Exploring the dark side.

An actor loves a juicy role, playing a villain, or some other dark character. An artist also likes to delve into the intense and the darker parts of the psyche. In my case, I've recently been exploring my more intense reactions to the world around me through painting. I find it therapeutic to purge my anger, anxiety, frustration, and pain onto the canvas. I also like the results. It's the energy in that moment that I'm after.
 Pretty paintings are nice, but frankly, they can get boring. I'd much rather find  beauty in the unexpected. I'm no longer going to worry about what people will think when I paint this way. It's one of the perks of getting older, realizing that you should do what excites you, and it will in turn, excite the viewer. Whenever you paint to the market, or to what you think people will buy ( yawn, match the drapes artwork ) there is something missing.

 What's missing is what sets you aside as an artist.....

Zullo Gallery juried exhibition open to the public

Zullo Gallery juried exhibition open to the public I got into this and was very pleased when I saw the caliber of work at the exhibit!

Local artists' exhibit set at Norfolk Library, starting Sept. 28

Local artists' exhibit set at Norfolk Library, starting Sept. 28

Life gets in the way.

   It seems like every time I start to move forward, or make progress, something gets in my way and I take a few steps back. I had taken time off from solo exhibits in order to focus more on my painting. I wanted to try and explore different techniques and ideas and get my work to a point where I'd be really proud to share it.
  Not only did I want new work to show, I wanted it to be good, really good. Call it pride, or maybe vanity, but I was not feeling like I was doing my best work. There have been  prolific spurts, where I really get in the zone and feel as if I'm making progress, and then there are the days when I have all these ideas and no time to implement them.
 I didn't set out to be this busy, or to have all these distractions,  life just kind of snowballs. Weddings, funerals, emergency surgery (not mine), you get the idea. My website hasn't been updated for two years, and my blog has been dormant for a while too.
  I guess I just have to take those moments "in the zone" and make the most out of them.

My daughter is really making me proud.

http://artsake.massculturalcouncil.org/blog/artsake/index.php/2013/09/04/studio-views-elizabeth-alexander/

My first time having my work published!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Incite-dreams-realised-the-best-Of-mixed-media?store=allproducts&keyword=Incite%2C+dreams+realised+the+best+Of+mixed+media

#TwitterArtExhibit #LosAngeles #Opening

#TwitterArtExhibit #LosAngeles #Opening: #TwitterArtExhibit #LosAngeles #Opening