People often say to me “Oh you%92re so lucky, you have this wonderful talent”. I know they mean well, and that it is meant as a compliment, but really, do they think that artists have this ‘talent%92, this magic wand, and can easily churn out lovely paintings without effort?

In my opinion, talent is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.

Film maker Sam Goldwyn said "The harder I work, the luckier I get.”   My feelings exactly.

The fact is that, except for a few rare exceptions, it is not talent that produces the paintings, it is work. Hard work. It is being willing to spend the time learning the necessary skills. It is finding the time to practice and being willing to struggle. It is pushing through and keeping at it even when it seems pointless. It is overcoming discouragement. It is struggling. It requires courage, determination, perseverance, and most of all, hard work.

You might ask then ‘Why do we do it?%92. I%92ll talk about that next time.

So when people tell me I%92m lucky to have talent, I accept it as the compliment I know they mean it to be. And I try not to resent the feeling that maybe they think it is easy.

Share your comments on this subject by clicking on ‘Comments%92 below.

Suzette

Last week%92s ‘quote of the week%92 gave me much food for thought. So I decided to leave it up for another week, and talk about it in my blog.

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”      (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Isn%92t this a very interesting idea? We are responsible for our lives. We make choices, we take action, or not, and by this, we affect the direction of our lives.

Do we not always tend to blame things on something, or someone? That%92s so easy to do. Difficult childhood, no education, poor health, too hot, too cold, no luck or bad luck, don%92t feel good today leave it till tomorrow. There%92s always something. That%92s our way of explaining our bad choices, or lack of action. Can%92t lose weight, exercising is too hard, always too much to do. All good reasons, right?

I like Eleanor%92s take on the matter. I do believe we are responsible. And until we see that, until we accept it, we have no chance of overcoming whatever it is that ails us - ‘inertia%92 being, in my opinion, one of the biggest factors holding people back and keeping them from realizing their dreams. Dictionary.com defines it as: ‘resistance or disinclination to motion, action, or change%92. You get into a rut and sometimes it feels like getting out of that rut just takes too much will, too much energy. So we don%92t, and we blame it on something, anything.

What%92s your take on the matter? Share with us by clicking on ‘Comments%92 below.

Suzette

When painting one of my intuitive abstracts, I find that there are 4 stages that I go through with each painting: they are exploration, discovery, struggle and resolution.

Exploration: This is the first stage, the playful stage. I begin by applying texture and sometimes add some collaged elements until I have an interesting starting point. I then start applying colour. I have no specific plan. I just want to see what will happen. I am exploring the possibilities.

Discovery: Once the painting has reached a certain stage, I have to make a decision as to the direction the painting will take. I look at it from every direction. I look for hidden things, suggestions, to see what might pop up. Sooner or later, I get an idea on which way to proceed. I sometimes discover something interesting in the way the texture and the colour have been applied, which will direct my next step. Sometimes, I just make a decision and proceed.

Struggle: This is the most difficult stage. Once I have made a decision on where I am going, I now have to make it happen. Along the way, I will encounter difficulties, doubts. I will have to make changes. I will have to evaluate what I%92ve got, assess the composition, colours, values. There is always that moment when I can%92t stand the painting and think it%92s a complete failure. But I keep going and work problems through.

Resolution: Eventually, the problems work themselves out and I become happier with the product. I now begin to see some meaning to the painting. I keep going until I feel the painting is complete. It%92s not always easy to know when to stop. Sometimes I have to leave it alone for a while, looking at it frequently and evaluating, trying to decide whether continuing will make it a better painting. Then I reach the point when I know I%92m done; I know that there%92s nothing more I want to do to it. It%92s time for the signature.

What about you? What%92s your process? Share with us by clicking on ‘Comments%92 below.

Suzette