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Welcome to Barb's Blog. Posting some of my opinions, insights, ideas, and adventures about art, travel, plein aire, pastel, and whatever's happening. Join me, feel free to add comments, follow along as I paint and write and explore Re-inventing the WheelRe-inventing the Wheel “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted.” This quote by Randy Pausch from his book The Last Lecture, has a lot to say about success and failure. How many times I’ve started an exploratory painting and in the end, didn’t have a success but learned a lot. I gained experience. The things I was successful at sometimes have slipped away. I can’t find that impossible color, line, or shape, that the muse dropped on my canvas the day before. To make tints with tempera paint you start with white and add a little color, then more. How do I know that? I started with blue once. Practice does perfect skills. Repetition does ingrain good habits.Feeling badly about a failure is only the tip of the iceberg. Underneath is that healthy mass of experience that keeps you moving. Experience, fail, succeed, and continue. There is always another piece of paper.
GOINGS ONnew blogsites I am trying new blogs and you are welcome to visit. They may be shorter than here on my website. They may be different content. www.barbtorkeinsights.blogspot.com www.barbtorkepoetry.blogspot.com both are related to art. There will be some art on the poetry site. Techniques, skills, and inspiration on the insight site. Would love your participation.
MINIMALISM AND 2016
De-cluttering life and art with minimalism
I am always tempted to start over on January first. This year I think it better to de-clutter some of my 76 years of accumulation. Not just of ‘things’ and ‘stuff’ but of art rules, bad solutions, cluttered work and irresponsible habits.
When I paint I can simplify, leave space for the eye to rest, and use implied line, space, pattern - all these goals are part of the theme. The mind is happy when it gets to make its own boundaries - if any.
When I house-sat in Taos, New Mexico years ago, I met Agnes Martin, the famous minimalist painter. I sat before one of her paintings in her exhibit and watched its blue space be busy and calming inside me. There were no boundaries on how it could be interpreted. Its space and simplicity have stayed with me.
On-line I found an interesting accumulation of minimalism. One site I recommend is www.theminimalists.com . They have a podcast, books, and lots of information on de-cluttering. Not just getting rid of stuff, but by doing so making room for a better life-style. My two favorite hints were on what to do with old photos, and the minimalist game. I have no competition but am playing the game by myself, for now. Maybe February will be a good time to start for a month long competition. The game is to get rid of, throw away, donate, or sell, one item on day one, two on day two, three on day three and so on. I am saving canning jars for the 15th day. The one who makes it the farthest is the winner. It might be hard about that 29th day. This isn’t the only suggestion. The Minimalists are a sweet spot on the internet. Check them out.
another site is https://wawaza.com/pages/when-less-is-more-the-concept-of-japanese-ma.html I particularly liked the poem and the concepts of MA. All this makes me aware of my breath. very nice. https://wawaza.com/.../when-less-is-more-the-concept-of-japanese-ma.ht...
And art. Doing a minimalist piece is refreshing. It might just seep into a lot of my work. Want to play the minimalist game? The winner gets dinner out? Nothing? That’s how it works? Right? Barb
Snow GnomesJust fooling around with the camera, the pen, and Photoshop happy holiday season Barb
Snow Gnomes by btorke
From beneath the barberry bush they rise from the domes of snow silently gathered Crystals in their eyelashes a blush of cold lights frosty cheeks smiling The oldest and wisest gnome of all finger to his sparkly dome he taps tells the littlest gnome of all the sky is falling flake by flake maybe we will soon become the snowman humans build and make mother sun will come too soon so watch the sky come falling down flake by flake
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