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Friday, June 5, 2009

Creative Community

I believe that it behooves us to look around and learn from all members of the creative community, including those who create with computers, food, flowers, wallpaper and fabrics. After all, we all work with those same design elements and principles in mind. During my down time of studio repair, I have been perusing decorating books, which is something I rarely make time for. Being a bit of a francophile, I turned to French decorating....whoa.....way too fancy for me, for the most part. No bows, no crystal, no Queen Ann legs and, please, no chintz. Then I proceeded to Scandinavian decor....the simplicity is me.....as well as the soft colors which, apparently, are modeled after the home of Carl Larsson, a painter. I have always neutralized my colors by using the complements. These books suggest using Raw Umber, a bit at a time, of course, to achieve those soft neutrals! What a find! I am definitely going to try it! We have been painting antique toys and well-loved items in my painting class. My painter friend Mo used a wash of her home-made walnut ink on the top of her painting.....it was ingenious. Neutralized....softened....aged. New tricks for old painters.

BTW, members of Akron Society of Artists will be painting from a model tomorrow evening from 5 - 9 pm on the 3rd floor of The Summit Artspace building. Come take a peek!

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