Blog Post #2

Okay, hello everybody! Thank you for the lovely comments--I appreciate them :)

So, I have been prompted to share a story from this week that stuck out to me in some way. This is a pretty small moment, but I found it pretty amusing, so here it is. I was out taking photos in the Japanese Garden on Wednesday, just going along wherever inspiration took me, when a couple stopped to ask me if I could take their picture. Now, here I was, holding my Canon, staring at the proffered iPhone with some measure of trepidation. I’m not sure if they asked me just because I was the only person nearby (the highly likely motivation) or because I looked like I might know what I was doing, with composition and whatnot (less likely, but still plausible). But anyway, I said, “sure!” and now I was in possession of a phone camera and not feeling particularly confident. I don’t know if it’s just me, or if other people are somewhat nervous about taking pictures for other people who they don’t know (I mean, I want them to be happy with the pictures taken; I don’t know how much background vs face they want; all sorts of other factors), but that was kind of compounded by the fact I was carrying around a genuine, camera-camera, and I felt the weight of all photographers of the past looking down at me. Well, not really, but whatever haha. Anyway, I took a couple of pictures, handed the phone back, and went on my merry way. Hopefully, they were happy.

Alright, so in regards to what I have learned, it’s a little difficult to do paper-based art outside when it’s raining! I’ve been doing more photography than I initially expected during these rainy days. However, I’ve also picked up that taking photos for reference is an excellent tactic, because I’ve been able to still capture what I want to paint/draw/etc even when there’s not a good place to set up en vivo. It’s also a good idea to scout out the location a bit, and see where the most traffic is, and then plan accordingly where I will station myself. In addition, sometimes I plan to use one medium when I go out, and then I just don’t end up feeling as inspired with that--so it’s good to be able to change on the fly! Recently, I planned to draw when I went out, and I ended up writing poetry, so it’s pretty interesting how inspiration works.

For my goals, I’ve been making some steady progress with them. I have been using a variety of mediums; however, I feel as though I have been somewhat remaining within the realms of what I am comfortable using. I would like to use some media that I have very little or no experience with as well, and will intentionally work to incorporate that moving forward. I am still just continuing work on figuring out the facets of my artistic style, as that takes time, as well as building up pieces that I can assemble into an end product. So, forward movement!

I don’t really have too many burning questions right now, but I am curious if anyone has any suggestions of where I might go? Favorite natural spots in and around Portland? I'm always looking to add more to my schedule!

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for next week!

Here's a painting I started this week.

This is the reference photo of vanilla leaves that I took for my piece above.

Reflections from the Japanese Garden