I am not able to paint these days, so I spend a lot of my time reading or watching videos about painting. Recently I came across a stack of old (1992-1993) issues of the Artist’s Magazine. I am trying to purge some of the “stuff” I have accumulated (wish me luck!!) so I am trying to stay in the ”donate or throw out” mode. As someone who thinks there is always something that can be done with everything, this is extremely difficult, but absolutely necessary. I am in no way a candidate for an episode of “Extreme Hoarders” yet (I bet they all said that!), but I definitely have too much stuff. So I am reading those magazines before throwing them out. I am sure I read them before, but it’s amazing how much of it makes more sense now than when I read them 10 years ago (I bought them second-hand, of course!) It made me realize how much more I know about art now than I did then, as a lot of the terms and expressions are more familiar and meaningful now. So I am getting a great review of some principles and am being introduced to some others (for example, I am sure I ignored all the articles on oil painting back then). I was surprised by the number of articles about watercolor, and it’s great fun to see the 30-year-old ads for art supplies! Cheap Joe’s and Jerry’s were doing mail-order back then, and of course no one had a website yet! You could call in your order, or send in a SASE (self-adressed stamped envelopes for those of you under 50!) to get a catalog sent to you. And the prices!!!! The only thing more fun is leafing through old computer magazines from the 80s and 90s, and yes, I do have some of those too! I found a few interesting articles on shadow colors, and cloud types, and various suggestions for techniques that I will want to try. If there were enough interesting articles in a single issue, it got a reprieve from the recycling bin! I was half expecting to see some articles being written by artists who have since become famous, but although many of them were very good, I haven’t recognized any of them yet. I still have a half dozen issues to go through. What this tells me is that any dreams I may have of becoming famous are pretty much that, dreams. That’s OK, I don’t really dream of that anyway. Recognition is great, but just being happy doing what you’re doing seems better. These days, there are so many people unhappy with their life, in too many cases for good reasons, that I really can’t complain. This may sound like sour grapes, but I don’t know what I would do with Fame. Now Fortune I could handle, but constantly being the center of attention, needing an entourage to protect me from the adoring fans, not being able to go out for a walk without having a drove of paparazzi capturing my every move, no, I don’t care for it! But I think I’ll be ok. Not to worry! Anyway, back to reading and purging, and soon, hopefully, back to painting!
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AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
March 2023
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