Tag Archives: red cat art

COLOR SANITY

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By Jaquita Phillips Ball
RED CAT ART & ART MARKETING
www.JaquitaBall.com

Being an artist, expressing myself in COLOR, is what keeps me sane.  Not always sane as the world wishes to see me, but sane nonetheless.

I can express crazy feelings in the paint and pastels in a way that the world may not understand, but for me it is very cathartic.  Like when I am angry, I use a tremendous amount of red and dark grays.  Happiness and a feeling of “no cares today” will bring about a lot of yellows, whites, oranges, lime green, maybe a dash of pink.

Acrylic painting, 16" x 20", Snow on the Pedernal

Snow on the Pedernal

Blues, for me, signify that I am in a state of restless calm, but I could also be nearing a precipice of volatile emotion or unnerving uneasiness. Blue also happens to be one of my favorite colors.  I am a restless wanderer.

Green, well I really do not care much for the color green except in nature, so it is not a color I relish.  In fact, I tend to mix my greens with purples and oranges … who knows why … I am sure some psychologist or psychiatrist would tell me I harbor some deep-seated emotion about a past event that included the color green.

I just know that my art is how I express life.

Blue Horse pastel painting

Blue Horse

White or silver … I consider both to be colors.  Today it is April and it is snowing.  The air smells clean and white, with a touch of crisp blue.  What, you ask, you can smell color?  You do if you open yourself to it.  Takes a clear mind, but it is there.

Purple means a carefree day, life is good.  On top of the world, purple is a regal color.  Remember the song lyrics “purple mountains majesty”?

This brings me to my style of art.  It is simply C O L O R.  Many have asked me if I am an impressionist (maybe), a realist (I was in college), illustrative (part of my work history), minimalist (nope, I cannot stay simple), abstract (never really tried yet), mixed media (depends on who is defining my work).  I think I will just start saying I am a colorist.  I love color and I love to express it.

COLOR.  It keeps me sane.  Today I feel purple, orange and white.  Go figure …

You can join me on my art adventures in several places.  I would love it if you LIKE me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RedCatArtJaquitaPhillipsBall.  And sign up for my newsletter at www.JaquitaBall.com.  It contains news for art collectors, lovers of art, art events across the US, and a special section on art marketing for visual artists.

 

 

Five Steps to a Creative Spark

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Some days you just hold that lump of clay in your hand and want to fling it at the wall.  For reasons unknown, your brain seems to have turned to mush and cannot generate a single creative idea.  You sit and sit and sit and think and think and think and still NOTHING!  There are five ways you can get that spark started and stoke into a creative blazing fire.

The first step is to leave your studio.  I know, you are supposed to be working and you can’t just get up and walk out.  Here’s the surprise … yes you can.  You are still working when you are thinking of ideas and one of the best starts is to leave the familiar environment.

The second step is to focus on something inspiring.  Really focus.  Hard.  It could be the rainstorm that you think has dampened your mood.  Focus on the storm.  Really look at the marks the rain makes in the dirt.  Stare at how the water drips off a single leaf.  Concentrate on the myriad of colors that the sky is producing.  And really stare and analyze what you see.

The third step is to write down what you just studied.  If you were focusing on the inside of a daffodil, describe the interior environment as if you were a person only 1/32 of an inch high.  What color is the light inside the flower?  Are the stamens like trees to you?  Can you taste the sweet nectar?

The fourth step might just be your favorite.  Find a tiny little cup or bowl that you really love and fill it with your favorite decadent snack.  Now take that back to your studio.  Sit.  Eat your snack. Gaze about your studio.  Read what your wrote. Relax your mind.

The fifth step will take you back to the carefree days of childhood.  Using a box of real crayons, start doodling … about what you learned or saw or felt … and really doodle.  There are no bad doodles. There are only sparks of creativity, ready to be stoked into a blazing fire.

Burn, baby, burn!

Here’s to the days of crayons and doodles,

Jaquita Phillips Ball
RedCatArt@aol.com

Your Art Marketing Coach and Fire Builder

www.JaquitaBall.com

© All copyrights reserved 2012 by Jaquita Phillips Ball and Red Cat Art

Gallery Representation: DO YOUR HOMEWORK

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For most kids when we were growing up, there was always a parent who said, “Do Your Homework! How do you expect to learn anything if you don’t do your homework?!”  In my house, it was much more subtle … Dad was a general in the Army and all it took was THE LOOK (full of love, but THE LOOK, nonetheless.)

Lessons in life that we learned at an early age are very valid in adulthood. How to establish a professional relationship was being learned as we grew and interacted with parents and teachers.  If you did your homework, you would be rewarded with recognition and good grades.

This same rule applies today when applying to a gallery.  DO YOUR HOMEWORK!  The gallery director is “Mrs. Joyce” who is an excellent “teacher” but will be quite annoyed with you if you haven’t done your homework.  Everyone else in ABSTRACT class (the gallery) has done their homework, that is why they are in the class (gallery.)  “Mrs. Joyce” does not want to waste the time of the other students (artists) trying to bring you up to speed because you did not do your homework!  She is baffled that you would waste her time and yours in her ABSTRACT class (gallery) with your impressionistic Western art.  You wouldn’t turn in your physics homework to your English Comp teacher, so why would you turn in your western art homework to your abstract teacher.

THE OZARKS 12 X 12It is such an easy first step.  Is the gallery a right fit for you?  What type of art do they carry?  Sculptural, abstract, impressionism, textiles … what is THEIR focus?  Have you been in the gallery?  How did they treat you as a possible buyer?Is the gallery director someone in which you wish to interact?  Have you talked to artists they represent?  Are THEY making money?  Do they get paid in a timely manner?  And for the love of all that is holy, did you take the time to find out their submission policy?

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!  You are a busy person just like the gallery owner.  Why would you waste your time and money approaching a gallery that would not be a good fit for you?  Be professional and do your homework.

Earn that gold star on your homework! (Dad would be proud!)
Earn gallery representation!

Jaquita Phillips Ball

RED CAT ART

Marketing for the Professional Visual Artist

www.JaquitaBall.com

Contact us today to get you started on the professional marketing path to a successful future.  RedCatArt@aol.com.