Tag Archives: Abstract art

Peace and Love

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Magic Trees

I have been thinking about how I could write a post about the healing that is so desperately needed in our world today. After sitting quietly and meditating, it came to me much more simply than I had imagined.

Josef Siegle is a mentor, and I consider him a friend. I respect him immensely, have taken many of his classes, and always come away better than I started.

Face Book is a go to for me because I can check on my friends and family easily. Sometimes I get information my daughter hasn’t thought to tell me. Or a friend mentions they aren’t feeling well, so I can call them to check on them. It has it’s place! In the process of all this, I have noticed the nasty, hateful comments people post, and I can’t help thinking how much better off our world if we toned it down. When I say toned it down, what I really mean is this…

We all come from different places, we have different colors of skin, different thoughts, ideas, political preferences, and ways we’ve been raised. We come from different places, and different religious beliefs. Because of these differences it is sometimes difficult to understand someone else’s perspective, or point of view. Why do some people talk differently, or louder, or their English seems a little scrambled? Why do some of us wear clothes that show how conservative they are, while some clothes seem louder, or gaudier, blinger, or more colorful? How can we understand one another’s point of view if they are a different religion, or come from an entirely different part of the world?

One thing I’ve learned from traveling, and reading is that people/parents all want the same thing for their families, and children. Most people are peaceful, and loving. We are all working, and struggling to pay for our homes, cars, credit card bills, and anything else that is a necessity at the time.

So what’s the answer?

Well I haven’t answers for the immediate problems, however I will tell you that what came to me during a meditation is this…

If we toned it down, stopped posting, or talking so hateful about the other person, and made an effort to hear their point of view regardless of how different they are than us, shouldn’t that be a starting point to bringing peace and healing to our planet. I don’t think it’s as important to change our views as it is to listen. People want to be recognized, heard and this isn’t happening at the moment.

We are spending so much time pointing out the differences each of us has, and not even giving thought to the similarities we share.

Everyone that knows me knows that I am a liberal. In my eyes, I’m viewed as a left wing democrat that wants to spend money that our country doesn’t have, helping people that don’t deserve it. My view is that the other side, the Republicans don’t want to help the sick, poor, or anyone else they consider doesn’t work for it. Are these perceptions true? Does it matter if they are true or not? Certainly they can’t all be true, but if we just sat down and took time to learn why the other has the ideas, and ideals they have, we would have a much better understanding of one another. I would respect someone for sanely discussing our differences. I’m not trying to change yours, I want to understand your point of view!

The same goes for our racial differences, religious differences and any other difference we have with each other. How can we be so different and so much alike at the same time. We are all created the same, our differences make us interesting, and I for one want to know more.

I’ve never been into religion, more into culture, and languages. I love hearing the music of different cultures, or the way others talk. The cadence in the way others speak, I love it, and I love the way people from another culture dresses, the fabric the use, the way others design, it’s all inspiring to me.

I have posted, along with my words, the meditation for healing the world, bring peace to each of us and those around us. The meditation is 33 minutes long, so I’d suggest you listen to it when your household quiets down. I found it soothing, and it made me feel better about life, and the craziness we are experiencing when I was finished. I hope you feel the same.

Thank you for stopping by and reading Stone Soup. Please listen to the meditation, I know you’ll find it relaxing, and it fills you with love!

What Happens When an Artists Gets an IDEA!

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Wild Poppy!

One day I was sitting in my living room thinking about how to get my MoJo back.   As I wallowed in the misery of not being able to get inspired…no matter what, it occured to me that I had a very large roll of rolled canvas.   What could I do with a roll of canvas?   I know other artists have worked with raw canvas, because I have seen banners of art hanging in coffee shops, even hanging outside.   Can’t I make floor coverings also?

After thinking about the posabilities, I dug through my studio to get the tube of canvas out.  The tube hanging out in the very back of a corner in my studio, and covered in years of dust, willingly hopped out to see me, and let me know it was ready for service!   Now I was getting excited….

My husband, Les helped me cut a large piece of canvas, and in all my excitement I had to  try doing what I had been thinking about for years.  The painting above is the first of my Fantasy Art.

Splash of Happiness was the second of my fun abstract painting.   I’m having fun now….   After that I think i was full of myself and decided to work on a larger piece.   Gingerly I cut a long piece about 26″ X 12″ and painted it black.  This was the end result of my black piece.

A New Day

My Daughter in law came by,  loved it in black, and quickly claimed it for her own.   I wasn’t going to leave it black, however since she loved it so much, I decided to stop while I was ahead.  This was just the start, and I was having so much fun.   I loved the abstraction, and all I am able to think about was how to abstract my art even more.

Happy Poppy was claimed by my Daughter, so I put a frame around it because it was 12″ X 12″ and easy to frame.  No Glass!

Happy Poppy!

The last painting I wasnt to show you I named “It’s Been a Crazy Day!”  It’s so much fun to challenge myself to abstract even more, and because they are on an unstretched canvas, it seems to take the fear out of wasting a good stretched canvas.   Of course, it’s all in my mind, but I have always said, “the mind is a terrible thing to waste!”

It’s Been a Crazy Day!

Thank you for taking the time to stop and check out Karen’s Stone Soup.   See you next time….

Experimenting again?

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Well Yes!  What’s the point of doing the same thing over and over without different results.  Some people would call me an idiot!  I get bored and need to change things up a bit.  So, there are times when I nose around in Pentrist or my old photos from vacations long forgotten and get new ideas.  I try them, and if i like them, I’ll paint my version of a similar piece of work.   It never looks the same, but looks like something I’ve been working on.  I am an abstract artist, and that means anything, and everything is open for interpretation.  I don’t mean to copy, and I’m not.  But we all share a creative energy, and there isn’t anything that hasn’t been done before, so I say go for it!

This isn’t going so well.  As I paint a color, I’m thinking it’s fighting me.   I don’t know where it will go, but it doesn’t start behaving soon, this little canvas will find itself gessoed over, and it won’t have a voice at all.  Needless to say, it isn’t even close to finished, or maybe it is quite close to finished!

 

Copper Workshop Starts Soon

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Recently I took  a three-day oil on copper workshop. I worked hard not to have any expectations. For me, this is the best, most open way to go. If I don’t have expectations it allows me to take in and learn everything I can.

Oil on Copper

The workshop is the brainchild of artist Richard Hawk, he shares openly his ideas and secrets. Richard came along at just about the perfect time in my life. Sure I would have loved doing all this twenty or thirty years ago, but was Richard ready to teach all these interesting techniques and methods? Was I open and ready to learn, and apply all that I am now?  It’s all questionable isn’t it?

Oil on Copper

After taking this workshop, this is what has oozed out of me.

The end of July will be a second Copper Workshop.  More information; the next step I’m told.  I am excited this time, and I do have expectations.  Expectations because I know how great the first workshop was and how excited I was when it was finished.  This time will be even more exciting, because I have already purchased oil colors to add to what I have and copper to paint on, so you bet, I am excited!  I can’t wait to show you all the good stuff….

Thank you for stopping by and checking on Stone Soup.

Working With Oil

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Recently I’ve been working with oil colors, and I love them. I love the feel when I paint, and the way they blend and mix. Am I crazy for working with a different paint? Probably, but I knew when I took the copper workshop that I was opening up a can of worms. And open it, I did!

I’ve only completed three oils on copper, but meanwhile I cannot stay away from my oil paints. A girl has to practice doesn’t she?

The painting above is a little practice painting since it’s been years since I’ve drawn faces, or figures. Each time should be a little better, until I either decide I love it or I don’t want to do it anymore.

I’m just going to keep abstracting until I’m happy with the results. Until then I’m onto the next painting.

Thanks for stopping to check Stone Soup out, see you soon.