Charlie Creates art,,,musings, observations and travel

In 2019, I decided to make a career change leave my art based business that I had built and managed.  Within a few short months, I made a big career change AND became an empty nester. Then COVID hit, and that job became HARD, really hard. So, I made another career change in late 2021. I managed to stay connected to art, I played around with watercolor, picked up mixed media art, played with Gelli plate printing, and even had a mini career in pottery (short lived-as I found selling pottery involves shlepping stuff to art fairs--which I realized I didn't like)

In January 2022, I took inventory of the things I enjoyed about my art practice, and asked myself ,"what did I want to do more of"? I like to hike, I like to paint why not combine them? So I signed up to become a member of Outdoor Painters of Minnesota. In July, I attended my first Duluth Plein Air event. This event involved meeting up with painters from all over the state of Minnesota.  The only thing that was clear about this group?  The members were dedicated to Plein Air painting--they hiked, they painted, and they loved it. I had no idea what I was doing; I had no idea what equipment I would need and I knew nobody in the group and yet here I am making an attempt at Plein Air Artist. 

The first activity was a meet and great at Canal Park Brewery. Many of the members new and experienced were there and we were given the opportunity to dust off the "first day jitters". Artists were invited to "paint outs" which are opportunities to meet up at different places all over the city of Duluth.   The picture below was painted on the first day of Plein Air Duluth. It was at this point that I experienced a giant case of "imposter syndrome" I lugged my giant Julian easel (yep, that is way to heavy to lug around for Plein Air) Set myself up nervously on the rocks next to Lake Superior, took out my brand new Windsor Newton Cottman travelers paint set, and attempted to paint rocks underwater (a scene I am told takes years to perfect) So glad that I wasn't bothered with knowing what I shouldn't attempt. The painting still lives in the art journal, and is absolutely not frameable, but it is a lesson, one of many I would experience along the way. 

On the second day I experienced the full on mood of Lake Superior. The paint out was scheduled for Brighton Beach, and there were around 5 artists scattered along the shore. When I first set up, the air was warm and humid. The mood quickly changed as a bank of fog rolled in, covering the scene I was attempting to capture. The cloud dissipated above us, dropping a tiny bit of rain and then rolled out as fast as it rolled in. I did not love the painting I made. I still see all the mistakes, however I now appreciate the artwork as it absolutely marks a point and time in my artistic journey. It is framed, and it exists in my personal collection of art work hanging above a quote by Beyonce' that says Life is not about perfection, it is about purpose"

At the end of the weekend, artists are offered the opportunity to "show" their artwork in a group exhibit. The building we were at was called the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art (I highly suggest looking up GLAFA and Jeff Larson and read about the school and it's founder).  When I entered the building, I clearly recognized that the artists studying at GLAFA had extraordinary talent. I was again overwhelmed by imposter syndrome. I walked through the halls and appreciated the talent and breathtaking paintings that were displayed through the building, but I was overcome by emotion and  felt like I could not "show" my art. As I was leaving the building, with tears in my eyes, thinking about how naive I was, someone recognized my look of panic and overwhelm, and talked me out of leaving. 

I very hesitantly displayed my one 5X7 piece of art, still attached to the mixed media spiral bound student grade paper, painted with student grade watercolor and drawn with my favorite black ink drawing pen.  To this day, I am so proud of myself for putting myself out of my comfort zone and testing the waters of what would become. On my way home, I reflected. What is the path ahead? I had two choices, I could wallow, lament, and struggle, OR I could take some classes, I could learn more, and I could push forward. I chose the second option, and here I am, painting in the woods. Still learning, but I have come so far from that first time out. (you may have noticed that I have switched to a different medium and that story will come later!)