Piano or Brush?

Since the death of my beloved piano teachers more than two decades ago, I virtually stopped playing my equally beloved Knabe upright. This year, I made a decision to stop painting until I sell more of my piling canvasses. Well, the piano beckoned again and I painfully started doing Hanon exercises and a couple of "treats" like attempting to play a Bach Invention and Liszt's Liebestraume Notturno III. My dexterity and sight reading have a long way to go but it feels good to play again. But...I can't wait to return to painting.

PAINTING AGAIN!

A few days ago, I took my paints and brushes out of hiding after taking a break for about six months.  It feels good to paint again.  What I have created is nice and pleasant but lacks something.  I may work on it some more or put it away and start on a new piece.  I am still waiting for my creative bulb to light up.  When inspiration strikes, it is a feeling like no other. 

INSPIRATION

I haven't painted for almost 6 months now (except to spruce up some old paintings in Manila).  My husband says I have lost my "fire" for art.  Not true, I said.  I am just taking a break until "inspiration" talks to me.  It is that fleeting moment when one is inexplicably drawn to create.  I feel it coming!

THE CORE OF MY ART

I always hope that my latest painting is an improvement over the last but it doesn't always work that way.  Sometimes, it is a step or two back; sometimes it is a downright failure.  But I always paint what strikes my fancy or tugs at my heart.  And that is the core of my art.

VALIDATION?

An artist needs some kind of validation about her or his art - whether it be an acceptance in a juried exhibition, a sale, a positive critique or even a constructive one.  I liken it to watering a plant for sustenance.  So when several rejections come my way, I wilt until I "self-medicate" or the next feeding comes.  I sometimes threaten to give up painting but I love it too much to do so. 

ART BLOG RESURRECTED!!!

I have decided to resurrect my art blog.  Instead of featuring my art work which you can find in my art website (http://paintingsbycynthia.com/), I will talk more about my joys, trials and tribulations as an artist.

When my two beloved piano teachers passed away, I shelved my piano books and turned to art.  I was always interested in drawing as a child but took my very first art class in October 1993.  I fell in love with painting and knew there was no turning back.  Even at that stage when I was learning the basics, I was transported into a different world.  It changed the way I looked at nature, faces, objects, and everything around me.  The world became more interesting.