Browsing Archive for the ‘Deep Thoughts’ Category

Ten Rules of Thumb for Maintaining Creativity

Ten Rules of Thumb for Maintaining Creativity

Wendell Castle Music Stand (1964) Oak, Brazilion Rosewood 55.5″ x 25″ x 20″ I just discovered this great blog post about an artist/craftsman named Wendell Castle at Emily Evans Eerdmans’ blog.  Wendell Castle has been creating amazing furniture for over 50 years.  He has ten “Adopted Rules of Thumb” for staying at the top of [...]

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How Much Do You Plan Your Paintings?

How Much Do You Plan Your Paintings?

Hex Oil on Canvas 16″ x 12″ © 2009 Marilyn Fenn I recently read an article by a representational painter on another blog, in which the writer said that one should very carefully and thoroughly plan one’s paintings.  My first thought was, “No waaaaay!”  That would take all the fun out the process of discovery [...]

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The Challenge of Becoming a Non-Representational Painter

The Challenge of Becoming a Non-Representational Painter

State of Mind Oil on Canvas 16″ x 12″ © 2009 Marilyn Fenn (work in progress) Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. – Jonathan Swift Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature. – Josef Albers I am getting very excited about my upcoming solo show.  I’m painting like mad, and [...]

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How Do You Know When You’re Done with a Painting?

6/15/09 – I was in a class several years ago in which another student complained about painting abstractly, because she didn’t know where to stop. She said when she worked representationally, at least she knew when she was done — for her, it was when the painting looked like the thing she was representing. Of course, it’s not as simple as that for many representational painters…

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A Painter’s Obsessions

A Painter's Obsessions

“Orange Crush” Oil on canvas 6″ x 6″ © 2009 Marilyn Fenn For the past year or two, I’ve been thinking a lot about what really matters to me as an artist.  What matters most…and what doesn’t? Let me start with a list, and if all goes well, I will explore these issues in depth [...]