Accounting and Art- Used to be Like Oil and Water

I  know you have probably heard the term "Creative Finance" but I have just given that term a whole new interpretation.  It is probably hard for many of you to imagine that it would be possible to pull off combining both accounting and art together in the same piece but I think I've accomplished just that here in my new series that I call "Confessions of a Recovering Accountant".  

These pieces are both colorful and expressive and yet at the same time simplistic.  For me these 3 pieces represent the sum of my professional life after spending 30+ years in some capacity doing bookkeeping, accounting and business administration.  At times, I consider with some regret those years where art was for me but a distant memory of a youthful passion.  I feared that somehow that ability to be creative had totally disappeared and I would never get it back.  People that I had worked with side by side for years had no idea that I had once possessed a hidden talent to draw and paint and now they express shock as they come to visit my solo shows or the galleries where my art hangs.  

In less than two years, my life really has changed drastically.  Rather than stressing over the accounts receivable collections report, balancing the general ledger or working to prepare my monthly board presentation, I am now always working on a current painting, planning a new painting, sitting a gallery or sketching in my journal.  This series has been so freeing to me and I already have ideas to includes several more pieces. I have ideas to include my beloved Monroe 10 Key and another that I have already titled "Cooking the Books".  

To check out these and my other works, please visit my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com

Coloring My World

Right Brain vs Left Brain

Creative Finance

Just One More Pan

I just finished another in my series "Seeking Color" and I'm excited how it turned out.  When I started my initial plans for the painting I envisioned an white haired prospector that even though his gold bag is full is stopping one more time along the mountain stream to try to find "Just One More Pan".  His bedroll, supplies and all important gold pouch are stacked near a fallen tree.  Next to him he has his rifle ready to grab if necessary.  He is intently working his pan and is excited to see a couple of gleaming specks have already washed up onto the pan.

This series is inspired by my love for the state of Nevada-One of the largest gold producing areas in the world.  Nevada mines 79% of all gold found in the United States and this rich history spans over 150 years.  The Nevada miner is a sturdy and adventurous lot. To the likely protest of his family in the east, he traded in his plow for a pic, shovel and a couple of gold pans to seek a dream only the streams of the Sierra Nevada's or the dry dust that covers the desert floor could satisfy.  Few actually saw that dream come to fruition, many died in pursuit of the dream and Nevada is one of handful of states that owe them much.

If you are interested in this painting or seeing others in this series, you can check out my gallery page or contact me at Julie@JulieTownsendStudio.com.  

"Just One More Pan"- 16 x 20 Original Oil Painting

What's my Name?

This beautiful Sunday morning is starting out in my usual way; a cup of awesome McDonald coffee and free wi-fi.  So far, there are no screaming kids on the playground so for a few more minutes I am enjoying the solitude of my morning devotions and my blogging thoughts.

I'm considering my newest painting this morning.  It has taken several days, but I feel that I am almost at that completion point.  For me this is often an awkward time because for this piece I haven't yet come up with a name.  Just as a parent is faced with the awesome responsibility of naming their children, so is an artist with coming up with a title for each and every piece of work.  Once you have a name attached it is no longer the "WIP" (work in progress).

I started this piece about three days ago as just a retouch of an older sunset piece that I thought needed a bit more color.  I had just seen a sunset sky photograph that showed brilliant colors and using that as my inspiration, very soon it was obvious that my retouch turned into a complete REDO.

 Color isn't the only transformation that this painting went through.   As a matter of fact, yesterday I even changed the time of day from sunset to sunrise because I decided the top canvas blue is so dark that it really must be a sunrise breaking, forth casting out the darkness.  "Casting out the Darkness" might be a good name for this piece or perhaps "Breaking Dawn" or "A Blaze in His Glory".  One thing I know, is that a name is very important and this one has to have a strong name to match the strong colors used in this 24 x 24 piece.

Paint Better- TAKE OFF YOUR ROSE COLORED GLASSES

I've started reading a book called "Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light and Color" by Kevin Macpherson and so far it is an informative read. His book starts out with several pages about the equipment of a well prepared painter and even explains how to clean your brushes.  Very practical advice for any want to be en plein air painter.

 Mr. Macpherson refers to colors as "NOTES" which I found very interesting.  Chapter one is titled "Seeing Color Accurately"  He states that "You must train your eye to see and simplify."  A color note is the combination of the Hue (name of the color), + Value (degree of grayness) + Chroma (intensity or lack of) =COLOR NOTE.  On page 19, the author tells us that "Our preconceived thoughts limit our sensitivity to seeing."

I have often realized this with my own painting because preconceived mental images of simple things like rock, grass, trees and clouds all impact my paintings and cause struggles in my attempts to paint more convincing landscapes.  It is like I spent most of my life "not really seeing" the nature around me.  My natural tendency is to paint my landscapes too uniform and rigid.  I have often mentioned my struggle with painting something as simple as rocks looking like smooth river rocks and my bushes being soldiers at attention.

I was chatting about some of these points with my husband over our morning ritual of McDonald's coffee and he made the comment about looking at the colors out of focus.  I was pretty shocked at his intuition when I flipped the page to page 21 titled, "A Colorful World out of Focus".  Mr. Mcpaherson actually suggests taking off your glasses so that you are focused on the COLOR rather than the image.  He even talks about and gives examples of entire paintings he did without the aid of his glasses.  What a concept!

Seasons

I've been a bit distracted the last few weeks, so my current painting that is on my easel is taking a bit longer for me to finish.  I thought I might just give everyone a peek preview...I think I'm going to call this 12x16 acrylic painting "Seasons".  When I was in Utah a few weeks ago this idea came to me to paint the life cycle of an oak tree and have all 4 seasons reflected in one painting.

Now, at this time I have a bit more detail to add but I think you can see composition from this photo that this piece is full of bright colors that draw the eye to the spouting acorn.  I love the rays of sunshine that work their way through the branches to reach the new life below.  You can see in the branches transition for budding in the spring, to the last leaf of the season clinging  and finally giving way to the winter snow. 

$200 + shipping costs