Skip to main content

Can You Play?

Releasing Light 1:  oil on paper  16x16"  ©2015 Janice Mason Steeves

Each class I teach has it's own personality and demands different things from me. In the workshop I taught last week  my students were gradually moving forward in their work but seemed to be struggling. I spent the first few days teaching them techniques of working with cold wax and oil as well as the elements of design, encouraging them to make small quick paintings alongside the others that they were developing. The idea was to combine play and structure. Often students figure it all out on Day 3, but on the fourth day into this workshop, many were still stuck in the structure part. It was my job to find a new way to help them break through. Several people asked me if I'd demonstrate how to play.

 I have always had respect for teachers who are able to paint in front of their classes but I am reluctant to do it, partly because I find it hard to be a performance artist, but also because I want the students to realize there are many ways of working and to find their own way.

 I'm a private painter, needing the quiet solitude of my studio space in order to create. So when asked to demonstrate how I play..........well.... big intake of breath......that seemed to be the opposite of what play is for me. How do you do play when everyone is watching you? It's like singing at the top of your lungs in your car with the windows down when suddenly someone pulls up beside you.

 So I tried. I can't say I was painting with reckless abandon though, as I sometimes do when I'm alone and between series' of paintings, searching for a new expression.

 After my somewhat inhibited demonstration of "play," which they kindly said was helpful, I suggested that they work on two 8x10" pieces of paper (who cares about it I told them,  it's only paper), mix up their colours beforehand using three different values (so the decisions are made in advance) and work FAST--10 minutes per painting (to get their heads out of the way). I told them that they had spent the week learning about composition and the elements of design and internalized them and now it was time to let the rules go and play--they wouldn't forget what they had learned--they would now integrate it in a playful expression.

The work they produced in 20 min was terrific! Every single one had a breakthrough.

 Play seems to be some mysterious entity that many of us have forgotten how to do.

 Here are a few ways that I play:

 -Make mistakes 

 -Give yourself some limits:
             -Turn on a kitchen timer for 5 minutes and make a small painting in that time.
             -Use only 3 colours: light, medium, dark and mix them up beforehand.
             -Work on paper because it doesn't feel as precious as a wooden panel or a canvas
             -Work small because a small piece of paper feels like it's free.......almost.
 
-Surrender to the process-let go-who cares! 

"Dance like nobody's watching........." Mark Twain




Releasing Light : 5     Oil on paper 16x16" © 2015 Janice Mason Steeves





Labels:

Comments

  1. TobyAugust 8, 2015 at 2:09 PM

    Thanks for the great post, Janice. I'm bookmarking it so I turn can back to it in the future, when I'm stuck, which means it'll be referred to quite often!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 8, 2015 at 8:26 PM

    "The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct". Carl Jung....
    Janice, I have learned that my best work emerges when I am spontaneous and free and childlike....I totally agree with your post and bravo to you as an observant teacher for pushing your students into the "playground", and breaking through the intellectual boundaries and thus unleashing the pure essence of creativity....Donalda

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ruth AndreAugust 17, 2015 at 9:44 PM

    Fabulous post and a fun painting.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet the Owners of a Scottish Castle

Anne Tristine Nguyen, Ali Orr Ewing, their children, Ava, Atticus and  their dog, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Dunskey Estate, Portpatrick, Scotland Anne Tristine Nguyen and her husband, Alistair Orr Ewing are the owners of Dunskey Estate near Portpatrick, Scotland where I will teach a painting workshop in September. Dunskey is a splendid Edwardian castle on 2000 acres of ocean-front land with miles of walking trails. As well as daily workshop sessions in the studio on the top floor of the castle, our small group of artists will enjoy breathtaking hikes, superb accommodation and fabulous meals.  Not having met owners of a castle before, I asked Anne if I could interview her to hear a little of their background story and that of the castle. Can you tell me a little of your personal story and that of your husband, Alistair Orr Ewing? Anne emigrated to America when she was ten years old, but it was at an art gallery in Saigon, her birthplace, where s...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Importance of Silence in Art

Gathering Light 60x60"  Oil on canvas © 2014 Janice Mason Steeves  Michael David Rosenberg, the musician known as Passenger, sings, "See all I need is a whisper in a world that only shouts." In the workshops I teach, I find that one of the most common problems with paintings is that they shout. Most have too much going on: too many small shapes, too much texture, extremes of colour, too many lines, too much, too much. One thing I say most often as I walk around the classroom working with students individually, is 'make bigger shapes'.  But not only bigger shapes. Quiet shapes.  Where can your eye go and rest in the painting? That isn't a consideration in much of contemporary painting or much of contemporary life.  Ours is a noisy world both visually and auditorily.  Ours is a world that shouts.  People are afraid of silence. I wrote a blog post  3 years ago about planning a retreat in my own home, where I shut off the computer ...
1 comment
Read more

Liminal Time

 The word liminal comes from the Latin, limen meaning threshold. an in-between place, a place of transition, a time of waiting and not knowing. Dawn and dusk are considered liminal places. Crepuscular animals, like foxes and coyotes are most active at this time of day, a time that is considered a magical time in Celtic spirituality and to Indigenous people which is perhaps the origin of their designation as tricksters.   As I write this, the northern hemisphere has just passed the vernal equinox, where day and night are of equal length.We are in a liminal space between winter and spring right now, unsure if we will have one more storm or snowfall before spring finally settles in. We're also in a liminal place as we live through this pandemic with the  anxiety and discomfort of not  knowing. A  time of great transition for the entire world, wondering what we've learned from this and what lessons we'll carry forward.     Author and Fr...
Post a Comment
Read more