Friday, March 1, 2013

...So why not 'Just Paint It'...

Class is in session

Teaching my first class was a hit!

I have long dreamed of doing some teaching part time and spreading the joy of painting. 
I have worked very, very hard the last few years trying to reach a level where I felt I could make this a reality. It has finally happened and that makes me very happy!

For the past 12 or so years, I have focused on being a 'good' painter. I have been quietly studying and learning as much as I can and that has finally started to pay off.
For the last few years, I have had this idea in my head just to teach basic painting. To show people how easy it is and why it doesn't have to be difficult to 'see' things and understand that it's 'just paint' and if you screw it up, so what, you can fix it!
Paint makes people smile. It forges otherwise unlikely friendships and can take your life in directions, you may have never thought possible. I have made friends all over the world simply through painting and for that I am ever grateful!

   My first class was taught on February 8th, a Friday evening. For months prior to that event I began preparing by gathering everything I thought I would need, which is quite a bit!
I hung new lighting, purchased bulk supplies and started making thinking about how I would go about even teaching a class.
I wrote lesson plans and worked on projects all the while still working my regular job as a nurse.
To sum it up, I've been very busy!




Honestly, I think most people just came for the cookies!
They were a big hit! I baked them right before people started arriving so that my little studio would smell divine!

The first student to arrive was my best friend Rhonda. She and I have been friends since grade school. Honestly, she is more like my sister than anything. She's my extra right hand when I need her and she helped me get things set and also helped me straighten up at the end of the evening.

The next student to arrive was someone I had yet to physically meet but had been introduced to through my good friend Lisa, who lives in San Diego. Lisa had told me her friend Judy and her husband were moving to the area and we really should become friends. I have to say that Lisa was right! Judy is a wonderful person and one I am so glad to have become friends with!

As I said earlier...paint forges wonderful friendships!  I hope that the people who meet at my classes, discover, not only that they have a talent they didn't know existed, but forge otherwise, unlikely friendships in the process. Painting is nothing to be afraid of, it's just paint! If you muck it up, you fix it, no big deal so to that I say...Just Paint It!!
 

...Just who IS The Man...

So I have had this idea in my head for a few years. It was more of a simmering idea related to the things that aggravate you in life. The things that hold you down and lock you in. 
I could see this image in my head of this looming, powerful guy walking on the backs of people to get what he wants/demands. The cost of those wants is social decay, humiliation and absolute power over something...
'The Man' can be anything...it will mean something different to everyone and it's not based on any one particular person, more a group of issues.

 I decided that i needed to finally evict this idea out of my head and to bring it to life on canvas.
This subject is really a HUGE departure from my other style of paintings. This one is straight out of my head.

I wanted to keep some elements of the image almost caricature like and have parts of it be realistic.. 
At first, I was going to have The Man be a looming face-less entity in a dark suit and hat because that's what I have seen in my head and symbolically, that fits however as things flow, things change and I decided to give him a face. A big 'winning' smile that draws people to a character that is deceptive. A wolf in sheep's clothing as it were. I was also going to have every person on the 'road of people' be facing downward in a submissive position but I decided to have one facing the viewer. I am not sure if I will have the eyes closed or open yet...for now they are closed. I have one more element to add however I won't disclose what that is yet! ;)

This image to the right is how the idea started to flow out onto the canvas and you can see, much of it has changed and morphed as the ideas came out.
The idea for the industrial background was inspired from the Pink Floyd's  'Animal's' album cover.
I have always liked that image and so when I had the idea for this painting, that dystopian look fit what I saw in my head so that's where that one came from.
The idea to have to road be people was an easy one. I wanted it to almost look like a heard of sheep...sheeple. The turnip is easy! Everyone knows the old saying that 'you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip'...HOWEVER...The Man CAN!

Once I started roughing in the turnip (from a photo ref I took of me grasping a turnip from my garden), I decided to top just didn't work. I had to come up with something else, something more symbolic. Since the turnip basically represent the heart of mankind, then the idea hit me...have the top literally be the vessels of a human heart. So that's how that transition occurred.  As far as the other elements in the painting, I'll leave that up to the viewer to decide. I know what they mean to me but as i said, this will mean something different to everyone who sees it.  I know its a controversial departure from my usual work but I just had to get this guy out of my head. I am actually enjoying painting this very much! Its like a huge puzzle of dark symbolism! This piece has generated quite a bit of interest and I am allowing people to watch my progression on my Facebook page, The Art of Kathy Leib.



 

...Going back to High School...

   A few years back,  local high school art teacher Wendy Sparks, had contacted me about coming to speak to her junior and senior art class students. Wendy had seen my work at a local gallery and had read the review the South Bend Tribune had published about my solo show 'Faces' at The Spurious Fugitive Gallery, South Bend, Indiana. She asked if I would be willing to come in and talk to the students and I agreed.
I was really nervous that I would have nothing to say. She asked if I would bring in some of my paintings.  I brought 6-7 paintings with me and had a disc of images burned so that I could give a slide show. I finally got over my stage fright about halfway through my presentation. 
There were about 40 kids and it was early in the morning so some of them slept which is understandable in high school however it was those 4-5 kids that were genuinely interested that made me happy. They asked questions and studied the paintings and were just really interested in what I had to say and show them. 
The kids had done some really great work and a few were quite proud to show me their paintings and tell me about their plans to go to art school. Just this memory alone is making me smile and give me some goosebumps! It was something that thoroughly touched me! 
Those 4-5 kids, will be the ones who inspire you later in life. Those few kids will be the movers and shakers in the creative world...they will make their teachers very proud!
   I am pleased to say that Wendy has once again invited me back to speak to her kids and I am thrilled to do it. I don't think I'll be quite as nervous this time around however. 
I look forward to seeing what these kids are up to.  I will be thrilled to share their enthusiasm again!

   You see, the thing about art is that most dream of being this famous fine artist in Chicago, LA, London, New York...but then when you grow up, you realize artists are everywhere and have quite diverse and unlikely occupations. For instance, I put myself through nursing school at  age 23 so that I could have job stability. I have never regretted that decision, however, I have also never let that dream of being a painter...so I do both! One of my artist friends is a physician (pathologist) and you should see the detailed work he pulls off! 
   My talk this time around will be similar to what I said the last time...it will be one about never letting go of your dreams and telling the kids that despite having a job they may not have envisioned, they can still make art!

   

...It's THAT time...

Time to head off to this lovely little studio of mine, pour myself a hot cup of coffee and, grab a bite to eat and get this day going!!! 

I have a couple folks coming over to share part of the day with me. My friend Judy is coming over around 10:00 am and I also have a student that I agreed to teach for a couple hours for an impromptu class. After that...The Man will get some fresh paint applied to him!

I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will leave you with the luscious image of fresh Amish Cinnamon rolls!!! I am telling you, here in the heart of the Midwest Amish community, there is no taste much sweeter than that!
Have a great day!!



Kath