The 2017 hurricane season has been unprecedented, and the need for help is unprecedented. Harvey, Irma, and Maria have wrought devastation over a large section of the United States and its territories, and I want to do something to help.

What I’ll Do

I announced in early September that I’d be donating 15% of all September sales/patreon pledges to hurricane Harvey relief. The charities I elected were the Houston ASPCA, The Texas Diaper Bank, and CERF+, an artist-specific charity. Then Irma hit. Then Maria. The size of the crisis kept growing and growing, so I’ve decided to expand my efforts, as well.

For the remainder of the year, 20% of my net sales and 20% of my net pledges from my Patreon patrons will be donated to hurricane relief efforts. Since the devastation has moved well beyond Texas, I’m no longer directing the funds to Texas-specific charities, but to national ones, specifically, Americares, who provide emergency medical care in disaster areas, and Habitat for Humanity, who has already begun their efforts to help those affected rebuild their homes.

If you don’t wish to purchase my art on Zazzle or Fine Art America, or to become my Patron and support my artistic efforts long-term, please at least consider donating to these worthwhile relief efforts. Thank you!

You are your own worst enemy. If you can learn to stop expecting impossible perfection, in yourself and others, you may find the happiness that has always eluded you.

-Lisa Kleypas

Since I’ve been an adult, living on my own, I’ve always dreamed of having the time and resources to pursue my creative passions. What I have learned in the last four years, however, is that having the time and resources just isn’t enough if I don’t have faith in myself.

Congratulations! Now What?

Honestly, when my family moved to the Texas Hill Country four years ago, it wasn’t decided that I’d not get an office job. We knew we could afford for me to stay home, but it wasn’t planned when we made up our minds to leave the rat race that is southern California. The first two years, I homeschooled our daughter, so creating my art wasn’t something I could devote as much time to as I would have liked. When we decided to send our daughter to public school, you would think I could have ramped up my artistic output, but you’d be wrong. Insomnia and my continued battle with bipolar disorder kept me sidelined for so long. I’m starting to get my groove back, so to speak, but the toll on my psyche still resonates.

Getting Out of My Own Way

It is so easy for me to view other artist’s work and get down on myself for not being as good as they are. Then the voice in my head, too often ignored, reminds me, art is subjective. It’s not my job to decide if my art is likeable or appreciated. It’s just my job to create. Besides, if some “artists” can get away with creating canvases that essentially look like a bad drywall job, surely my own ain’t so bad.

Just Keep Swimming

If I truly want to become a successful artist, I need to get past the obstacle of self-doubt and put in more effort than I’ve been making. Towards that end, I’m making changes to my shop and adding some more products to my Zazzle store. With so many pieces in my portfolio, this project will take a while, but I’ll be updating at least three pieces a week, so stay tuned!

If any of the designs below tickle your fancy, click on the picture to be taken to products with that design.

Without patrons of the arts, the world may have never heard of William Shakespeare or Michelangelo.  Imagine that. No Romeo and Juliet. No Hamlet.  The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel covered with that odd, bumpy cottage cheese stuff with glitter sprinkled in. Gross. 

What Exactly is a Patron?

Simply put, a patron is defined as a person who gives financial or other support to a person, organization, cause, or activity. In the history of art, this support has come from kings, popes, and the wealthy. Support has been provided by the stranger and the familial. Anyone could, and can, support a living artist.

What an Artist Needs

An artist, like any other human being, needs validation. And money. To pay bills, to buy supplies, and to market their work. Back in Michelangelo’s time, a patron would need to supply vast sums of money to keep the work flowing, hence it was the province of royalty and the wealthy. In today’s modern age, however, a patron need only give as little as a dollar a month, since the popular usage of social media means there could be three hundred $1 patrons to support the artist.

I’m happy to say, I have a few patrons, and I’m quite grateful for them. Their support has allowed me to buy some more paints and invest in a couple of new digital art apps. I have a ways to go, however, before I reach my ultimate goal of paying for my art studio and contributing to the household finances. Understanding it will take baby steps to get there, I have set a goal for myself of $100 per month by end of summer.

What’s in it for me?

What’s in it for you, you ask? Well, not a tax receipt, I’m afraid.  This isn’t charity. There are many benefits to becoming my patron. Depending on the level of your contribution, you’ll receive:

• Behind the scenes information and pictures of works in progress and video tutorials
• A monthly wallpaper pack so you can add my artwork to your phone, tablet, or desktop wallpaper
• A custom piece of art, created solely for you, annually, for use on your own greeting cards, postcards, invitations or posters (for patrons pledging $25 or more per month)
• The satisfaction in knowing you’re supporting a living artist

If you’re interested in becoming a patron, please check out my website at Patreon.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Good Fences Make…

No Stylus, No Problem

Cityscape variant 2

A Tablet by Any Other Name

I enjoyed my Samsung Galaxy Note 10, when it worked. Samsung had to replace it after a few months because it stopped charging. There was one app in particular I really liked to create with, but when my replacement tablet stopped charging 18 months later (conveniently after the warranty expired), I decided that Samsung tablets were troublesome, and switched to the iPad. It’s taken a little getting used to, as, obviously, the same apps aren’t always available across platforms, but created some artwork I’ve liked.

Wednesday night I started playing around, using my favorite color, red, as my background, and produced this. And this. And this. And this.

I ended up creating 21 different versions of the original. The bottom line is I enjoyed going “primitive” with my tablet, and am very please with the results, the remainder of which will be uploaded to the site and/or my online shop within the week.

We all do it. Get comfortable doing something a certain way and viewing change as the enemy.  “Why fix it if it ain’t broke?” I can’t speak for all artists, but in my view, that attitude is deadly for creativity. At least, it is for mine.

Master of…

I will never consider myself as the master of any particular technique or style. To do so would be arrogant and pointless, in my opinion.  There is always something to learn, if you pay attention and keep testing yourself. But there are styles and techniques I’m quite comfortable with, and I’m sure I will continue to work with them for years to come, but I’m definitely ready to step outside my comfort zone and try something new.

Boldly Go

One of my biggest hurdles is the fear of screwing up. The idea that a piece will be ruined forever if I try something untested and it doesn’t come out EXACTLY the way I imagined it. Well, guess what? Art rarely comes out the way it was imagined, so it seems better for me to focus on what I want to express and not how much the final product resembles the picture in my head.

Jean Michel Basquiat

Around 1997 I happened upon the film, Basquiat, starring Jeffrey Wright and David Bowie.  I had never heard of Basquiat, but Benicio del Toro had a small part in the film so I watched it. [I had a thing for Benicio at the time, I admit it]. The film inspired me to look more into Basquiat’s work, and I was hooked. I admire his expressiveness, the risks he took, and his blending of words with images. He didn’t seem obsessed with perfection, either. If he painted something on a canvas that he didn’t like later, he’d simply paint over it, not even in the same color as the background, he just covered it.

Learning

I refer to Basquiat, not because I want to paint just like him, but because I wish to be more fearless like him. As stated in my Patreon introductory video, I’ve embarked on a new series of portraits that engage in more social commentary than I’ve done before. The picture I have in my head of the piece I’ve started is a little Basquiat in nature, though now my biggest obstacle is that fear….that fear of ruining the picture if I don’t execute my ideas just right.

Perhaps it’s not a step outside the comfort zone I need to take, but a leap.

I try to avoid making New Year’s resolutions. They are so easy to break. In truth, the work I’ve done recently is months in the making, and it just so happens I’m revealing it close to 2017. It is also a coincidence that I’m about as excited as one gets just before the ball drops on December 31st.  I’d break out the champagne, but I quit drinking 11 years ago. So, ginger ale for everyone!

Most Importantly

I’m painting again, and, what’s more, I’m taking more risks and expanding my repertoire. I’ve been experimenting with different techniques, trying my hand at the use of various painting mediums, and letting go of the preconceived notions I’ve had about my artwork that I feel has held me back.  Feels so good!

Getting the Word Out

Another leap I’m taking is being more proactive about sharing my artwork.  Not just on Facebook for my friends and family, but to the world in general. I’m cultivating an attitude of, “I make the art. Not everyone will like it, but some will. It’s none of my business either way, just keep making it.” This is becoming a mantra I repeat to myself every time I stand before the easel, and every time I show my work to someone. I plan to one day not find it so difficult to live.

Words to Action

Towards that end, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time updating audraarr.com. Not just the look of it, but working on fun stuff like SEO (Search Engine Optimization, for those who don’t know) and publicity. Not my favorite things to work on, but I’m so happy with the results. In retrospect, I *will* say it was fun. I hope my visitors like the changes.

A Bite of the Reality Sandwich

I paint/draw/create because I love it. Because when I turn on my music and stand in front of my easel, the cares of the world either flow through my paintbrush or disappear entirely. But it costs money. And, let’s be honest, I’d love to make a living, even a meager one, off my work. To know that enough people are moved by my work enough to pay for it would be, for me, the highest compliment. Towards that end, I’m taking a page from the history books and asking for patrons.

Patreon

What is Patreon? Patreon is a relatively new service/website that allows creative folks to illicit pledges for their work, either on a per month or per creation basis.  I’ve listed my goals on my Patreon site, as well as the pledge amounts available and the corresponding “rewards” my patrons will receive at each pledge level. My starting goal is to have enough pledges to make monthly payments on an art studio.

Please take a look at my introductory video below, or click on the button to be taken to my Patreon Creator website.

I’m So Excited!

Regardless of the outcome of any of my financial efforts, I’m excited to be trying something new and to be pushing past the fear of failure that so many of us have. Thanks for taking the time to check out what I’ve been up to!

Except, now I have an earworm of that damn song, which I’ve always hated. No offense, Pointer Sisters.

Finished another portrait, this one of an unknown family member on my mom’s side of the family.  Not my typical color palette but I’m trying new things.

Our home has been in upheaval since last year when we decided to switch my daughter’s bedroom with my art studio.  I’m JUST now getting things set up in the new space.  Feels so much better.

Trying to find something new and interesting to write about Leonardo da Vinci is difficult, for me anyway, as I’m attempting to convey information about THE Renaissance man. What could I possibly say about him that hasn’t been said? Nothing, okay?  I accept that. But to leave him out feels wholly wrong, so I’m going to attempt to make a few comments mildly interesting, and carry on with my day.

What’s In a Name?

First things first, we refer to him incorrectly, myself included.  We should not call him “da Vinci”. His birth name was Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci.  Translated that roughly means Leonardo son of Piero of Vinci. Most of us are therefore referring to him by the town of his birth, not a family name.  It’s as if everyone suddenly started calling me “of Enid”.  No, thank you. In his time, he was known either by his full name or simply as “Leonardo”.

Setting the Standard.

Leonardo left behind only a handful of paintings and some unfinished sculptures, yet he’s regarded as one of the world’s greatest artists. His interests included invention, music, architecture, anatomy, cartography, botany, and engineering, to name a few.  Most of what we know about Leonardo comes from the 13,000 pages of notebooks he left behind, and through them he can be credited with conceiving of the helicopter, the parachute, and the tank, and many more. The trouble is, Leonardo would often get started on a project, then get distracted with something new and abandon it.  “Squirrel!” Historically, mental health experts have loved to diagnose historical figures, and if Van Gogh was Manic Depressive, Mozart was Manic Depressive (and had Aspergers’, and had Tourette’s and others), then Leonardo had ADD.

But the guy could paint. And like van Eyck, he brought something new to his paintings. In 1495, Leonardo was commissioned to paint The Last Supper for the wall of a church dining hall. It was typical of medieval artists of the time to paint Jesus and his disciples as serene and carefree.  But not Leonardo. In his painting the men are very expressive.  They are horrified and argumentative. And they are now peeling away. Leonardo bucked tradition and opted not to paint on wet plaster, as once the plaster dries, the painting cannot be touched up.  So he painted on dry plaster, which provided more brilliant colors at first, but which soon started to flake off the wall. Many attempts have been made to try and restore it, but The Last Supper is a faded blur of what it once was.

He Did Not Work Well With Others.

The Most Famous of Women.

Now, Google “Mona Lisa” and click on “image” to filter your results.  You’ll probably find more parodies of this most famous of paintings than you will images of the original.  Most people comment on the faint smile, but it is notable for other reasons. First, her pose.  She is turning away from the viewer but shifted her upper body to face the audience, thus providing a sense of movement, whereas most portraits of that era featured no such posture. Also, most portrait paintings of the time had little background, but La Gioconda (aka, The Mona Lisa) had, GASP, a landscape behind her. There is also the question of her eyebrows.  Believe it or not, there has been debate over whether Lisa Gherardini, the purported subject of the painting, had plucked her eyebrows, Leonardo forgot to paint them, or some subsequent restorer destroyed them. Maybe Lisa was just a fan of Grace Jones.

The Force is strong with this one.

Oh, and Lisa hasn’t been immune to medical diagnosis post-mortem. Physicians have claimed Lisa; had an enlarged thyroid, was cross-eyed, grinded her teeth, had Bell’s Palsy and had “an asymmetrical hypofunction of the facial muscles”. Mmmm, pretty.

According to 16th century biographer Vasari, Leonardo died in the arms of King Francis I of France, so beloved was he to the monarch. Leonardo is, to this day, regarded as THE universal genius, and his notebooks are still a source of study and awe.

Next up, Michelangelo.

Footnote: Where do I get my information?  The Secret Lives of Great Artists, by Elizabeth Lunday, Tortured Artists, From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secretes of the World’s Most Creative Minds, by Christopher Zara, and Google (often leading to Wikipedia), naturally.

If you’re at all like me, the name van Eyck doesn’t ring any bells. Perhaps even his most famous painting, The Arnolfini Portrait, doesn’t look familiar to you, though it did to me. I think the first time I saw it I thought, “Is she pregnant?”. Sounds like a dumb question, but apparently I’m not the only one who’s asked it.

Look familiar?

So let me say this. I’m not a huge fan of realism in art. Though I respect the heck out of anyone with the talent to draw or paint people or things realistically, from an artistic point of view, I tend to find it boring. This painting is, or should I say, was, no different. As I stated before, I recognized the painting as soon as I Googled “Jan van Eyck”, but it was never anything that blew my socks off. So, what changed for me?

Let me first ask another question. Raise your hand if you saw The Matrix in theaters when it first came out? Do you remember being blown away by the special effects? To quote Wikipedia,

The Matrix is known for popularizing a visual effect known as “bullet time”, in which the heightened perception of certain characters is represented by allowing the action within a shot to progress in slow-motion while the camera’s viewpoint appears to move through the scene at normal speed.

Translation? Folks appeared to hang in mid-air. Remember that? Remember the first time we saw Trinity jump up to take out that cop? Or Neo leaning back to dodge some bullets? So cool, right? Well, ask a twenty-something to watch The Matrix with you now. They may very well yawn and ask, “what’s the big deal?” It’s very easy to dismiss something as boring or “average” when you fail to realize it was one of the firsts, a trailblazer in its’ time. The same can be said for van Eyck.

Typical painting, circa 1430

So what was so trailblazing about a painting featuring a funny looking man and his [possibly pregnant] wife? First, it was a painting of a funny looking man and his [possibly pregnant] wife, as opposed to a religious subject, which was the predominant subject in that era.

Secondly, his use of color. He chose to use oil-based paints at a time when tempera, or egg-based paints, were standard. Consequently, his paintings had more depth and richer colors, and he was able to control the media better.

Like a photograph, amirite?

Thirdly, the realism. Light flooding through the window, the dimples of the oranges on the windowsill, the fluff of the fur on the man’s coat.  Not to mention the use of shadows, light, and perspective. Light bounces off the chandelier, and a mirror on the back wall reflects our glamorous subjects.

(Artists and physicists have theorized that van Eyck was able to achieve such incredible realism through the use of curved mirrors and small lenses, something that he would have viewed as a trade secret and hence, not advertised, though some say the mirror in the painting serves as evidence that van Eyck “cheated”. This is not a universally accepted belief, and debate continues on the subject.)

Mirror, mirror, on the wall…who painted you?

Lastly, and, most importantly (to me, anyway) is something the casual observer might miss. Take a good look at that mirror. Or, more importantly, look above it.  Note the lettering present. It translates, “Jan van Eyck was here 1434”. It is a signature, one of the first artist’s signatures in history. Usually, painters painted their [religious] subjects for the glory of god and, consequently, their paintings went unsigned. But not van Eyck. He owned it. Accordingly, while many of his predecessor’s (and contemporaries’) works have been appreciated over the centuries, they cannot be attributed to anyone in particular, while van Eyck’s reputation has been solidified.

For the sake of contrast, I again give you the (unattributable) religious painting included previously, and The Arnolfini Portrait. The first is non-secular, muted, flat, and without signature. Now, does The Arnolfini Portrait seem different to you?

How do you like me now?

I no longer look at this painting as some boring portrait of an old fart and his mate. When I look upon it now, I see a revolutionary painter, one who obviously believed in his importance as an artist, which, in an odd way, helps me take more pride in MY work.

I see The Matrix. I see the Wachowskis. Sans the loud pink hair, of course.

Heh, wait a minute…

Next up Leonardo da Vinci.

Footnote: Where do I get my information?  The Secret Lives of Great Artists, by Elizabeth Lunday, Tortured Artists, From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secretes of the World’s Most Creative Minds, by Christopher Zara, and Google (often leading to Wikipedia), naturally.