Category: Intuitive Painting

February 19, 2019

Freedom in Art Day

February in Seattle has been unseasonably cold, snowy and icy. A blessing because life slows down; I didn’t have to chauffeur anyone anywhere and the kids loved playing in the un-Seattle-like deep snow.

Before the snow, I was getting restless and frustrated with painting. Creativity is always a dance between process and product, the act of loving process and being in the moment creates the best art. Pressure shifts the focus away from the beautiful moment to a future possibility which the moment never lives up to, it’s a perfect formula for frustration. I needed to free myself from the pressure.

I skimmed through Dean Nimmer’s Art from Intuition, reflected on my intuitive painting class with Flora Bowley last fall and I pieced together an experimental antidote that I’ll call a Freedom in Art Day. Here is what I did.

I sketched a few nothing special sketches. The goal was to sketch an idea, not perfect it. I sketched 7-8 ideas in about 10 minutes. I took this idea from Dean Skinners 30 sketches in 30 minutes exercise.
I laid out three new paintings and their materials. This is idea is borrowed from Flora Bowley who recommends painting on 3 canvases at a time. I alternated materials and substrates so each painting had its own medium and substrate. In short, I had a mix of paintings on watercolor paper or linen, with acrylics or watercolor with some new Open and Fluid acrylic paints to play with.
I added 3 paintings I was struggling with to my original three which means I was set up to work on 6 paintings.
Before I began, I committed to process and less to outcome, insisting on experimenting and not getting caught in the “Everything must be beautiful” dilemma.
I rotated through the six paintings until I got tired of one and then moved to the next one as the current one felt stale.

I didn’t know what I was going to paint when I started. The images I sketched out began to emerge in my painting; women, brain, birds and more.

Four birds *work in progress* acrylics on linen

Ladies *work in progress * acrylic on watercolor paper

Thinking *work in progress * watercolor on hot press #140

magic *work in progress* watercolor on cold press 140#

forest fairies *work in progress* watercolor on 140# cold press

ancestors *work in progress* acrylic on packing crate

The snowy week was a marathon of painting that took me through the day and the next. The structure released all tension from the creative process and helped me break into new ideas. The new materials and substrates held my attention and encouraged me to explore. I can’t say any of the paintings are genius, and not all of them will make it to my portfolio, but the ideas flowed. I felt fresh. I felt calm and in love with painting again, forget pressure.

The moment is the gift.

C) Marika Reinke – Adventures in Art with Heart, Humor and Spirit.

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October 6, 2017

In Need of a Guide

In Need of a Guide (c) Marika Reinke 2017

Early one morning, I walked up an urban Queen Anne hill about 50 feet behind a blind man with a walking stick. I have seen this man many times. I remember his independence and courage. He regularly walks up this busy hill to his work, home, or office. This was the first day I ever walked behind him.

There was construction ahead and he walked under the scaffolding that ran the length of an apartment building. He kept walking but about 8 feet from the end of it, his cane hit the scaffolding. Then it hit the other side. He stopped, looking confused. His shoulders began to sag and he reached out to grab the scaffolding. He had no idea what it was.

There was another man walking between me and the blind man. So he did what any shy, busy, inconvenienced young man would do, he detoured into the street to get around the slow and distressed blind man. I was disappointed by his shyness.

As I approached, the blind man was starting to look panicked and turned around in a circle.

“It’s scaffolding.” I said.

He turned to me, his eyes opaque and sightless, listening intently to the sound of my voice.

I kept talking.

“You are under some scaffolding. There is construction here, but if you keep walking three more steps uphill you’ll be out from under it and on your way.”

“Oh my god, thank you!” He continued, “I thought maybe I was in the street.”

Could you imagine his panic and disorientation?

“No, not at all. You are still on the sidewalk and well on your way.”

“Thank you, again.” He said.

“No problem. Have a nice day.” I walked on. He seemed to think I had done enough, but I wondered if I had.

Everyone needs a guide.

It is impossible to see or know it all. It pains me to accept this. There are moments when it can feel like my deepest and darkest fears are manifesting, I am a failure. But maybe instead, I’m a few seconds from impossible-to-see lightness.

Only time and maybe-if-I’m-lucky guide will help.