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In my previous blog post, from coach to full-time artist, I shared the thought process that went into this career change. But you may be wondering what were the 'boots on the ground' steps that I took to make this transition. Let me see if I can walk you through the steps. First of all, from all my years in my coaching business and my fine art jewellery business - I'm a certified goldsmith as well as a certified life coach, I had a list of contacts. What's a list? It consists of the private emails that people have given me over the years as well as my social media following. Now you might be thinking - those people aren't going to follow this radical shift in profession. How do you begin again with a whole new product? You simply let them know that you are making a change. That's it. Some will leave, that is okay, while others will join in, partly to watch the transition, and partly because they are curious what you can create. My number 1 advice is get a list, nurture your list, stay in touch with people who already have an interest in you. If you don't have a list, start now. It's pretty easy. All you need is a mail sending program. I recommend Active Campaign, Constant Contact, or Mailchimp. Then simply invite family, friends, work colleagues, your dentist, your hairstylist, whoever you can think of to join you. Every month compose an email letting them know what you are up to. No need to get all widgy about it. Write the email as if you are speaking to one person and once a month send them updates, images anything of interest going on in your creative life. I have a very simply theory about my art business.
Not so easy. Let's start with point #1 Create lots of great art. #1 Figure out your materials. #2 Figure out how to organize yourself. Materials. Okay, so you are starting out, you don't really know what you are doing, where do you even begin? In my case it was pretty easy. I don't like mess. Charcoal, graphite, pastels, conté..... not interested. Too messy for me. I don't like my hands getting dirty. I don't even like eating fruit that gets me messy - drippy oranges.... oh no. Ick. I also knew from experience that acrylics dry too quickly for me to enjoy working with them. Now oils, they scared me at first, because, come on, they are oil paints. The prestigious material of the masters. Who am I to use this highly regarded material? Note to self: changing our mind about who we are is a constant process when you are exploring a fine art career. a) decide on the materials that you are drawn to work with, and start figuring out how to use them. What are the techniques to applying this medium? What surface is best for it? Is there any special surface prep or finishing that I need to be aware of? This is where the library came in really handy. There are so many books to help with the technical stuff. b) spend the time to learn how to use the materials. Great to read it online or in a book, but until you actually practice you have no skills. At first you will likely be disappointed with what you produce, this is always the case because what we imagine is possible, is not actually possible with the skills that we have. Don't be discouraged. You can acquire the skills, it simply takes a bit more practice. Organizing yourself Being an artist is very much about being self-motivated. You are on your own when it comes to inspiration and doing the work. You have yourself to rely on, which is the good news/bad news. One thing that helps me so much is my schedule. Very early on I timed myself, from start to finish, of a piece. Literally, when I start composing an image, transferring that image to canvas, preparing the canvas, and every step thereafter, I had a timer running. I use a free program called Clockify. It allows me to set up projects, those projects are each individual painting I plan to paint. When I start on the concept of the painting, I start clockify. When I get up for a cup of tea, I stop the timer. You get the idea. What I'm most interested in tracking is the actual time it takes to create that project. Once I have the time for a given piece, then I can calculate the minutes per square inch that I took to create that piece. This has been such valuable information as I plan my career.
This is what used to happen. ( internal self talk) "You scheduled 15 paintings this month and based on your painting speed that will take you 85 hours to produce. This month you have been able to paint for 30 hours. No wonder you are not able to reach your goals." Do you see how valuable this can be? When you have a better idea how long each piece takes you, and how many total hours in a week/month you have to paint then you can set appropriate goals and actually reach them. When I started keeping track I was taking 6.2 minutes per square inch. Now I'm averaging 2.5 minutes per square inch. Part of that change is from changing my process. I no longer do a full "grisaille" or greyscale underpainting. As a full time artist I don't have a boss telling me which items are a priority and how to use my time. I have to do that for myself. I'm a big proponent of producing painting in a series, a group of 5 or so paintings that will hang together as a unit. This could be by size - all 12 x 12", or by subject - all landscapes, or by price - all under $400. This helps your audience understand what you are promoting. It also gives potential buyers a choice within a given theme. My Process 1) I take my own source photos so I have control of the image I work from. There is no copyright that I have to be concerned about when it is my own image. Plus I can compose and capture the lighting of the image just the way I like it. 2) Once back at the studio I load my images to my computer and sift through them looking for the really special ones. 3) From this first selection, I do compositional studies to determine and isolate what my focal point will be and what sorts of shadows/lines will help reinforce that composition. Each image does not necessary compose well. When the dimensions of the composition have been worked out I can decide on the canvas size for the painting. Let me walk you through this. With an image that has been cropped to 63mm x 71mm (I place a plastic ruler up to my computer screen to measure the width and height). I then divide 63 by 71 = .88 This is the ratio between the short side and the long side of the painting. (Always divide the small number by the larger number) I have created a spreadsheet chart with the common canvas sizes and their ratio, just to make it easier to pick an appropriate canvas dimension with this ration. 0.88 is a bit of an odd ratio. At this point I have a couple decisions to make. I can go back to the composition and change it slightly to arrive at a different ratio or I can choose a canvas that is close to the .88 and make it work. I see that the 16 x 18.5" is 0.86. That will likely work just fine. Now at this stage, I create an inventory sheet for that piece. Here's a blank sheet that you are welcome to emulate. This inventory sheet is printed on regular 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper and slipped into a plastic page protector. I slip a photo of the proposed painting, which I print out on regular printer paper, just as a reference, into the sleeve as well. I fill in as much detail a I know at this stage. The size of the canvas has been determined, so it goes in that space. etc. I will also apply an inventory number and often a title.
Next to the size of the canvas I will add the calculation of timing. Let's calculate this based on the 16 x 18.5" canvas for this .88 ratio piece. Multiply 16 x 18.5 = 296 square inches x 2.5 minutes /squ. inch = 740 minutes / 60 minutes = 12.5 hours. This painting should take me 12.5 hours for the painting time, plus the canvas prep and image transfer time. 15 hours should do it. The next major number to figure out is how much time you have to paint. If you are working a full time job currently, then perhaps you have 4 hours per week that you have to dedicate to painting. That means this piece will take you 3.5 weeks to complete. I would then jot this down on a calendar with a completion date in mind and go for it. This helps so much with the procrastination/what do I work on now question. There is no doubt what you have to work on. Here's a caveat, shuffle projects around to focus on what you are inspired to create. Just because it's on the schedule doesn't mean that is the piece you 'have to' work on. You get to decide. Show your art to lots of people How are you going to show people what you are creating? Your list, your social media contacts, local shows, art fairs, juried exhibitions etc. These are just a few ideas of how to show your work to lots of people. You get to decide what works best for you. Keep in mind some of these opportunities have some upfront costs like booth rental and perhaps commissions that you will want to keep in mind. Note: Be careful that you can afford the upfront expenses before you commit to it. You don't want to have a resentful feeling towards the event if you don't sell anything and you've spent money you don't have to be there. It is very possible to sell your artwork and it is going to take time to find your collectors. Just because you are going into the local art fair does not mean you are going to sell anything. Yes, you will get exposure and know that your entrance fees are giving you that, for sure. However, check that you don't have big expectation of high sales right off the bat. In my experience, this is simply not that common. Make it easy for people to buy from you. This is a big piece that many people overlook. If for example you are relying on e-transfers to be the sole way you recieve money for your pieces then I would encourage you to look for alternate methods. Here's why.... many people do not bank online, do not feel comfortable with the technology, and don't want to be embarrassed that they are not savvy with this. It's a hurdle. Now most people have gotten accustomed to using a tap process. To make it easy for your clients to purchase from you get yourself a tap device. Square is a reliable source for this and the one time fee is about $50 for the device. This will enable you to collect payment by debit card or all major credit cards. Pretty slick. When you receive your square tap device, you will be prompted to hook up your bank account to the device. This is secure so you needn't worry. When you hook up your account square will send you a small amount, and then withdraw that same amount. This will ensure that the connection with your bank is working properly. This takes a few days to do that, so make sure you have time for this process to happen. Once you have a square account you will be able to take payment with your tap device and you will also be able to send a client an invoice by email that they can then pay with their credit card on their end. This is super handy when your client is not in your local area. With your email list, social media presence, and your tap device/square account you are now ready to start spreading the word about your work. The next business element I encourage you to consider is to purchase a domain name (Namecheap is my recommendation for purchasing domain names) appropriate for your art business and create a simple website. One step at a time. I use Weebly which is partnered with Square. Squareup, different than Squarespace, is another option as is WIX etc. I hope this is a help. It may seem a bit confusing at first, however, begin at the beginning by deciding what your medium of choice is and get started producing the work you feel inspired to produce. You know when things don't always turn out the way you think and you are faced with making a new decision? In 2019, I was the head coach for a local company with clients from Brazil to Amsterdam and all over North America. It was exciting to be invested in other women's lives, helping them, diving into those conversations that reveal what they really want to create in their lives. Until things changed, unexpectedly. The working agreement changed without warning and rather than remain for the new 10 month program, I felt it would be less disruptive if I resigned right at the beginning. The trouble was, I'd set aside my own coaching practice to work for this company. I didn't have a roster of my own clients, I had to start from scratch. Energetically, I wasn't up to creating a new coaching practice. I was a bit worn out and realized I wanted to create more of what I'd been coaching other women to create. Don't get me wrong, much of my coaching career was great. However, after 10 years in the industry, I just wasn't willing to sign on for another 10 years when something else was calling me. In those early days, March 2019, there were a lot of tears, praying, and hoping for some sort of guidance. What came to me, over and over again.... "Just go Paint" Just go paint, Ciel. Don't worry about all the other pieces, just yet. I pulled out my stored materials and started. I had supplies from my visual arts degree, it was simply a matter of dusting them off and getting started again. Or was it? There were lots of gaps in my knowledge and skill. I was terrified of colour for one thing. I was wasting a lot of paint and making a whole lot of mud. There were a few artists that I admired. Renato Muccillo, a local landscape painter with amazing skills. Here he is with one of his pieces. That's a painting. Amazing. Thomas Darnell, an American painter, living in France was another artist that I was inspired by. Here he is. And lastly Mickie Acierno, the only female in the group to catch my eye and inspire me. Here's Mickie. The question in my mind when I looked at these inspiring artists work was: "I wonder if I could paint like that?" I've been in that inquiry ever since. In my earlier life I spend 2.5 years at the Alberta College of Art & Design studying all kinds of subjects, glassblowing, weaving, 2D design, 3D design, drawing, jewellery etc. I also attended the University of British Columbia earning a Bachelor's degree in Visual arts. These were great experiences, however, they didn't teach me how to paint like I do now. Sadly. In fact, my third year drawing instructor, at ACAD, asked, after we hung our work for critique, "Whose piece is this one?" I raised my hand. His reply was "Sweetheart, this clearly isn't for you and proceeded to waltz me out of class." He literally kicked me out of his class because my skills were not to his liking. Wait.... aren't you my instructor? Aren't you supposed to teach me? I guess he missed that memo. While attending The University of British Columbia, I was once again thwarted by my instructor. After assessing my painting, as he walked away, he said "Your work is very painterly" I said "thank you." He replied over his shoulder his shoulder "That was not a compliment." Well f*ck you. What do you want from me. If you are not going to teach me, then I'm going to find someone who can. I was so discouraged and pissed off. One day while flipping through a local newspaper I saw art classes being advertised at a local community centre. One of the classes, colour pencil drawing with Catherine Robertson, looked interesting. I could take my pencil crayons with me, so not a lot of art supplies to haul, that sounded good. So I enrolled. I'm so glad I did. Catherine was the artistic angel that I needed. Finally someone willing to teach me the nuts and bolts of making marks, composition, using a medium, everything I'd missed in both my college and my university education. Most importantly she saw my potential and helped me have a bit more confidence in myself. I'm forever grateful for Catherine's kind, loving direction. Another angel that helped get me started on my journey was the late Mary Benz Gilkerson. Mary's wisdom, skills and vision for my ability really helped me imagine a fine art career. My local library was my best friend in these early days. I took out as many books as I could get my hands on to start to study techniques, canvas preparation etc. I also watched a few Youtube videos and listened to podcasts from other artists. It was invaluable. In the early days, I didn't always get it 'right' whatever that means. I wanted first and foremost to make sure the canvas surface was prepared properly for the painting to have longevity. I began my process by transferring the image to canvas in pencil, then going over the lines with waterproof ink and a fountain pen. This worked, however, the dark lines were too dark to cover easily particularly with white petals or lighter coloured flowers. I retired that method and went just to pencil. This proved problematic as Titanium White, the white that I use, becomes more translucent as it cures so those pencil lines end up revealing themselves in time. Darn it. More research revealed that pencil crayon is a suitable medium for the transferred drawing, so that what I'm using now. I use the appropriate coloured pencil crayon for the item that I'm painting. If the lines do show up in time, they will be the appropriate colour and not offensive to the viewer. March 2019 I started painting seriously and by October I was ready for my first solo show. Most of the pieces in that show were done in the grayscale - this was in my "I don't know what to do with colour" stage. January 2020, I committed to painting full time and really going for it. Which meant I would have to learn to mix colour. So off to the library I go. I ordered a book through inter-library loan called "Alla Prima" by Richard Schmid. This book gave me enough information to get started on mixing colour charts for myself. It changed everything!! As Covid was just starting to take the world by surprise, I launched my next collection online via my own website. I sold two pieces. One to a friend in San Francisco and the other to a business colleague in Scottsdale Arizona. I remember when it happened, I'd walked down to the beach in the sunshine, enjoying the summer day and celebrating all that I had accomplished. As I was in line to pick up my fish and chip order my phone pinged that something had sold. I was jumping for joy, calling my husband in tears, so happy to share the amazing news. The Federation of Canadian Artists has been around for 80 years and was founded by some notable artists like Lawren Harris and Emily Carr. The Federation is a non-profit organization giving artists opportunities to be juried into shows and showing their work. After submitting and being juried into several shows I was able to apply for my Signature Status, an elevated level of distinction within the Federation. In April 2022, 22 jurors assessed my work and awarded me my Senior Signature Member status with The Federation of Canadian Artists. Oh my gosh!!! At the time there were about 3000 members of the Federation with only 105 reaching Senior Signature Status including Robert Bateman, Gaye Adams, Charlie Easton, and me. Very very cool. This past August had me flying to Toronto for the opening Gala of an International Art Show hosted by the Society of Canadian Artists. One of my pieces was selected from the hundreds who applied, so I really wanted to be there to celebrate the opening and the accomplishment. In September 2023, The Nomad Gallery in White Rock, BC hosted me for a solo show titled 'Bloomin.... Lovely' It was a wonderful show with elbow room only at the opening. Amazing. So what's my work like now? I hope you have enjoyed this little foray into my journey as an artist. Let me know if you have any questions.
Making your own natural wood frame for a 3/4" stretched canvas is not difficult, it just takes a few tools and a bit of careful planning. The tools that you will need are:
Before we begin, do you see the diagonal arrows at the lower right corner? If you click on those arrows the video will expand to a larger version. Roll your cursor over the lower right hand corner and the diagonal arrows will show up. This video is available for your use and in addition I am here to help you, should you run into any uncertainty. Message your questions at this email address: studio@cielellis.com
In return if you'd like to make a donation, in the amount of your choice, I encourage you to do so. I'm happy to share what I know and it comes at a cost to me in time and technology. Your donation makes a big difference. I have a few opinions about why this is important. 1) Art making is all about making decisions, lots of decisions. If you aren't organized in your own mind those decisions become slower to make and much more frustrating. 2) When you are organized you can:
3) It's easy for you to look up the information you need. When a customer is wanting to know a detail about the painting you have all those details in one place, easy to find. This really builds trust. The customer sees that you are organized and you are a real business person. The #1 place to start is getting your artwork into a spreadsheet. You can use a sheet of paper, of course, however a spreadsheet can do all sorts of calculations automatically making your numbers much easier to understand. The first spreadsheet is an inventory list. This is a list of everything you have finished, sold, and pieces in the works. Here is a little video walking you through the set up of your first spreadsheet. Before we begin, do you see the diagonal arrows in the image below? If you click on the them they will expand the videos below so they are easier to read. You can find the arrows by rolling over the bottom right hand corner of the video. At different times I want to have different information so I create several spreadsheets to track different things. One of those things I track are my materials. Namely canvases. What sizes and how many blank canvases do I have in inventory. Maybe you have none, then this is something unnecessary for you to track. For me, I may have an addiction to purchasing canvases... seriously. I think I have 70, that's 7+0, canvases waiting in the wings for new paintings. Sheesh. In order to keep the inventory of available canvases in order, I created a new spreadsheet to track them. You will see I've added a donate button below. Why? Helping you comes at a cost to me for my time and the fees to run the technology necessary. If you are able, and you found value, please make a donation in an amount that you decide. I will say thank you in advance. I'm grateful to be in this relationship with you. Please let me know if you run into any questions of need help. Message me at: studio@cielellis.com
This is a dream of many artists and unfortunately it can seem like a daunting task because honestly there are so many decisions to make. Decisions that are necessary, sometimes scary, and you don't know if you are doing it 'right.'
As I've built my career, I've learned a lot, made some mistakes, and found a rhythm that works for me and my clients are more importantly my customers are confident to purchase from me. From a talk that I gave at the Langley location of Opus, I wanted to share the topics that I touched on.
In the coming weeks I will be writing to answer these questions and providing pdf downloads where possible to support you in the growth of your business. Let me know if there is a topic that you would like me to cover if you don't see it here simply by leaving a comment below. Depending whose viewpoint you are taking. Just think about this for a moment. Who's doing the criticizing? Likely someone who works in a conventional job.
If you work as an insurance broker, or a doctor, or windshield installer for the automotive industry, then you work regular hours, for an expected wage, with structures for safe practices and regulations around what you can and can't do. You also likely have industry standards for education. If you fulfill x,y,z, training and earn your certificate then you can perform that job. The structures and expectation when you have a regular job are easily understood and most people can work within them just fine. Artists on the other hand, often work irregular hours, and perform many things that are not directly measurable, and are easily judged by those who work differently. Plus there is no x,y,z program of training that guarantees anything for an artist. You can go to university or some other post secondary training and still have the same challenges of marketing and creating a body of work that is marketable as those who did not go the university route. Then there are the things that artists do that don't correlate to an hourly wage structure. What about the hours and hours an artist spends conceptualizing new ideas, trying things out, practicing with new materials, pricing the materials they would like to use - only to realize the cost is too high, then spend a whole lot of extra time trying to find a new solution? How does all this get factored in? Conventional jobs = doing a job + get paid for that job. Artists = try a bunch of things, spend a whole lot of non-billable hours to produce something, and hope it sells. You get paid for the one item that someone gave you money for, not the hours and hours it took to produce that one item. In reality, business of any sort is very simple. You make a product that someone wants to buy and then you assist that person in buying it. Simple. For artists, being that there is no inherent business structure, they have to decide, on every level how they are going to structure their business. I think this is where it gets a bit overwhelming. When are they the most effective at their work? Is it midnight to 4 am? Where are the people that want to purchase what they have produced? Which shows/exhibits do they want to be a part of? What are the commissions/costs to be a part of those shows? How are you going to display your art so it can be seen in the best possible light? Can you schlepp all that to the venue yourself or do you need someone to help? How do you price your work? Do you sell it framed or unframed? How do you talk about your art so the possible collector is intrigued enough to enquire about purchasing it? Then comes all the shipping and packaging questions. Oh and the website. Which platform, how do I take payment, how do I keep an inventory of finished work? Where did the blue abstract piece go, anyway? It's a lot. From an outside observer artists may be judged because what they do does not fit into a neat, regular system. The freedom to decide how to be an artist, is part of the appeal and attraction. The freedom to design, tweak, sell and promote their work however feels right, to whomever it feels right, is really a blessing. If you are an artist, don't worry about the criticism, you get to do you. Make the decisions you need to make, get some help if you need it. Keep records of your work. Pay your taxes. Another thing about being an artist that's super cool. Anyone with the right training can sell insurance or install a windshield, or style that new haircut. Artists create something from nothing, Something wonderful and new that can only be created by them. There is no recipe. The product comes from their unique inspiration and their skill with their medium. The possibilities are endless and never the same twice. Yeah to all the artists out there cutting their own path through the amazing opportunities, doing it their own way. We want to feel that we are doing something meaningful. That we are appreciated. That we matter. That we are connected to people that matter to us. Maybe one day you wake up and wondered what is the point? Why does any of this really matter? I've certainly asked these questions over the years. Finding my own way to these answers had been about listening, journalling, meditating, and following my own inspiration. I noticed over time that I had answered my own question. I think this is the only meaningful way to come to our answers - to do it ourselves. Can YOU value what you do? For a lot of years I didn't feel that valuable. Yes, I had roles that I fulfilled, mother, sister, daughter, friend, wife, lover, creative. As my parents and many of siblings have died, the family ties, rituals and routines have fallen away. Without the obligatory Thanksgiving/Christmas get togethers, what is the nature of connection? I can't say those get togethers were fulfilling. They were often strained and didn't result in any meaningful connections. You know how it is... the turkey needs to get cooked, the salads prepared, the table set, the beverages chilled. Then the guests arrive and it's about making sure everyone has what they need. Then it's the cleaning up and everyone goes home. I drove 12 hours on winter roads for this ? I was wanting something more. A chance to connect. A moment where someone turned to me and asked "how are you doing? What's going on in your life?" and really listened to what I had to say. This is partly a co-dependent questions. "If only they would pay attention to me." Neediness, for sure. I understand now that this energy of needing something from someone else is also pretty heavy. The expectation on others that they would fulfill something that I needed. They probably had no idea what I needed but could sense a brooding or moodiness that was not appealing. In some ways the falling away of the obligations has been wonderfully liberating. A peeling back to the essential of what has me feel valuable in my own life. Through my art, the best learning arena I've found, I have grown. I think we search for the sublime. Art is beautiful and healing, but also it is a manifestation of love, or divinity, or whatever we want to call it. (Excerpt from Bittersweet by Susan Cain. In reality I don't really 'need' others to come to me and spend that quality conversation. It's nice when it happens, but the neediness has fallen away. Thank goodness. I feel that connections can now come in a more transparent, honest, mutual way, than the way I was seeking them. Through my art, I'm learning to listen, be still and create from within. I know that sounds kind of whoo whoo. I'm sure you have heard of the concept of the flow state, where you lose track of time and feel immersed in the process of what you are doing. That's what I'm referring to when I say create from within. Before that flow state can happen the environment and tools need to be arranged in such a way that you can be in the moment of creating. I read a term this morning... the mediocrity of excellence. Often people who excel are not the most brilliant, the fastest, smartest, funniest, rather they are the ones who show up day in day out doing the small things. Practicing, keeping to the routine of things. Artists historically have gotten a bad rap for how they live their life. Judgement abounds. Judgement about our business skills, the quality of the work we produce, the subject matter that we represent. I learned a valuable lesson this past year, I was still seeking approval from strangers. There were holes in the way I was holding the efficacy of my work, so the criticism was able to find its way in. Great lesson to learn. Collecting evidence has become a habit of mine. I collect things like:
When I can look at my numbers and see that 1) I am making money, 2) I'm showing up and putting in the time 3) I'm painting more = more likely to reach my goals, then I can feel a sense of personal satisfaction and pleasure. I can allow myself to feel good. With these sets of goals + I can keep to the schedule + I'm making great progress = I feel good about what I'm doing. This doesn't even take into affect how my art is improving from my time and attention. It's quite amazing. As I see these images here, tears come to my eyes. To see how far I've come. To feel the energy of my paintings now, moved me to tears, literally.
This feels f*cking amazing. I can honestly say I feel good. I feel valuable. I feel like what I'm contributing is important. I wish this for you too. I wish for the awareness and time for you to find your way to this self satisfying place, where deep connections can happen, naturally. Where you feel that are so valuable. Bless you on this journey. Please keep going. Your art matters. I’m not good with criticism. It’s often cruel and unnecessary. I'm talking about the unsolicited opinions that come from, who knows, family/friends, or random strangers. It doesn't really matter. What does matter is the effect.
For me, I get triggered. I’m human. I react. I feel hurt. I feel frustrated. I feel pissed off. All of it takes me away from my beautiful heart centred creativity. It is very important that whatever the motivation for the unsolicited critique of your work, let it bounce off you. There is no need to take it personally, or justify yourself, or somehow appease the person. What you do, or how you do it, may be rejected by some viewers. That is not the point. Your work is important. I keep trying to stress this in my writing. Why? Your unique view on your life and the world you live opens a window for the rest of us to consider and experience what you are. What you create could not exist without you. Your unique inspirations and just that unique. Even if you see a gazillion people painting landscapes, or flowers, or portraits, the way you do it is unique simply because you see things differently. You also use your materials differently than other people. Celebrate that uniqueness. Comparison is the killer of your creativity and completely unnecessary. It's a waste of time.... period. In my case, I've had thousands of people - and I'm not exaggerating, react to one of my paintings. All positive, "Oh wow!", "Lovely work", "I really enjoy what you are doing, you are so talented," etc. Then there is the one that says some pretty unrealistic things. And you know the truth neither comment really matters that much. I mean, yes, the good comments are great to hear, but if that is why you are making art, then you are really susceptible to that feedback. What if the comments dry up? Do you stop making your art? Don't let yourself become dependent on other people telling you what you are doing is worthwhile. Your finished piece of artwork is a testiment to the journey you have been on to create it. It's personal. You tackled the difficult stuff, of self doubt, uncertainty, lack of motivation, whatever, and created the piece anyway. Your art and your tenacity if really important. If you are compelled to create, then keep creating and don't let anyone dissuade you from it. I appreciate every single day that I get the privilege of creating what I’m inspired to create. The freedom to do it my way. The responsibility to share my joy and exuberance. When many people are falling apart in despair and worry from the challenges we are facing, I get to infuse the world with a bit of peace, a bit of beauty, and a whole lot of love. That’s what’s important. Here is one of my recent pieces titled "Yowza" Yowza is right. I hope you enjoy it. Flowers being my main passion in my art and I'm always curious to learn, I've been in search of historical motivations as well as psychological benefits of flower art in particular. Scientist David Deutsch, believes that blooms have an abject beauty that draws people in with their harmonizing hues, smooth curves, and symmetrical patterns. Harmonizing hues.... has me think of energy regulation. Of calming the nerves of those who have had a busy day filled with traffic and distractions. Symmetrical patterns makes reference to balance and order. There is another aspect of creating art that I have been exploring and that is the golden ratio or fibonacci numbers. Do you know what those are? Let me explain. The golden ratio is a mathematical relationship between two lengths the ideal being 1.618. This is the probably the most studied ratio since the beginning of time. The ancient Greeks recognized this “dividing” or “sectioning” property, a phrase that was ultimately shortened to simply “the section.” It was more than 2,000 years later that both “ratio” and “section” were designated as “golden” by German mathematician Martin Ohm in 1835. The Greeks also had observed that the golden ratio provided the most aesthetically pleasing proportion of sides of a rectangle, a notion that was enhanced during the Renaissance by, for example, the work of the Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci and the publication of De divina proportione (1509; Divine Proportion), written by the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli and illustrated by Leonardo. Taken from https://www.britannica.com/science/golden-ratio So what does this mean for art? If the greeks were using the golden ratio to design the most pleasing relationship of the lines and proportions that created their monuments and Leonardo used his understanding of the ratio in his historic work, then it leads me to believe that it may still be relevant today. (hint of sarcasm.) How does the golden ratio relate to me and my work? As an artist I have the challenge of creating a window to the world, as I see it, with the hopes of drawing the attention of a viewer and perhaps a collector for my work. I have two dimensional surface to work on and what I choose to place in that frame, where I place it, how I depict it, the skill I'm able to create it with all determine the success of the piece. I could willy nilly place things in the frame and hope for the best, but considering some of paintings take 75-100 hours to create I'd rather not take the chance. I'm not really much of a gambler when it comes to my work. What I do instead is I compose my subjects in a way that honours the golden ratio, captures light in an interesting way, and hopefully pulls the view in. Here is a peony that I photographed. At this point I'm not sure if it will be an interesting painting. As it is in this image, I would not paint this because I don't want all the grass/dirt and extraneous information that really is not that interesting. The challenge now becomes whether I can compose this image in a pleasing way to make it an exquisite painting. This combination is okay. But let's see if I can refine this even a bit more. Now we've got something. Let me explain. Maybe you aren't seeing what I'm seeing. I've placed the golden ratio, the lines dividing the shape into the 1.618 ratio. I've placed one cross section on the stamen of the flower and the other points on petals of interest. This creates a framing for the focal point. The stamen being what I really want to draw you in with. I feel a sense of tension here, like you can feel the energy of the bloom pushing out from the frame of the canvas. I find this really interesting.
I want to generate a feeling with my work. Yes, it is a pretty picture, but what I can do with that image to have you feel something? That's the big question. It begins with me, what do I feel? It's my hope that the feeling will transfer to you the viewer. I'd like to think that I create paintings that will enhance your life, provide a calm centering energy in your home. Using the tools at my disposal, from ancient mathematical understanding, to the conventions of modern oil paint, I hope I'm successful. It is my passion and intend to keep practicing and finding a way to connect with you in a meaningful way. To see my collection of finished pieced, you can view them here. www.cielellis.com/flower-paintings.html Is collecting art really a luxury?
Maybe it's not as essential as food, mortgage, car expenses, clothing etc., the things we buy without thinking about. However, art does something more for us. 1) It is an emotional investment and means of self expression reflecting the nuances of your personality. I guarantee you there is an artist creating art that appeals to your values, your perspective, your reverence for the things that matter. And here's the flip side, those same artists need you in order to continue to produce their art and support themselves. 2) Art makes your space original. It's your way to customize your space beyond the builder boring beige. 3) By selecting art that appeals, you create a legacy for your life. It's like putting your stamp on the experience of your life. "I choose this!!!" 4) When you collect an artists work you are growing with them. You are directly contributing to the growth and development of that artist. Very cool. 5) You might even learn something new. Such as the history, culture, motivation that the artist had. In learning about the artist you might even recognize some of the same insights in yourself. Perhaps that's why you were attracted to the work in the first place. 6) Ultimately we all want to feel like we are okay. That we matter. That the way we see the world is supported in some small way. Art can help you do that. It is a mirror for you to see your tastes, perspectives and life experience. Just look at the difference this gorgeous piece of art made in the room above. This is a piece that I painted of a Gaye Paree Peony. The original has long sold, however, I now have prints available. This one is 24 x 24" and is a Giclee Print. What's a giclee? It is a print on canvas using archival inks. It comes as close to the original in texture and vibrancy that a print can come. This one is available for $447 CDN unframed. It lights up any room you decide to place it in. I'll leave the link below for you to see the details. https://www.cielellis.com/store/p102/raspberry-dazzle.html Let me know if you have any questions. This particular piece is ready to ship and I even have the black matte frame in stock if you'd like that too. |
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April 2024
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