Woven Paintings: Create a Special Painting from Two So-So Ones

We had a demo last year in my watercolor class that basically rocked my painting world. I always like to develop new watercolor techniques that are easy and turn out consistently good results. Weaving two paintings together is about as easy as it gets.

First you paint two separate paintings of the same subject. Landscapes probably turn out the best. Portraits are a bit difficult and, although Liz Taylor is recognizable, I have to deviate from her true skin tone in order to get any variance in the paintings. In the above I used orange, so it might come out just Liz with splotches of orange around the mouth. I don't think too many people at the office who saw it even realized it was a woven painting. I could have gone WAY off the natural skin tone, but then she wouldn't look like a person. Or green. Or blue. Skin tone on the first painting and orange and gold on the second just says bad skin.

OK, so let's say you are going to pick a landscape, a seascape, an unusually shaped structure, aspen trees, or an animal. You do two exact pictures by tracing. I personally go one light, one significantly darker; one pastel, and one more primary. Opposite colors on the color wheel work great. I tend to stay away from browns and a whole lot of realism for the colors. However you do your painting, it will come off abstract in the end due to the weaving. I would say the less complicated your subject, the more recognizable it is. The building in Santorini above is a good, basic building with the shadows on both paintings in the same place. Most areas can be lined up on a simple subject. If you do mountains with varying shaded areas, the tops of the mountains can be lined up, but not the shading. Some people don't mind things being out of alignment, but it just depends on how recognizable you'd like your subject to be.

Once I have done the paintings I start on the cutting. This is also arbitrary. The most common is one vertical and one horizontal. I think that's a bit boring, and tend to go with circular lines on one and diagonal lines on the other. Even if you like straight lines, diagonal is far more interesting. Curves add movement to the picture making it almost swirly. Curved lines can be drawn with a big bowl. I draw the lines on the back of the picture, and if there are details on one painting I want to retain in the finished painting (e.g. a cool cloud formation or in Liz's case the eyes in one were better than the other) I draw the lines on the front of the painting around that area and build the cuts around that one strip.

Finally you cut it based on my little video, and just weave the strips together ony by one. It might take a good while to get everything to line up. I sometimes start over. The best way to avoid getting things out of order is to number the back of the strips.

What comes out in the final product is a big surprise, especially to me! I have NO idea what the weaving will look like. But so far, I've been more pleased with the woven painting than I was with the original works. I guess it's because it really is an accident and it's SO easy to make it all come together.

Fingerpicking on the Guitar: A More Challenging Hobby

There's a big difference between fingerpicking and strumming. Strumming is easy and you do not need to be able to read music. Fingerpicking generally requires that you be able to read either music in the regular sense or what is called Tabulature. Since I can read sheet music I saw no reason to try to learn Tabulature. I concentrated on learning how to translate the sheet music to the neck of the guitar. It's one thing to be able to play it on the piano, but you have to eventually be able to recognize where the same notes go on the guitar neck. I started by playing songs I already knew on the piano and practicing them on the guitar. This was OK, but the songs I picked (Bach) were difficult and limited what I could learn out of those songs. I finally broke down and bought Hal Leonard's Guitar Method, Complete Edition. This book not only gave me a ton of songs to play around with, it was progressive in terms of learning songs on the first string, then songs on the first and second string, then first, second and third, etc. So you really learned the neck of the guitar. Plus, as the string included particular chords, you learned them, too. Plus variations in strumming and picking. For anybody who wants to learn to read music and become proficient, this book is THE way to go.

I took lessons at Brookhaven and where I saw beginners really hit a wall was when it came to reading music. Just like me with Bach, the class didn't start off with baby steps, like one string of notes at a time. Hal Leonard's Guitar Method, Complete Edition would be a great way to supplement any class, whether it be group or private lessons. I will also say, if someone doesn't have SOME way of learning how to read music, one of three things will probably happen (1) they will give up on fingerpicking before they ever get started because it IS hard to figure out the notes on the scale, or (2) they will memorize a few songs by ear just out of lengthy practice and trial and error, or (3) they will develop their ear and arrange songs on their own (this requires a LOT of natural ability which you either have or you don't). What sold me on this particular book was one of the reviews on Amazon. A professional guitarist in a band had played all his life without being able to read music. He got this book and was now reading and enjoying the ability to pick up all kinds of sheet music and play it for the by sight for the first time in his life. I thought, "If this guy can do it without ever having had a music lesson, so can I."

Eric Scortia is my guitar instructor as well as my piano teacher. We divide up my lessons into 45 minutes of piano, 15 minutes of guitar. The benefit of having a teacher is always the same: If someone is going to listen to you once a week or once every two weeks, you run a much better chance of practicing and learning your goals. I can't stand for Eric to show up and not give him a pretty good show. I hate to sound bad. It's one thing for my boyfriend to hear me sound like crap. Nothing I can do about that. If you are going to learn a new skill, you will always suck in the beginning.

If you really want some motivation, watch some fantastic guitarists doing their thing, or just listen to incredible guitar music. I like a CD of Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood doing a recent live concert together of all their old hits (found at the library). I recently saw this young woman in the late Michael Jackson's movie This is It on guitar and she will blow you away. There are lots of closeups of her playing and I swear she must have started at ten years old to be this good this young! I like to think her career got a boost out of this movie. She can also bend strings like you wouldn't believe. I barely have the strength to press them all the way down. Once again, if this young Greek gal can do it (at least her name was Greek) maybe I can someday get there! I hear people all the time use the excuse that they are too old to learn new stuff (like reading music). First of all, that's totally false. That kind of thinking leads to dementia because you've stopped challenging your brain. Secondly, if you completely give up on learning anything new you will be incredibly bored for the next 20-30-40 years of your life. Reality TV shows and eating out only give you so much bang before your brain goes completely numb. OK, enough philosophicating.

Playing Guitar: Starting At Any Age

If you are thinking about learning how to play an instrument, the guitar is the easiest. The following will never be barriers to learning how to strum a guitar:

1. You don't have a right hand.
2. You are tone deaf.
3. You cannot read music.
4. You don't have much money.
5. You have no sense of rhythm.
6. You can't sing.

We'll assume that you have a right stump or hand, so let's start with tone deafness. To tune a guitar, you can get a guide to doing so on the Internet . I also use my piano, and I use my little electronic tuner. The electronic tuner will indicate exactly when your string is in tune. You might not be able to hear that it's on or off pitch, but the tuner will tell you when it is. A tuner is $14.

You also don't need to be able to read music. Any song you want to play can be found on various websites for free. I use Chordie.com. This shows you the chords and how to situate your fingers on the strings in order to play them. I can read music, but because I have only been playing since December 2008, I cannot play chords from piano music on the guitar....but I can play many of the chords as presented on Chordie.com. Some chords are extremely difficult. I have a solution to that to. Don't play those songs. A huge number of songs have super easy chords. Or better yet, find a way to cheat a little bit. For example, if you have a chord that you can play correctly only on the last three strings, just strum the last three strings. The guitar police is not going to come into your living room and catch you at this. I have tiny fingers (size 3.5 ring finger) that will not cover more than one string at a time. I have to work with the hands at hand. Look, I see children playing guitar. I took classes at Brookhaven with a fifth grader in it. This is very very doable. As always, practice is highly desirable.

You don't have any money to spend on a guitar? A decent guitar is $100. A respectable classical guitar is $200. And I bet Craigslist.org has used guitars for less. If $100 is what you think of as an expensive hobby, better stick to embroidery (which we will get to in a month or so.) Guitar classes can't hurt, and I took them at http://www.brookhavencollege.edu/ in Dallas, but it's not necessary to take lessons to learn this. Anything you want to know can be learned from watching videos on U-Tube, including stringing the guitar. There's TONS of books out there. If you don't care about learning beyond strumming at parties, the best way to learn is to practice a few of your favorite songs off Chordie, and then add some songs each week with a few new chords to learn. The best alternative for saving money on this hobby: Take the money your kid wants you to use to buy him a Guitar Hero ($119) and buy yourself a really nice little guitar for $100 with a songbook and a tuner.

I would discourage you from buying a guitar online. You can save a few bucks, but all guitars sound different, even the same make and model. Play a few in the store (Guitar Center in Dallas) until you fall in love with one of them.

You have no sense of rhythm? OK, I lied. You do need a sense of rhythm. Otherwise, you can't strum rhythmically.

You can't sing? This won't be a problem in your own living room. However, keep in mind everybody sounds better when they are accompanied by a guitar. A lot of people with weak voices have made it by having a guitar to keep them on pitch. Neil Young falls into that category. A capella he would have been considered downright bad.

Within the first few days of buying a guitar, I could play for hours lots and lots of songs I found online. Not perfectly, not fast, but well enough to have a lot of fun. This takes no brains or skills at all until you get into picking!

Watercolor: Watching Paint Dry

Like anything else, watercolor is a discipline that requires practice and patience. Practice, because in the beginning people get frustrated and quit when this is nothing like oil or acrylic. Patience because it's all about timing the layers of paint, not using too much or too little water, and letting the picture paint itself. There's a lot of technique involved, but the thing that makes watercolor look fresh and natural is the fact that the artist is not controlling the medium. For example, once I learned to sit back and let a sky paint itself, my skies took off. Once I learned to not "paint" clouds, waves, leaves, hair, but to let them happen on their own through the drying process of a few well placed strokes, things got looser and much less deliberate.

Watercolor is about timing. For example, before I can go to the next layer of paint, or paint an area adjacent to the one I just worked on, I need to dry that original area. Watercolor on a recently painted area will have a "blooming" effect that you may or may not want. In other words, it waters down the paint you just put down rather than layering. I use a blow dryer and a paper towel all the time. I can finish just about any painting I work on in three hours.

I go to Richland College in Richardson Texas every Wednesday night to Wallace Hughes's class. Wallace is a local artist, and most of what I have learned about painting I learned from him. What I like about his class is we don't learn the "Wallace Hughes Method of Watercolor", we learn our own method. Everybody in the class has a very distinctive style. I can tell by looking at a painting whose it is. One of my classmates and I attended a meeting of the Southwest Watercolor Society a year ago, and I asked him to pick out my painting in the monthly contest. These were paintings of about thirty watercolorists (not our classmates) with their signatures covered with sticky notes. Without the slightest hint he guessed mine on the first try.

I love to enter contests. Sometimes I place, sometimes I don't, but just getting my items on display and listening to the comments while remaining incognito in the crowd is fun. I've been in a few art sales, but have found the Texas heat to be prohibitive. Since I have a day job, I don't think I'm hungry enough to sacrifice my weekends for what might not result in a profitable pastime. For the better known and publicized art shows, you have to have a booth with walls to hang your work. If this is a three day gig, you are looking at booth installation, taking your pieces down at night in case of rain, having a place to store them at night, and a hefty enrollment fee in the $350+ range. Some shows require that you be approved by a committee that will look at your work on slides including a slide of your work up in your booth. So you have to buy a booth, set it up, and take a picture of your work hanging in it just to be vetted. Don't think you want to build your own? $525 starting price. Need help installing (you are an artist after all)? That's another $100. So for $1,000, I might get to be in a show where I can sell a few nice paintings for $200 each. Contests are great. $15 entry fee, drop it off at the library conference room, and show up at the award ceremony to eat really nice party food and maybe wine and cheese!

The key is to keep this as a hobby. I do give away prints of some of my artwork as corporate gifts. This doesn't require a lot of fancy print work (although you always could go that route if you wanted.) I take my paintings to FedEx Kinko's, slap it on the color copier, reduce it to 75%, and print up as many as I want. I get my mats online at http://www.stu-artsupplies.com/ and clear envelopes at http://www.clearenvelopes.com/. So far, these have been well received. Way better than company pens or slick brochures.

Learning Piano in Middle Age

Like a lot of us, I took piano lessons as a child and quit around eleven. So when I inherited the family piano, it still took me two years before the excuses ran out. Finally, I was no longer wrapped up in all those important things, like finding a mate. I don't know about anybody else, but that sure did eat up a lot of my time. I told myself if I could practice for thirty days straight for an hour per day, I could justify getting a teacher. After 90 days of straight practicing I went to the Yellow Pages and found a teacher that was willing to come to my house, Eric Scortia. I had no idea I was getting a celebrity and an extremely well known teacher among families in the Irving, TX area, including Dr. Phil's when Phil's kids were children. His website is http://www.vitalorgan.org/

When I started up, I had to make a commitment to continue to practice an hour per day. In order to do so, I had to give up TV for that hour. Fortunately, my boyfriend is the better cook in the household and is OK with cooking while I practice. I'm telling you, having a "foodie" for a mate has benefits on so many levels! Our house is open between the kitchen and the living room, so we can hear each other. Plus, he likes listening to me practice, so it is a win-win. Having him listen to me practice also helps me get past my stage fright. I grew up practicing in the living room with the door shut while the rest of the family watched TV in the den. If I practiced scales, Dad would beat on the wall between us and yell, "Play a song!" Needless to say, I suffered a lot of performance anxiety when it came to piano. When I hear adults talk about their experiences as young piano students, it's not unusual to have a teacher or a parent that turns you off to piano with all the pressure and perfectionism. At least I didn't have an anal teacher. Mine were always very nurturing. Now when I make mistakes, which is all the time, it's not a big deal.

Why is it important to have a teacher? Why can't I just practice and learn new songs on my own? I did take about a two year hiatus from Eric and I wound up going from an hour a day to about an hour or two per week. I practiced the same old songs for those two years. I was so glad to get him back and my progress is back on track.

As an adult, what is different from learning as a child? As a child, I was not enthusiastic about learning how to read music. Therefore, I would have my teacher play the song for me and I would play by ear. The shortfall of this technique is that, as you get older and want to learn new songs, you cannot learn anything you don't already know the melody of, and then you have to do your own arrangements or keep getting friends to show you how to play songs and have a really good memory. As an adult, I no longer wanted to play strictly by ear. I was willing to do the hard work of learning how to sight read, which Eric is big on. We do some sight reading of fresh songs every lesson. Now there's something that will get you over your fear of playing in front of other people: sight reading on cue. I've often wondered, "How does Eric stand it? It's so bad the first go 'round." Well, that's about the only way for me to get better at it. And he's never complained.

Do I participate in recitals? For the first five years I did. It was me in my forties, three high school aged siblings, and 25 kids ten and under every Mother's Day at Northlake College. The audience was made up of parents and grandparents. How's that for pressure? I don't know if I will keep putting myself through that since it's stressful, but the good part is I have a goal to practice for whenever I have to work on a piece for the recital date. What I wanted to say to the families at the recitals was that I knew that many of the parents in the audience were frustrated pianists and needed to start taking lessons again along their kids. Dr. Phil did! Eric says he has lots of adult students, but they don't want to be in a recital. If you can get over the group picture (I look like the teacher rather than another student) it's good to have the experience of playing in front of an audience. The video clip attached is me in 2004 at a recital after two years of lessons. The second one is me today. Playing in front of my boyfriend with a camera is only slightly less stressful than playing in a recital. It's all about the journey, not the destination, with all hobbies.

I do not expect to ever do this for money. At one point I dreamt of being a wedding or party pianist and I started practicing wedding music to develop a repertoire. I now think it may very well never be in the cards for me to be good enough to play at parties or weddings and that's OK! I play for my own enjoyment which is a worthy cause. Perfectionism takes away from my enjoyment. I don't want to be the critical teacher or parent to myself. There's a lot to be said for doing a hobby because it's just so fun, regardless of talent! Want to keep your mind active to ward off dementia? Learning the piano is a lot more fulfilling than crossword puzzles! The secret is practicing an hour a day. With that kind of schedule, you will become hooked and your progress will be dramatic.

Next week: Watercolor