The Ghosts of Egon Schiele

I recently took an abstract class at the Oceanside Museum of Art.  Since it’s been years since I’ve taken an art class of any kind, I was attracted to this particular class because I’m always looking for more incite into a form of art I really enjoy, but still have trouble understanding occasionally. Abstract

Please don’t ask where the idea came from for this piece, I don’t think I even know.  I remember walking into class with several printed copies of ideas I could work with.  But, that was all incase the instructor asked us to do the exercises I was prepared for.  (Wishful thinking)

I always like the idea of stacking things together.  Like coffee cups, bowls, bottles etc.  In my mind was an idea simmering  of what I might paint based on the guide lines we were given.  Other than that, we were all using student grade paints…I guess that’s ok, we were the students.  Brushes had been trashed, so I had a few of my own, but I swear that’s all I brought with me!

Before I knew it I had my sketch roughed in, and was planning to do something I’ve never thought of doing before.  Putting the heads of one of my favorite artists…..”Egon Schiele,”  on the bottles.  I soon realized there are many self-portraits done by that artist, and have many examples to choose from.

Even the simplest of pieces can cause a bundle of pain.  Even when you are committed to being abstract, and loose,  it’s painful to paint.  It’s painful because even the smallest of creations is something I pour heart and soul into,  getting it just right. Even though “Just Right” is subjective,  my just right is the one I’m concerned about.  It can’t look like I’ve worked too hard, or cared too little.  Even if I do work hard, and care very much.  After all, each creation no matter how small, is our own creation, and we love and care for them all the same.