Mirrored Globes at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence Italy
I started painting in the fall of 2017 without knowing a thing about watercolor or any other type of medium. I got hooked right away even though my first paintings were all terrible. I keep that very first painting of a cattail to look at on occasion when I feel like my paintings aren't improving or I've failed on a painting. It reminds me of how far I've really come with my skills as an artist. Honestly, I have a long, long way to go, but then, hopefully, I've got my whole life to keep learning and improving. I will never reach my peak!
After about a year of painting and taking classes at our local community college and meeting other artists, I was invited to participate as a board member of the Montana Watercolor Society. My position would be that of Watermedia Chair which would be the person who finds artists to teach workshops for the society and who will also jury our watercolor shows. Being on the board allowed me to learn in detail what a prospectus is and what it takes to enter a juried show. After participating in several board meetings, reading and helping to fine tune the prospectus, I felt like it wasn't such a scary idea to enter a show.
In February of 2020, just when the pandemic was about the shut down Northern Italy, I traveled with a friend to Paris to view the DaVinci exhibit at the Louvre. It was a trip of a lifetime and really did change my life. My friend and I stood in front of Leonardo's work, mesmerized by it, while being jostled around by the hoards of people who had come to see it. We went to as many museums and art exhibits as we could fit in our schedule before we left for Florence, Italy.
In Florence, we again toured as many galleries, museums and historical sites as we could, all the while taking in as much good food, wine and espressos as we could take. Our only regret is not eating enough of the beautiful artsy pastries that we saw in all the bakery windows we passed on the street.
At any rate, I came home with a load of photos that I thought would be fun to paint and in my usual style of biting off more than I can chew, instead of choosing one person to paint, I chose a parade passing in front of the Mercado del Porcellino. This painting was the first that was juried into the MTWS show by Soon Y Warren. I was elated and ready to try again for the next year but what to paint?
I made a folder on my phone called "Wine Still Lifes" because, yes, I like to drink wine, particularly in Italy, particularly with my friend and particularly al fresco while experiencing a bit of la dolce vita. We would sit at our table, order our wine and proceed to take photos of our little wine still lifes, just for fun. So for my second submission to the MTWS exhibit, I chose a photo from this trip with two wine glasses, the wine bottle sitting on the menu and the Bargello Museum in the background. We had just visited the Bargello which houses masterpieces by Michelangelo, Donatello and Brunelleschi. The Bargello used to be a prison and is one of the oldest buildings in Florence, built in 1255.
To my great surprise, my painting "Reflections of Florence" was juried into the show by Keiko Tanabe. OK! I'm on a roll with the Florence paintings! I'd better keep with the theme!
Another photo that I kept going back to time and again was one that I took inside the Palazzo Strozzi. My friend and I had a habit of going off on rabbit trails and would just veer off into little pathways or doors that looked interesting. On this day, as we walked along the stone streets of this beautiful city, we happened to see a beautiful courtyard inside an entryway of a building and so decided to check it out. It just so happened that in the courtyard of the Palazzo Strozzi was a grand art installation called "Aria" by the Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno. Consisting of three large hanging spheres made of transparent or reflecting foil, these spheres reflect and warp themselves, the grand architecture, columns and people around it. It was fascinating and so fun to revisit in my photographs that I decided to paint my very first full sheet of watercolor paper with this image. Instead of painting it as I saw it, I decided to bend the image even more by painting it with arbitrary colors of pink, purple, green, blue and yellow. I actually started the painting with yellow ochre, grays and browns, like I saw in my reference photo but right away realized that this was going to bore me to death so I just painted over those colors with my new palette.
My thoughts for what type of painting to select for my submission, besides being something that was important to me, stirred my creative juices and excited me, I also, for the first time, took into consideration who the juror was that was going to be judging the submissions. Iaian Stewart is a multi-talented, accomplished artist who has taught architecture at Auburn University, is an architectural illustrator, has published books, DVDs, received numerous awards and traveled the world. That being the case, I thought perhaps painting something with interesting Italian architecture might catch his eye, but on the other hand, he could look at it with a very critical eye and notice all the things I did wrong in my composition. It was a gamble I was willing to take because at least it would be fun for me to paint and because of that, hopefully the joy of the process would show through in my finished piece.
In case he looked at my painting too critically, this time , instead of submitting only one painting, I submitted two. I also submitted a self portrait and thought that, in case "Interconnected" wasn't to his liking, perhaps he would need a portrait to round out a good exhibit with lots of variety and at least I'd get something in the show. I've seen artists who study the juror, paint and submit something just like what the juror paints, or at least something with the same style, composition, colors etc and I certainly didn't want to do be that bold. At any rate, after submitting my paintings online and waiting for what seemed like the longest 3 weeks of my life, I finally got the email that said that my painting, "Interconnected" had been accepted into the show. This meant that I had earned my MTWS Signature Membership and allows me to sign my future paintings with Cynthia Dearing MTWS! I was elated, relieved, excited but it also left me wondering, what's next? More painting, more travel, more exhibits and more wine!
So, after all this blathering, I guess my point would be, paint and paint a lot! Enter a show. Enter more shows. Paint what you know, what you love and what excites you. Take chances. Put yourself out there. Don't be afraid. Don't criticize yourself. Just be yourself. Make yourself happy. That is what counts the most. Oh, and surround yourself with other friends, family and artists who support you. They will make a huge impact on your journey. I certainly thank my tribe. I wouldn't be the artist I am today without them.
