Group challenges

[Lynda Cookson]

Being very much a self-taught artist - and also being a bit of a rebel rather than a conformist - goes against me a bit in the confidence stakes when painting with a group. Everyone else seems so content to set up and paint while I cannot settle to a scene, and skulk around trying to capture the essence of an animate subject somewhere - usually in abstract form. A bit of me wishes I could paint stunning, conventional landscapes (and maybe I can if chained to one spot for a length of time??) but more of me has the wild animal prowl, hunting for the challenge, propelling me. However, I always end up feeling inadequate and vulnerable with the experiments I have produced on that day.

So, my questions are:

Do any of you use group painting days to experiment with new techniques and ways of looking at things?

Do you like to stay with the comfort of knowing you're going to produce a saleable painting that day, using tried and tested techniques? And is this the best thing to do on group days?

Do you ever get the feeling you'd like to experiment a bit but maybe only when you're on your own?

Do you have any advice for a skulking prowler forever hunting for "that edge" (probably better described as: an exciting contemporary painting which will cause viewers to look at least twice, if not more, at the final piece) .... while dreaming of being a landscape painter?

I'd dearly love to have more time to devote to painting and developing new techniques, but in the meantime, all advice is welcome.

[Patricia Kavanagh]

Your questions have certainly given me food for thought Lynda. To be honest I tend to stay within my comfort zone on group days. I usually have my ‘plein-air’ satchel packed with all the old reliables and I just grab it without thinking when I’m ready to go.

I really love to experiment and consider every painting I do to be just that. I often try new techniques and mediums and I love to see what others are doing and learn from them. I think it might be fun to try something new on a group day.

I feel my painting style has evolved and been greatly influenced by other painters. Yet I do believe that despite all the experiments and observations, we really do have our own basic style and our paintings truly reflect our personalities. Would that I had the vibrancy of yours!

[Lynda Cookson]

I suppose it may be a bit like girls with straight hair wanting curls, and girls with curly hair spending hours at the ironing board straightening them out! (Thanks for your kind words at the end of your message) :-) Perhaps on our next painting day out together we should set aside an hour or so for me to try your style and for you to try my style ..... might be fun? Seeing what we think we see of each other's style ...... and seeing whether all things are possible?

Down at a residency in Cill Rialaig last year, I painted two small diptyches with another artist who had a very different style to mine - we were just finishing up leftover acrylic paints before I packed up to leave. It was amazing how we were able to make our two styles "gel". I'm not saying they're incredible paintings, but they certainly aren't worth chucking out.

Got to have a bit of fun, creating good memories, here and there hey!

[Lynda Cookson]

Probably like many of you, I receive Robert Genn's newsletters and I thought this one (below) was pertinent to this post. I know Mr Genn doesn't mind his letters being passed around and you might like to visit his website and join up yourself. Go to: http://painterskeys.com/

"Last week I conducted a short workshop with seven students on an antique boat amid spectacular West Coast scenery. Apart from the possible benefit to students, I like these encounters because they give me an opportunity to try to understand the varieties and machinations of the creative process.

Even with such a small group, there is a range of expectations and capabilities. Some folks are seasoned painters while others are just getting started. Some are anxious to learn, even desperate for progress, while others merely want to drop their anchors in a comfort zone and have a stimulating holiday. Needless to say, some arrive with significant formal art education and are primed with attitude and theory. Still others just want to find out how to make a handsome living.

Some students show immediate sensitivity to an environment that may be new to them. Some also immediately demonstrate sophisticated colour and sound compositions. One might say these are the talented ones, but they are often beginners whose sensibilities have not yet been overwritten. Like many instructors, I have often toyed with the idea of working with an open minded person who has never picked up a brush and turning her into a great painter in short order.

Art is a never-ending maze where wrong turns can hinder for decades. With the current democratization and the widespread triumph of individualism, many artists simply stay mired. So many choices, so many wrong turns--unless of course you are one of those believers who think there is no such thing as a wrong turn.

At workshops, floating or otherwise, the most progress is made by students who can simply see with fresh eyes. They are not so stuck with an inner vision whose planks may be riddled with past mistakes. For a few days at least, they are not so in love with their own treasured styles. These folks can pump out their gnarly bilges and look at things a bit differently. During the encounter they keep busy with a mildly competitive abandon. Fast learners, they find overhearing to be as good as hearing. Wise students filter what they need from the itinerant instructor, who may himself be mired in his own lifetime of wrong turns.
Best regards,
Robert"

[Mary Harrison]

HI Lynda I think it takes great courage to go in a new unknown direction, especially in a group but I applaud the effort and I think the great thing about the plein eire group is that mutual encouragement of people who are or have ben in same place and understand how difficult it is not only techniques and producing paintings but all that goes with putting yourself out there and all the insecurities that go with that. I have found the great thing about painting in a group is that now I dont think twice about painting outdoors on my own and people coming up and looking dosent bother me. Most are lovely, a anyway, it's my hobby, like other people go running or fishing, this is what I love to do outdoors so I dont need to explain anything to anyone or I dont have to talk if I dont feel like it. So keep going and dont give up. Everyones unique approach and insight is a gift to those who are open to look for it... plein eire west needs you! Mary

[Lynda Cookson]

Hi Mary

I would most definitely still be joining the Plein Eire group if I hadn't opened my own gallery in Moycullen (The Painter's Palette) ... and because we have a coffee shop in the gallery, it opens on a Sunday! I have though almost got it to the stage where I can take more time off, so may yet be coming back for a few more plein eire sessions - and I hope we get to meet there. I do find it limiting in subject matter to always be working with indoor subjects. Although who could grouse about the most gorgeous bowl of perfumed lilies and lily buds I put in a huge vase on my desk here at the Radisson this morning. I'm only exhibiting here until Sunday and am willing these flowers to open and be at their best before Saturday so I can capture them on canvas and get the wet painting home again before packing up on Sunday. I just wish I could capture the perfume as well! Lynda

[Norah Blount]

I am afraid I see the paint-outs not as a challenge but a day away from the stresses of routine and time for "me", I sometimes try to do a "proper" painting,  or depending on the mood I could decide to go off walking with camera and backpack with my watercolour sketch book and a few paints,  On these occasions I never draw with a pencil, just mess about with colour and sometimes I prefer these to the more "technical" approach I tend to use when I set up the oils on an easel.  Your gallery and coffee shop sounds good - maybe you could have a paint-out near it - but give us on the east coast etc some notice !  Your gallery of paintings here are vibrant and have your own style !

[Lynda Cookson]

Hi Noran. Oh definitely joining in tomorrow, for me, will be a time-out day as well! Yay! Packing the picnic for me and Mum and luckily the meet-up is just 14 kms around the corner from where I live in the Maam Valley so if the day is too much for Mum, I can nip home  without hassle. :-) Jolly good idea about a paint-out near the gallery coffee shop ... just down the road in Moycullen is a stunning harbour area (well, two of them actually) where we can park off and paint at the edge of Lough Corrib - plus loads of other sites in between. We can then meet up at the gallery for either a coffee or a knickerbocker glory at a special Plein Eire price with an extra treat thrown in. And if it rains, we can sit and drink coffee and paint the knickerbocker glory (yum). Thanks for your kind words re my paintings. Hope to meet with you soon.