Reality, plus Imagination

Blind Artist Vision: blog by Stella De Genova

In the Midwest, Spring is a weather roller coaster ride.  A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling tired of the cold, bored and uninspired.  I was sitting on my bed and the deceiving sunlight was shining through the windows.  Although it was freexing outside, it was warm and cozy inside.

As I was sitting and soaking up the sun, I noticed the light reflecting off of the folds of my comforter.  The intensity of the natural sunlight on the blanket seemed dramatic to me and I had to take a photo of it.  I thought this would be a fun painting exercise and good study of light.

The drawing and underpainting were not very detailed, just some repeating shapes and lines that reminded me of waves.  I used reds and pinkish-oranges for the underpainting.

Since I didn’t think anyone would be very interested in a painting of my blanket, I decided to go abstract but keep the shapes and the extreme darks and lights in mind.  This whole exercise made me realize that we truly can find beauty in the mundane and where we least expect it.

Next, I chose purples, blues and oranges and just moved around the painting using larger and smaller strokes and lines.  The viewer won’t see a blanket or waves but there is movement and light.  The point of this painting for me was to take something common and push my imagination in a creative way. 

As you’ll see in upcoming blog posts, I am still doing realistic paintings as well but I am continuing my journey of finding new ways to work with the vision I have left.  I have taken my pastel painting classes for quite a while now and my instructor has shared valuable knowledge and technique.  At this point, I think I’m getting it right but I’ll keep trying to try some out-of-the-box ideas.  I absolutely love and respect the masters who painted almost photographically, but I have just as much respect for the artists who can paint skillfully and at the same time, experiment with their own unique ideas.  I never would have described myself as very imaginative in my art journey -- I always strove to “get it right.”  Now that I have a good idea of how I should use my pastels, I can trust my imagination, even more than I trust my vision.

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