“Sure, your life story could fill a thousand pages – but sometimes a few words are all you need.”    The Oprah Magazine, February 2012

An article in the current issue of The Oprah Magazine describes a 2006 challenge that writer Larry Smith issued to his online readers. Inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s legendary shortest of short stories (”For sale: Baby shoes, never worn”), Smith asked his readers to describe their lives in 6 words. Smith’s 6-Word Memoir challenge officially ended after a month, but the stories kept coming. Now, five years later, participants have sent in more than half a million mini memoirs, and Smith has published 5 compilations of the intensely personal accounts.

Inspired and intrigued, I thought it would be fun to try writing a 6-Word story of my life as an artist. Having been an on again/off again artist for most of my adult life, I looked back at my 40 year+ art journey and spent some time searching for the 6 perfect words to describe it all. It was a stimulating, enlightening, and fun experience!  

Here is what I came up with…………

      My 6-Word Artist Memoir:   

       I Found Myself Painting My Life.    Donna Zagotta

Now it’s your turn! Are you ready to search for those 6 perfect words that describe your life as an artist? E-mail your 6-Word Artist Memoir to me at donnazagotta@chartermi.net by February 16, and I’ll post all of the mini artist memoirs here on my blog. You can find more information and ideas about Larry Smith’s 6-Word Memoir challenge at smithmag.net.

Happy Painting (and Writing)!   

                                                                   The Optimist, Donna Zagotta

It’s all a struggle. I don’t know what should be there until it gets there.”  Susan Rothenberg

Back in December I wrote about my intention to continue painting through the holidays. That commitment was especially important for me because I was just getting back to painting after a long hiatus. I started and completed a small painting, and I was quite pleased with it – mostly I was amazed that I still remembered how to paint at all!

With my confidence restored, I decided to really go for it and began a large painting.  And then, as Picasso pointed out, “One never knows………one starts a painting and then it becomes something quite different.” In my case what started out as a beauty gradually turned into a beast. I found myself at “the edge of the precipice” needing to make a decision: do I stay the course or do I abandon ship? Which for me translated into: should I keep painting, or should I stop painting and soothe my disappointment and frustration by immersing myself in the joys of the holiday season?  I reminded myself that I had been there before and that the only way out is through. I also knew that I would be more disappointed in myself if I quit than if I stayed the course and failed. I am happy to report that I stayed the course and in the end I was thrilled with the results. But it was one of those paintings where I struggled from day one and continued to struggle for the entire 6 weeks that I painted, re-painted, revised, wiped off, edited, and became totally entangled with my painting. What an exhilarating adventure! Easy for me to say now – it was not so easy when I was in the trenches and wrestling with it all. 

For various reasons, many of us unconsciously believe that painting is or always should be “fun.” Additionally, many of us also hold these beliefs: art shouldn’t be hard, art shouldn’t be a struggle, and art isn’t hard for “real artists” - and by “real artists” we usually mean everyone else but us. So, when we make the decision to commit ourselves whole-heartedly to our art, and then find ourselves experiencing pain, frustration, disappointment and angst mixed in with varying amounts of joy and pleasure as we engage in the painting process, we often conclude that something must be wrong with us. Or that we aren’t talented enough…….or creative enough…….or good enough…….or smart enough – you know the drill. When thoughts like these take over, it’s very hard to stay put and continue working on our work.  

Here are 5 tips for staying the course when painting gets hard:    

• •Remind yourself that there is only one thing that can guarantee your failure, and that’s quitting.
•  
• •Get real. Don’t engage in magical thinking and convince yourself that painting isn’t or shouldn’t be hard work. 
•  
• •Learn to really say YES! to the hard work, frustration, disappointments, and failed efforts and other obstacles that you will encounter on your path to success. As Sir Winston Churchill said, “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
•  
• •Eliminate negative thinking by reframing your thoughts in a positive way. For example, rather than beating yourself up with the thought that painting shouldn’t be so hard, remind yourself that painting is necessarily hard and that mistakes and failure is part of the package if you want to keep growing as an artist.   
•  
• •Acknowledge and celebrate each time you stay the course instead of abandoning ship. 

How about you? What do you do to keep on going when the going gets tough? I’d really like to hear from you!

Happy Painting!     

                               2012 AWS Jurors Donna, Linda Baker, Antonio Masi

Earlier this month I had the honor and privilege to be one of 5 jurors of selection for the 2012 American Watercolor Society International Exhibition. AWS is one of the oldest and most prestigious watercolor organizations in the world and every artist who is ever juried into one of their annuals is understandably elated. I’m excited to share with you some of my thoughts about this amazing experience along with some information about the AWS jurying process.  

This year’s 5 jurors of selection and the 3 awards jurors were chosen last spring by ballot vote from the signature members of AWS. The jurors of selection met in New York City the first week in January to choose this year’s exhibition and to vote on the submissions of those artists applying for signature membership.  We were given electronic devices that contained only a “yes” button for voting. Votes were registered instantly and AWS President Jim McFarlane announced the results immediately with an “In”, “Out”, or “Maybe”. Images receiving 4 or 5 votes were “In”, images receiving 3 votes were “Maybe”, and images receiving 2 or less votes were “Out”. 

The first step in the jurying process was a non-voting run through of the 1185 images entered this year. Each image was digitally projected onto a slide screen that was about 10 feet in front of where the jurors sat. The images were shown in the order they were received by AWS and there was no indication of whether the image we were viewing came from a signature member, associate member, or non-member. This initial non-vote viewing of all submitted entries took about an hour. 

The next step was jurying the approximately 30 artists applying for signature membership. Each had submitted 2 images that were shown separately and then together. During the process of jurying for signature membership we could discuss the images and ask questions if we desired. 4 out of 5 votes were needed for signature membership, and if an artist received signature status, we then voted on which of his or her image would hang in the exhibition. This year, 19 new signature members were chosen. 

After voting in the new signature members, we began the long process of choosing the rest of this year’s exhibition. During this part of the process we could not talk to each other or discuss the viewed images in any way other than to ask the painting’s size, and we did not know how the other jurors voted. Again, entries receiving 4 or 5 “yes” votes  from the jurors were announced by the President McFarlane as ”In”, those receiving 3 votes from the jurors were announced as “Maybe”, and those receiving less than 2 votes were announced as “Out.” At the end of this stage of the process, we were not told the number of “In” paintings, but I’m guessing it was in the 60 to 70 range. The final part of the procedure was to view and vote again on the images that were in the “Maybe” category, which I’m guessing was in the 60-70 range as well. This time, we could again discuss the images with each other before casting our final votes. When all the votes were tallied, 142 paintings were juried into this year’s AWS exhibition, which will open this April at New York City’s Salmagundi Club.

Being able to discuss when we voted in new signature members and when we voted on the ”Maybe’s” was very enlightening for me because I saw that as jurors, each of us brought a different vision and viewpoint to the process. Over the years, I have heard much discussion concerning the multiple juror system versus the single juror system. Some believe that with multiple jurors the resulting exhibition is somewhat diluted because it comes down to a majority vote. However, having participated in both types of systems, I like the multiple juror system exactly because each juror comes with a very different and very personal point of view. These differences become their strengths, and each juror votes from individual and different strengths, which I believe adds “multiple strengths” to the show, perhaps making it more balanced in flavor.

Having had the opportunity to sit on both sides of the table – I’ve been ”juried” and I’ve been ”juror” – always reminds me of how subjective the whole jurying process really is. Jurors are given no standards or rules to guide them as they cast their votes. Each juror brings his or her own subjective and sometimes “quirky” ideas and opinions to the table, and it is those ideas and opinions – those “strengths” – that set the standards that guide his choices. In jurying an exhibition like AWS, the sheer number of entries alone is mind boggling. Things are happening so quickly during the jurying process that there is no time to analyze or even think about the image before you. There really isn’t time for anything more than a (hopefully well-informed) gut reaction – you like it or you don’t.  

Here are some things I took away from this wonderful experience: 

          - To be accepted into an exhibition of this caliber, paintings need to be well put together and fully resolved. 

           - Don’t enter images that have been “done to death.” Stay away from the trendy subjects and styles that are featured in the latest watercolor books and magazines. We saw so many of those kinds of images that after awhile I started longing to see something I hadn’t seen (in what felt like a million times) before.  

           - Don’t paint like someone else. We saw a number of images that reflected who that artist had studied with, and many images similar to the work of popular watercolor workshop instructors.    

          - Make your work personal. Show your compulsions. Show your passion. It matters! 

Happy Painting!

I spent last week in New York City serving on the jury of selection for the 2012 American Watercolor Society Exhibition. It was an awesome experience and I have much to share with you about it - which I will do in my next post. But, I must take care of first things first. Many people have contacted me about my 2012 workshop schedule. I meant to have it posted on my blog and website before the holidays, but time just got away from me. So, here it is:

April 15-20, 2012

• Kanuga Watermedia Workshops (www.KanugaWatermediaWorkshops.com)
• Hendersonville, NC
• Contact: Will@kanugaww.com

May 14-18, 2012

• Richmond Art Workshops
• Richmond, VA
• Contact: patricereese@mac.com

June 5-8, 2012

• Painting in Kentucky (www.paintinginkentucky.com)
•  Henderson,  KY
• Contact: jule@ohiovalleyart.org

June 18-22, 2012

• Red River Watercolor Society
• Fargo, ND
• Contact: annekaese@yahoo.com

July 23-27, 2012

• Peninsula Fine Arts Center
• Newport News, VA
• Contact: mpreble@pfac-va.org

September 17-21, 2012

• Hudson River Valley Art Workshops
• Greenville, NY
• Contact: Kim LaPolla at www.artworkshops.com

October 1-5, 2012

• Utah Watercolor Society
• Provo, UT
• Contact: Joyce Baron at baronsbest@comcast.net

Happy Painting!

                                      Watercolor Wash Painting by Maggie Latham

 This week I received a delightful email from the UK from Maggie Latham. She wrote: 

• “I read with interest your blog post of yesterday regarding deliberate practice, and have written about it on my own blog post today. In watercolor particularly I do find that deliberate practice in one technique or another is really beneficial to my growth as an artist. Because of the unpredictable nature of pigment and water, I never get tired of just painting washes for the sake of blending beautiful colour. I never get bored exploring the nature of different pigments and what happens when painting either glazes, surface blended washes, or colors mixed on my palette. 
• Not sure if you have seen the One Hundred Washes blog which I set up last  year …..but in essence I guess deliberate practice is what we were doing, although without tight parameters.”  

I visited the One Hundred Washes blog and found a group of 7 international artists, each of whom had just completed a 100 watercolor wash paintings challenge. Here’s what Maggie says on the One Hundred Washes Blog:  

• “Many artists incorporate the magical number ‘100’ to create a series of variations on a theme, or a specific body of work ….and in Jan 2008, (in a quest for a better understanding of the nuances of blended washes) I embarked on a one week long paint-a-thon of 100 washes. The intensity of creating so many wonderful variations of washes in a short space of time was amazing and addictive…. and I learnt more in one week about how different pigments interact and why certain colour combinations ‘work’ and why some don’t…than most painters learn in a lifetime. It was intense, fun and most of all a huge personal learning curve.

Maggie then put out a call for interested participants to join her in a 100 washes challenge …and to post all of their efforts into one blog. The One Hundred Washes blog is the result of their labor. As I mentioned, all seven of these artists recently completed the challenge and you can go on the website and vote for your favorite  HERE.

And you can see Maggie’s other blog HERE.

This is a great Deliberate Practice idea! Thank you so much, Maggie for sharing your blogs.

Happy Painting!

3 Paintings from Donna’s City Series

In a recent post, I asked readers to share ideas for how they were working with, or planned to work with, the Deliberate Practice material I presented on this blog. 

I love this idea from Karen K. She said that she has been doing daily 30 minute studies for over a year and says that focusing on this project has totally improved her artwork. Although she usually works in watercolor, in order to get the most out of her limited 30 minute time frame, she uses markers in her daily Deliberate Practice studies. She adds that these 30 minute studies are done EVERY day, with NO EXCUSES allowed. Kudos to you Karen! And many thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and ideas.

Here’s how I plan to work with Deliberate Practice in 2012. Every year I use the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day to do a yearly review and to make plans and set goals for the coming year. This time, I’ve chosen one Deliberate Practice idea – something that I want to master – and I’ve decided to use it as the unifying theme for a series of paintings that I will work on throughout 2012.

Working in a series is great way to improve painting techniques and to work on mastering missing links. At the heart of series work is choosing one theme - such as one subject, one concept, one element or principle of design, one technique, or one style – and focusing your creative energies on repeating that theme over and over again with the predetermined goal of evolving beyond what is comfortable and easy to discover less obvious and more imaginative approaches to the chosen theme. An added benefit to working in a series is that the whole series will have a cohesive look because the chosen theme becomes the thread that ties all of the pieces together.

Are you planning some Deliberate Practice art encounters for 2012? I’d really like to hear from you……………please share!

Happy Painting!

                                   

                                   Donna and Grandkids Michael, Amelia, and Ethan

This year I am determined to enjoy the holidays and to keep up my painting schedule as well. This is no easy challenge! I love the holidays and usually become totally immersed in them from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day.  It’s like I leave my “normal” world and enter the world of “la la land” for five or six weeks. 

I had already begun making plans for how I will enjoy the holiday season while also enjoying some quality painting time when cooincidently (although as I mentioned in previous posts, I really believe there are no cooincidences!) I received Creative Catalyst’s Email Newsletter and found that they are having a Holiday Paint Out. What a great idea! To inspire everyone to keep creating despite the time crunch we all feel during this time of the year, they are doing a weekly art challenge. If you sign up for their weekly newsletter, you can find out what the weekly challenge is and then you can submit a piece of art inspired by that word. Each week you submit a piece your name will go into a drawing for a free copy of Ann Bagby’s new DVD that will be released January 2012. You can sign up here HOLIDAY PAINT OUT for the weekly challenge.

I also want to let you know that over the Thanksgiving weekend my DVD, “The You Factor: Powerful, Personal Design in Opaque Watercolor” will be on sale at 40% off at the Creative Catalyst website as well. This could be the perfect way to kick off your Holiday Paint Out or a perfect gift from Santa.  

Happy Painting!

“Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew.”    Guillaume Apolinaire

Last weekend I attended a gallery opening and reception for a dear friend. Coincidentally (but I really believe there are no coincidences!), also hanging in the gallery was the show of an instructor from whom I took watercolor classes in the mid l980’s. I’ve talked about this instructor before on this blog because his classes played such a big role in my growth as an artist. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would not be the artist I am today, nor would I be the teacher I am today had I not been in his classes. I’ve taken many art classes and workshops over the years but none was as significant or as influential as Peter’s classes. I will forever be grateful to Peter for encouraging us to “come to the edge”, and for helping me learn how to fly.

It was fun reminiscing at the reception with friends I haven’t seen in a long while who were also in Peter’s classes all those years ago. Everyone had their own “Peter story”. It was like a homecoming – a “return to my roots” sort of experience and a reminder that life and destiny often happen in surprising ways. 

Continuing with today’s nostalgic theme, I’ve included one of my paintings from that time.

Happy Painting!

                     

Recently, I received this question from a reader:

• Hi Donna,
• I am an artist and am just now reading Colvin’s book. I was wondering: what do you find to be good deliberate practices for painters? Specifically, what kinds of exercises do you do? I want to design a deliberate practice for myself, and am having a bit of trouble conceptualizing it. What do you thinki?
• Thanks, 
• Patrick

Patrick, it has been my observation that many artist’s work would be vastly improved if they had more control of and knowledge of the element of value. Value (like color) is one of those areas where the more you know, the more you see there is to know. Over the years I have designed a number of value related projects for myself with the goal of being able to work more effectively with value in my paintings. One of my early value projects was focused on training myself to see values accurately. I began by painting a 10 value grey scale and punched a hole in each value. I practiced painting 10 even steps of greys between white and black over and over again until I was confident that I had that skill in my back pocket. In another project, I painted swatches of every color on my palette and guessed what value each was and then checked whether my vision was on target with my value scale. Once I felt confident that I had mastered the skills of seeing and painting values accurately, I designed a project for myself with the goal of working with abstract value patterns. I started by searching for every bit of info I could get my hands on that dealt with structuring paintings with value patterns. Next, I chose a group paintings done by other artists that I felt had outstanding value patterns. I put tracing paper over the paintings and analyzed each of those value patterns with markers. These kinds of self-designed value projects have helped me strengthen my ability to see and paint more creatively and confidently with value. 

I have designed projects for myself for working more effectively with the elements of color, line, and texture as well. Most recently, I set up a project for strengthening my figure drawing skills that involved learning anatomy and working more gesturally with the figure. 

I hope this helps.

If you’ve been following this blog and have set up a personal deliberate practice program of your own, please send your ideas this way - I’d love to post them. We all can benefit from fresh new ideas! 

Happy Painting!

                            

     Donna at her St. Louis Watercolor Society Workshop. Photo courtesy Jim Brauer

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted and I thought that Halloween would be the perfect time for this spirit to make its presence known once again. I didn’t plan to be away for so long. The Universe simply had different plans for me over the summer than the ones I had made. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” It seemed like every time I got settled on one path, things shifted and I found myself following a different path. I felt like I was zig-zagging all summer – and I was! Family concerns, vacations, and a full worshop schedule all contributed to my being away for so long. After teaching my last workshop for the year I have slowly been working my way back. I cleaned out the clutter and cobwebs in my studio (and in my mind), organized and re-organized it all so that I could have a fresh start, and finally – I started painting again last week. Yea! 

My final post in the Deliberate Practice series was going to be called, “The Last Word: Discipline”. Ironic, yes? Obviously discipline isn’t one of my strongest traits. I like to think it is, but sadly it’s not. For years I’ve longed for a disciplined studio routine, but my life doesn’t seem to work well when I set up “routines”.  In fact, I often find myself rebelling against schedules where I routinely do the same thing in the same way every day of the week and every week of the month. So, ignoring the words “routine” and “discipline”, I decided to focus instead on the reasons they are so valuable - which is to help us reach our goals and to live the kind of life we envision. My goal right now is to be in the studio as much as possible, so I’m not focusing on finding ways to become more disciplined, I’m focusing on finding creative ways to get as much painting time as possible. Here’s what I’m doing:

     – My first strategy is to let go of product and focus instead on the painting process and making everything as fun and enjoyable as possible. 

      - My second strategy is to follow Chuck Closes’ advice. He said that “sometimes you just have to put yourself in a position where you’re more likely to bump into something.”  I love that!

     – My third strategy comes from Steve Jobs who said, “Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don’t get on the wrong track or do too much.” Heck – I’d feel good if I could say no to 10 things!

     – And my fourth strategy is to keep my personal life calm and nuturing so that I can be wild and crazy in my art life. So, that means that I’ll have to pay a bit more attention and do a little more juggling.    

As for discipline? I have no strategies to offer for that. 

Speaking of  fresh starts - do you have ideas for things you’d like me to address on this blog?  

Also – what strategies do you use to keep you in the studio regularly?  

Happy Painting!