Blowing Through The Jasmine In My Mind

Blowing Through The Jasmine in My Mind

When I first started to see this painting take shape, as so often happens, a song began playing in my mind but I couldn't get a handle on it. I could hear the melody and the lyrics "summer breeze" but just couldn't pull it out. The best I could come up with was Landscape of My Mind so I went with it. Just a moment ago, the melody still wafting in my mind, I had a Eureka moment and there it was Seals and Crofts Summer Breeze. Maybe it doesn't work because Jasmine are generally white but that's beauty of imagination isn't it? Maybe Canyons In My Mind would be better?

I was in an expansive frame of mind so I treated my mind to a little color therapy. I've been looking at a lot of impressionist paintings lately; Monet, Manet, Van Gogh. Maybe that's where it came from. I can just stare at beautiful colors like these and be transported to another more peaceful place. Gads, I love color.

I tried like crazy to get the true colors of this painting. You'll have to take my word for it the actual painting is, to my way of thinking, prettier. Don't know why I couldn't get it right. Probably a light problem. It's fixing to snow and there's not a lot of natural light to be had. It's still very nice this way.

Walker

Canvas Boards for Practice

I like to use canvas boards to practice with brushes and brush strokes. In particular I have been looking for ways to paint trees, especially evergreens. I live in a evergreen forest so they are a subject that comes up frequently. 

I learned a technique from a video Frank Clarke's How to Paint a Landscape I liked the video but had hard time finding the brush he recommended, a 1.5" flat. I got a 60% Michael's discount coupon and decided try one of the upscale, professional brushes. Didn't like it at all. I was looking for a stiff brush. I finally found a brush that worked pretty darned good. It was in a $7.00 brush set I found at Wal-Mart. Proving once again spending more isn't always the answer. At least not in my experience.

Practice Board

It seems I also got a couple of leaning apple trees which look a lot like the 100 year old apple trees in my meadow. Also, some nice lavender grass.

I actually like this. It's funny, I have several practice boards lying around and people, not knowing they are practice boards, often are drawn to them as paintings they really like. It always makes me smile but I never tell. :😃

©Walker Barnard

The Source

In my painting Cosmic Sunrise it seems I was focused on looking outward. With The Source it looks to me like things are flowing inward. I can't say I had any conscious direction in mind.

Often I paint with no plan. I just choose colors that for some reason I am drawn to in that moment and away I go. While painting without a plan is liberating and it's fun to watch what emerges it does have it's drawbacks.

The Source

I can now see things I wish I had done differently and probably would have had I put any forethought into what I was doing. I had no idea I was going to paint something that felt like I should call it The Source. Had I known I probably would have painted the water with vertical lines, as opposed to horizontal, so that the water had a more powerful feeling of flowing toward the observer.

But, here's the thing, my painting is 100% self-indulgent. I do it for no other reason than to please myself. I love slapping on paint with reckless abandon even if it does mean I miss things. I just love the feeling. I love the freedom. It's a way to leave the planet without a rocket ship. And, lucky for me, the colors never disappoint. I am a self-proclaimed color junkie. No matter what else, I am always pleased with my colors.

I've yet to go back and try painting a painting again. I seem to be always wanting to express something new. But, in this case I very well may come back to it and change a few things. Meanwhile, I can still feel that wonderful water flowing right into my chest.

©Walker Barnard

Kootenai Sunset

This painting is of the view out my front window. The mountains in the distance are in the Kootenai National Forest. I guess I was missing the warmer weather. It's been a brutal winter. So cold that when we hit the twenties it feels like a tropical heat wave.

Kootenai Sunset

©Walker Barnard

Spring Is In The Air

Spring is coming to my neck of the woods at least two weeks early. My painting project has been a wonderful experience. I've learned a lot and enjoyed much.

My imagination has been filled with those wonderful things that happen in the spring. Melting snow and ice, and signs of new life. I think that was where my head was when I painted this latest piece. It's more primitive than anything else. Some might think it is silly. I think it is an example of me getting in touch with my inner child, something I don't do nearly enough.

From this point forward my painting will have to take a backseat to the wonders of spring. There is much work to be done and many trails that need to be walked. I may or may not do any more painting until next fall. I will do as the spirit moves.

Sprin Is In The Air

 My companion, Molly Montana, and I will writing about our doings on her  blog "Molly Montana's Good Stories and Photos Blog". Check it out if you are interested in photography, travel, Montana, and just living a wonderful life.

©Kinsey Barnard

Painting Is A Lot Easier Than Photography

OK, before painters out there become aghast by such a heretical statement let me add the qualifier, in my experience.

When I speak of photography I specifically refer to the type of photography I have spent the last twenty years trying to perfect. My mission with my photography has been to capture nature, naturally as the consummate impressionist painter, sculptor and most skilled artist that ever existed. The trick to accomplishing my mission is it's more about finding the art works than it is about photography. Although, having some skill in this area is quite helpful.

I bet if I actually worked at it, like I do my photography, I could pump out 4 pretty paintings per week easy. That's 208 paintings per year. I'm lucky if I get 15 photographs that make the grade to be included in my fine art photography collections. Most people probably think photography is much less labor intensive than painting. It certainly isn't the way I do it. I drive thousands of miles on highways and byways. I walk thousands of miles down country roads and hiking trails. I think of myself as a hunter and finding my illusive prey is my skill.

The other thing I love about painting is that it's so forgiving. A painter is free to tweak color, object size, subject placement, composition, lighting and just anything you want.  With photography, as I practice it, I must find the perfect image and capture it. It's quite true in today's digital world you can edit your photographs in so many ways you hardly need a photograph at all. I don't believe in photo editing beyond what I could have once done in a wet darkroom. To do anything else would defeat my purpose which is to show nature's true artistry not my own.

Just like hunting, in the traditional sense, being able to hit the target is only half the challenge. One needs to have an "eye" for it. To be able to pick out the target in it's natural environment is more important than being able to take the shot. You can't shoot anything if you can't find it. Of course, traditional hunting, in many places, has gone the way of photography taking much of the art of it out with artificial props. Hunters sit in blinds waiting for some hapless creature to come along and then blast it. The greatest skill those guys exhibit is being able to sit there hour after hour. I'd go berserk. Hunt is a verb. Verbs are supposed to describe action.

I have couple of examples for you. First up is Eel  Lake. An experienced painter could easily paint this photo in under in a couple of hours. But, it took me days maybe months to actually find it as it occurred in nature.

Eel Lake - Digital Photograph

Next is something I call Ice Puppets. Not only was this shot the result of days of hunting but hunting in in 15 degree weather. Painters have no idea how easy they have it working in their nice warm studios.

Ice Puppets - Digital Photograph

Both of the above images are always being mistaken for paintings when hanging on a wall. The image below is one of my paintings. Kind of hard to tell the difference.  To be able to take photographs of nature in the way that I do, now that's real skill.

Dark Forest - Acrylic Painting

No sir, I think this painting thing is living the life of luxury. You don't have to trek to find your subjects, you can just make them up. You can paint things just as you want them utilizing any color you can conceive. If you make a mistake you can paint right over it. If you don't like the position of something you can just move it. And, you can do it from the comfort of your studio. I'm beginning to think my brand of photography is for masochists. It's certainly going to be replacing photography for my winter pursuit of artistic expression.

©Kinsey Barnard
The Liberated Photography

My First Painting Class

I started my painting journey last November. I haven't taken any art classes preferring to find my own way while utilizing the incredible resources available on the internet. I have always thought self knowledge is the most important knowledge one can possess. One thing I know for sure is that I am pretty much unteachable. I have to find my own way or I am lost.

I recently came across a painting class called Tipsy Brush. The idea being you bring your own wine and tipple whilst you paint. I found this a most excellent idea so I enlisted  the company a friend to go with.

The class lasted about three hours and was just as much fun as I thought it would be. But, with or without tippling I can't make myself copy someone else's style. I tried, I really did but the painting we were asked to copy held no interest for me in the way it was being painted. The painting was representational and I just have no interest in that sort of painting. I got so irritated trying I nearly polished off the wine.

I expressed my frustration to my painting pal and she told me to quit trying, just do what you want. Those words made me respond like a racehorse at the starting gate. Away I went! I did use the model as my foundation and used the colors provided. The colors I liked. From that point on my painting just went where it wanted to go which is, for better or worse, how all my paintings go.

There were fourteen people in the class, many of whom had never painted anything. As I looked around the room I was utterly amazed by their results. I don't think there was a single person that did not create a painting they could be proud of. My pal had never painted anything before and her painting looked great! I think this says a lot of complementary things about the instructor.

At the end the instructor walked around the room looking at each persons' work. I was stuffed in a corner, where I generally hideout in a classroom hoping no one discovers I'm there. I was hoping she might miss me cuz my painting was definitely my own. I was embarrassed to show it to her. She took one look at it and said, "Oh, how Van Gogh".  She could not have said anything more flattering if she had tried.

Some might say I am lazy, undisciplined or self-indulgent.  Lazy not so much but undisciplined and self-indulgent oh yeah! I have no intention of selling my paintings. I am following my art, aka my heart, for my own enjoyment. I am covering my walls with my paintings and enjoying them everyday. Honestly, I don't think I could bear to let any of them go. Some day, when I get a bigger inventory and no more room on my walls, I will enjoy giving them as gifts. So, without further ado here is the painting.

Midnight Mountains

©Kinsey Barnard
The Liberated Photographer

In the Forest of My Imagination

In the Forest of My Imagination

This is another example of me painting my imagination at work. I really love to do this kind of painting because I have no idea where I am going. I just lose myself in the colors and the rest just kind of appears.

©Kinsey Barnard

Dark Forest

Dark Forest

I am a color junky but sometimes I find the absence of it rather intriguing. This particular abstract painting was inspired by one of my photographs. This painting is less my imagination and more something I once saw saw.

©Kinsey Barnard

Mistakes Can Give You Courage

As mentioned in my last post, inexpensive way to wall mount canvas boards, I had only one painting I thought was just gawd awful. One of my character flaws is that I am very tight with a dollar. Not only did I disparage the painting but I begrudge the waste of a canvas. To my credit I own my short comings. I can do that because I am a seeker of self-knowledge and I know it's OK to be flawed.

This painting bugged me because not only was it ugly but I had wasted a canvas. Over the weekend I hitched up my boot straps and painted over it.

Chintz - One Way

I first gave the canvas a very light green wash and then I added the pinks. Now I have a painting I actually like. I like it because the colors remind me of chintz drapes in my family home which reminds me of my mother which fills me with love. But, this painting could never have happened if I hadn't screwed up.

Chintz -Another Way

Not only did my original mistake teach me something about painting technique but it also has given me new courage.  Ever since I started my acrylic painting journey back in November 2015 I have been intimidated by a blank canvas. A blank canvas has been a self-doubt delight. I was so afraid I would ruin a perfectly good canvas. Now I know nothing is set in stone. You really can make lemonade out of lemons. My imagination has found new freedom.

I put the painting up two ways. I can't decide which I like better.

©Kinsey Barnard

Inexpensive Way to Display Canvas Board Paintings

I'm starting to accumulate paintings and so far I have only painted one that I truly did not like. Most of my painting are on canvas boards or 3/4 inch stretched canvas. I couldn't begin to afford to frame every painting and the chances of me ever selling any of them I would put at slim to none.

When I use canvas boards there aren't a lot of options for hanging them. I love to look at my paintings. I may not be worth a chit as a painter but I certainly have the love your work part down. I rate new pieces so that the ones I like best get a front row and center position. I needed to invent a way to be able to move the boards around as I paint new pictures that I find more appealing than others. So, I did.

I bot molding at Lowes, cut them into lengths, primed and painted them, drilled pilot holes and nailed those pretty little ledges to the wall. Now I can play musical paintings to my hearts delight!

Still need to set the nail heads and patch.

Display in my office

Golly, I love color!

©Kinsey Barnard

Blue Sampler

Blue Sampler

This morning I finished the painting displayed on my new easel yesterday.

Blue is one of my favorite colors. In this piece I set out to paint different strokes using the same colors. I call it Blue Sampler because that's what it is a sampler of blue designs.  Just an abstract thought I held in my imagination. I'm pleased with it.
 

©Kinsey Barnard

I Found My Easel

"H" Style Table Top Easel

Back in November 2015, when I started my acrylic painting project, I wrote of my quandary in choosing a painters easel.  I was surprised to learn there were so many details to consider when choosing an easel. I said back then that I was sure I would have an "ah ha" moment one day and know what the right easel was for me. I am tickled pink to say I have had my "ah ha" moment!

I fairly quickly ruled out the tripod model. I could see me getting tangled up in the legs and knocking one of those down with regularity. I gravitated to the "H" frame model right away. They appeared much more sturdy. But, I noticed that most of them, in my price range anyway, had a cross bar on the bottom that I was afraid my feet would run into if I wanted to get close the the canvas.

Then it dawned on me that, at my ranch where I spend 8 months of the year I don't have a room to make into a studio and I didn't fancy hauling one of those great big things back and forth. And, I certainly wasn't about to spring for two of them. Then I discovered the "H" frame table top easel. It's perfect. I can walk up and put nose on the canvas if I want and when I depart this location for the ranch I can fold it up and take it with me.

I can adjust the easel so that the canvas is positioned just where I want it. I had mentioned earlier that I wanted to be able to sit because of back issues but I have learned that even though my back will cut some sessions short every now and again it's alright because I now know I really feel more in my zone when I'm standing.

The moral of this story is, when I take my time and study on a thing, soon or later I have my ah ah moment and save myself a lot of money and frustration. I have already painted a couple of things using it and I just love it! I feel like a real "grown-up" painter.

©Kinsey Barnard

Greens

Greens

I call this one Greens for a lack of anything else I could think of. It's just a lot of color, which I love, trending to greens. This is exactly the type of thing I loved to find to photograph where Mother Nature did all the designing. She is my inspiration. I really love this sort of thing. Like my photographs these are one of a kind moments never to be duplicated. Very cool.

©Kinsey Barnard

White Wing

White Wing

This is my first 2016 painting. I named it White Wing because it reminds me of when my father used to take me with him to shoot white wing dove in the Southern California desert. And, that's about all there is to say about that!

©Kinsey Barnard

Feedom of Expression

Freedom of Expression

I was so bummed out over Running Eagle Falls I got a canvas and just let her rip with no destination in mind. Funny thing is, I love it! Freedom truly was my inspiration. It really felt good to do.

©Kinsey Barnard

Running Eagle Falls

Running Eagle Falls

It was bound to happen, a gawd awful painting. My deepest apologies to Running Eagle a great Blackfeet warrior princes. This painting goes in the "What was I thinking" column.

Running Eagle Falls is one of my favorite places to go in Glacier Park. Over the years I have tried to photograph it but for some reason I've not been able to get anything that does it justice.You can check out a couple of my photographic efforts as well as the legend of Running Eagle on my adventure blog.

Anyway, I had this idea I wanted to paint my version of it and this is what happened. It's pretty gawdy as well as gawd awful.

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that larger canvases may be easier to paint. Detail work is tough in small spaces. The good news is, I continue to learn things and have had little "ah ha" moments. But, I'll need a lot more.

©Kinsey Barnard

Crossroads

Crossroads

I gotta really laugh at this one. I went way off the reservation. I guess I have to put this in the abstract category, maybe primitive abstract it's kinda mixed up. A lot like my imagination.

I actually had an idea of what I wanted to paint. But then I was interrupted by company for a few days and my ADD must have kicked in. By the time I got back to painting I had totally forgotten what I was thinking of and just started splattering paint on the board. I had no destination in mind which should be fairly apparent.

It looks like something that should have been painted for Easter eggs. I had no choice but to name it Crossroads as that's the only identifiable thing in it. Identifiable to me at least. Imagination is a wonderful thing, mixed up or not!

©Kinsey Barnard

Dome Mountain

Dome Mountain is my sixth effort. There may be a Dome Mountain somewhere but this one came straight out of my paint brush. The inspiration for the snow capped mountains came from the Whitefish Range in Montana and the foreground came from visions of Montana hay and wheat fields. A dome mountain is basically an old volcano. It's the color that makes this painting so pleasing to me. When I look at it I just want to smile. They say "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Simplistic as it may be this beholder sees beauty here. Maybe it more pronounced at the moment because it is winter in Montana and color is not something we get to see much of. All I know is the bright colors brighten my day and make me feel happy.



 © KinseyBarnard

David Hockney - An Inspiration

"The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you're an artist."

What a find! Until today I was not familiar with David Hockney and his work. The above painting and quote have hit me like a ton of bricks.

Hockney is a photographer turned painter. His use of color and imaginative designs are bloody brilliant in every sense of the word.

In my photography I prided myself that I did not Photoshop my images but relied on Nature to provide. I don't even own the program and have never desired to. But, I can't say I wasn't tempted to "cheat" by enhancing the color.  Sometimes I gave into temptation. By cracky I AM an artist!

©Kinsey Barnard