My website is my new life's challenge:
I say my website is my new challenge but, right now writing this blog is. A definition of art is a creative, inspired composition with skill and imagination all rolled up into a painting (as I describe it). There are many different forms of art, as you know such as performing arts, but I will use paintings as my reference. Art to me is the expression or feeling of the environment around me. I see colors and shapes that make me want to put them on canvas. I have dabbled in drawing, and they came out pretty good, but I prefer to 'draw' with my paintbrush. It feels more natural to me.
Let me introduce myself and tell you about my journey into art. My website is called Artistic Paints by Brenda Jean, I am Brenda Jean. I named my website as such because I feel I am artistic with paints; at least I think I am. Using my name was a personal choice I made to reach out and connect with people, a personal touch in a very public forum.
I started painting back in 2005. I lived in Southern California where I was a stay-at-home mom and I started watching Bob Ross on TV. Yes, I know, Bob Ross. I was inspired by his delivery and teaching methods and thought about trying a painting. I feel I did pretty well on my first-ever painting.
I framed it and hung it on the wall above the fireplace where it stayed for many years. The colors faded from the sun - I didn't know about varnishing back then. I did not paint again until 2014. In 2014, I attended one of those paint-with-wine classes with a friend and just loved it. It wasn't so much loving the painting I created but the process. With Bob Ross, I painted with oil paints, this class was acrylic paints, a different medium that required skills. I continued to go to these classes with friends and created a different picture than the one being taught. I never came home with the same painting as the instructor. I felt challenged. I wanted to do more. My appetite for creating art began!
I am self-taught. I never took a formal art class although I probably will sometime in the future. I learned by trial and error, mostly error following youtube videos. I then began pushing and challenging myself to paint what I see instead of following someone else. I researched pictures on Pinterest as well as the Internet, and friends and family sent me pictures that they took. I used those pictures as inspiration to paint my creations. I found out artists use this method to come up with ideas to paint. The more I painted, the better I got. I still don't consider myself an "artist" I guess because I am still new and have a lot to learn. My confidence has grown over the past three years. I've painted over 100 paintings already!
Why did I decide to write a blog about my art journey? That is a good question. I want to connect with people. I want to reach out to other artists and get their perspectives. I want to be able to market my website (yes, I am honest about my intentions). And I want to hear from you, viewers, readers, and other bloggers get your comments and thoughts. Hopefully, they will be good comments, but constructive criticism is good too. The painting below was recently done in late 2021. Of course, I had to show how I've improved, right?
This painting called "Old Barn in the Field" was created using oil paints which add rich vibrant colors to the painting. The smooth softness of oil paints adds to the allure and luster of a painting. Oil paintings can take 6 months to one year to cure and leave a natural glossy finish. Painting with oil paints adds value to a painting that will only increase with time. I am offering this painting on my website Artisticpaintsbybrendajean.com or brendajgm.com as well as many other landscapes, abstract, people, etc. paintings.
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