New landscapes appear as if out of nowhere
Being an artist reminds me of possibilities I'd forgotten to look for or see. How much fun is that?
Hi friends, I’m sending so much love to everyone affected by the windstorms and fires in Southern California. I lived there for 15 years, and my heart aches for all of the people and places that are being so terribly hurt right now. Much love to you, all of my SoCal friends and family.
This week I’m sharing some of the works in progress happening just now in my studio. Abstract landscapes are back again.
Read on for my latest article.
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Visit my art website: KrisCahillArt.com.
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Thanks for being here, and for reading! Love, Kris
Art notes for this week: abstract landscapes have reappeared.
This new group started arriving in December, and are demanding my time and attention just now. I’ve made so many abstract landscapes over the years, but it’s been a while since the last ones showed up.
I wasn’t expecting landscapes, but who am I to turn them away? Oh it’s you again, I say to them. This always happens: I start out thinking I’m going to be painting This Thing, and then before I know it, The Other Thing shows up demanding I listen to it just now. It’s much easier to not resist it or fight it, just follow that Thing!
When I sit down to paint, I try to allow myself to remain surprised.
It seems to work so much better for me in general. I may have a clear intention of colors, or textures, or something I want to experiment with and try in this session. I’m not trying to complete a lot of work, but to find it. So I show up and practice, and make a lot of messes too.
I may show up with the intention of working on some works in progress, as I did today in my studio. My goal is to see them differently, allow some new color or surprising thing to happen, something exciting to me.
If I stay patient and keep showing up, imagery starts to arrive, and I follow it, like following a signal or trail of some kind. I’m looking for the energy to arrive that lets me know it’s working.
If I’m bored, it’s not a good painting.
If I’m afraid to mess it up, it definitely needs to be messed up. Some of these works in progress started off looking very different from how they do now. But there is a point, if I’m lucky to find it, where suddenly I get excited about how a piece is going, and I listen differently. If I’m thinking it through too much, I lose it.
I have to trust I’m on the right path. Like following a faint path through a very dense forest, I have to pay attention and be present. If I’m lucky, I see a light I can follow.
I love using a lot of layers of paint, textures, scratches, stencils, objects, and surprising marks. It’s amazing to me what starts to show up.
One of my main wishes for my painting in this coming year is to have more freedom and fun in how I paint, move out of my own way, play more, and be fearless with how I create. Sometimes I feel I succeed, often I feel I missed the mark. But there’s always the next painting session to do it again.
I am feeling fortunate to have the physical space and tools I need to make art. I have more room to play, make a mess, work on several things at once. I’m aware that I’m growing something that cannot be forced, only welcomed.
I’ve been noticing a new level of emotion coming through for me when I paint. It’s one of the things I love the best about art in general, and look for in my own art. It’s not about making it perfect, or having everything nicely complete. Sometimes the unfinished area, the strange color in the midst of the others, the things I don’t think will work, do.
All of these pieces will soon be complete. I’ll do my best to finish them soon and move them aside, so I can get to whatever is coming next. I already sense it, it’s a deeper level of something I’m finding within myself, and who knows how it will show up in my work?
Inspiration for the week
Books and Movies
Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books
I just finished reading this wonderful book and loved it. Check it out.
‘Nightbitch’ is a great feminist fairy tale! Highly recommended, do see this one.
“An artist who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mum seeks a new chapter in her life and encounters just that, when her nightly routine takes a surreal turn and her maternal instincts begin to manifest in canine form.” — Searchlight Pictures
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for being here, and please do share with anyone you know who would enjoy my work. Cheers to you! Love, Kris