Donna Downey Studios Inc
(RETIRED) ONLINE WORKSHOP | "Abstract Florals" - FALL SESSION CLOSED
- Registration open August 1, 2016 (product will read sold out when registration closes on Sept 6, 2016)
- Workshop begins September 5, 2016
- More than 12 video lessons
- Workshop videos are fully downloadable, streamable and just plain old watchable in the private classroom
- NEVER EXPIRES, FOREVER ACCESS
- Private Facebook group
- Online gallery
- Virtual classroom session with direct interaction
- Working exclusively in acrylics
- less than $14 a lesson
- No painting experience necessary
View course outline here
ABSTRACT ART CONSISTS OF PAINT ARRANGED ON A CANVAS
TO COMMUNICATE AND IDEA RATHER THAN DEPICT AN OBJECT.
In college I studied Literature. The indirect way Shakespeare played with words and the double entendre of the poets captivated me. The idea that there were hidden messages and meanings in the written word was my first introduction to abstract thought. I had no idea the roads I was paving for myself would lead me to art, but I am now certain that each path along the way was to help me “see” the world differently.
The magic within Abstract art is quite similar to those decipherable phrases and passages found in literature. Abstract art asks you to look beyond the object you think you see and put aside what you think you know to experience what the art makes you feel. Allowing you to be drawn in by the energy and get lost in the composition and the relationships of color.
I have always preached to my students that I believe, “Art is not about skill or talent, but more about the individuals willingness to see”. This idea of looking beyond what you think you see was again reinforced for me when Jo Barby, Australian Pastel Artist was teaching at my Studio. I was her student and desperately wanted to impress the teacher. I love her attention to detail and how she creates these most amazing realistic images that practically jump off the page, but I knew I was struggling. She sat down with me and she watched me. That’s when she spoke most powerful and life changing words to me as an Artist.
She said, “The reason you can’t paint what you want is because you are trying to paint what you think you see.” This may sound absurd, but it is actually the most profound gift of insight that has ever been shared with me.
I had chosen to paint a handful of my favorite brushes in a glass jar. I had never painted glass before and quite frankly had never attempted still life painting. So here I am go big or go home right? My problem was I was trying to paint paintbrushes in a jar. What Jo was trying to tell me was that I needed to know what I was seeing before I could paint it. I needed to look deeper and “see” the way the light reflected off of the glass and the blends of colors that were created by the shadows of the paintbrushes as they overlapped each other. I needed to “see” that the whites weren’t all white, that they each shared their own nuances of the pinks purples and yellows bouncing off of the colors around them; that the highlights, colors, shadows and shapes were what I was supposed to see and therefor be painting.
“Brushes in a Glass Jar” is one of the most powerful pieces of art I have created to date because it depicts the gift of “sight” I was given that weekend with Jo.
As an Artist I have always had the passion for bold colors and textures. What I will share with you in this course is how understanding abstract art is like being given a new language. It breaks the rules. It turns heads and incites the imagination. It tells a story using shapes, spatial relationships and colors that do not reflect the external reality, but the powerful meanings within.
THE GREATEST GIFT THAT ABSTRACT ART GIVES FOR BOTH THE ARTIST
AND THE VIEWER IS FOUND IN THE APPRECIATION OF THE PROCESS.
As a self-taught artist, I have entered into Art on my own unique journey, studying other artists, deciphering images, colors and textures internalizing them and putting them to canvas and paper in a way that represents what I feel on the inside, rather what appears to be seen on the outside. Over the course of the next 6 weeks I will share with you my process for painting from conception, through practice to finished canvas.
My focus will be to help you develop a better understanding of the intuitive relationship between the Artist and their art by giving you the tools to translate what you see and feel into your paintings. I will introduce you to the work of some of my favorite Abstract Artists that continue to inspire me and share with you how they have changed the way I “see”. Taking you each week through guided practice, tutorials and lessons that impart my passion for abstract art and allows me to pass along this same gift of sight that was given to me.
