Beautiful, her words…. (Words To Paint By)

Melbourne, a thriving cultural metropolis.  A mecca for Australians wanting a touch  ‘more.’

My friends, my students,  they frequent the city and bring back stories to share with me.  I’ve yet to go.

It is, most definitely, on my list.

In a city of 4.8 million people, there is an abundance of  art museums, galleries, and art shops whispering my name.

 

So I was looking up one of my mentors, David Taylor who teaches at Senior Art Supplies, in Melbourne.

Wondering how he is, thinking I’d love to go visit and simply, chat.  (David is a lovely man and he’s had a tremendous influence on my art journey, to which I’m truly appreciative.  If you are in Melbourne, or can go to any of his international workshops. Just Do It.)

 

While on the store website,  I noticed that an ‘Alison Hanly’  was listed there, teaching creativity.

 

You know, I was intrigued with that bit of information.

Creativity and Imagination!

 

 

 

Creativity

I went onto the web to do a little more research on Ms. Alison Hanly. 

I’ll share her so very beautiful words, her philosophy about creating art.

 

“My focus is on self expression (yours) and helping you figure out what and how you want to paint or draw.

I am not going to teach you my method, I don’t want you to come away painting exactly like me.

I want you to come away painting and drawing just like you.

I can teach you the principles of good image making, i.e. composition, tone, colour etc.

But that knowledge is simply to help you understand what you are struggling with and give you more choices.

I don’t believe in ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ ways to paint.

I don’t believe it is possible to ‘cheat’.

 

Art is about problem solving and trying any way you can to get the vision in your head out of it so others can see.

 

Art is also about experience, you can’t learn it from reading books, you have to do it.

It is experimental and sometimes the experiments don’t work, what we do then is talk about what happened and what might have worked better.

 

The journey you take as a creative is not all sunshine and light, it is not always playtime nor is it always easy.

I love it when it is all of those things, but it often isn’t especially when you are starting.

It can be bliss,  peace,  contentment, connection,

but it can also be frustration, disappointment, an ego battleground and just plain boring.”

 

 

Helpful Hints

It was fascinating to discover that   Alison not only is a painter, but is a musician, a radio producer and writes.

 

A helpful thing, which I’ve done and I’d also suggest to students,  or to any artist actually, is to print off Alison’s words.

Tape them to your easel.

Place them so you see them, each and every time you go to create… when you wish to express your voice that is within You.

 

Yes, she can write.

Beautiful are her words.

 

 

 

 

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