Where to Next?

"Julie"
acrylic 16"x16"
an early work done after Zemsky-Hines workship
copyright MaryAnn Cleary

Many years ago I took a workshop by Jessica Zemsky and Jack Hines when I lived in Montana. Jessica and Jack live in a little town called Big Timber, Montana. It is beautiful in that part of Montana. As a result of that workshop, I initially began working in acrylics and sometimes watercolors. One of the things that is troubling me now as an artist is that I love working in several different types of media. As an artist, I feel that I should be developing my technique and style. Does that mean I must stick with one medium? I hope not. As one of my art instructors, Jim Garrison, in Arizona said, "painting is like drawing, only you are using a brush and paint instead of charcoal or a pencil". I also feel that depending on the mood and feeling that an artist is trying to get across to the viewer, one media may work better than another.

For now, I will continue doing my daily paintings in oil. I love using the small gallery wrapped canvases as I can paint part of the painting on the side to draw the viewer into the painting. I also like the quick and more instantaneous results (good or bad). Other media that I enjoy working with are conte and charcoal together on a toned paper as well as watercolor and colored pencils. When I use either of the last two media, I use many layers to build the values and colors that are needed. A work can take many, many hours to complete. However, I like the flexibility of using them wherever you are, especially the pencils.

By the way, Julie is my daughter. She now has her own little one, Nico, and lives with her partner in Montana not far from Big Timber.

Please leave comments as they would be appreciated. I would like to know how others figure out their style and who they are as artists.

MaryAnn