Art as Self-Care

This time of year especially, life gets busy, and it can be hard to squeeze in time to create.  But you don't have to block out hours to find that moment of creative bliss.  As Henry Thoreau said, "Simplify, simplify." Here are some ideas for giving yourself a little artistic self-care during the busy holiday season.

YouTube is chock-full of short watercolor painting DIY videos.  Here are a few of my recent creations and the video links for each.  Happy Painting!

Painting inspiration from artist Ellen Crimi-Trent's video Winter Landscape Tutorial.

Shayda Campbell's video Every Watercolor Flower You'll Ever Need! inspired this wreath painting.  I drew a circle lightly in pencil, then arranged the flowers around that guideline.

My dear friend & pen pal of 25 years sent me a vintage calendar, and I added winter greenery snippets inspired by Shayda Campbell's video Winter Watercolor Leaves.  I look forward to writing a letter to on my new stationery!

New Classes for the New Year!

If you are ready for a fresh art project, new inspiration, or just a way to schedule some time for creative self-care, I invite you to join me in these upcoming classes!

Pittsburgh Figure Drawing Meetup

Guided Workshop: Drawing the Model

It's difficult to get started in figure drawing if you're not enrolled in a fine arts program, or able to commit to an expensive, multi-week course. In our 3-hour workshop we'll guide you through proven drawing exercises designed to get your eyes, brain, and hand working together to capture the human form on paper. Attendance is limited to 8 so our instructor can provide one-on-one guidance. Models will pose nude. Materials provided. $25 cash workshop fee. Instructor is artist and figure model Betsy Bangley. Models are Kathryn and David. Seating is limited. Free street-side parking.

Sunday, Jan. 5th, 2-5 pm
Metta: A Healing Arts Community, 5118 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
Register online at the Pittsburgh Figure Drawing Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/Pittsburgh-Figure-Drawing/or email: betsybangley@gmail.com

Community College of Beaver County Continuing Education

I'll be teaching these courses at the Community College of Beaver County.  You can register online for these courses here: https://my.ccbc.edu/ICS/Continuing_Education/
See the full catalog here: https://www.ccbc.edu/college-catalogs


Figure Drawing -- Back by popular demand
Do you enjoy drawing and want to take on a new challenge? Expand your artistic skills and connect with humanity by learning to draw another human being. Our models will dress in athletic wear, and will hold a variety of poses to observe and sketch. Each week we will start with quick gesture drawings and then work on proportions, foreshortening, hands & feet, and the face through longer drawings. Bring a pad of newsprint, drawing paper, a soft pencil, and charcoal.
Mondays, February 3rd, 10th, 17th & 24th, from 6-9 PM
Cost: $59 + a $49 Lab fee

NEW! Handmade Paper Studio
Create your own artsy & unique papers out of a variety of upcycled materials in the first class. You will craft your paper into a journal, stationary or other creation. All materials are provided, though you can bring dried flowers, glitter, a favorite essential oil, or other items to include in your paper.
Wednesdays, April 22nd and 29th from 6-9 PM
Cost: $39 + a $10 Lab fee

New! Pen & Ink
Learn to capture natural scenes with the simple, sharp lines of pen and ink. Learn a technique to minimize the stress of inking, and allow your creativity to flow. You will be drawing natural scenes and subjects using reference photos or natural objects brought into the art studio.
Thursdays, April 9th, 16th & 23rd from 6-9 PM

Cost: $49 + a $10 Lab fee

Larch Cones

Larch trees are unusual for conifers in that they lose their needles every autumn just like maples and hickories do.  This time of year, the trees turn golden yellow, and glow in the late afternoon light.  I'm taken by the tree's needles -- so much softer than prickly evergreen needles -- and by their cones with the curling tips on their scales.  So many contours!

A good friend sent me a photo of these cones, and it inspired me to tape some watercolor paper to the kitchen counter and paint at the breakfast table.  While the background washes were wet, I sprinkled on salt for added texture.  Once the painting was dry, (& I brushed the salt away) I couldn't resist using Micron pens to pick out the details.

A Day of Sandhill Cranes and Sunshine

Today I had a rare day off.  And, serendipity granted me a lovely, sunny afternoon to sit outside on an old wool Army blanket south of my house and paint the scene before me.  The sky was clear as a Robin's egg shell, spanning ultramarine to cerulean blue, and I delighted in watching a half dozen Eastern Bluebirds hunting in the Staghorn Sumac shrubs around my home.  A gentle breeze made the dead aster stalks dance and nod, and I simply relaxed and took it all in.

This morning at just after 10 am, I stepped outside and was surprised to hear the trumpeting call of a hundred Sandhill Cranes flying high overhead.  How remarkable that I could hear their wild voices as far as they were from me.  I snapped these photos of the majestic birds on their migration, and offered up Palo Santo incense and a prayer for their safe travels south.  A charmed day.

Sandhill Cranes form two loose V's.

Figure Drawing Update

Model Kathryn Zapalo gave us an amazing Open Studio session at Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts Sunday night, bringing a variety of dancerly gesture poses and elegant and emotive longer poses. She let her light shine, inspiring the artists in the room.  Here are a few of my pencil drawings.  More are posted on my Figure Drawing page.

November Sunset

The days have turned suddenly cold; the autumn colors have been blown from the trees; and the more subdued tones of late autumn have overtaken the landscape.  A busy work schedule has kept me from hiking in the woods and painting, so when a friend sent me some sunset photos last night, I jumped on the opportunity to paint the beauty he captured with his camera.  I started with a wet-in-wet series of washes in the sky, and when that had dried, I sketched the wintry trees and shrubs in the foreground, inking them in with a small Sumi brush and India ink, and touching up details with an 05 Micron pen.  It felt good to connect with the landscape, even through a photo of it.