Week 10 Part 3 Lucian Freud A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or…
Tag: art therapy
Weekly artist series: Week 10 of 10 Part 2 LUCIAN FREUD: Self-portrait prep. Exaggerate.
Week 10 Part 2 Lucian Freud As we prep for our Freudian self-portrait, let’s practice exaggeration of features. Choose a face that inspires you. Draw it without exaggerating the features: Now exaggerate the features slightly to better illustrate the subject’s character: Next time, we draw ourselves in preparation for Art House Co-op Self-Portrait Project: See also: 35 PART…
Weekly artist series: Week 10 of 10 Part 1 LUCIAN FREUD: Let’s be honest.
Week 10 Part 1 Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a German-born British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impastoed portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time. His works are noted for their psychological penetration, and for their often discomfiting examination of the…
Weekly artist series: Week 9 Part 3 of 3 SUE COE: Portrait of Truth. Who do you celebrate? I celebrate Sabrina.
Week 9 Part 3 Sue Coe What draws me to Sue Coe’s work is the freedom in her truth telling. Her technique reflects the message and there is an ease to how she produces her work while at the same time she hammers her message home. She is her art. — From Americans Who Tell the…
Weekly artist series: Week 9 Part 2 SUE COE: A mother dying
Week 9 Part 2 Sue Coe The Last 11 Days is a group of charcoal drawings Sue Coe created from July 20 to 31, 1995 depicting her mother as she lay dying with cancer. The drawings reveal Coe’s private struggle with her mother’s illness and eventual death. [source] I’m not a big fan of the word “resonate.”…
Weekly artist series: Week 9 Part 1 SUE COE black, coffee brown, white, slap #lifeinaday
Week 9 Part 1 Sue Coe From my post Jan 27, 2011: I first came across Sue Coe’s work in the 1988 Annual Edition of Gallerie Women’s Art. “The work is in a series, a narrative, a novel or document in pictures. It records injustice and cruelty, and attempts to perform the role of witness. Art…
Weekly artist series: Week 8 Part 3 of 3 PORTRAIT POETRY #OttoDix #arttherapy
Week 8 Part 3 Otto Dix I adore this portrait by Otto Dix. Let’s simply revel in reproducing it and adding poetry to it. Firstly, write in your journal for 10 minutes without interruption. Just about anything that comes to mind in the moment. Secondly, circle every third word. Isolate those words and create…
Weekly artist series: Week 8 Part 2 DECONSTRUCT CONSTRUCT #OttoDix
Week 8 Part 2 Otto Dix As with George Grosz, I’m using the book LUSTMORD as my main resource this week. Look at Otto Dix’s paintings. See the cartoonish exaggerated style. DECONSTRUCT Pull off the cover of an old hard cover book: Horizon publications are wonderful for this. And the contents are perfect for collaging. Find a…
Anxiety journaling tool. #heart #lettinggo #outflow #arttherapy
Focus on 3-4 things that are blocking you, that hinder you, frustrate you, nag at you, keep you from living your life peacefully. E.g. I picked Anxiety, Fear, Money, Low Self-esteem Write for 10 minutes in your journal about these blocks. On a drawing/photocopy of an anatomical heart, write your main words repeatedly throughout the…
Weekly artist series: Week 8 Part 1 #OttoDix
Week 8 Part 1 Otto Dix OTTO DIX: Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of Weimar society and the brutality of war. Along with George Grosz, he is widely considered one of the most important artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit. [source] …
Weekly artist series: Week 7 Part 4 of 4 Allusions and Changing Standpoints #deKooning
Week 7 Part 4 Willem de Kooning Find a de Kooning in nature: Draw something or someone in your environment: de Koonify it: Next artist: OTTO DIX See also: 35 PART daily journal exercise Weekly artist exploration/journaling series INTRO Weekly artist series Week 1 parts 1-6 FRIDA KAHLO Weekly artist series Week 2 parts 1-6…
Weekly artist series: Week 7 Part 3 ELAINE #deKooning. #husbandsandwives
Week 7 Part 3 Willem de Kooning Artists do not work in a vacuum. I am fascinated by artists in relationships. Frida/ Diego Camille/ Auguste Lee/ Jackson Sophie/ Hans Elaine/ Willem How did they feed each other’s art? How did they harm each other? Influence each other? Who was more powerful? Are they inseparable? ELAINE…
Weekly artist series: Week 7 Part 2 ERASING #deKooning. #arttherapy
Week 7 Part 2 Willem de Kooning To read about the erased deKooning, click ERASED deKOONING Look up de Kooning in images. Copy a favorite with charcoal. Now erase it. See also: 35 PART daily journal exercise Weekly artist exploration/journaling series INTRO Weekly artist series Week 1 parts 1-6 FRIDA KAHLO Weekly artist series Week 2…
Weekly artist series: Week 7 Part 1 A WOMAN’s MOUTH #deKooning #arttherapy
Week 7 Part 1 Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning 1904-1997 That ferocious woman he painted didn’t come from living with me. It began when he was three years old. – Elaine de Kooning (wife) [source] — READ: de Kooning PDF handout — Find a photo of a face. — — Cut out the mouth. —…
Weekly artist series: Week 6 Part 3 of 3 THE DOOR #Basquiat #arttherapy
Week 6 Part 3 JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT Draw a door. Take out the words you wrote in Part 2: Pull out some words. Make a poem. Write the poem on the door. Invite a guest through the door to do an entry in your journal. I was so honored to have my dear friend, Darcy G.,…
Weekly artist series: Week 6 Part 2 DOWNTOWN 81 #Basquiat #arttherapy
Week 6 Part 2 JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT Downtown 81 (a.k.a New York Beat Movie), shot in 1980-1981, was directed by Edo Bertoglio, written and produced by Glenn O’Brien with post-production in 1999-2000 by Maripol, It is a rare real-life snapshot of ultra-hip subculture of post-punk era Manhattan. Starring Jean-Michel Basquiat and featuring such early Village artists as James Chance, Amos Poe, Walter Steding, and Tav Falco, the film…
Weekly artist series: Week 6 Part 1 A LIST OF MUSTS #Basquiat #arttherapy
Week 6 Part 1 JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT Jean-Michel Basquiat (December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist. He began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s and evolved into a Neo-expressionist painter during the 1980s.[source]. I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life. — This week we dive into the…
Weekly artist series: Week 5 Part 4 of 4 STORYTELLING #FaithRinggold #arttherapy “She flew straight to San Francisco”
Week 5 Part 4 FAITH RINGGOLD As we have explored Faith’s art, we see it is one of STORYTELLING. Take a moment from your life. Using a full page in your journal and simply an HB pencil, tell the story. See also: 35 PART daily journal exercise Weekly artist exploration/journaling series INTRO Weekly artist exploration/journaling…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 5 Part 3 THE WOMAN’s HOUSE #FaithRinggold #arttherapy
Week 5 Part 3 FAITH RINGGOLD The painting, called “For the Woman’s House,” had been housed at Rikers Island since 1971 but was nearly thrown away after being whitewashed at the orders of prison officials. The painting was based on interviews by Ringgold of female inmates and was the first of Ringgold’s public commissions. source…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 5 Part 2 TAR BEACH #FaithRinggold #arttherapy #upontheroof #NewYork
Week 5 Part 2 FAITH RINGGOLD I can fly- yes, fly. Me, Cassie Louise Lightfoot, only eight years old and in the third grade, and I can fly. That means I am free to go wherever I want for the rest of my life. Listen to Ruby Dee read to Faith Ringgold‘s TAR BEACH and see…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 5 Part 1 THE BRIDGE #FaithRinggold #arttherapy
Week 5 Part 1 FAITH RINGGOLD The magical painted story quilts of Faith Ringgold have inspired my work since the early 80’s. This particular image by Faith stays with me: The figure heavily influenced my Frida series. We will get into TAR BEACH and more of Faith’s work this week. Her work is about bridges….
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 4 Part 3 of 3 GROSZ-TESQUE and STEADMANESQUE #GeorgeGrosz #arttherapy
Week 4 Part 3 of 3 GEORGE GROSZ Take 8 minutes and watch: Compare George Grosz to Ralph Steadman: It was my first encounter with the works of the German artist George Grosz, when I was in my twenties, which showed me that drawing need not just be a space-filler in a newspaper: in the…
Last chance! ART HEALS exhibit open today 11-5 or by appt until Feb 7 @RubbleGallery
In order to help with fundraising efforts, I will be extending the RAFFLE of my piece, MORFAR’S KLASS until my next art event in the Fall. All current raffle ticket holders will be given an extra ticket as a thank you for holding on till then! If you drop by the gallery today and want…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 4 Part 2 DISTORTED REALITY #GeorgeGrosz #arttherapy
Week 4 Part 2 GEORGE GROSZ Looking at your research notes from last entry, pull out some words. Write them down. Block them out a la Grosz. De-form some human figures throughout. Do it in thin felt pen. Try not to hesitate. Distort. Be ugly. The painter once believed in something, but now he paints…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 4 Part 1 NOTES #GeorgeGrosz #arttherapy #DADA #newobjectivity
Week 4 Part 1 GEORGE GROSZ We just finished Lisa Larson. She was all about the beauty of the simple form. Now we move onto an artist who is all about DE-FORMING. What draws me to to George Grosz is the brutal commentary through visuals. Something about it resonates with me. I was especially influenced…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 3 Part 5 of 5 PORTRAIT and FORM #LisaLarson #arttherapy
WEEK 3 Part 5 of 5: Lisa Larson The essence of Lisa Larson’s work is FORM. In her ceramics and drawings, she captures the simple form and does not over-work it. That’s the biggest lesson I take away from spending this week with Lisa. The same principle applies to her portraits: Today, capture the simple…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 3 Part 4 HUMAN FIGURE #LisaLarson #arttherapy
WEEK 3 Part 4: Lisa Larson In this part, we’ll take a look at the more organic human figure sculptures by Lisa. Playing on what we did in Part 3, use a bingo marker again to freely draw a simple human shape. Have the figures arms stretched out. Your sculpting in two-dimension actually. Draw a…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 3 Part 3 MARK OUT WORDS ANIMAL FORM #LisaLarson #arttherapy
WEEK 3 Part 3: Lisa Larson Today we’ll take a look at the beautiful simple forms of Lisa Larson’s animals. To get into the mode of looking at form, do some brain gym. Use the following journal exercises to cleanse the mind and quiet it down. Part 1 JUST WRITE Part 2 DRAW OUT THE…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 3 Part 2 THE ABC GIRLS #LisaLarson #arttherapy
WEEK 3 Part 2: Lisa Larson Among the most popular Lisa Larson stoneware figures is the collection ABC-Flickor (ABC Girls). When they were first released they caused much debate, since some critics saw them as depicting women with “such lack of respect”, but they quickly become extremely popular, especially among women! SOURCE I LOVE these…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 3 Part 1 This is Lisa #LisaLarson #arttherapy
WEEK 3 Part 1: Lisa Larson Lisa Larson is a Swedish ceramic designer who started at Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory in 1953. Since 1980 she works as a freelance designer and sculptural artist. Browse among Lisa’s classic designs and unique work and read a little more about her and the current production at Keramikstudion Gustavsberg. Latest…
THIS WEEK on artist exploration/journaling series: #LisaLarson #arttherapy
Journaling is really helping me stay focused. Personal art therapy. WEEK 3 INTRO: Lisa Larson I am so inspired by the brilliant Swedish designer, Lisa Larson at Gustavsberg and I can’t wait to explore her work and my relationship to it this week. As I’m busy with my art event today, I’ll do part 1 tomorrow! As an intro,…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 2 Part 6 PORTRAIT COFFEE DATE #Picasso #arttherapy
WEEK 2 PART 6: Picasso Last part before we move onto our third artist, Lisa Larson! Invite your journal and a friend out for coffee and draw while you chat. In Picasso-esque style. I had the luxury of spending an hour and a half with my mentor and my dear friend, Laura Mack: Self-portrait: See…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 2 Part 5 INFLUENCE #Picasso #arttherapy
WEEK 2 PART 5: Picasso I can’t imagine my world, or our world for that matter, without the presence of PICASSO. Where do you see Picasso’s influence? Write about it or doodle in a Picasso cubist style. Immerse yourself. Here are just a few fun Picasso-isms: My cubist sock monkey: My cubist sock bird: My…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 2 Part 4 THE SILENT STUDIO #Picasso #arttherapy #wherewecreate
WEEK 2 PART 4: Picasso Today think about the space where you create. Maybe take a photo of where you are when you create. Personally, I can be anywhere as long as I have some supplies. Being a mom, I have trained myself to work “in total seclusion” in the midst of total chaos and I…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 2 Part 3 ART ABOUT ART #LesDemoiselles #Picasso #arttherapy
WEEK 2 PART 3: Picasso Choose your favorite Pablo Picasso piece: I chose Les Desmoiselles d’ Avignon Now open your journal wide and use 2 full pages to reproduce LOOSELY the full piece or part of it. INGEST/DIGEST/REGURGITATE it. ART ABOUT ART. I’m using china marker, dry pastel and, of all things, laundry stain remover spray….
Dad is facing a new challenge! So does art actually heal? @RubbleGallery Jan 21 #fatherdaughter #arttherapy
As Dad enters a new chapter, essentially a new battle for his life (cancer has reappeared), we are grateful that art is helping us process this and is distracting us from the scary road ahead. On Friday, after a scope, I loved watching Dad excitedly get back to his desk to get back to work….
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 2 Part 2 BREATHING #Picasso #arttherapy
WEEK 2 PART 2: Picasso As we prepare for copying a favorite piece by Picasso, we’ll just have Picasso (as we did with Frida) as a companion as we check in with ourselves. Write for 15 minutes about where you are in the moment. Just stream of consciousness. BREATHE PICASSO Tomorrow we do a “reproduction,” which…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 2 Part 1 #Picasso #arttherapy
WEEK 2 PART 1: PICASSO Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. PABLO PICASSO Picasso is THE ARTIST. THE ONE. My teacher. His personality is maddening. His talent, monstrous. Go to the library. Go online. Pull out your books and notebooks. Watch videos. Start researching. Start the immersion. Write his name. See…
View Dad’s amazing journal “Paris trip 1952 on a 250 BMW” at ART HEALS @RubbleGallery Jan 21
Roar Thorsen Roar at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Paris, 1952
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 1 Part 6 SELF-PORTRAIT #FridaKahlo #arttherapy
WEEK 1 PART 6: Frida Kahlo I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best. – Frida Today we’ll do a self-portrait in Frida’s style. But not trying too hard. Don’t use a mirror. Just muse. It’s not about being Frida on the outside, but on the inside….
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 1 Part 5 RELATIONSHIP #FridaKahlo #arttherapy
WEEK 1 PART 5: Frida Kahlo Our relationship with our journal is important. It’s a safe place to purge in, to refocus, to process. By researching an artist and using our journal as a notebook, we develop the relationship further and connect ourselves with art history by becoming it ourselves. Write in your journal about your…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 1 Part 4 ARTIST WORDS #FridaKahlo #arttherapy
WEEK 1 PART 4: Frida Kahlo We have looked at Frida’s works and have viewed some of videos about her and saturated ourselves by breathing with her and reproducing her. Now find her words. Quotes and letters. I have a large collection of Frida books, but you can find lots of sources online. I have always…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 1 Part 3 ART ABOUT ART LOOSELY #FridaKahlo #arttherapy
WEEK 1 PART 3: Frida Kahlo Choose your favorite Frida Kahlo piece Now open your journal wide and use 2 full pages to reproduce LOOSELY the full piece or part of it. INGEST/DIGEST/REGURGITATE it. ART ABOUT ART. I use coffee instead of water when I use watercolor etc. It gives a nice aged look. I always…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 1 Part 2 BREATHING #FridaKahlo #arttherapy
WEEK 1 PART 2: Frida Kahlo As we prepare for copying a favorite piece by Frida Kahlo, we’ll just have Frida as a companion as we check in with ourselves and build our relationship with our journal. Write for 15 minutes about where you are in the moment. Just stream of consciousness. BREATHING. Tomorrow we do…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: Week 1 Part 1 #FridaKahlo #arttherapy
WEEK 1 PART 1: Frida Kahlo FRIDA KAHLO Kahlo is THE MOST important artist to me personally- not for only her imagery, style, and personality, but for her strength and honesty and her ability to express pain. And by drawing her I have processed the darkest of depressions. I paint because I need to paint. Today,…
“Morfar’s Klass” up for raffle as part of ART HEALS @RubbleGallery, Vancouver BC. #arttherapy
My painting “Morfar’s Klass” (28″ x 40″) (acrylic on canvas) will be raffled ($20 ticket, 3 for $40, 10 for $100) on January 21, 2012 at ART HEALS at the Rubble Gallery. This painting is an interpretation of a photograph of my grandfather’s elementary school class in Sweden. Tickets and donations to go towards self-publishing costs…
Exhibit of Roar’s extraordinary post-stroke “outsider art” as part of ART HEALS @RubbleGallery #arttherapy #neurology
My father had a massive stroke 5 years ago and art has essentially saved his life by rekindling his spirit. Check out his project The Old Apple Tree ! His post-stroke drawings fascinate me. Dad’s perception was altered after his stroke. Here he struggles to illustrate a figure looking out a window. He wanted it to…
Weekly artist exploration/journaling series: INTRO #arttherapy
So we just went through a 35 part daily journaling exercise. As a final hurrah to my journal, I packaged mine up and I’m now sending it to my best friend in Stockholm. There are a few pages left in it, and we’ll see if she adds to it. It’s hers to keep and do…
Part 35 of 35 daily journal workshop. SELF. #arttherapy
DAILY JOURNAL WORKSHOP SERIES: Part 1 JUST WRITE Part 2 DRAW OUT THE WORDS Part 3 HEART Part 4 SPILL OUT COLLAGE Part 5 NAKED SCREAM Part 6 INVITE ALTER STRETCH EXTEND Part 7 ARISE AROSE IN 3′S Part 8 SELF-PORTRAIT. HUMAN Part 9 WORD CRAZY QUILT Part 10 VINTAGE WORKOUT Part 11 GESTURE DRAWING…
Part 34 of 35 daily journal workshop. GOAL. #arttherapy
A goal or objective is a desired result an animal or a system envisions, plans and commits to achieve—a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. It is roughly similar to purpose or aim, the anticipated result which guides reaction, or an end, which is an object, either a physical…
Part 33 of 35 daily journal workshop. @SusanAkaSARK’s MICROMOVEMENTS. #arttherapy
Time to take a breather and simplify by using SARK‘s inspiring micromovements! Try some micromovements of your own. Use your journal as your oasis. SARK: SARK is a best-selling author and artist, with sixteen titles in print and well over two million books sold, including the national bestsellers Succulent Wild Woman, Bodacious Book of Succulence,…
Part 32 of 35 daily journal workshop. GRIEF. #arttherapy
LOSS. What does that mean to you? Are you scared of it? Is the fear of losing someone or something preventing you from living now? Have you experienced such profound loss that grief overwhelms you, and indeed, now shapes you? Write it out. Or draw it out. There are no easy answers. There is just…
Part 31 of 35 daily journal workshop. NEWBORN. BRAINSTORM. #arttherapy
Today you are a newborn and you are starting fresh! Draw a baby. Draw brainstorm bubbles above “your “head. Write about what it may be like to start fresh. Releasing anxiety and hesitancy. Brainstorm central themes in your life. Just let it happen. Be willing to be a beginner every single morning. Tomorrow: GRIEF Daily…
Part 30 daily journal workshop. REVIEW. RESOLVE. #arttherapy
REVIEW 1a : a formal military inspection b : a military ceremony honoring a person or an event 2: revision 1a 3: a general survey (as of the events of a period) 4: an act or the process of reviewing 5: judicial reexamination (as of the proceedings of a lower tribunal by a higher) 6a : a critical evaluation (as of a book or play) b : a magazine devoted chiefly…
Part 29 daily journal workshop. MINDFULNESS. #arttherapy
On Dec 26, I had a powerful conversation with a friend about mindfulness. Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you’re mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the…
Part 28 daily journal workshop. ANGELS AMONG US. #arttherapy
I dedicate this post to my best friend, Maud. — Angels shine from without because their spirits are lit from within. Take a moment to think about what “an angel” means to you. Draw or write it out. Guest speaker, Liz, truly an angel on earth, bravely faced her abuser this year and is now moving forward…
Part 27 daily journal workshop. SHUT YOUR EYES AND SEE. #arttherapy
Shut your eyes and see. – James Joyce What does this quote mean to you? What does this quote mean to me? Stop trying. Let it happen. By letting it go it all gets done. Surrender. Give up control. Close your eyes and draw a self-portrait- imagining your pen running along your facial lines. Growth…
Part 26 daily journal workshop. PERFECTIONISM. #arttherapy
Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life. Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it’s often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis. – Brené Brown Struggling with the need to be perfect = my life. How about you?…
Part 25 daily journal workshop. TAKE YOUR JOURNAL OUT. #arttherapy
Now that we are pretty far into this journal [notice how I’m taking you all the way to the end of mine, and we’re half way there], shove your journal in your bag, or thrust it under your arm, grab some pens and get the hell out of the house. Make your journal your best…