Macro Photography..some of my recent examples.

                                                        Close up of an Agapantha

Allum

                                                               Allum and Bumblebee

Allum

 Thistledown

                                                            Honesty
 

 

Cone Flower

 

Sedum leaf with raindrop

Berry shadow 

 

                                                                                  Berry

                                                                               Fern frond

                                                              White Hydranga


                                                       Maple Leaf

                                                    Lemonwood (Pittosporum)

 
                                                            Cherry Tree Blossom

Attending an art workshop -preparation

Painting workshops are a lot of fun, I love to run them and I love to attend workshops run by other tutor/artists.
 I have  attended well over 300 art and writing workshops in the 25 years I have been a practising visual artist and I have always learned something valuable. 
I always think that if you go away with just one new thing you have learned; it is good.

Preparation is the key to having a successful experience on a workshop.
Here are some of my thoughts, based not only on my experience as a tutor, but also as a participant.

Before you leave home
1.Think a little about what you would like to achieve during the workshop.
It may be that you  don't really mind  and are happy just to go along and accept whatever happens, this is ok too, it's great to have an open mind.

2.Take a look at art books in your local library and work out what sort of paintings you like.
Bring examples to class.

3. If you have one, take your sketchbook with you… it's useful to show your instructor what you are capable of  and useful for notes in the back.

4. Buy a visual diary before you go to class they are invaluable for working out ideas.

5. Read the materials  list thoroughly , bring along a pack of moist hand wipes and paper towels.

6. Take some drinking water to keep your brain fresh.

5. Take an apron and don't wear your best clothes.

During the class

1. Take some notes, (ideally in the back of your sketchbook, so you will never lose them).
You cannot possibly remember all you will hear from your tutor.

2. As the teacher  moves around the room, LISTEN to what is being said to other students. It may well apply to your work too.

3. Be on time.

4.If you have problems at home…try to leave them at home.
Particpants actually need all their energies for the workshop, and they want to forget about problems and have fun. try to do the same.

5. You may well feel nervous and apprehensive. Your fellow students are probably feeling the same way even if they don’t appear to be! Even a more experienced painter may feel apprehensive at a workshop. It is useful to remember that at every level, artists have their own demons to contend with and are very rarely self-satisfied! So... Never compare your work to your neighbour’s…after all, they may have been painting far longer than you have. You should only ever compare your work to work you were doing, say, a year ago...THAT is the best reflection of your progress.



6. Reduce your expectations.
The nerves, the unfamiliar surroundings, the problems of being away from the comforts of home, will all play a part.
Your work may not be even as good as the work you do at home.
Don’t worry about this…it is quite normal, and what you learn during a workshop will often show in your work at a later date.
It's frustrating, I know, but this is often the way it works, even for more experienced painters.


7. Be open minded and ready to try something new
 You are there to learn, so take a leap of faith and try whatever is suggested, even if it doesn't appeal to you.
If it doesn’t work for you – so be it – it is just as useful to find out what does not work for you, as what does!


8. Accept criticism of your work with good grace; any criticism you receive should be constructive  and it will help you grow as an artist.
A good teacher will always have something positive to say about your work.
The cristicsm should follow the c r c formulation, which is commendation, recommendation, commendation.
If a tutor cannot give you some constructive and positive feedback on your work don't give up, never be put off buy the negativity of people. 
Remember taste is subjective.


9. Concentrate quietly on your work, rather than chat away constantly to your neighbour.
They may be too polite to ask you to stop talking – but they may actually want to concentrate without any such distractions.

When you go home.
1. If you have critical, negative  family members or a partner, do not show them your fledging efforts.
Your artworks are your babies, be protective of your beginnings, you will get better as time goes on.
Trust in the process.

2. Review the work you have done and the notes you have made during the workshop .

3, Keep on going, sign up for other workshops, read plenty of books, go to art exhibitions,  set some creativity goals for 2012.
You deserve it.

A workshop session can be really rewarding - challenging - exciting - enlightening - action-packed - but it can also be confronting especially if you are a person who is highly critical of yourself.
You need to be mentally prepared for anything and go in with the attitude of accepting what ever comes out.
You may go home filled with new ideas and renewed vigour and enthusiasm, you may go home a little disappointed.
 Dont sweat it.
Turn your work to face the wall and look at it a week later.
You will be surprised how good it looks.


The chances are really good that you will have had the most marvellous, eye-opening experience - suddenly new doors may have opened for you.
Your notes will prove useful in the days and years to come, and the experience will certainly have enriched your life.

I have a variety of mixed media workshops that I run from my home studio classroom.
 Email me today for details  jkeen@clear.net.nz

Acrylic and Mixed Media Painting Workshops for beginners to advanced for 2012.

Buy a  gift voucher for Christmas for someone special for a  6 week Painting and Mixed Media Art Class
(Plus materials which you will need to buy, materials list supplied when you enrol)
Contact Janet Keen 07 346 3435  or jkeen@clear.net.nz for a handmade mixed media card complete with gift voucher for $130.00

Term One:
Class:  Water colour classes for beginners to experienced
When: Monday Nights  from 13th February to 19th March.
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Where: 374 Clayton Road, Painting and Mosaic studio, Rotorua
Gift Voucher: $130.00 per person (plus materials)

Term One:
Class: Acrylic and Mixed media painting classes for beginners to experienced
When: Tuesday Nights from  14th February to 20th March
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Where: 374 Clayton Road, Painting and Mosaic Studio, Rotorua
Gift Voucher: $130.00 per person (plus materials)

 Other daily classes available. Contact me for a full prospectus.


Plus , plus,  plus if you become a committed student  I organise art exhibitions for you and take you  on art trips to see galleries around the  Bay of Plenty.



                                          Ten By Ten Exhibition  Art Sale
                                              Rotorua Public Library 
                                         From 14th November to 5th December                                    
                                      48 Paintings for sale at only $95.00 each.

Exhibition by  7 of my loyal adult pupils in the Rotorua Public Library from

                 from this years mixed media and acrylic painting classes.

Diversity of work well received by viewing public

                                    
                                         There's something for everyone in this exhibition...

                                          
                                          Small, light, and so affordable at only $95.00 each

                                                        From Realism to    

                                           
                                             Abstract Expressionism, we cover the range

                      This is just a taste so come into the Rotorua Public Library and see for yourself.

Think about buying a work from these talented people or enrolling for an  art class and giving it a go yourself.

Let 2012 be more about you having fun, making new friends and expressing your creativity. 
You will receive 6 finished paintings which you can keep, hang on your wall or give away for presents. 

Creativity Quote of the Day
Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain one once you grow up Picasso
                          

Mastering the Art of Imperfection: Learn to let go of the need to be perfect in your art making.

The faceless, unfinished ones...by Janet Keen

The faceless, unfinished ones. By Janet Keen

I  have been runnng  mixed media and watercolour painting classes for the past eight  years and have taught hundreds of people to be more creative.
I love teaching so really it's a win, win.
The  majority of people are  happy with their results and are an absolute pleasure to teach.
I believe that anyone is capable of of making art, they just need some encouragement and a set of easy effective lessons to begin with.

 Very occasionally I encounter people who are really challenging to teach because they are perfectionists and never seem to be happy with what they produce, no matter how good their natural ability is.

I visualise on a daily basis that I am a magnet to positive, uplifting and relaxed students who like to have fun during their art making.
 I have a poster about this in my toilet so I get to read it every day.

Here are some things I do to ward off perfectionism...
 I think that there is always another painting to try and everything is fixable and at the end of the day it doesn't really matter if it's not.
 I believe some people will like your art, some people won't and so what.... I  need to just keep on applying the paint.
I can often paint my way into a painting, it takes time to get into the flow.
Often I leave unfinished paintings or paintings I consider to be not there yet, hanging up in my studio so I can get feedback  from clients and I know in time that they will be finished when the time is right.
(One of my child students picked this painting below out last week and said "I just love that painting of yours,  it's so beautiful and I'd love to paint something like that." )
A favourite saying is don't kill off your babies straight away.
Give them time and in a while you may like them.
If not you need to analyse why you don't.
A former teacher of mine said to me she thinks that one out of nine paintings will be what you are really happy with.
I prefer to think one out of four.

                                                  The great unfinished bird painting.

 I can see from putting this painting up here that the teal background hill needs more work and probably I need a large figure in the foreground.
Also the hill in the front tails off in the wrong place.
I could fix this or I  could start another painting  to show a different and maybe more effective composition.
The last thing I would do is chuck it out or toss it in a wardraobe where I  can't see it because  I realise that I can always learn from my so called mistakes.

Other things I  do to ward off perfectionism
I meditate and relax before I start a series of paintings and I always work on four at one time.
I do journaling and doodling in a visual diary infront of the tv in my spare time and I read others art books for inspiration.

Sometimes I deliberately make some hideous and ugly art in order to get out of my comfort zone and break some new ground,

and manipulate it in photoshop to make it into something new and perhaps more beautiful....

I just love the feeling of putting paint onto the canvas.
The joy of painting and looking at others paintings is always in me.
Happiness and art making is good for the heart.


Here is an article I have found on the net by blogger and  perfectionist artist Nancy Howard.

Just incase anyone wants to read about perfectionism and how to overcome it. .

A few months ago I was watching an interesting documentary on the masterpiece painters. They told the tales of how it took some of the painters years and years of painting and repainting a particular portrait or landscape before they felt all was just right--and even then it may not have been right for them. What surprised me was the sheer beauty of their work and yet these great painters were, many times, never satisfied as they always saw the flaws in their own work when no one else could.


That is precisely what I found true with myself-- my need to be perfect was keeping me from ever accomplishing anything I wanted out of life. I would set the bar so high that the minute I fell flat on my face I did what so many others did and that was to give up. Giving up was so much easier than forgiving myself for not being perfect and moving on.


Perfectionism was a crutch, a character flaw for all the world to see, even if no one else saw it, I believe they did. It was what held me back from taking risks and in some way kept me safe and comfortable. If I didn't try, I couldn't fail and if I didn't fail, I was not a failure.


But what if I do fail? Will that be the end of the world? Will I be any less of a person?

Next week as I celebrate my five year anniversary for reclaiming my life and my health, below is a list of what this journey has taught me about accepting my imperfections.

•I am fallible and I will make mistakes- I am not going to say there isn't a sense of anxiety when I do make mistakes, but the more mistakes I make, the easier it is for me to accept my imperfections. I believe we all learn more from the mistakes we make than we ever learn from doing everything perfectly.

•Others do not judge me as harsh as I judge myself - I love it when I read on the message boards how members help one another by saying, "Would you ever speak to a friend like that? Then why would you talk about yourself like that?" Letting go of judgment is by far one of the biggest lessons I have learned from you all. I would certainly never call my friend a 'fat cow' so why is that I would call myself that.

•Love and accept the body I have- In all honesty, when I embarked on my journey I was doing it for my health, but there was a little hope that when I got to my goal weight I would have the body I had back in my college days 25-30 years ago. That has not happened. I am older. I have had a child and my body is what it is. But one thing I can say, my 20 year old body never ran a marathon either, WOO HOO!

•Hold your nose, jump in and either, sink or swim-If you said to me five years ago, "Nancy, you are going to have one of the best jobs in the world doing what you have a passion for and that is helping others reach their full potential, I would have said, yeah, right?" But when SparkPeople approached me 18 months ago, I must say not only was I honored but I was scared to death. What if I failed? What if I couldn't live up to their standards? What if I can't do what they ask me to do? And for the first time in my life, I jumped at the opportunity, and while I can't say I haven't made a mistake, I have learned so much about taking risks. I am swimming!

The past few years have taught me to go out of my comfort zone and as the Nike ad says JUST DO IT! I am taking risks I could have never imagined doing so before I began my journey. In a few short weeks, I will be traveling solo to New Orleans to run in the Rock 'N Roll Mardi Gras Half/Full Marathon. Never would I have pictured myself traveling alone and running with 20 other Spark Friends I have met over the years. This is allowing me to break the mold of perfection and appreciate all the flaws that make me who I am.

Have you allowed your need for perfection to stand in your way of achieving your goals? Do you judge yourself more harshly than others judge you? What risks would you like to take on in the next year even if it means you run the risk of failing?

Creative Quote of the Day
I'm never pleased with anything, I'm a perfectionist, it's part of who I am.
Michael Jackson
 (Need I say more?)

Favourite photographs from the past month.

For the past month I have been getting up at 5.30am  most weeks and going on photo shoots around Rotorua with fellow photographic enthusiasts to capture the golden light.
It has been fun; there is something very spiritual about going out with  people  that you like to beautiful locations and trying to capture the best image of it that you can.
Here are what I  consider to be the highlights of this experience.

 

What about this for a little light relief? Focus on the mandala and make a wish.

When I am experiencing performance anxiety regarding my photography I make these Mandalas.
They remind me that ultimately the journey of creativity needs to be fun.
It is also a spiritual journey and it's vital to enjoy the process.
You can accept a critique and take what you need out of it, but ultimately if other people don't "get" your work; tough luck.
Van Gough only ever sold one painting in his lifetime and look at how much his masterpieces are worth now.
So here they are....

Some will, some won't, so what, just keep on aiming towards the moon.


Creative Quotes of the day
If you aim for the moon and you miss you will land amongst stars.

Being a creative photographic maniac for the past couple of months...

I have decided to give you all a short overview of the  lovely photographic and artisic adventures I have been involved with over over the past couple of months.

I'm studying a Diploma of Photography with the Southland Institute of Technology so I have been taking lots of images in different locations.
Plus getting up at the crack of dawn to catch the early morning golden hour light in order to work towards a 10 image portfolio I am submitting ...


Graham my husband had to shoot up to Auckland for a business trip so I tagged along and got him to drop me off at the Auckland zoo for three hours...here are just a smattering of shots...

                                 A day at the zoo in Auckland, don't you just love those stripes?

                                      Love the texture and markings on these animals.

What about this cute little guy (or girl) , wouldn't you just love to give him or her a hug? 

                                                             Scarey!!!!!! This little girl doesn't think so.

             Elegant Flamingo, such an alluring shade of pink,  having a bath in the filtered light.


I went over to the Tokoroa Camera Club meeting, this is the second time I have been. Those people have  imaginative photos and I came away very inspired.

Kinleith Mill at 10 .30 at night. The Kinleith mill was the structure that dominated the skyline and at night; it looks like a rocket launching pad.

Place the camera on a tripod, put it on TV and 2 second timer. This slows the steam right down. This is one of my favourite shots.
I want to go back here and do some more of these....

Sally Wittenoom from Perth is a recent new friend who has been  staying with her parents in Rotorua for a while and has been showing me lots of useful photographic tips.

Here she is on the wharf at Kawaha Point,  I love taking unposed shots of other  photographers. 

 

Kawaha Point looking towards Mount Ngongotaha at 6am in the morning with ducks flying.

Wharf at Kawaha Point

Sally and I went for a trip to the Redwood Forest one afternoon around 4pm, I decided to focus in the texture of the forest. Sally's beautiful  hair fitted right into this theme.

Sally showed me how to put my camera on TV and move it so that the background of the forest looked like blurry, these reminded me of forest spirits with feathery textures.
I prefer blurry soft abstract shapes and textures in photography above all else.

We pointed our cameras towards the sky and the giant Redwood tree tops and spun around.  The re-occuring shapes I  take are circles and balls in photography.

 One of my tricks in photoshop is to posterise photographs so they look more like artworks.
 This shot shows the majesty of the mightly Redwoods and the texture of their leaves against the sky.

This is a posterised cobbwebb that I found in the Redwoods, the texture of the background looks like snow.

I went for an Artists Date (See Julia Cameron's, An Artists Way book)  with my dear friend April (who is an amazing artist)  to a stream near Putaruru to take shots of the most jewel like water I have ever seen.   
The place is steeped in spirituality and is very peaceful. April was immediately mesmerised as am I  every time I go there.

I am wanting to arrange a trip soon some fellow photographic early morning riser friends for some pre- dawn shots before a brilliantly fine day.
It is a perfect place for a picnic.. the swallows swoop everywhere and the valley and board walk are quite unique.

Bring on summer, we will be there with our cameras for sure.

Photography can become  an addictive great love.
Healthier than smoking, better for your liver than drinking and better for your heart  than chocolate.
Walking in nature trying to capture the perfect shot is a type of bliss that only another photographer can appreciate.

                                                                        Wharf at Okareka

 Wieland taking shots of the cherry trees in the Japanese Peace Garden above Waiariki Institute of Technology.  

                   Japanese Peace garden filled with Tui.
This is another peaceful spiritual place that comparatively few Rotorua people know about.

                             An explosion of pink, just standing under these blossoms breathing in the sweet nectar filled air and letting cherry tree blossoms fall on your upturned face like snow flakes is cleansing for the heart, mind body and soul.


I also helped to co-ordinate a three week exhibition with four of my adult pupils in Essence Cafe in Ngongotaha.
It is up for another week, so if local people want to see it you need to get along there and maybe have a nice cup of coffee and lovely food.
It is a very popular little cafe.
Heather and Debbie have already both sold two works.
The works were completed while they attending mixed media art classes with me his year.
I am so pleased that they are all progressing towards being exhibiting artists.

                                 Ruby, Heather, Janet (tutor),  Debbie and the forth class member Hilary (absent) Featuring an ecclectic array of  small affordable and highly collectable mixed media  works  on stretched canvas loosely based on Rotorua and the surrounding environment.

Some of the members I  have been teaching for over four years, it is gratifying to see their progress.

I am running another 6 week  mixed media class at the moment on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8 from my home studio in Clayton Road and this is full with eight people.
We will be having a 10 by 10 exhibition of around 40 small works that will be for sale and display in the Rotorua Public Library in November.
Watch this space.

I am also running a water colour 6 week art class at Rotorua arts Village in November so if you want to enrol you will need to hurry down there and book and pay.
If you need to enquire about this;  ring me on 346 3435 or email me at jkeen@clear.net.nz

In between all of this I was setting up an exhibition for my after school pupils in the Rotorua Public Library of their paintings and mosaics. 
This is also on for another week so please go along and have a look and sign my visitors book.
It's on the wall beside the stairs on the right hand side of the library.
The children would love to think that you have visited and appreciated their artistic efforts.

Creativity Quote of the Day.

Don't be afraid to love, it is never never lost.
If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.
Washington Irving.