My Life as a Struggling Artist and Volunteer

Manet +/- Space Project, Lowell Elementary

I've been encouraged all my life to create art. While I am not as prolific as other artists, I do try to share what I've learned about art with others; and that has been one of my goals in retirement. Early on, my focus was volunteering in elementary schools, but that ended with the pandemic. I am now much more challenged to find outlets for my creativity.

Bo the Dog, PwC

Probably my most successful retirement endeavor has been volunteering with PawsWithCause. The non-profit organization allowed me to continue teaching others how to do art at paint parties, to employ salesmanship in raising money for a cause, show artwork of others, build community, and do custom pet portraits upon request.

Kandinsky Circles, Old Friends Club

I have been successful at teaching seniors in multiple locations, including assisted living communities, adult memory daycares, senior centers, and a senior university (in Tacoma). I've also taught online classes a few times. I don't understand why it takes so much effort to volunteer my services. Even with websites like VolunteerMatch, it is difficult to get pro-bono work that doesn't limit my own creativity or require me to use my own supplies.

My Degas Demo, FTJ Pastels Class

I've been happy teaching at Franke Tobey Jones' Senior University in Tacoma, where I get a stipend and get paid, but that's only twice a year, if I'm lucky. My students are a willing and captive audience. It surprises me that senior centers are less interested in doing art and favor playing Bingo. Assisted Living communities should also welcome someone to conduct art activities, but they have their own staff and such limited budgets. I wonder if I could apply for a grant to bring my own prepaid art supplies to senior communities.

Castle Landscape in Paint3D

So, here I sit in my office blogging about past experiences. I occasionally paint portraits or landscapes in my spare time. My brother helped encourage me to learn Paint3D and I've done several awesome paintings on my PC using a mouse. I've even tried homeschooling 'grandkids' and got paid to bring art lessons to a nearby summer camp. Both gigs challenged me to adapt my lesson plans for students ranging in age from 4-13 years old.

Palm Tree, Circle of Love Class

What all of this 'struggle' is meant to convey is that sometimes creativity is required in order to successfully dedicate oneself to volunteering. I guess I thought that it would get easier over time, and that with blogging and posting on Facebook more people would be asking me to teach classes and volunteer.

City Dog Park, Palm Springs, CA

Bryce and Friends, Redding, CA

Over the past few years, I've used our trips to Palm Springs as an opportunity to paint, do animal portraits of dogs from the local dog park, and develop lesson plans and project demos.

Retirement may not mean that you will stop working. Instead, you may find creative ways of playing and exploring your newfound independence with a spirit of adventure. Living a creative life means to focus on curiosity rather than a fear of failure. Imagination, innovation, and persistence are the energies that also help us solve problems. While I've experienced some disappointment along the way, I've enjoyed the process and haven't given up. As American Christian author and speaker Joyce Meyer once said, "Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting". 

MLK Jr -- Portrait of a Dreamer

MLK Jr. (2017), Glenridge

August of 2023 will mark the 60th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream speech. In February of 2017, a classroom of students from Glenridge Elementary School enlarged a photograph of MLK Jr. and posted it on a bulletin board in one of its hallways. It is a fun way to teach students about value range. My project used a black-and-white poster of Elvis Presley.

MLK Jr. (1962), Karsh

It turns out to be from the famous 1962 portrait by photographer Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002), on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in Washinton D.C. There is an I Have a Dream (2012) children's book with illustrations by artist Kadir Nelson. My brother has a book by Nelson with paintings of the Negro Leagues, some of which we saw at the Baseball HOF in 2019.

My First Year of Blogging: Teaching Art, Travels, and Observations, from August 2020, also includes MLK. Elvis, JFK, and de Kooning.

JFK (1965), de Kooning

JFK (1960), Rockwell

That same year, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd in Dallas, Texas. I remember it because it was my parents' wedding anniversary and my first-grade teacher cried when the announcement came over the PA system. Five years later, on April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Norman Rockwell (1960) and Elaine de Kooning (1965) painted a series of portraits of the 35th President.

The Problem We All Live With (1964), Rockwell

In 1964, Norman Rockwell painted The Problem We All Live With, depicting six-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted to an all-white elementary school during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis of 1960. Notice the racial slur and the tomato-stained wall.

Aesop's Fables (1970)

Dixie Café, (1948), Lawrence

The Smithsonian is a great place to view historical paintings. Here's one dealing with segregation by Jacob Lawrence. While I enjoy his colorful paintings, his compositional works in black-and-white are particularly striking. I gave a book (right) with such illustrations by Jacob Lawrence to my niece's 3rd-grade teacher.

Stone of Hope (2011), Lei Yixin

In August 2011, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial opened to the public in Washington D.C. Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin's inspiration came from a line from MLK's I have a Dream speech -- "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

RFK (1972), Leroy Neiman

A month before his death, President Kennedy gave his own version of the I have a Dream speech. It was meant to be a call to action reminiscent of his inaugural address where he said, "...ask what you can do for your country." His brother (and Senator) Robert asked us to "Dream Things That Never Were". RFK's social justice agenda specifically targeted the poor and disadvantaged, while JFK's speech was about his desire for peace in his country, and MLK's speech dreamt of personal freedoms and a world free of discrimination. It's unfortunate that these three dreamers were singled out by fame-seeking assassins.

Brains and Beauty (Einstein
and Monroe), Troy Gua

Thomas Alva Edison (1890),
Abraham Archibald Anderson

You don't have to be a religious leader (like MLK Jr.), a politician (like JFK or RFK), an artist (like Jacob or Leroy), a scientist or inventor (like Edison or Einstein), a novelist or songwriter to be a dreamer.

Often, dreams lead to discoveries, breakthroughs, and even Nobel Prize winning contributions to the world. They reflect our personal values, behavior and aspirations to do good in the world.

Pablo Picasso was quoted as saying, "Action is the foundational key to all success."

Vincent Van Gogh may have said, "I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream."

I don't know who said it, but I like this quote: "Every possibility begins with the courage to imagine."

"You see things and you say, 'Why?' but dream things that never were, and I say, 'Why not?'" by George Bernard Shaw.

"Art has the power to transform, to illuminate, to educate, inspire and motivate." So have the courage to dream and share your art with others. Edgar Degas said, "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

Artists Born Under Virgo or Libra

Chrysanthemums (1874-6), Tissot

To start posting for the month of September let's look at artists born under the Zodiac signs of Virgo (Aug 23rd thru Sept 22nd) and Libra (Sept 23rd thru Oct 23rd). Virgo artists are hardworking, intelligent, and adventurous, having traits including rational thinking, problem-solving, and an adventurous spirit. Libras, unlike other introverted, unsociable artists, are social butterflies who are outgoing and charming. Libras also have great taste in art and fashion.

French artist, James Tissot (1836-1902), born (in October) under the sign of Libra, painted Chrysanthemums, shown here as the floral symbol for the sign Virgo. Tissot was a friend and mentor of Edgar Degas.

VIRGOS

Thunderstorm (1948), Grandma Moses

One of the most famous American artists born (September 7th) under Virgo is Grandma Moses (1860-1961). She appears in my January 2021 post entitled, Master Artists -- Inspired Late Bloomers and Resilient, Active Seniors. She turned to painting when arthritis kept her from doing her elaborate needlework, but she kept her 'primitive' style. Teachers may use her work as an inspiration for a lesson about the elements of a landscape for younger children. Older children will need to learn the principles of perspective and proportion, not present in her work, for learning about space.

Constellations (1938), Hans Arp

German-French Sculptor, painter, poet, Jeans Hans Arp (1886-1966) was born September 15th. His Constellations linoleum cut is reminiscent of the biomorphic shapes used by (Capricorn) Henri Matisse. Years ago when I taught my daughter in her 6th-grade classroom, my students traced a Matisse shape and were asked to design a composition around it.

Mecklenburg Autumn (1979), Bearden

American artist Romare Bearden (1911-1988), born September 2nd, is famous for collages using photographs and painted paper in a style derived from Cubism. His work also depicts American black culture like his colleague, Jacob Lawrence. Another great artist for studying the art of collage would be American painter, (Libra) Robert Rauschenberg. I use collage for doing wrapping paper self-portraits, which could also be inspired by portrait artists: Amedeo Modigliani, Gilbert Stuart and Sir Joshua Reynolds.

The Migration Series (1941),
Jacob Lawrence

Felix (inspired by N.C. Wyeth)

In 2017 I visited the Seattle Art Museum and saw the exhibit, Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series. Born September 7th, 1917, his work chronicled the migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrious North in the decades following World War I.

Here's a project inspired by N.C. Wyeth that was designed to demonstrate the concept of movement. It would also work for a lesson about Jacob Lawrence. The challenge is cutting out the figures, so this lesson works best with 5th- or 6th-graders.

LIBRAS

Medusa (1597), Caravaggio

My first Libra artist is the controversial Italian painter, Caravaggio (1573-1610), born September 28th. He appeared in my March 2020 post entitled, Artist Frenemies - Friendships, Rivalries, and Competition, about his feud with artist Giovanni. Libras are supposedly non-confrontational although I imagine that Caravaggio exhibited the extremely emotional side of the sign. I've seen his artwork in several museums, but it may be somewhat inappropriate for younger viewers.

The Raft of Medusa (1819), Géricault 

This next artist is French painter and lithographer, Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), born September 26th. His epic masterpiece, The Raft of Medusa (1819), is often compared to Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1839). Both are good examples of Romanticism, a movement characterized by intense emotion. A young Delacroix (Taurus) actually posed as one of the dying figures on the raft!

No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue)
(1954), Mark Rothko

Libra Mark Rothko (1903-1970), was an American artist, born September 25th, who was famous for his abstract color field paintings designed to evoke emotion from viewers. While initially studying Architecture in college we did many color studies in order to explore color combinations and the optical effect of placing them adjacent to each other. Another Libra artist whose work I don't claim to understand is Robert Rauschenberg. His three-panel White Painting (1951) is particularly unusual and rather uninspiring!

I focus a lot on art history and researching various artists to add interest to my art lessons. And it's important to find inspiration when creating art! I hope this group of artists inspires you to create your own artwork or delve deeper into learning about these artists and their art movements and styles.

Inspirations in Visual Art

What if a light bulb and a soft-serve
ice cream cone had a baby?
You'd get a CFL
(Compact Fluorescent Lamp)
[From the JoyReactor Website]

I'm always looking for inspiration for art projects, lesson plans, and especially what to blog about. Now that I have 136 posts, it is becoming increasingly more challenging to come up with ideas. I had hoped that my readers would comment, asking me to include topics of interest to them. After posting seven Baltics posts of June 2019, I received a request from one of my most avid readers for another in-depth series which resulted in six Art of the Pacific Northwest posts of July 2020.  I continued with Artist Interviews in September of 2020. That suggestion came from a website listing art blog ideas.

Smudgy the Cat from
PawsWithCause

Of late, my inspiration comes from baseball, shelter animals, teaching art to multiple age groups, art museums, and travel. When I visit new cities, I keep an eye out for local art such as sculptures and murals. Movies and other media also provide interest when I see art displayed in scenery, actors playing famous artists, or stolen artwork in the newspaper. It's fun to include Art in the News as part of my monthly elementary school lessons.

Vase of Peonies on a
Small Pedestal (1864),
Édouard Manet

Following the art docent model of the Interurban Center for the Arts, I always include an inspirational work by a famous artist from which to pull an art concept, element, or principle of art. For example, I would use Jackson Pollock for a lesson about LINE. And for Positive-Negative Space I will always turn to Édouard Manet.

Two Crabs (1889), Vincent Van Gogh

My family, friends, and colleagues encourage me to do more art. Museums are always stimulating, especially when I discover another Van Gogh painting or see a Rembrandt in person! Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens heavily influenced both artists. Van Gogh was also influenced by his friend, Paul Gauguin, who encouraged him to paint from his imagination, French realist Jean-François Millet, other Impressionists, and Japanese art. Van Gogh painted Two Crabs in 1889 as an experiment in complementary colors inspired by the color theory of Eugène Delacroix.

In May of 2017, I saw it hanging in The National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square.

Emily's Chicken

I wonder if PawsWithCause resident artist, Emily, was inspired by Van Gogh's crabs. Here is her portrait of a chicken in a very similar contrasting color scheme. Amazing! And I love the brushstrokes!!

My Charcuterie Board (2022)

Taking art classes and exploring new mediums and techniques instigates new hobbies and adds to your toolbox. I especially enjoyed learning the art of wood burning when my daughter and I took a class to decorate charcuterie boards. The recent COVID pandemic prompted me to engage in teaching online classes with Heart Art Healing and their Circle of Love. I've also been moved by family members requesting me to teach art to homeschoolers. And while looking for classroom spaces to teach such groups I was asked to teach art at a city-sponsored Summer camp.

Judy's Family Portrait Collage (2019)

I think the students that inspire me the most are other seniors. While I am amazed at the existing talent of senior citizens, I am happy to see the less confident ones discover talent they weren't aware they had. This is why I teach at Franke Tobey Jones Senior University in Tacoma. It's almost always the same group of 12-15 artists, some who are painters, a quilter, and several novices, all of whom bring their enthusiasm to my classes. My Collage Portraits with Seniors class was particularly successful!

PushMePullYou from Dr. Dolittle (1967)

Inspiration is different than motivation. Some say that inspiration is a 'pull' while motivation is a 'push'. Inspiration is typically an internal, mental or emotional influence to do something creative. Motivation is more of a process of external stimulation with definite actions designed to achieve a goal. For example, weight loss could be a goal motivated or prescribed by a doctor to make a person healthier. The inspiration could be imagining yourself in a bathing suit or noticing the successful weight loss journey of another person. It may inspire you to think of creative ways to cook meals and make healthier choices.

My own motivation to do art is to inspire others to do it. My goal is to write in my blog every two weeks, to keep it interesting, and to get comments as a way of improving it or gauging its success. My hope is that my writing inspires others to be more creative, recognize and appreciate creativity in themselves and others, and feel good looking at, doing, or talking about art.

So, what inspires you? Creativity comes from the inside although it is often sparked by an outside stimulus.

Observation gives us the opportunity to realize and gain creative insight. Hopefully, this blog will inspire you to put forth the effort and provide you with the means, energy and enthusiasm needed to dedicate yourself to reaping your own artistic rewards.

An Artist's Ramblings

I have always wanted to learn how to blow glass. The Netflix series, Blown Away, is an excellent inspiration. We visited a shop once where we chose colors and an object and watched an artisan create a glass ornament and an ashtray for us. One of my neighbors has played around with stained glass, which would be another specialized glass medium I'd like to try. It might also be fun to try making a portrait or landscape out of small glass mosaic pieces or scraps of paper.

I'd be just as happy to take a sculpture class. Even learning to throw a pot using clay and firing it in a kiln would be fun. My family and I have painted ceramics at a Clay Café a few times. The finished product is such a surprise! I also painted on some gnome statues.

Sower (After Millet)
(1889),Van Gogh

Working in three dimensions and trying other mediums are great ways to explore the visual arts. Draw your inspiration from your surroundings and from the work of other artists. Van Gogh copied several of the works of Jean-François Millet and also emulated some Japanese artists.

Dave the Dog (from PwC)

I am inspired by the people that I teach, my brother and his artwork, my colleagues from the Art Alliance, and from the community, volunteers and the shelter animals we support at PawsWithCause. I am in awe of artists who can paint outside of the box. And I'm inspired by the color scheme of the Buffalo casino game's mascot.

I'm always looking for opportunities to share art with others. Lately, I've been helping out my niece by homeschooling her boys in art. This is leading to other teaching gigs in the Enumclaw area. I'll be teaching art classes at the Enumclaw Senior Center and doing an art camp for kids this Summer.

Another type of painting I'd like to try is abstract expressionism. I've always admired artists like Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, and Helen Frankenthaler (one of a dozen women of abstract expressionism from the 1950s). For my next animal portrait, I'd like to try using non-traditional colors. This is what my portrait of Jeju and Bryce might have looked like through the eyes of Vincent Van Gogh (from the J Paul Getty Museum and Google Arts & Culture site). Check out my charcuterie board portrait of Jeju & Bryce in my post entitled, Animal Portraits Revisited.

I've also used the Prisma app to transform photographs into well-known works of art. The background of this blog sports a photo of my daughter with a filter that makes it look like a painting by Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch.

Another app I need to learn is Paint 3D. My brother uses it as a tool in lots of his art. Recently, he was inspired by artist, Daniel Horine, who produces nostalgic comic book covers in honor of baseball greats. My brother's cover immortalizes his own all-time favorite player, Andy Kosco.

I, too, have been inspired by baseball greats. For example, when Edgar Martinez was inducted into the Baseball HOF in 2019, I decided to make a collage in his honor using pictures I had collected and Mariners colors of tissue paper in the background. I had it framed and it hangs in my office along with several of his bobbleheads and (recently) the miniature version of his statue immortalizing him outside of T-Mobile Park. I even had a phone case made using my design.

Buffalo by Donna Gatlin

Bubbles by Donna Gatlin

Although I can't see myself ever taking up the art of quilting, I can still appreciate what my retired friend from Arizona has created. She artfully selects the fabric for her beautiful landscapes.

I also marvel at the stitching patterns that embellish her pieces with rich texture. She combines patience, skill, and an artful eye to make these wonderful masterpieces from scraps of fabric and thread. Amazing!

by Mickey Culver

One of my Art Alliance colleagues who is primarily an oil painter has been working in charcoal of late. Doing value studies with a limited palette is a great way to practice, understand, and learn how to create a range of shades from light to dark.

by Ken Patterson

I remember (as youths) my brother and I drawing wildflowers using pen and ink, then going back over them with watercolor embellishment. I painted a series of watercolor flowers last year while vacationing in California. Perhaps I should try Japanese Sumi-E painting next!

Bryce and Friends, Ken Patterson

I should definitely do more pastel paintings and try this medium on some more animal portraits. Here's the one I did of my dog with his friends at a California dog park.

So, no matter what media you choose, the techniques or applications you employ, or where you find your inspiration, the key is to have fun creating art that you and others can appreciate. Challenge yourself and get blown away!