PineShoreStudio/Paintings by Helen Harris

1st attempt  So each of us start out with that same clean canvas or paper. We attack it with all our gusto. Paint and brush fly to the rhythm of our music and ......blah. Does your canvas get relegated to a dark corner of your studio?  Do you actually convince yourself that it is an ok painting ....even frame it? Do I hear a mumbled  "Yes!" I know that I've sat staring at an unsold work on my living room wall debating ..leave it and just go from here, throw it out, hide it and pretend it was from your first year of painting....or learn from it. Unframe it, rework it, draw on it, wipe out whole areas . Use this effort to move forward and rejoice that you have come a long way ....at least far enough to be your own critic! This is YOUR painting until it is sold. Start out 2015 with a look back and then go forward. Grab an old canvas and use it as a starting point to prime the work to come......Happy New Year! .. ..Helen Getting there!

With summer 2014 officially over, it's time to get back to my blogging. The vacation was great! I may have been away from my blog but it was an art filled summer! Returning to the outdoor art shows was a real treat and an eye opener to the fact that I am older ( lugging equipment was harder!) and that I had to discover new venues to attend. Many of my old shows simply blew away with hurricane Sandy here in 2012 and the up and down economy simply ended many. Another surprising fact, returning to my full time painting brought a more adventurous outlook on my work. I made a deliberate decision to work in acrylics on canvas rather than the watercolor on paper for which I am known. I created many pieces landscapes, seascapes, florals and abstract in acrylic  with and without my signature textured papers. The results, I feel, were well worth the time and effort spent in the struggle of learning a new medium . The sales were encouraging also! Here are two  examples of my study....

If you read my last post "just show up..." you'd understand that this is post is an out growth of thoughts from my work during the week.  This  is a prime example of a what I mean  when I use the term "working artist."By showing up each day you generate a possibility of growth in your painting, and thoughts. Each day that your brush passes over a surface the imprint of your marks leads to another, accumulating your rhythms and thoughts of creativity. The self talk  dialogue in a studio while alone or conversation with another artist by phone, emails, blogs,YouTube etc. open up an exchange that inevitably will show up on your canvas.  This past week  I came across a word, a process that was a moment of ah - ha, recognition of kindred spirit and thought. Wabi-Sabi , whispered to me in my reading and then with glaring recognition I looked up at my current work and it resonated with clarity of where I had been, where a I am now and where I seem to be heading...

Renewed energy in my new studio space has spurred me to explore a different approach to my work.  For many years, I purposely integrated my textures of rice papers, torn watercolor papers, fibers etc. into a smooth surface . I fooled the eye into believing the painting was a watercolor painting,but in reality was hundreds of pieces of textures that created the surface & landscape image. My return to daily painting, though brief, has already  taken a turn to a more abstract and sculptural approach. Textures that I normally apply flat are rising off the canvas. Even the use of canvas as opposed to my watercolor paper is different. My first indication that I was headed in this direction came with the creation of "Emerging".   This detail shows the texture pulling away from the canvas surface. I am currently exploring a 12 x12 canvas that incorporates this more textural surface. I have simply allowed this to happen rather than return to my tried & true habit...

ACEO: Woven Moments is now for sale through my Etsy shop. This format continues to be a way for me to enjoy stolen moments of time to continue my work despite my busy schedule. Now, besides my bakery/cafe ,I am about to build & open an independent cinema . Time to paint has become precious and that was what inspired this textural piece.

T'is the season......... If you click on over to my web site , you'll view many of the original watercolor/collage paintings that are available as gifts for this holiday season. Experience a random act of culture: buy a painting! Remember many of these works can be purchased as prints on paper, canvas or as a greeting card by visiting my FineArtAmerica site and customizing your selection.

I like to refer to the ACEO format ( 2.5" x 3.5" ) as "pocket art". As a grandmother I proudly carry around the grandbabies photos...but how many of my fellow artists "pocket" their paintings? It certainly makes more of an impression than flipping out the ol' business card! My watercolor/ collage techniques are right there to see & feel with my potential customer. "Buds" my newest ACEO featured at left is currently available for purchase through my web site

Moments stolen in this past week,sneaking in a few brush strokes created this new ACEO. If you are new to this format, let me explain. Artist trading cards (ATC) are miniature pieces of art that are traded around the world. When these pieces of art are offered for sale, it is referred to as an ACEO: Art Card Editions & Originals. The only criteria is that the dimensions of the card be 2.5" x 3.5". A trade mark of my work is that the image is adhered to a complimentary colored mat board presenting the image as a finished piece measuring 2.5" x 3.5". This work is currently available for purchase from my web site .

My first chance to paint since opening my new business The Cookie Cab. This original,vertical floral is a mixed media/collage using my signature textures. Unframed, it can be purchased directly from my web site.

Another tent show this weekend and the weather has been looking good...until now! As the clouds roll in, while I'm packing the car up with my equipment, I'm readjusting my marketing plan for the show. Do you always do the same set up , or exhibit the same work? Use the same approach to customers? How's that working for you? This past year, in light of the economy, I've expressed how it was important to exhibit work that included a wide range of price points. How do you get that lower dollar end to work? I've added Aceo's ,bookmarks, cards.... all still originals ! smaller matted /unframed work... originals Now, I've introduced a collage activity kit (©2009 PineShoreStudio) , that demonstrates my techniques with you creating your own designs! This is my newes t interactive approach. Young & old alike are tempted to pick up an offered brush, a pile of papers and join in the activity... then buy & take one home for friends & family . So as the...

Standing on the shore, rocky,splashed,grasses whipped by the salty breeze,.....clarity and thoughts of summer not far away. Mixed media on paper: image size 4.25"H x 12"W acrylic inks, gouache, watercolor raffia, watercolor paper, unryu ,papyrus blended fiber gel, matte medium

Take 1 artist + canvas/paper wet ingredients: watercolor, gouache,acrylic and inks + dry ingredients: torn paper,papyrus, unryu papers, bark papers,mango & banana papers, ogura lace spatter with 23k gold, glass beaded gel, blended fiber gel Mix well, spread with brush ,knife & fingers let dry have great expectations & a sense of humor......... PaintersBrew ... target date March 1st!

sold I spent this morning filling out my answers to an interview form for a blog site. I had originally received it on Monday but quickly found myself procrastinating in filling it out. You'd think I'd jump at the opportunity to be interviewed and promote myself and my painting. After all , that is the name of the game here on the Internet . It seemed like a good idea when I answered the request, voluntarily,from an offer by the blogger! Lol ... I often stand before a crowded room of artists to do a demonstration or teach a workshop. I've been told , I give quite a comic stand up routine as I teach! A written Q&A on myself, now ,that's another story ... So, today was my deadline. I did it! Now, I know why I read all those self h...

Much like stretching before exercising, pull out an old "failed" painting and just "have at it". I stated this in my last blog. Robin Maria Pedrero commented "...PS recently learned a "failed" piece can be labeled a study, where we learned something." I can't tell you how many times I've told my workshop students or demonstrated that these amazingly poor paintings can emerge as accomplished work. How often have you given up on a piece too soon?After that question ,please ask yourself ,"Why?" Now switch that thinking to "Why not?"and simply pick up a new color, tear some rice paper,dip into acrylics,slash a broad pastel stroke across that muddled tone. Rebuild, reshape that composition and have at it ! " The amateur is afraid of boldness,the professional is afraid of timidity."-Ed Whitney

I'm having one of "those" days. You know, the kind that you try to convince yourself that all is well with the work you've just spent time doing. Something isn't quite right. You need that pay check, you need to make that deadline and catch the last mailing of the day...but. Do you give yourself some slack? Let this one, not -so -great , piece through? Is the critic in your head being overly obnoxious or is it the fear of regret once it is out for all to see? Hmm. ..good enough? If you have to ask....then it's not. Trash it. Keep working. That's the difference between amateur and professional.The best is yet to come. It's just a brush stroke away! Then tell that critic,"I told you so!" and smile.

"Heat" , a favorite of mine, was purchased this past week. As I continue to paint and explore the various paths my work takes, special pieces are remembered for what was learned from them. "Heat" will always be remembered for the unexpected blending of representational and abstract form with its land mass created from collaged papers and calligraphic brushstrokes of pines. It is a small but mighty piece of juxtaposed hot and cool colors. I don't publish prints of my work.I work only in originals. As they are sold ,it is sometimes a difficult parting. The joy is that the next blank paper could be ....something wonderful!

On the left is the original painting "Sugar Pines" painted in 2005. It has gone through a few shows unsold. Never a favorite of mine. I frequently repainted it in my minds eye as I passed it each day in my home. This week I took the framing apart and revisited the piece. On the right is the revised version of "Sugar Pines" painted in 2007 and just placed at the Main Ave.Galleria,Ocean Grove,NJ. It immediately attracted interested buyers. It's always a risk to repaint a piece. Sometimes it is just destroyed and replaced . There are those pieces that you know have some value. The idea was good or the composition was just right but your eye new something was flawed, yet you hesitate.... Remember it's only a piece of paper. Take a chance...PAINT....and know that you've learned and come a long way.

I think I surprised a few people last night at the opening of the show "Interpretations". The work was well received but sales were quiet. We'll see how it goes in the coming weeks on display. However....I did have on hand this abstract that is a work in progress. A recent request and opportunity to work in that style has surfaced. It has been a long forgotten road that I traveled years ago. I enjoyed the experimentation of translating the surface using the collaged papers and papyrus that has been my signature in my mixed media work in recent years. Back to the future? Perhaps....

Have you ever heard of an "Artomat"? I came across this interesting site last year. http://www.artomat.org and recently became a new artist for the organization "Artist in Cellophane" . I am currently preparing these two images to be distributed by their unique methods, refurbished cigarette machines! Each is an original,watercolor /collage . Read their press coverage and you'll be intrigued by their national and international achievements...and thanks for NOT smoking!

I wasn 't planning on posting again so soon! This little piece was an unexpected surprise after a crazy frenzy of painting this past weekend. Its peacefulness is in stark contrast to the events of that painting session! So it is "My Treat" to offer it to you. 5" x 7 ", mixed media,collage, mat board (rice paper surface texture) mounted and ready to frame. This piece is currently available @ Main Ave.Galleria, Ocean Grove ,NJ 732-988-1002 contact Norma Toliver .