mini blogs about places I have had my art outside my atelier (studio) …
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out&about Summer 2024 was filled with so many blessings
Ted Lare’s Spring Art in the Garden, Cumming, IA – May 18 REVIEW
on display: Johnston Public Library, Johnston, IA – June & July Why These Pieces
Backroads & Byways Junkin’ Tour, Norwalk, IA – June 7 & 8 REVIEW
Reiman Gardens Garden Art Fair, Ames, IA – July 14 REVIEW
Indianola Art Festival, Indianola, IA – July 26 & 27
National Balloon Classic (Gift Shop), Indianola, IA – July 26 – August 3
Iowa State Fair – Art Fair, Des Moines, IA – August 8 through 18
Nuthatch Atelier out&about 2024 : Johnston Public Library
Follow the Trail of Curiosity : observe, wonder, research, journal & express the discovery … through watercolor & ink paintings, 6”x6”.
On Display at the Johnston (IA) Public Library, June–July, 2024
I chose these pieces to put on display because they represent the start of my present-day love affair with art-making and sharing it with the world around me…
In 2021, I committed myself to participating in a challenge on Instagram, #the100DayProject. The idea was to choose one thing to do for 100 days, recording and sharing about it on Instagram each day. I decided to paint a 6”x6” watercolor painting each day for 100 days. I currently and have always doodled on the edges of note-taking papers; yet, coming from a background of graphic art using a computer to create images for others, this was a refreshing dip into creativity for creativity’s sake. There is something enchanting about a paintbrush, paints, and the movement of them across the paper, discovering the properties of watercolors while stretching out from the comfort zone of pen and ink.
Forced to find a ‘muse’ daily, I found myself keenly aware of everyday delights. The flit of blue as a dragonfly flew past me sent me looking up dragonflies just to discover the intricate lace of their wings and the deep blues, greens, and purples of their bodies. The morning greeting from Mel, the meadowlark, outside the kitchen door called me to search the bird books for a close-up look at his dapper black vest-piece. Sun pouring through gaping branches of a backyard tree looked as though it was revealing the very heart and soul of that tree. These kinds of things sparked a delight and Joy within; that Joy being an awe and wonder of our Creator. These spirited explosions just had to be expressed.
My work is whimsical, colorful, and holds a personal story. Following the Trail of Curiosity is my art-making process. It is just digging in and beginning, drawing upon what my heart holds, and expressing my Joy.
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It soon became my mission …
to encourage folks who spend time browsing my work to take any spark they felt and internalize it, look for the why, and discover their own innate sense of creativity.
Therefore, I like to provide small bits of opportunity for visitors to any of my art pop-ups to pick up a brush, fill it with water and paint, and make some art. The response is very much the same:
“This was so much fun!”
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Nuthatch Atelier out&about 2024 :
Ted Lare’s Art in the Garden
When Friends Meet Up heartspeak happens. No special words are required, not when there is kinship.
This painting, Garden Center Heart to Heart, started brewing just about a year ago when I snapped a photo at the 2023 Art in the Garden event.
… The story I formed from this scene, while also making plans to paint it out, was about two friends with a passion for gardening having a spontaneous chinwag, exchanging heart messages … about anything and everything. I imagined they each found themselves reminiscing later that day, while playing in dirt, over their happy meetup and conversation. Perhaps every time they saw a particular plant purchased that day, they were reminded of that impromptu chitchat, and their hearts swell all over again. … maybe.
At the 2024 Spring Art in the Garden event, the same thing happened: friends met up, enjoyed spontaneous conversation … and, an opportunity to splash a little watercolor paint!
In my list of reasons I do these ‘art pop-ups’ is that “I want to create a space to paint! and discover that gift of creativity within.”
These small encounters folks have with the need to dig into their inner self and create, even if it is just a few brush strokes making a splash of color, is a process that brings forth smiles and delight!
This particular dig in and get your brush wet opportunity was to paint a portion of a community painting. I doodled and invited others to add their color! As the sign said: “We were created for relationship. Add your touch to this community painting!”
It was heartwarming to watch people, either individually or together, paint; hearts full of delight with a sense of creativity filling the air!
― Claude Monet
Not noticing until reviewing snapshots later, I see I sported the Minnie Pearl look for quite a bit of the day! I am reminded of a quote I heard earlier this spring:
“Do you know the most important color in the color palette? It is black; because when you mix black with any other color you can create shadow. That’s. what creates depth in a painting. Life is the same way. That is, it is all the darkness that creates the depth.”
– Sarah Cannon, aka Minnie Pearl
heart2heart2heart : 