Finding Inspiration Through Artistic Expression

It would be an understatement to say that recently I’ve been feeling a little uninspired. 👀

So in seeking to reignite my creativity, I decided to join an art class and thought it would be a cool idea if it was something that my husband, Ed, and I could do together.

Already being a creative professional, I didn’t want this to feel like work. I just wanted to have fun, no pressure to be good, just an experiment in creativity.

I liked the idea of something I could do as a project, so that I could commit to the beginning and the end of a series and not have to commit to going to classes in perpetuity.

Ed was keen on the idea and came across a Mock-a-Master class by local Capetonian artist, Kim Watermeyer, at her In The Zone Art studio. You choose a theme and then create a series of paintings (approximately 9) inspired by the styles of famous artists. It sounded like the perfect thing!

I settled on the theme of a fox, inspired by my dog Bailey, who sort of looks like one. PS. As you might imagine, painting foxes is a challenge – had I given it more thought, I might have chosen an easier theme. 😂

Sweet Bailey Girl

So far we’ve done three Mock-a-Master artworks inspired by: Jim Dine, Henri Matisse, and Vincent van Gogh. Below are my fox-themed iterations, which are all 200 mm x 200 mm acrylic paintings on canvas.

1. Jim Dine

Jim Dine is an American pop artist most famous for his series of hearts. I was sceptical about painting this one as it was quite different to anything I had tried before, but I’m pleased with how it turned out. Black oil pastel was used over the acrylic paint to emanate Dine’s style as close as possible.

2. Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French visual artist who made ‘painting with scissors’ a thing after he was confined to a wheelchair and found it too challenging to sculpt and paint like he had done before. These artworks in his later life were large collage paper cut-outs with a minimal colour palette. We experimented with cut-outs to emanate Matisse’s style but then we traced these onto canvas for painting. I’ve found this style to be my most challenging so far because I’ve had to redo the cut-out part about a million times. I still need to refine my strokes and add a branch on the left side to balance the artwork, so this piece is still a work-in-progress at the time of publishing this post.

3. Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was that talented Dutch artist who may have cut off his own ear but definitely had the eye for capturing movement and light with a brush. At first, I was subconsciously set on creating a realistic fox, so I struggled with his patient, post-impressionistic style. But after learning that van Gogh often painted from memory, I was able to embrace his fantastical dashes and swirls. Of what we’ve done so far, I’m most pleased with this piece and inspired to paint a few more artworks in this style.

My quest for perfection can sometimes be my downfall in that it holds me back from even getting started. It’s sad to say, but at some stage I had kind of given up on doing art for fun.

With this art class, I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone many times and frustrated that something is not looking like what I had imagined. But I’m learning to trust the process. I’m learning to simply start and let the page lead you. I don’t need to know where I’m going, I can get a little lost.

And, just like in life: if you’re really unhappy about something, then change it. Hit redo, instead of stressing. It’s about progress, not perfection.

So if you want to try something new or take up something you thought you’d given up on, I encourage you to please take the chance! Do it, go for it, and just have fun.

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Follow my creative art journey on Instagram or Facebook: @amandadoes.design

Words and artwork created by Peaches. All rights reserved.