Two Birds of a Feather Flock Together

My most recent class was a Valentines Day couples class.  I have never had a couples painting class before and I just loved how fun it was with the students and their partners!  The subject they had to paint was a beautiful watercolor swan.  

I gave them 2 different blues and a green to mix for their water and they were able to find their own personal color mixture that they used to paint the water.  We even used some purple in the shadows on the swan, but for the most part we left the white of the paper show through for the body of the swan except for some shadows from the feathers.  Watercolor is so different than any other paint medium in this way because you don't use white paint, you just use the white of the paper instead which I love. 

I adore how they turned out!  Each couple painted their swan in the opposite direction from their spouses swan to form a heart when put together.  I love how each painting was different with their own personalities.  I definitely want to have more spouses attend my classes together in the future.  It is so great for couples to experience creativity together!  If you are interested in booking a class here in Akron with your favorite couples email me at taratories@gmail.com and we can set that up!  My March art class is now open for registration and I am really excited about it!  Click HERE for more information and to sign up!

I have this "Flying Swans" painting that I did on my residency in Wales that I am selling prints of.  The prints are 24X12 and cost $29 each.  I add gold leaf to every print along with a golden signature.

The swan print was inspired by my painting entitled "The Green Man's Daughter."  This original painting is available for purchase and I am also selling prints of it as well.  Print sizes: 11X14- $39 and 18X24- $69.  These unique prints also come with gold embellishments.  Email me at taratories@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing any of these prints!

"Flights of Curiosity"

I am so excited to finally reveal the paintings that I did in Wales!  I have a new web page dedicated to the new collection called "Flights of Curiosity" found at http://www.taradeetscreek.com/new-page-1/ .  On this page you can see my art and read the stories that were behind the paintings.  I still have originals for sale and you can also order prints!  Please contact me at taratories@gmail.com if you are interested in prices of originals or prints or if you have any questions about the work at all.  If you are local to the Akron area, my paintings will be on display at Revival (822 W Market Street, Akron, Oh 44303) through the month of December.  Here is one of my paintings entitled "In Her Mind's Eye".  Go to my new web page to see the whole collection!

Residency to Revival Video

I am so excited about this blog post because it includes a video made by my talented friend Hannah Nitz!  She compiled different clips from my video footage from my 3 week artist residency in Wales along with some clips from here in Akron.  It also shows some sneak peaks of my art that I did there!  I hope you enjoy it!

Residency Recap

 

Now that I made it back to the United States from my residency in Wales, I wanted to reflect on my time there.  Being back home is great and strange at the same time.  I am still jet lagged because only 3 days ago I was in England boarding my plane, but I am hoping to get back on schedule soon.  It is so great to be with my husband and 4 boys, but I am also missing Wales and trying to adjust to my life. This residency was an unbelievable experience and opportunity to get me out of my normal environment and into a place full of inspiration and creative freedom.  I can't wait for my next residency!  Until then...  

10 Things I will miss about Wales:

1. The incredible nature at my fingertips in any direction 
2. The slow pace of life in the Corris community
3. The simple life with no distractions
4. Being able to work on art for extended periods of time on my own schedule
5. Being in community with other artists 
6. Talking to people who are from different countries and learning about the world
7. The time and space to think clearly and deeply
8. Having a studio attached to my bedroom where I can't escape my paintings
9. The scones with clotted cream and jam and also the welsh cakes
10. Working on my art when inspiration comes instead of when it can fit it in my schedule

20 Realizations I had in Wales:

1. It is confirmed that I want to be a full time working artist  
2. I will never know what it feels like to be bored because I always have my art
3. I was getting a little lazy in my mothering and homemaking because I was more mentally consumed with reaching my artistic goals
4. Being authentic in my art is more important to me than making money 
5. I love my husband and children more than anything in the world
6. I love nature more than I thought I did
7. There are other artists in the world who think like I do and I need to be around other artists more
8. I have been too consumed with social media and the internet and I need to scale back
9. It takes very little to just take care of myself without others in my life to take care of
10. About 90% of my time at home is used to care for others
11. It is so healthy and refreshing to take time to feel like an individual and an artist outside of being a mother and wife
12. I love travel and adventure but I don't like figuring out public transportation or carrying heavy rucksacks
13. There are things I still have in my brain from growing up in England that are brought to mind through experiences in Great Britain
14. I actually do like to cook, but I was just burned out from having to cook so much at home
15. I am very introverted when I am consumed with my art, but enjoy interactions with people outside of it
16. I am definitely a wanderlust and want to see as much of the world as possible and make connections with people across the globe
17. I need very little to be happy
18. I want experiences more than material things
19. I want to keep doing residencies to use as spring boards for my art and time for refreshment and refocus
20. I am want to keep growing in my art and I'm excited to see where the road takes me next!

Lost: Wales Residency

My last full day in Corris was quite an adventure.  I packed up my studio and wanted to take a walk to the Craft Center in Upper Corris.  I had read about it before I came to Corris and I thought I would go see what it was all about in person.  I had instructions on how to get there from people in the house and it didn't seem that hard to get there.  Walk to the end of the road and make a sharp right, then you will get there...

I walked, and walked, and walked.  I never saw a sharp right.  It felt as though I was on a highway. Cars were flying by me and I had no place to walk besides the road in some parts.  I walked in the grass outside of the guard rail when I could.  I was very nervous that I was going to get hit, and started to feel nervous that I had also gone the wrong way.  

When I came to this waterfall and stream I just knew I had either gone too far or taken a wrong turn so I decided to just turn around and walk back the way I came.  Then it started to pour down rain.  I was SO GLAD that last minute I decided to throw my backpack on which had my umbrella in it.  Rain actually ended up benefitting me because I had a bright yellow umbrella which I waved to oncoming traffic to alert them of my presence on the road!  Somehow I felt a surge of confidence as I walked behind the thin yellow fabric.  I almost reached the town of Corris when Yuki, the volunteer at Maelor, pulled up in her van and rescued me!  She showed me where I made the mistake of veering to the left (which I felt at the time was a straight path) instead of turning right where I should have.  She dropped me at the door of the Craft Center and said she would wait a minute until I made sure it was open.  Sure enough it was CLOSED FOR THE SEASON!!  How ironic!  I was so glad she stayed and waited so I didn't have to walk back into town in the rain anymore.  What a day.  I was gone for hours!  We were laughing so hard at my stupidity!  

That night we all went out to the pub for dinner at Dolgellau which is a neighboring town.  It was so great to have a last hoorah before I left the next day and really made up for the wet wandering I did earlier.  The three of us resident artists were joined by Yuki, the volunteer, and Veronica and Mary who are owners and founders of Stiwdio Maelor.  

The next morning I took one last walk in the town and said "goodbye" to the local cow who has a huge bellowing "Moo" that I hear from Maelor every day.

I also said "hello" to some rams in a tractor who passed by.  I stood and thought to myself, "This is Wales."  I had to say goodbye to everything.  I went into each room in Maelor and thought of memories in each one.  Endings are so hard, but I was so excited to see my family as well which lessened the sting.  I have missed them so much!

I will have one last blog post for my residency that will tie it all up in a bow.  But until then, here are some detail shots of the last painting that I did in Wales.

Critique: Wales Residency

This last week we had two new resident artists come to stay.  The girl on the left is Michelle Loa Kum Cheung and the girl on the right is Jessica Raby.  

Jessica is currently getting her MA in Aberystwyth and is studying film.  She collects things from nature and isolates outside of their natural environment to film and photograph.  This is her in her studio filming a flower she picked around the area while here.

Michelle is a painter and uses a unique technique where she burns into wood and uses oil paint to paint around and inside her burnt drawings.  Right now she is doing a commission for a restaurant which is a tetraptych (painting that has four parts).  Go to Michellelkc.com to see more of her work.

And there is me.  I focus mainly on using a combination of acrylic paints and colored pencils on canvas.  I have been enjoying exploring this mixed media technique more and more and have enjoyed focusing on people as my subjects. Since I have been in Wales I have been using Welsh folklore to tell stories in my paintings and I have had so much fun trying my hand at allegorical paintings!

This week we decided it would be fun to do a critique with each other in our studios.  I haven't done a critique since college and it was so fun to be a part of something like this again!  First we gathered in the attic and watched what Jessica had filmed so far on the projector.  

We loved the flower that she had filmed slowly spinning as it hung from her studio ceiling.  The light created beautiful shadows on it and I loved how mesmerizing it was to watch.  She talked about her work and we also took a look at some of her past films.  She appreciated our input and used it to help her plan out her direction for the rest of her stay here. If you want to see more of her work go to www.jess-raby.com.

Next we looked at what Michelle had painted so far on her panels and she talked about her process and how she got into pyrography.  She talked about what kind of subjects she paints and how she is drawn to landscapes but likes to play with scale in her paintings in a surrealistic way.

The time came for my critique. I talked about my different paintings that I have painted in Wales and how I incorporated Welsh folklore into them. We talked about some of the commonalities that the paintings have with each other and the parts of the paintings that worked better than others.

Discussing art with each other was so fun and we all benefitted so much from our discussions.  Here are a few more detail shots from another painting I did.