Category: My Artist Website

This is a website for my artist lifestyle.

How did I teach myself?

My Artist Website

How did I Teach Myself?

Happy Halloween Everyone! This is one of my favorites holidays. It is full of wonder and creativity. Being in the moment is so important.

Observation of our Environment

I pay attention to what is around me and listen. Although even if I don’t, I still absorb information. For many years I watched my Mom and she taught me a lot. How did I teach myself? Art is a visual and emotional thing. For example, winter is almost upon us and now is the time to study the trees. The leaves fall off, giving us a better view of their structure. Time to observe and soak in the emotional aspects of a time or place is very helpful. I am always looking and stopping, I am not a fast walker or driver because of this.

I read books, I take lessons, I experiment and do a lot of reconnaissance. Preoccupation with art means I am almost constantly thinking about art, it is the place I go to that helps me become calm and relaxed, yet at the same time a little uncomfortable. There are challenges there. It is a preoccupation for me.

Practice makes Progress

Practice is very important because it helps to train your hand and eye coordination. You practice how to “see” things as an artist and become better. I have a love for learning and I never stop learning. I hope this is contagious. It is a wonderful thing.

How did I teach myself? Teaching myself never ends. Seeking knowledge and receiving it is powerful. I find that being around like minded people also heightens my interest and gives me ideas that I want to try as well. Sharing information is invaluable.

Learning is all about making that first mark and continuing with the next, practice and professional help also make a huge difference. When an artist shares a trick or technique, it can make you a better painter. Many artists have lots to share, whether self taught or schooled in a traditional way or not.

Art is everywhere, everything we see, touch and feel. Recognition of it is key. There is very little that isn’t touched by an artist.

CYN

Who are your Favorite Artists?

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Who are your Favorite Artists?

It is funny that as I write this I am in West Chester PA, the home of the Wyeth family by Chadds Ford. Who are your favorite artists? One of mine is the entire Wyeth family. I have always loved the monochromatic or limited palette that most of them used. The quirky nature of some of the pieces is also something I enjoy. As a family they would spend the winter here and the summers in Maine. One of Andrew’s most famous paintings “Christina’s World” was created after he met Christina in Maine. The Brandywine Museum was three floors of all things Wyeth and beyond. They are one of my favorite artist families.

Travel and Touring

The tours I took were of N.C. Wyeth’s home and studio, and Andrew’s home and studio. Along the way was Carolyn’s small studio and other historic buildings. Many picture’s of the family were around and details of how they created, learned and taught art. This is where Andrew first learned from his father the basics of art. N.C. wyeth’s Daughters Henriette, Ann and Carolyn learned here. The place is huge and there are paint splatter’s on the floor leading to a sense that they are still there. A large wooden staircase turned to the side is present, so he can reach all areas of large paintings. This place has fascinating ambiance and light.

The tour is about an hour for each and you could spend the day there with the museum. The gift shop was filled with great art type gifts and the cafe was interesting. I would definitely recommend this as a day trip.

Andrew Wyeth’s home was smaller and more private by comparison. Both were fantastic. The use of mirrors was to be able to check your work from a different perspective and gain distance, instead of having to keep walking away they would just look at the mirror. I need to set this up.

The tour guide was very well spoken and offered plenty of information both from an artist’s and art lover’s viewpoint.

Some other artist’s I like are Monet, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Rembrandt. I love Impressionism, landscape and abstract because of the feeling, movement, freedom and emotion in them.

Cyn

To purchase my art on a variety of cool things visit my other art stores.

Redbubble

Society6

Zazzle

What is my process like?

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What is my Process Like?

My process depends on what I am working on. Some art may look better as a pastel, some in oil and some in acrylic, and still some just as a pencil drawing. Reconnaissance is my first step a lot of the time. What is my process like? I spend hours and hours taking pictures and traveling to destinations getting inspiration. This helps to motivate me. Sometimes I think I cannot improve on a great picture, but collect it also for a composition or a rainy day, in that respect all my pictures are very important. They are like a library of ideas and inspiration.

Freedom

You can lose a certain kind of freedom and movement in a piece if I was to just paint from a picture, so this is important to remember. I try to catch a feeling or express my sense of a moment, place or thing. I am not sure that someone will feel the same way I do, but I would be happy if they feel something when looking at my work. Remembering this I try not to just record what I see, I feel the camera is a tool for that.

When I sketch, I do use either my iPad or paper and charcoal, pastel or pencil to plan a composition. Even while doing a plein air project I sketch a plan before painting. I look for the different values and appropriate composition. Sometimes I still do miss the mark, not every work comes out they way I wish, especially while experimenting and creating.

Always be prepared

I always carry sunscreen, water, a hat, bug spray, wipes, paper towels and small plastic garbage bags to my en plein air sessions. This may seem like a lot but it makes a huge difference in having a good time or being miserable. Spending generally 4 hours or more just painting, I think is a good amount of time. It can be extremely hot or cold and windy, the weather changes as well as the light. After 4 to 5 hours I can get pretty tired. Sometimes I can finish a piece at my studio if it needs it, being careful not to loose that sense of place or time and emotion.

Explore

I am always exploring different compositions, media and colors and love it. My oil paintings go in stages, an under painting first then a layer of paint over that and another layer. I will use as many layers as I need to complete the painting. It sometimes depends on if I want to do impasto too. Always keeping in mind the fat over thin mantra. Letting them dry a year before I decide if I want to varnish or not, is sometimes a pain. Putting away a work out of sight for a while is also helpful.

I will spend half my day doing paperwork, improving my website or other social endeavors. The other half doing promotion for my website and other stores like https://www.redbubble.com/people/Jacyncas this depends also on what paintings I am working on. I always keep in mind something one of my friends told me, “If it ain’t fun, we may not want to do it.”

Am I Traveling for my Art?

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Am I Traveling for My Art?

Am I traveling for my art? I would love to travel more than I do. I try to get out on a continuous basis, especially during the golden hours. If you were not aware, the golden hours are the hours around sunrise and sunset. That time of day is great for capturing awesome photos. It would be difficult to do any plein air work because of the short time period. That may be quite a challenge, but probably a good exercise to try to get that light in a quick painting.

Travel Locally, Travel Abroad

I do have opportunities to travel all over New England. Wherever I go I plan to take some art supplies with me like sketchbooks, chalk, a limited palette, camera and desire to learn and explore. I have gone to Florida, Texas and all points in between. I would love to travel more, but unfortunately my finances don’t allow me that luxury. It is also hard to travel with oil paintings as they are wet for so long. I am very tempted to try using acrylics with maybe an extender in them, so they do not dry out as fast.

Be in the Moment

We have gone camping, hiking and sightseeing  in many places. I love nature. We often go to museums, art shows and galleries when we travel, there is great inspiration at these places. I would urge you to go to as many of those places as you can. I find things constantly in my journeys so fascinating I want to stop everywhere. I could only imagine what it would be like if I could afford to go to so many of those awesome places out there that I have not explored.

For now I will be content with where I am and exploring not only what is around me, but what is also inside me.

What am I currently working on?

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What am I Currently Working on?

Okay, well, I am always busy. I am working on promoting my art, through social media, selling on several sites like Redbubble, Society6, and Zazzle. I spend time getting on sites like Instagram and Reddit to expose my art because I like to get feedback and constructive criticism. Watching tons of videos about art and artists helps me to learn new techniques. I get inspired by other artists and find their passion contagious.

Lately I’ve been really doing a lot of digital art and manipulation because the weather here in Connecticut has not been very good. My Goldfish was an original pastel painting that I experimented with. I use a lot of different software and find this a great outlet for my creativity.

It has been very rainy and humid, and while this does give some opportunity for some great pictures, it isn’t the best situation for en plein air painting. Although a lot of these pictures seem dull and gray, I may just play around with them because I think they are pretty..

Painting in Progress

At my studio I need to work on this painting that was done en plein air at my sister in law’s farm up in New Hampshire. I would love to add more color to this also. Just wondering how I want to proceed with that, so it’s cooking in my brain.

Be Socially Involved

I seek the company of other artists both in real life and online. Going to art shows, museums and events are something I do on a regular basis. I also volunteer in a myriad of ways like setting up art shows, judging, advertising, serving on commissions, and fundraising. I get to meet a lot of people this way. There is always something for me to do.

To purchase my art on a variety of cool things visit my other art stores.

Redbubble

Society6

Zazzle