The Seedbed of the Journal and Spain in September

This is an old journal page. I've been thinking about how one gets from zero to finding one's personal language in paint. It can be a long and arduous journey but I think I've found some shortcuts and some ways to stay motivated. Right from my first nervous steps into non-representational painting, I experimented in my journal like the page above.

Another one from the archives. These are the pages that survived my enthusiastic culling. Some of the experiments ended in disappointment. These pages became backgrounds for writing or underpaintings for other work. So the ones I liked better became records of my search.

The ones I didn't like were gone as though they never existed. Nothing lost. No record of failure. In fact, no failure at all since I learned from every single effort.

I treasure each one of these early efforts and I can plainly see, only in hindsight, what they were leading to. Not that the work doesn't continue to evolve because it does. But I can see how these small (8x10") paintings led to the more confident work I'm doing today.

This is a detail from my most recent painting on canvas. I see everything in it that I saw in the earlier work. But I couldn't have reached this point without building the platform first in a safe place. You really will need to paint many paintings to develop work that looks like your own and not someone else's. It takes self knowledge. It takes time. It takes the courage to accept something that doesn't look like work you've seen somewhere else.

So here is where I tell you about Barcelona and Bordils, Spain. Because what I've been thinking about is the upcoming retreat in September that will take place in those locations.

We'll be spending 4 days in Barcelona at the Hotel Cram.

Four days in Barcelona! Yeah. I know. Picasso, Miro, Gaudi ... some of the best art museums and architecture in the world. With time left over to make our own art, collect souvenirs, be with a group of friends who love to share ideas and experiences.

Transportation will be provided to Bordils where we will do more sightseeing, more fabulous food eating and more journaling discovery in our 2nd Catalonian location.

Oh, and if you have a big travel budget, you could also join us in Can Serrat for the first leg of this exquisite journey where we will be painting BIG paintings on canvas. A glorious stretch and a place that could be the beginning of a new life for you as it was for me after I stayed there 3 years ago.

You can dream. We only go around once. More information on Painting Big in Can Serrat HERE. (oops. This one says it's full but there might be a waiting list)

And on the Journaling part of our trip to Spain HERE. You will have me and Katie Kendrick teaching at both locations and Kathie Vezzani guiding us to some of the best food in Europe.