red Archives - Doris Charest

Creativity in everyday life — 3 Things only artists understand

I find that ordinary (non-artists) people see the world differently. They do not perceive what is around them with their eyes or senses as much as artists. Artistic types see the world in greater detail and with eyes that notice more. Here are three differences between artists and the rest of the world.

1. The world is a visual feast. We see details others do not. For example, I was walking with my husband along this stone wall of an Inca fortress that went for at least half a kilometer with a tour group. The wall was beautifully made. Each stone was perfectly chiseled and put into place next to another stone. The wall did not seem to have any errors in it. It leaned at a 5 degree angle, we were told to prevent erosion and the weakening of the wall. Once in a while there was one stone that was a darker red color. The placement of the red stone seemed to be intentional. That was interesting. In the crevasses of the rocks, will plants grew. There were delicate ferns, tiny plants that looked like ground cover with white flowers and one plant that was blooming with a tiny red flower that looked like an orchid. As I took pictures of these, I got further behind the group. When I caught up, the guide thought that I was lagging behind because I was not fit enough. He said we would have to pick up the pace. I explained that I was taking photos and told him all that I had noticed. I asked about the orchid. He gazed at me and said no one had ever asked him and he didn’t know. He didn’t know about the red rock either. He had been a guide for 8 years.

I am a visual artist so I perceive more with my eyes. I have noticed that musicians hear more information than I do. They make connections between sounds that I have to work really hard to even notice. I have noticed the same with writers and words. We feast in the sights or sounds we notice. The non-artists are missing out….

2. Wearing bright colors makes you happy. The psychology of color says that colour influences perceptions that are not obvious, such as the taste of food. Colour can indeed influence a person; however, it is important to remember that these effects differ between people.Color has long been used to create feelings of coziness or spaciousness. However, how people are affected by different color stimuli varies from person to person.

Blue is the top choice for 35% of Americans, followed by green (16%), purple (10%) and red (9%).A preference for blue and green may be due to a preference for certain places to live.There is evidence that color preference may depend on ambient temperature. People who are cold prefer warm colors like red and yellow while people who are hot prefer cool colors like blue and green.Some research has concluded that women and men respectively prefer “warm” and “cool” colors.Some studies find that color can affect mood. for more information, check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_psychology

3. Ideas come out really looking at what is in front of you. Once, I looked at some skidoo tracks in the snow and got an idea for a painting with embossed-like textures in it. The way the snow covered up the back door of a big truck gave me an idea for an abstract. Seasons were created so that there is new information for you to look at all year round. Each seasons brings out new information that needs noticing. I visited Prince Edward Island in the spring. The red soil with that beautiful spring green led me trying out that particular color combination.

I hope this helps you .

I hope this helps you .

For more information on mixed media by Doris Charest:

All photography and artwork by Doris Charest

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Till next time …

A 30 day challenge is just that, a challenge.

I readily agreed to a 30 day challenge thinking it was going to be easy to do. We were to create small, 8 x 8 in. drawings or paintings and post them once a day. How hard could that be? I would do this first thing in the morning as a warm-up. The goal of this exercise was to experiment.

As it turned out, this is a harder exercise to do than I thought. The first few days were easy enough. I worked through ideas I had been wanting to try. I normally work in an abstract or semi-abstract manner but something happened in the last few months. What was coming out was landscape. The work was abstract-ish but definitely landscape. I surprised myself because I had not worked in a ‘realistic’ manner for years. Why was this coming out?

Landscape was a subject matter that I had touched on and off for years but always just as one tiny element in a larger more abstract format. Every time that I went back to my ‘old’ style, I created a mess so I decided to go with the flow and work this element out of my system. Maybe I could incorporate some of these realistic elements in my abstracts. This challenge would do the trick for me.

The goal became a blending of two loves. I would combine abstract and landscape; abstract landscape. I hate roller coasters and this seemed like one. My landscapes turning abstract. Sounded good at the time and a possibility.

So I started. I started with graphite powder. These happened when I sprinkled the powder on the paper then hosed it down. What was left was an abstract background where I often looked for hidden imagery in the marks. Landscape seemed to come out most of the time. Now I wanted looser, bolder results. Could I do this? I added bits of collage with mixed results. Perseverance is the key, I knew. Make a lot of work and the work would evolve. I kept going. I added watercolour in some then acrylic in others. I splashed paint and I rubbed out the graphite.

I kept telling myself that it was only paper. These bits of paper were just that, bits of paper. One of my past instructors had told us once that ‘Nothing is precious’. You can always redo the work. At the time, I did not believe him. This work was so ‘magical’ to me. Every time that an artist reaches a new level of achievement, he or she hangs on to these new ‘greater’ works for fear of not being able to do it again. The fear goes away. Your work continues to grow. Slowly, you let those first works go. You even realize that they are not that great…anymore. You have moved to a newer level. You have gotten better.

I kept repeating my advice in my head and slowly, I made progress. I added elements that I had not done before and the result was occasionally pleasing to my eye. I made small micro elements of progress towards my goal. Days passed and the pile of paintings grew.

The thirtieth day arrived. I stopped. Looking at the pile, I decided that I would leave the paintings alone for a few days then look at the work more objectively. I kept worrying about my progress or lack of progress. I worked on other projects and time went by. Two weeks later, I looked. Laying out all the work on a large table, I examined the end result. I saw a bit of collage here and acrylic there. This part was good and that part certainly wasn’t. I made a list of the good parts that I liked then picked out my favorite paintings. I put away the others.

Looking at just the work that I considered successful, I made a plan of what I could do with future work. This is what I discovered:

I kept only about 20% of my exercises from the 30 days.
I was pleasantly surprised that I had made progress towards my goal of combining the abstract and landscape themes.
The work took a turn that I had not expected. This is not a negative. The result pleased me.
Working consistently changed me and my work. I gained confidence in my overall plan. My work surprised me.

Convinced that a challenge is good? Here are some links for you to look at:Why You Should Do an Art Challenge
Have you guys ever done an art challenge? Will created the Draw 50 Things Challenge , it’s a design challenge where you…www.svslearn.com Why join an art challenge?
We are currently in the middle of a 10-day art challenge in our Facebook group community called The Soulbrush Sessions…www.artiststrong.com

A challenge is a way to grow and change your work. Why not give it a try.