Goals, values and confident compositions

January’s notes

Goals, values and confident compositions!

Hello everyone and a warm welcome to new subscribers.

I always look forward to sitting down and writing these newsletters as it gives me a chance to flick back through my studio diary and remember all the positive things that have taken place. I’m always surprised at how many there are, especially this month, as even though I haven’t actually done any more painting on the current series, I have been progressing with other things.

A new desk

I have been using a table in my studio,where a very unsteady wooden leg has been propping up one half of it. Every time I shoved something underneath, or was a bit over exuberant with the sandpaper on a piece of art work,the whole thing would wobble with a concern of an imminent collapse!

So a new desk was made that suited all my requirements. I needed a larger, sturdier space to work on and a better place to store all my stuff. Kitchen base units were the ideal height and depth, perfect for storing large and small panels and supporting a large 1 x 1.5m piece of plywood. No more cups of tea spilt every time I jiggle the desk and everything has a place that is easily accessible!

Values and Goals

I spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year setting my goals for the year. However I was inspired by the artist and mentor,Alice Sheridan, to ensure I lay them upon a solid foundation of core values. In this way I would know if my goals were true to me, and when faced with any challenges I would be able to make genuine decisions based on my integrity.

Even though I am aware of what values are important to me, it was hard to pinpoint down to the required three that related to all areas of my life, not just my art.

I concluded that Authenticity,Inner harmony and Growth were the values that were going to guide my thoughts, actions and decisions this year.

Authenticity is a value that empowers individuals to live in harmony with their true self. It encourages self-awareness and genuine connections with others.

Inner Harmony is a value that represents inner wellbeing and self acceptance. It is the state of balance, peace and alignment within oneself.

Growth is a value that represents the core of personal and professional development. It inspires individuals to embrace change, learn from experiences and evolve into their best selves. It fuels a sense of wonder and an eagerness to discover new insights.

So 2024 will be a year where I will endeavor to connect with others that are looking to hang my work in their spaces, as well as connecting with other like minded creative people, develop my knowledge about the principles of painting, using these insights to evolve my work and ensure my life is happy and full of laughter, not setting up any limiting parameters that would cause stress.

What a perfect year this is going to be!

Values in a different sense.

So I have already begun to tick off on my list of goals by signing up to a 6 week ‘Confident composition’ course run by Sally Hirst. She is an excellent tutor who explores how the elements of line, shape, value, space, volume, movement, colour, texture and pattern, are organised according to the principles to create strong compositions.

I am really enjoying it so far, especially understanding how important value is. Value, or tone, is how light or dark something is and it makes the viewer look all around the painting. The human eye notices paintings with a strong tonal contrast from a distance, ‘seeing’ value and registering it’s contrast before noticing any colours.

So I’ve been creating value studies, asking questions and identifying areas to keep or change. Creating art certainly works the brain, it is an ongoing puzzle, constantly asking questions and making decisions as to how to how create that painting that will stop a viewer in their tracks and make them gasp in awe!

Current series

So as you can see I’ve been busy with many other things which means I haven’t had time to work on my current series, which I’m itching to get back to, especially with all this new knowledge of how to make my compositions stronger. I have 7 on the go, all at different stages, and my aim is to hopefully get 9 finished by April. I have a seed of a plan germinating in my mind about creating a set of prints or ceramic tiles from this series, so that’s something to look forward to.

Many thanks for taking an interest in my work, it really does mean a lot that you have opened and read this email.

If you think someone else would like to read this then please don’t hesitate to forward it on to them.

Go well, until next time

Lisa

www.lisaderrick.co.uk