see how it really looks. I can see places that need work much easier in a photograph of the painting than I can just looking at the painting itself. A mirror used to serve this purpose, but I've gotten so used to looking in the mirror, it's lost its power. I look in it too much. It's a habit I need to break. Sometimes, I'll "fix" a spot on my painting while I'm looking in the mirror!
	What is art? The age old question. To me art is something that evokes an emotional response. This can be done subtly with skill and technique - hopefully provoking an "Awe" response - the highest art. Or it can be done sophmorically using the easiest emotion to provoke - "Shock." Now an excellent piece of art may engage both of these emotions, but to just go for shock is, for me, too easy. Art needs to try harder than that.
	When do you get your best ideas? I don't know. Whenever I quiet my regular everyday thoughts enough to let an idea stand out, I guess. Sometimes a picture just pops into my head. I have a few of those ideas saved up.
	Why do so many artists and creators have such volatile personalities? Do they? I think that's just a stereotype that some people try to live up to.
	Must an artist reinvent him/herself everyday? Why? How would you do that? You are who you are, or so I’m told. Should an artist be careful not to copy him/herself might be a better question. Why do we have to be "the guy who does the ballerinas" or the "lady who does the bus scenes." Boring after a while, you know?
	Which artists do you admire and how do they influence your work? I admire so many and most of them are making me feel pretty bad about my work, right now! I have so much to learn and I have pretty diverse tastes. I admire Tony Pro, Jeremy Lipking, John Sargent, Cecilia Beaux, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Od Nerdrum, Salvador Dali, Mary Cassatt, Picasso, and on and on and on.
	Does it pain you to let go of a piece you have sold? Sometimes, but usually by the time I've finished a painting I'm done with it. If I don't want to let it go, I don't.
	What advice would you give to those just beginning? Do one thing everyday to get you towards your goals - at least, ONE thing and before you know it, you'll be there. Where-ever that is.

Study in White: Dragon Teapot and Cup

2009-06-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

Original Oil Painting by Kimber Scott

If you’ve been following my blog from the beginning, you’ll remember I have a problem finishing things. One of the reasons I started this blog was to help me break that habit. Tomorrow is such a good day for painting. I thought if I was accountable to you, it might not be as easy to paint tomorrow as it would be to paint today.

I started this painting a couple of summers ago. My parents have had this tea set since before I was born. My dad’s mother bought it for them on a trip to Tijuana. My mother didn’t care for it. She’s more of a horse person than a dragon person, but still it sat on the olive green, antique-finished shelf in the kitchen for as long as I can remember. If you hold the bottom of the teacup up to the light, you can see the impression of a geisha’s head. I love that. It’s like a secret.

Twenty-five years after they were married, my parents got divorced. They sold their house and divvied up their stuff. Dad got the tea set. I don’t think he cared for it much either, because I never saw it again - at least not for another 20 years. “Do you want this?” Dad said as he reached into the back of a dark cupboard in the hallway. Now I have it. Five cups, five saucers, six dessert plates, (50 years and something has to break), a sugar bowl, a creamer, and the pot all crowded into my china cabinet with my mother’s mother’s tea set - blue willow - and my father’s mother’s tea set. That set is made of blue cat heads and there are no cups, or saucers.

When I decided to do a white painting, the dragon teapot jumped to mind. I love the way the colors lay on its pearly surface and how the cups feel so delicate when I pick them up. I always hold them carefully, pinky out like my grandmother taught me. “You have to be sophisticated,” she’d say. “Stick it out, like this.” Her fingers were tiny West Virginia fingers, but they had moved to Phoenix and gotten burdened with giant diamonds and nail polish. You’d never know she worked in the machine shop.

Anyway, I started this painting a couple of years ago and when I got it finished enough to see what it was going to look like, I guess I thought that that was finished enough! It took one day of painting this weekend to “finish it, finish it” and two years later, here it is. Thanks to you.

What paintings have you made of special objects in your life? Tell us the story and post a link, if you like.

Dolores: Lady of Sorrows

2009-06-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Original Oil Painting by Kimber Scott

I was very excited to get this painting finished for a couple of reasons – one, to actually say I finished it and two, to finally be able to tell you about it. While I’m fairly happy with the piece and I’ve received many positive critiques, it has not come into being without repercussion. Consequence is not always bad. I believe the consequences of this painting on my career as an artist will force me into a direction I have been fighting for years. Not because I don’t want to go there, but because it’s scary. And I’m pig-headed. And I hate that as artists we are told to express ourselves, but if our expressions are not profound, or ugly, or bloody, or resemble sex parts, or make statements about the injustices of this world then it is not “unique” enough.

I realize a lot of the way I feel is pure defensiveness. I know if I don’t want to be just another grandma painting pretty pictures, I have to say what I have to say. But, what do I have to say? Will what I have to say make me “unique” like everybody else? Why can’t my pictures just be? Why do people need my story? Why do people need to know what I think? Because “they” say that’s what we’re supposed to do as artists. It’s what takes a picture beyond a pretty picture. People don’t really care if you can paint. They want to know your story. It’s the story that counts. If you have a good story, you can stencil the word “Exit” on a cardboard box and call it art. (That is actually pretty profound when you think about it. I just made it up, but I’m sure it’s been done already by some very unique person.)

I’m on a rant. I’m sorry. I was set off by a nice man from Japan – a Twitter friend. When he saw my painting he said, “What kind of beauty are you intending to express in your paintings? As a contemporary smart artist, you have to think about it.” His gentle dagger went through my heart in 140 characters, or less. Then he said, “Maybe this is a cold question. A tons of people painting like you in the world. So what is your uniqueness compared to others?” I melted into my chair liked the wet witch in Wizard of Oz. His words burned me only because I know he’s right, but I did actually think about content with this painting - Dolores.

The name Dolores is derived from Latin and means “sorrow” and is often related to the Virgin Mary. I was inspired to do the painting after seeing Gennaro Garcia’s painting, “Virgen Dolorosa.” Gennaro paints religious themes and I love his work. I’m not a religious person, but I love the idea of religion. I like the mysticism and the ritual and how people can use it in their lives. I started to wonder why I was so intrigued by Gennaro's painting and other paintings of women looking down. What happens to me when I look at them? What is that emotion?

I realize I’ve been taught to feel the feeling I get from Gennaro’s painting. She is a mother who has lost her son, but is at peace because she believes he has risen from the dead and has gone to a better place. An iconic story, to be sure. When I look at the paintings that tell this story in a woman’s face, it makes me feel fear and sadness, then comfort. So what if the Virgin was just another mother who lost her son to senselessness? (If she was.) She feels the peace from simply believing her son lives again in the vast beyond. Whether or not he does is really moot. She is sad, but calm – lost in her thoughts - reminiscing the day he was born, the mountains he climbed, the torture he endured and she wonders when she will see him again. She has accepted her pain and will go on looking forward to that day. She is a mother comforted by the story. (It is all about the story, right?)

My Dolores is obviously not a virgin mother. (We usually don’t see cleavage and jewelry on “virgins.”) She is just a woman who may have lost someone, (Too many African-American mothers have lost their sons to senselessness and too many other mothers.), or she may be thinking a myriad other things. I painted her for the iconography implied in such a pensive look. I painted her to make you wonder, “What is she thinking?” Isn’t that enough?

Art is supposed to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. I believe this painting does that. It is one of the few paintings I have done with that intention and I will be paying more attention to what I say with my work – thanks to my Twitter friend. He pulled back the covers on a lifelong battle of mine – the battle towards honest expression. So, watch me as I try to evolve into myself - sans stencil and cardboard. I don’t think I’ll go there.

How did you find yourself in your art - your content, your style? Or, have you?

You can view Dolores: Lady of Sorrows and my other paintings at KimberScott.com

The Color of White

2009-05-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Color Theory

Robert Rauschenberg - White Painting, 1951, Collection of SFMOMA

Is white a color? To some, white is the color of light – a combination of all colors in the spectrum. To others it is not a color at all. You can’t mix all the colors in your paint box to get white. You’ll more likely get mud or something closer to black. White could simply be the color of bones, or zinc sulfide, lead carbonate, or titanium dioxide and it is. We’re not going to talk about bones today, but we will talk about the other things that are colored white. More specifically, we’re going to talk about these things when they are mixed with oils, because that’s what I like to paint with the most.

There are basically four types of white oil paints on the market today: flake white, titanium white, zinc white, and a combination of titanium and zinc whites. Artists will disagree over which white is superior. Which one/s you choose will usually come down to your own preference and what you are trying to accomplish with your painting. I usually prefer flake white. I love its rich, buttery texture and its opaqueness, but lately I have been experimenting with a technique that uses a white underpainting. For this, I have been using all of the whites – including my own mixture of titanium and zinc. We’ll talk about that technique when the painting I’m experimenting with is done – assuming it doesn’t go to pot somewhere in the process! For now, let’s just stick to the paint itself.

Flake White – is made with white lead and is extremely toxic. Mixed with oil, it is considered safe to use as long as you don’t eat it or get it in a cut. Lead white is the earliest form of white pigment on record. It is the white of the Old Masters. Van Gogh used to suck on the paint end of his brushes. Some believe this habit could have given him lead poisoning causing his subsequent psychiatric and physical demise. Flake white is very opaque, is very warm in color, has excellent brushing qualities due to its creamy texture, and dries quickly to a hard and flexible finish. It will yellow over time if exposed to sulfur fumes that may be found in other pigments or mixtures.
Zinc White – is made with zinc oxide. It is very slow drying and comes to a hard and brittle finish. While classified as “opaque,” it is the least opaque of the whites. It is non-toxic, but don’t breathe the dust, if you get it in dry form. It does not react with sulfur and so will not yellow. It is a very cool white. For example, if painted thinly over a layer of burnt umber, it will produce a very atmospheric blue-gray. Zinc oxide is more widely used in a preparation made for watercolorists under the name of Chinese white.
Titanium White – Is the most widely used white today. It is the most opaque of the whites, supplies superb coverage and has a powerful tinting quality. It takes less of this white to lighten another color, but it dries slowly to a brittle finish. Mixtures of titanium white and black are cooler than mixtures made with flake white and black. The grays will be bluer. This white is inert, permanent and non-toxic. Just don’t breathe the dust.
Titanium-Zinc White – In an attempt to make the “perfect” white, some manufactures have made a mixture of titanium and zinc whites. This mixture is claimed not to yellow and to dry to a durable film. Titanium-zinc white will be less opaque than titanium alone, but is still very opaque. I use a mixture of two parts titanium to one part zinc when doing a white underpainting. It acts as the “middle white.” Pure titanium is the light white and zinc alone is the "dark" white.

Each of these whites have their advantages and disadvantages. Which you use is up to you and your painting.

Do you have a “favorite” white? What makes it your favorite? How about favorite white paintings? Share your techniques and experiences with white in the comments section below.

Follow me on Twitter @KimberScott

10 Ways to Blow the Lid Off Your Brain

2009-05-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

Creativity

Thinking creatively is not always easy to do. You know that. If you’re like me, you’ve read many a blog, magazine article, or self-development book looking for ideas on ways to open up your mind and create with genius and abandon. I’ve tried a lot of these ideas - bubble baths, bonbons, lunch with the girls, acting like a child.... These things make me feel all warm and fuzzy, but they don’t turn me on. They don’t blow the lid off my brain. Blowing the lid off a brain is hard work. If you want to think in new ways, if you want to get your ideas out from under that hard skull that’s covering them, if you really want to be more creative, you’ve got to put some sweat into it. It’s not easy, but definitely worth it. So let’s get to it:

No reading for one week. This is the most difficult task for me, so I put it first, but it's also the most effective. I got the idea from Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way.” Now, take a breath and think about it. We all ~~like~~ love to read. You’re reading right now and the thought of not reading can be very scary, but your brain needs some space. If you’re constantly filling it with other people’s ideas, it will spend its energy sorting and filing those, instead of coming up with its own. So, no reading for a week – not even the internet or your email. If you have a job that requires reading, you might want to take a week off, or only read what you absolutely have to at work. Don’t read at home. Put an auto-responder on your email letting people know you will respond to them in a week.
No television or movies for one week. This task is included for the same reason as the first. Let your brain be. Quit bombarding it with outside stimuli. Let it get quiet and watch how it begins to entertain itself. This is your creative spot. (You can listen to music, if you must, but no news and definitely no talk radio!)
Write every day. Writing stimulates the creative cells in your head. Pick whatever time is best for you and write. Write for 15 minutes or eight hours. Free write. Journal. Visual Journal. Work on a short story or a novel. Write a poem. Write a million poems, or blog. Just write.
Walk every day. It doesn’t have to be fancy. If you don’t have a wooded glen to meander through, walk around the block, walk around your building at work. I usually try to walk, at least, 30 minutes a day. Walk as little, or as much as you want. Just walk every day. Your brain needs the extra oxygen you’re going to pump to it by walking. It takes a lot more energy for the brain to create output than to just take input, so give it some air and leave your iPod at home.
Get rid of unfinished work. This is a hard one. Let go of your unfinished work. If you haven’t worked on it in ages, you’re probably not going to and it’s blocking your brain. My unfinished work stares me in the face every day and it makes it very hard to move on. I’m getting rid of it today. (Except for the dragon teapot painting, it’s too close to finished to get rid of.)
Keep a notebook and pen/pencil with you at all times. Now that your brain is nice and clean and oxygenated it’s going to start popping out ideas. Write them down, immediately. Don’t wait. Get them out of your head and on paper so your brain doesn’t have to waste energy on trying not to forget its new bits of genius.
Meditate every day. Your brain really likes this. Meditate for as long as you wish – 10 minutes or an hour. You may want to set a kitchen timer, so you’ll know when you’re done. Sit comfortably and quietly on the floor, or in a chair. There’s no need to turn yourself into a pretzel, just remember to keep your back straight. You can close your eyes or keep them open. Take a deep breath through your nose. Let it out through your nose. Relax. Now, do that again and then breath normally through your nose. Focus on your breath. Notice how it goes in and out, effortlessly. When you start to think about how you’re going to pay next month’s rent, simply look at that thought and let it go. Come back to the breath. When you start to wonder if meditating really works, simply watch that thought and let it go. Come back to your breath. When you start to wonder if ten minutes is almost over, simply acknowledge the thought and let it go. Come back to your breath. When you’re done your brain will thank you for meditating by being more clear and focused. For more information check out The Best Guide to Meditation by Victor N. Davich.
Mind map. Use notes from your notebook. You’ve got some great ideas now and mind mapping is an excellent way to expand on them. Write the main part of your idea in the center of a piece of paper. Draw branches outward from the main point and add subtopics. Each subtopic may spark another idea. Draw a branch from the subtopic and write the new thought on it. Brainstorm. Don’t edit. Just write. This helps you to visualize your thoughts and ideas. Here’s a sample mindmap by illustrator Paul Forman.
Get enough sleep. Your brain is really moving now and it needs its rest. Be kind to it and put it to bed. Sleep in a clean, cool, dark, quiet room. Your brain will love you for it.
Show, don’t tell. Your ideas have power. They make your tummy tingle. They make your hands and arms anxious to bring them to fruition. They want to exist and you want them to exist in their highest glory. Keep them to yourself until they have become. For instance, you have an idea for a new painting. You’re bursting with it and you tell your best friend about it. You’ve just given some of your idea’s energy away. Do this enough times and there’s no reason to make your idea concrete. You don’t need to paint it. Everybody’s already seen their own version of your painting in their head and they’ve sucked it dry with their less than enthusiastic response – or maybe worse, their overly enthusiastic response. Besides, you’re bored with it now. You need to think of something else. Don’t tell about your painting. Show it when it’s done.

I’d love to hear your experiences with any or all of these tasks. Please, leave a comment telling how they’ve helped you or give your own ideas for creating ideas.

Until next time,

Kim

http://www.kimberscott.com

http://kimberscott.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter @KimberScott

One Thing To Change Your Life

2009-05-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

What one thing can you do today to get you closer to your goals? This question is a life-changer for me. One thing. That’s it. It can be a little thing, or a big thing. It can be a five minutes thing, or a nine hour thing. It can be anything, as long as it’s one thing.

The other day I was thumbing through an old sketchbook when I came upon a list of goals I had written. There were big goals and little goals. One big goal was, “Finish nursing school.” Another less ambitious goal was, “Finish dragon teapot painting.” As I read down the list, I realized I had the written the word “finish” at the beginning of a lot of things. Then I looked at the date at the top of the page, May 3, 2007. I wrote it just over two years ago and I graduate from nursing school this December. I’m pretty proud of that. I’m almost there, but my dragon teapot painting is still on the easel. I was busy, sure, but I wasn’t THAT busy. I could’ve finished that painting long ago. Two years ago, as a matter of fact. Why didn’t I?

I can’t tell you why I haven’t finished it. I can’t tell you why I haven’t finished a lot of things. I’ve always been this way. Always. I used to comfort myself with the fact that Leonardo da Vinci was known for not finishing things. One difference between da Vinci and myself is if I’m doing something for someone else, especially if I’ve been paid for it, I finish it. It’s just my own stuff that doesn’t get finished. I think da Vinci was the opposite. Why is that? I’m sure it is and was a deep-rooted psychological problem and there might even be a pill for it by now. I don’t know. What I do know is, I’m tired of it and I’ve decided to do something about it. I decided to do one thing. That’s it, one thing.

When I wake up in the morning I ask myself, “What one thing can I do today to get me closer to my goals?” Now, I have other goals besides finishing nursing school and finishing my dragon teapot painting. I have three big ones and a whole lot of little ones. These are the big guys:

Have my artwork hung in a respected gallery.
Publish a novel, or a short story collection.
Write and illustrate a children’s book.

If you’re anything like me, your list will look just as overwhelming, or maybe you just think I’m crazy. These goals have gotten more than overwhelming to me. They’ve gotten depressing as I find myself in middle-age without having met one of them. I can’t work on them today because I have to study, or do the laundry, or go to the doctor’s, or paint a mural, or start a new blog, or read the Internet. (I swear, sometimes I feel I’ve read the entire thing!) I’ve just realized, though, I can do all of those things and just ONE more thing. One thing every day and I’ll be one thing closer to all of those big things. If I had done one thing towards my goals on all these every days I’ve had for the last 30 years, you might be reading about me in a gallery catalog, or on the back flap of a book instead of on this blog. But, believe it or not, this blog is one of my one things for today. (You don’t have to do just one one thing. You can do two, or three.) The other one thing I did today was order the panel on which to paint “Woman Looking Down.” I’ll finish the dragon teapot when I start her. There’s really not much left to do. I’ll show you when it’s done.

Did you do your one thing today? If you haven’t done so already, you might want to make out a list of your goals. That counts as one thing. If you make one list of big goals and one list of little goals, you can count it as two one things!

Till next time,

Kim

Kimber Scott Fine art and Graphics

http://kimberscott.blogspot.com/

Follow me on Twitter: @KimberScott

Bees and Brains

2009-05-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

There is something intriguing about a woman looking down in a painting. When I see one I wonder, “What is she thinking? Where is she at? Is she sad? Is she peaceful, accepting, submissive, just daydreaming? What is going on in this picture?” These questions are a very important part of the creative process, as well as the viewing process. When we look at something we cannot appreciate it without questioning it. Otherwise, we’re just glancing and making snap judgements. This is what our brains do, if we don’t ask them to do something else.

We’re categorizers by nature. We see something and immediately our brain says, “Oh, pretty woman. Put that in the pretty woman box. Lovely flower. Smells good. Put that in the flower box and the good smell box. There’s a bee. Run!” Asking questions forces our brains to stop and play. And brains really do like to play! Maybe not when they see a bee, because they’ve already seen bees and they’ve got the memory of the stinger stored, not in a box, but hung in a glass case on a front brain wall with a little silver hammer hanging next to it. When brains see bees, red lights flash and sirens scream and if we don’t do anything to calm our brains down, they will break the glass on the bee case and before we know it, we’re halfway down the block.

That’s how brains work. It’s what they do day in, day out. Judge, categorize and sort. Nice, pretty things get stored in nice pretty boxes in the back of the brain closet. Ugly, smelly things go in front of those. And scary, hurtful things? We put those right out front in glass cases, each with their own hammer, color-coded light, and siren. It gets rather tedious, really. So, give your brain a little break from the monotony and ask it some questions.

Artists, writers, musicians, actors, architects, inventors all must ask questions. It is the essence of the creative process. Questions can drill holes in writer’s block. Questions can inspire and motivate. Are you a procrastinator? If you’re like me you’ve had the same goals on the stove for years, but haven’t really moved any towards realizing them. They’re there. You see them. Maybe they even hurt your stomach a little because you really want to achieve them, but you haven’t. Why not? We don’t know why. I don’t. Time goes by and it gets used up, or I just waste it.

Sometimes, the goals seem so overwhelming that we really don’t believe we can achieve them. Yet, we see others with less “talent” doing the things we have always dreamed of. How can this be? What have they got, that we haven’t? These are questions we could ask, but they don’t really move us towards our goals. The most important question I’ve ever asked myself is, “What one thing can I do today to move me towards my goal?” What ONE thing? What one thing can you do today to move towards your goals? Buy a paintbrush? Sweep the garage?

I’ll tell you some of my one thing answers next time. I’m going to go back to the “woman looking down” thing, too. Today, I just wanted to show you a sketch I did for my upcoming painting. I used a number 2 pencil on a piece of computer paper. I haven’t decided on the dimensions of the painting yet. I usually try to keep my heads life-sized, or smaller, but we’ll see. I’m still asking myself a lot of question about this painting and what I want it to say. We’ll go into this next time, too.

In the meantime, read Lucianno Passuelo’s “Ten Best Ways to Harness the Power of Questions” for excellent insight on how to play your brain.

Till then!

Kim

Kimber Scott Fine art and Graphics

http://kimberscott.blogspot.com/

Helping Me, Helping You

2009-05-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

I think a lot. Sometimes, that’s a good thing. Sometimes, it’s a bad thing. Either way, it’s what I do. I think about thinking. Then, I think about thinking about thinking. Then, I think about thinking about thinking about thinking. Ok. Not really. Well, maybe, but that’s not my point. I think a lot about painting and drawing and writing and illustrating and doll making and garden growing and organizing the closets and playing the piano and losing weight and moving someplace green - like in the color AND in the attitude.

Along with all this thinking, I do a lot of reading. I have a library of books on painting and drawing and writing and illustrating and doll making and garden growing. I don’t think I have a book about organizing the closet. I have no desire to get that deep into it. I do have piano books - with music. (One thing you really can’t read yourself through is playing the piano.) I even have a book on moving to Costa Rica. I didn’t finish that one. That’s just a little too green for me. I’m not the jungle type.

So, with all this thinking and reading you’d think I’d be a Virtuoso of Almost Everything, but I’m not. You know why? I spend so much time thinking and reading about the things I want to do I have no time left to do them! I think it's a motivational problem. Giving myself a break, though, I am in nursing school and I have all that thinking and reading to do, too. So, I'm not going to beat myself over the head about motivation, right now. I'm just going to do something about it.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, now she’s not going to just think or read about painting and drawing, she’s going to spend her time writing about them, too. Yes… and no. Well, yes. I am. But, here’s the catch: You’re going to be watching me. So, I’m not just going to write about those things. I’m going to do them and write about them. Aha! You see? I’ve outsmarted myself. I love it when I do that.

In this blog I’ll be letting you look over my shoulder as I go through the process of creating. You can sit beside me as I struggle with the choices we all have to make when we want to make something. You can watch me paint and I’ll do my best to tell you why I did this, or didn't do that. I will try out - and teach you about - different creative techniques. They're exercises to help loosen up the brain, because this isn’t just about making a painting or writing a poem. It’s about exploring the act of creation itself.

Next time… the beginning of the beginning. I’m going to start a painting.

Till then!

Kim
Kimber Scott Fine art and Graphics

http://kimberscott.blogspot.com/