My painting process

Oil on canvas diptych, both panels 8x16"... just completed late last week. It's loosely based on a photo of mine... a raindrop hitting the surface of the pool water (as viewed from underneath water).

I started it upside down from this. As most of my oil paintings, I do additive and subtractive painting... letting it dry to the touch in between layers to retain & build that texture.

See this detail below...













And, finally here is what it looked liked in the beginning. When I went back to paint on it, I had a difficult time keeping the original look... and was frustrated. When I let go of the former painting and let it be what it was, I still didn't like it overall. But, I did love the surface!

I turned it upside down and left my studio. When I returned the next day, I was surprised at what a strong painting it was. I signed it and moved on to another one.

The process...

Art is a process. I forget sometimes to play and move through different creative processes! I really enjoy painting my women in water, but love to also explore drawing and painting just water.

Here's an inspirational blog... followed by a couple of my latest paintings, in process.

womenpaintingwomen.blogspot.com/








A set of three canvas panels, in process oil painting... I like what I have, but better to find a nice composition from this one and use that as a starting point for a new painting. (Thanks Chris Craft:-)













A detail like this perhaps...









Three more, slightly larger panels... painted with oil, inspired by moving water...











This is more interesting... though I need to crop in tighter with this one.

Painting is a process. I'm an artist. It just takes discipline, passion and a little talent!

Check out my Facebook Fan Page (I update weekly!)

I have never updated my blog as much as originally intended. I have lots of posts in my head, but it's tough to nail them down sometimes!

But, if you want to keep up with me on a regular basis this summer of 2010, check out my Facebook Fan Page... I update it a lot more often! (And, you will get to peek inside my studio from time to time as well.)

www.facebook.com/pages/Carmella-Jarvi

Successful artists must work on their craft.

I have been painting... and painting... and painting some more. Last week, I delivered fourteen paintings for my summer solo show at Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury, NC. (waterworks.org)

Now that I am done with that commitment, I have 'reset' and begun thinking about what I want to create. Also I've been thinking about what is it, specifically, that makes a 'successful' artist? First, successful artists must work on their craft regularly. IF you are talented and paint on a semi-regular basis, you only get so many winning paintings. But if you are talented AND you treat your art making like a job with discipline and thought, it is only a matter of time before you are successful. If one has a regular, serious approach to their art, eventually they will generate a strong, cohesive body of work that folks just have to buy!

Recently, I have become a huge fan of American Art Collector Magazine (americanartcollector.com) as well as Arcadia Fine Arts. Check out this gallery's website and the artist Brad Kunkle...arcadiafinearts.com

Arcadia sold most of Kunkle's new paintings before his recent show even opened to the public! He is an amazing painter and what makes him even better is he has NUMEROUS awesome paintings, not just a handful with the rest of the show being just OK! He is consistently painting strong work.

So, I am inspired by his paintings AND his sales... and I am off to spend a lot more time with my paintbrushes, sketchbooks and models. Although I will not be posting lots this summer because of my residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art, I will try to post more often than once a month!