Timeout for Art – The Muir Tree

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"The Muir Tree", acrylic paintings, John Muir Quotes, Painting trees, Timeout for Art

The trees are watching!  Near Rio Cinto-Mindo Ecuador

“Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed — chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides, branching horns, or magnificent bole backbones. .” — John Muir

Sometimes a work of art ‘just happens’ as if some invisible hand guides the process.  Everything aligns as if magically orchestrated.

Watercolor  by Lisa Brunetti –  With no pencil prep, I focused on one part of the flower then went straight to painting; the initials strokes of paint slowly evolved into the study of the Thunbergia flowers.

Othertimes a work of art requires preparation and homework, which starts as a spacial gathering of information and honing that data until clarity guides the artist forward.

The Muir quote has always fired my imagination, and I pictured trees frowning in disgust or wide-eyed with fear of being felled or even timidly hiding and peering from behind rocky facades. While pondering ways to illustrate the quote, I began seeking out and studying the twisted growth of mature guava trees – cousins to crepe myrtles – to merge the illusion of limbs and antlers.

Timeout for Art: New Endings?

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acrylic paintings, angels trumpet, Brugmansia, Timeout for Art

Angels Trumpet 01 – Detail

Angels Trumpet 02 – Acrylic Detail —One can almost smell the fragrance!

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
– Carl Bard

Although they ‘match,’ I’m pondering changing the one on the left to a night image, appropriate to the true nature of these flowers.

In order to make the dark painting work, I should probably start one more study and make this a triplet series!

Hope to be back tomorrow with a butterfly safari!  Would anyone like to book a seat?  The magic carpet will leave around noon, Ecuador time!   Z

Timeout for Art: Courage

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acrylic paintings, Cindy Ricksgers, Timeout for Art Courage

“To create one’s own world takes courage.” Georgia O’Keeffe

“Creativity takes courage.” Henri Matisse

This past week I showed a new painting to friends, and I prefaced their first view with, “Look what I birthed this weekend..”  

There were times when I looked at the painting and silently asked, “Where did you come from?”

Timeout for Art: Aim High!

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acrylic paintings, art by Lisa Brunetti, botanical paintings of the cloud forest, datura, ginger, heliconias, Timeout for art: Aim High

2009 Watercolor by Lisa Brunetti

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – Michelangelo

Datura-Ginger-Heliconia from Mindo Cloud Forest (Ecuador) Acrylic detal

There are times when, with sensitivity, I instruct my students, “Always stop before you think you are finished.”   Sometimes we can overwork a painting, and in search of precision, we lose the spontaneity and freshness.  It becomes overworked and heavy.

There are other times when I nudge my students to stick with the work a bit longer.  I remind them, “The difference in an amateur and a professional, is that the professional takes it a few steps more and puts in a few more hours…’

This painting held its own with the background left stark white. The colors sing against the white background.  Shadows could be added, and it would fool the eye, as it was already fooling mine!   My friend Xavier often walks into the studio and says, “I can never tell what’s painted and what’s real!”  and when this painting was flat on the magic-carpet floor, I often forgot that it was not part of the floor!

When a painting is 35 inches by 48, it’s taking a few more weeks to finish! After several moments of self doubt, I  ‘soiled’ the white background with a medium value wash of dark blues and purples and greens.  I knew there was no option to return to the original white background!!!  I continued adding layers of paint…

Timeout for Art: Attention to Details

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acrylic paintings, adding details in painting, art by Lisa Brunetti, Inti Raymi mask, inti raymi painting, Mola Art, summer solstice celebrations

Sample Inti Raymi Masks – Otavalo Ecuador

“It took me 4 years to paint like Raphael, but a life time to paint like a child.”
-Pablo Picasso
Thanks, everyone, for your amazing feedback on the Inti Raymi mask! Although it seemed ‘finished’ to most of you, did any of you guess what those very-important final details might be?

Which Way is North?

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acrylic paintings, copyright lisa brunetti, Hand-painted concrete floors, Lisa Brunetti art, Wordpress photo challenge Focus, z designs, Zeebra Designs

This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge is Focus; “…For this challenge, get out there and take a picture demonstrating the concept of focus.”

Each week I photograph the progress on the compass design (painted on concrete floor) from several vantage points, so with pleasure I present the almost-finished design from many-different angles.

Because this is a floor, I keep asking myself, “Lisa!  Are those little bitty details really important?”

The Artist’s Eye – A WP Daily Prompt

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acrylic paintings, group art projects, How to brighten a laundry room, I can do this painting projects, Paintings of sunflowers, WordPress Daily Prompt Art

A two-panel work of art, this painting was designed to accommodate a center light fixture.

Sarah Dettman’s friends and family helped with this Sunflower painting to help brighten a community laundry room.   It’s my pleasure to present it to all of you  out there in WordPress world!

A Hummingbird for a Hummingbird!

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acrylic paintings, art by Lisa Brunetti, Hand-painted concrete floors, I Can Do This

Searching for good squeeze bottles for the paint, we found botttles that came with free drinks!

(Ecuador)

The last few days were busy ones as Barb and I worked on several projects.  Barbara is a spark plug of energy, and I dubbed her Hummingbird years ago!  She zips back and forth, requires many little feedings, recharges her batteries and continues to flit from task to task!    Although she might crash late at night, she’s cheerfully awake at dawn and resumes her high-energy embrace of each day!

Guess what we’ve been painting?

While working on the bodega floor, I suggested that we halt work and switch to a painting for her home in the Republic of Panama.   No subject could trump the hummingbird theme, so after looking at many images, we combined several to create a hybrid hummingbird!

Here We Go Round In Circles!

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acrylic paintings, I Can Do This, Lisa Brunetti art, Slow Internet, Thank YOu

Here We Go Round In Circles

Many of you enjoyed the post, “I Is For Iglesia,” and especially enjoyed the view from the lighthouse window.  Here is another view (Above) from the lighthouse which reflects the recent vortex of energy that swirls around and around my life!    Whenever a strong burst of creative energy ‘hits,’ I often say to myself and those close to me, ‘Uh-oh… bad weather’s on its way.’

Sneak Peek – If Fish Could Fly

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acrylic paintings, Bright Happy Paintings!, If Fish Could Fly, Window Security

Marie’s inner child takes flight while working on this painting!

This petite sun room sports a large window that overlooks the river.   A custom-hinged panel secures the window when I am away, and it easily opens to reveal the colorful “I Can Do This” painting that Hank and Marie and I painted in November.  (See Creative Alternatives for Home Security.)

End-of-day Calm (Yes, that’s a swing in the foreground!)

When the panel is closed, the birds on the river have a lovely work of art that smiles at them.  Today a hummingbird flew through the open window to critique the paintings!

Creative Alternatives for Home Security

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acrylic paintings, how to secure a large window, I can do this painting projects, Island Traveler weekly image of life CREATIVE

Some photo challenges seem to be tailored for my interests.   The Island Traveler asked for interpretations for the word Create.  No pondering was necessary for this challenge, as my friends Hank and Marie had just helped transform a problem area of the river house into a creativity chamber!

Moving the kitchen to the far side of the room last month allowed space for a petite sunroom.  The stunning view became the focal point, but the new “picture” window presented a security problem.  How could the window be protected from break-ins?

A creative answer materialized just in time for Hank and Marie, who were on their final week of vacation,  to help with a new “I Can Do This” painting project!     Are you curious to see what we did?

Sunday Post: Black & White

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acrylic paintings, grayscale images, Jake's Sunday Post: Black and White, Lisa Brunetti art, Rufous naped wrens, watercolor paintings

An Ebony drawing pencil provides strong darks.

Jake’s Sunday Post prompts us away from today’s brilliant color applications  and asks us to submit images in black and white.  He reminds us that long-ago photos included subtle nuances of gray that made them uniquely appealing.   The pencil drawing (above) adapted to the grayscale format, though the watercolor butterflies on the “Happy Shoes” (below) look real – even to me!

Acrylic Paintings

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acrylic painting workshops, acrylic paintings, Lisa Brunetti

 Applying watercolor techniques to acrylic paintings marries the freshness of washes with the strength of acrylics.

The paper’s unforgiving properties dictate a need for  precise planning before the first stroke of color floats across the paper.   With a good map in place, the painting  flows effortlessly – for a seasoned artist!

(Right:  “Tu-Can Do It”  Acrylic on Paper 11″ x 16″

"Congrejo Loco" - Acrylic on Paper - 11" x 16"

From the initial sketch until the final application of black, the above painting accepted the artist’s direction. There were no struggles; the image remained compliant and accepted the artist’s vision.    “Van Gogh Ceibo” (below) quickly found its own voice and dictated the direction of the painting.

The Mola Series continues to spawn paintings that often step forward and seize control!     Enjoy, Z