moody in blue

It's official: the painting nymphs are running rampant through my mind. I am hooked. I admit, at first it was quite difficult to let go of my control and really open myself to the paint and canvas in front of me. But, yesterday after looking through my classmates artwork, I felt inspired to stop thinking and planning. I sat down to paint with a vague direction in mind, but I didn't sketch out ideas or stick to a plan. I set the mood with Drum Sex, an insane collection of drumming music, and let the beat move my body. In approaching painting this way, I felt the kind of release I'm always seeking in all of my forms of art: emotion over thought. It was my emotion that was expressed freely.....and it was a much better way to paint than the forced way I had been "trying" to before. As with everything in life, I think I'll strive for balance between planning and emotional freedom when it comes to putting the brush to the canvas.

I felt so overwhelmed by ideas and expression once I let myself go. Just in that one free-flowing painting session I felt like I needed 100 blank canvases around me to get it all out.....but, I settled for two. I'm feeling very drawn toward deep purples and blues lately. The combination feels incredibly moody, intense, and a bit mysterious. I've also been using these colors in my photography (as shown below).

Both of these paintings are works-in-progress with so much detail left to add.....I am nervous to dive into them again though. I love where they are now and feel like I won't know when to stop adding layers.....

Mood.

Indigo Circles (multi-media piece).

A stormy blue photo print of a winter tree.