I am very, very fortunate to be apprenticing with one of the worlds foremost Trompe L'Oeil, Realist painters, Mr. Anthony Waichulis, Director of The Ani Art Academy Waichulis in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA www.aniwaichulis.com. The rigorous program developed by Anthony has been a God send to me and it was like sprinkling Miracle Grow on my creative and artistic aspirations! I have begun this blog to document my journey through The Ani Art Academy Waichulis's intensive program and I will be talking about a range of topics from how my career has changed since beginning this formal study to the challenges that the curriculum has presented me with and how I addressed them and used them for opportunities of growth as well as the unexpected treasures I have unearthed so far!!
For my first blog post I would like to talk about the importance of honoring ones intuition and being open to inspiration. To showcase this, I will focus on my Pastel Trompe L'Oeil painting titled, "Casting Call" 20x16 Pastel on Paper. I have also included a very quick sketch I did of the inspiration I received to create it as well as the completed piece. I do this to give you a sense that all my ideas for my art begin like assembling a magical jigsaw puzzle and the pieces fit exactly where they are supposed to and even though it's not a highly rendered sketch the bones of the piece are there from which I was able to build, refine, develop! I cannot force the images or they will not compliment the piece they are meant to connect with to create the completed painting. I honor my intuition by relying on my gut feelings. If it doesn't feel right, it's not right and no amount of forcing it will make the piece fit. Also, and probably most important: I do not edit my feelings or thoughts! It all works and it all makes for better art and makes me a more intuitive artist. Even if an idea or concept does not result in a "masterpiece," so what..I will have learned something I can use at another time and that is often the case.
The inspiration for "Casting Call" came to me very simply by being open. I was walking through a fabric store admiring the colors, textures and patterns of all the fabrics when I saw a wall of spools of ribbons. Hundreds of colors and sizes jumped out at me as the light transformed the sheen of the silk in the most meaningful way. It's all I needed. I knew right away I was just given a gift because I felt it in my heart and I could feel a child like enthusiasm building like it was Christmas Eve. I selected my favorite colors and it all fell into place in the next few months because I did not force it. I allowed the images to come to me and when I felt like the foundation was there to build on, I began my very fast drawing just to "get it out" and move the puzzle pieces around. I dont really make judgments of "good" or "bad" but what choices more effectively communicate the story that I am attempting to describe to the viewer.
The story of "Casting Call" is one that documents the process I have just described. We see a still life set up where an artist has taped up images of flowers that he will place into the brilliant Teal vase to create his painting from, however, the process is already the completed piece and both the Rose and Orchid hang in center stage both deserving of equal attention. "Casting Call" has just received a Jurors Choice Award in the prestigious Blossom 2: Art of Flowers Competition and is currently being exhibited at The Naples Museum of Art in Naples Florida until April 10th 2011.
