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Art Can Be a Mystical Experience

2/24/2014

 
Art speaks to me in a way that sooths my soul. Whisperings quietly to my inner self, allowing my senses and imagination to walk hand in hand with creation. Art can be a mystical experience for both the creator and the viewer. If you are fortunate to own a painting that gives you this entangled energy, you are blessed with a pleasure that is difficult to describe to those who have not walked this path. 

I suspect that this is partly the reason so many are drawn to international art shows such as the Artists Project in Toronto. If you missed it, an opportunity was lost to see work and meet the artists who created it. The artists speak of the creation energy that compelled them to put brush to canvas. They have experienced the mystery of creation, and interpreted it for you, expressing it so elegantly in a visual form. 

Anya Droug painting
Anya Droug interprets personal sequence of episodes; segments; moments that are otherwise ordinary and could pass by unnoticed and places them on canvas. People, emotions and objects experienced and explored on her journeys are analyzed through her work. A sculpture, a fragment of architecture, a person glimpsed on the street. 

www.anyadroug.com


 Jennifer Zeitz painting
Jennifer Zeitz is an artist who lives and works in Toronto, Canada, who recently showed at the Artist Project.  Her works in red stopped me in my tracks. I had to pause and immerse myself in the luscious pallet she has chosen. She has an entire series of painting titled “Red” which in case you haven’t noticed yet, is the color of this article.


www.jenniferzeitz.com




Nude by Dage
Dage is exclusively dedicated to her painting. Her work is the result of a quest. Her paintings are studies and experiments of her attempts to capture the elusive; energy. She tries to capture the essence of life, the energy that lies within us. Her subjects are also selected based on the emotion and energy that emanate from them. 

www.dagearts.com




 Jodi Shuster painting
Jodi Shuster has a passion for color. Her love of movement and gesture found expression and sustenance from countless hours of life drawing. Her paintings combine these elements, with the gestural strokes expressing her joy and spontaneous reaction to the subject.

www.jodishuster.com



Suzanne Burden Painting
Suzanne Burden works with Red, one of her favorite colors. She boldly states “it creates conflicts within me between my judgement and my self-confidence. My collection of paintings 'Reds' was born from a desire to imagine myself in a world where red is admired and accepted for only its beauty while exhibiting its spirit and its purpose for the emotions, senses, and feelings.” 

www.suzanneburden.ca


Next time you come across a chance to view art first hand, and meet the artists, take it. You may just experience the sublime. When you come across a work of art that demands your attention, stop and spend time with it. Talk to the artist to gain the insight you so desperately want. Art connects us in ways like nothing else. 

Thinking Creatively (Part Two)

2/13/2014

 
Understanding the Creative Brain: What’s Going On Inside?
Child on Toy Train by Donna PidlubnyRiding The Rails by Donna Pidlubny
The right brain is your creative side. The pathways are formed differently. 
They cover a larger area and meander like a winding road. 
The right brain takes you through forests, past lakes and farmland, on a slow Sunday drive in the country, a place to smell the roses, where you can stop for a picnic beside a lake and enjoy the warm summer sun on your skin. 
The right brain is independent and pretty much on it’s own to figure out it’s own way, which is what it’s built to do. There are no rules on the right side of the brain. It is built for intuition and insights.
The right side of the brain usually takes a back seat and goes along for the ride. When the left brain tells us to run, because the pretty tiger is going to eat us, we listen or die.
The left brain is the dominate partner in the collaboration. It acts much like a super highway, getting you from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’ faster. There isn’t much scenery and there are lots of exit ramps to get you to a gas station or a place to eat. 
The left side of the brain is where our education, business and pretty much everyone lives most of the time. It’s easy to teach 2+2=4, but not as easy to teach how to draw a tree. The left is where we focus our energies most of the time, where we learn to interpret what we think, see or hear. 
The left side of the brain is filled up with easy to follow rules. ‘I’ before ‘E’ except after ‘C’; measure twice, cut once; floss and brush daily; put the milk back in the fridge . . . This side of the brain is built for speed, giving you the most information in the shortest amount of time.

It can only work with what it has. There is no innovation, just reaction. The trick is to stimulate the right side of the brain into action, by forcing the left brain to take a back seat. In Part One I talked about sketching, as a solution even for the non-artist.  
In Part Three I will give you some other suggestions on how to accomplish shutting down the gate keeper that stands guard so firmly in all of us.

What does a Graphic Designer Do?

2/6/2014

 
What’s the difference between a graphic designer, a web designer and a print designer?
• Graphic designers is the general term given to both web and print designers. Not all web designers do print, and not all print designers do web. Many do both. Print and Web is a completely different skill set.
• Not all web designers know all the programs. They may be great with Dreamweaver, and know nothing about Wordpress.
• Not all print designers know all the programs. They may be an expert with Photoshop, and stumble when it comes to a vector program.

The Job Has Changed
At one time in our history a graphic designer had to have drawing, lettering and in a vast amount of creative skills in addition to technical skills. This is no longer the case. Graphic Design has made the transition from right brain, to a left brain profession. It no longer requires the designer to be able to draw, or even understand the difference between tracking and kerning. However, some designers are very good at creative development, and can also do production design, (the technical stuff.)

Trust
Working with a graphic designer is a trust issue, so if you don’t trust them, then find someone else. There are lots to choose from. I would suggest working locally. That way you can meet face to face, and get a better read for what’s going on. That being said, when I freelanced as a graphic designer, I had clients across north America and handled work at a distance without any issue. I still do the same for illustration and have never run into any problems.

Ask Questions
Make sure the designer understands what you are asking for. Ask the designer for input. Can they offer any improvements? What do they suggest? They are working for you and they want to help. After all, why would you hire someone to do a job, and then not let them do it?
 
Tip: Make sure you ask to see samples or portfolios, web and print. Confirm the links work and take you to a real business, not to another site trying to get you to buy services. How do the sites look? Do they seem like they are a cut and paste job from others work? Ask how they created it, what programs they used. Ask how they came up with the idea. Ask question. Make sure you know what skills you are buying, before you buy. They love to talk about the work, so don't be shy.


Skills
Graphic design is a highly skilled profession, that took years of training, and a considerable investment. So please don’t insult them by expecting it for under minimum wage. If you want them to work for you, a fare wage must be on the table.

One last thing, a web developer in not a web designer.

Thinking Creatively (Part One)

2/2/2014

 
If you are stuck in your old way of thinking, your creativity is blocked, and you just can’t seem to think beyond the scope of your experience, you may just need a little help thinking creatively. 

The Brain Has A Gate Keeper

The best method I’ve found for shutting down the gate keeper and allowing your creativity to flourish is sketching.

It’s guaranteed to work to solve any problem I am trying to solve. Not just the visual ones, or ones that concern the painting I’m working on, but any problem that I’m trying to solve. My sketches often have notes in the form of single words or phrases written on the same page. Unrelated thoughts or ideas that materialize as I sketch. Evidence of the process at work. 

Sketching is especially good because of it’s immediacy. I carry a small unlined note book or a sketch book with me at all times. Always at hand, and easy to reach, I would never think of packing for a trip without including my sketch bag in my carry on when I travel. It’s contains graphite pencils, eraser, sketch book, watercolor pencils, ink pencils and a brush with water in the handle.

If you are not an artist, and feel uncomfortable picking up a sketch book for fear of the gate keeper standing over your shoulder, try instead to draw the alphabet. Start with the letter ‘A’ and work your way to the end. Do capital letters and small letters, write in your own handwriting, then print, then try different looks and styles and flourishes. Try different words, and try your signature. Any lined notebook will do. No need for a sketch book, a special calligraphy book, special pens or pencils. Anything at hand will work. Draw the letters, the words, your signature.

Cut out words from magazines in different font styles and put them in your notebook, and practice drawing them. It keeps you from just making the letters the way you usually would, it focuses you on drawing the letters the way you see them, not the way you think you see them. 

Turning your sample styles of lettering upside down will completely free your mind, and remove your preconceived notions of what that letter is supposed to look like. It will focus you mind, and shut down the gate keeper, allowing you to think creatively. 

On the surface it may look like you are creating a drawing, but in reality, you are working on another project or idea. This is the Chameleon working it’s magic.
Visit Your Local Museum by Donna PidlubnyVisit Your Local Museum
The illustration is an example of the results of shutting down the gate keeper.

I was commissioned to create an illustration for an advertisement for a small community museum.  The building itself is a museum piece, and they wanted only a painting of it for the ad. 

The ad was about getting people into the museum, not just the building. I wanted to convey that by putting people going up the steps and through the door, but there was still something missing. 

Since the painting had to show the outside of the building, my personal challenge was to show why they should go in. I didn’t want to do the cliche of putting pictures of artifacts like a frame around the image. So I added the ancestors. The ones who once owned the possessions the viewers were going to see. My client was very happy with the result. When I showed the curator she said “I thought we were just going to get a boring picture of the building. I didn’t expect this. It’s fantastic” 

    The Great Hug Me Too by Donna Pidlubny

    Anna Lia & The Magical Christmas Gifts by Donna Pidlubny

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Copyright Notice: All artwork on this site is copyrighted and owned outright by the artist. If you wish to use any of the material you must provide payment for reproduction rights. Final usage rights not guaranteed. Contact Donna at 623-565-9918 to see if the image is available for your project.