Pass on the encouragement

Since the survey we all took showed that the influence of our grandparents had more influence and encouragement on us than did our parents as far as art is concerned, my question now is: since a lot of us are grandparents now, will we have as much influence and encouragement on our grandkids as our grandparents had on us?

Grandchild role model

My first grandchild, Farleigh, is an artist. Now six, her art never ceases to amaze

Atlantis Acrylic/polyflax, 30 x 40 inches  click image to enlarge

me. She is so natural, doing the art for the sheer love of it, without consideration of a viewer's judgment. I love that grandparents have powerfully impacted so many. My goal is to be a positive and enthusiastic supporter for my grandchildren and a role model for my artist granddaughter. Of course, I'm finding that the reverse is true and Farleigh is actually my role model.

Creative family tree

My great grandfather was a gunsmith and an inventor. Five of his eleven sons followed in his footsteps. One son, my grandfather, became world famous as an inventor of guns. Of his seven surviving children, one became a poet, one a concert pianist and my father an inventor. I never knew my grandfather, but from family stories, he was very supportive of his children’s creativity.

My father encouraged his sons, took them to the shop etc. One of my brothers is highly creative and holds several patents. My sister and I were just expected to marry well. It was my uncle who applauded my writing, and my aunt and older cousin who helped me to paint. This cousin is still one of my most valued fans. Among my other cousins I can count seven more visual artists.

Family collectors

It was Aunt Betty, my dad's only sister who encouraged my talent from a very early

King of the Mountain Acrylic on canvasboard, 11 x 14 inches  click image to enlarge

age. She was my first art buyer and was the first to commission me for a piece. I was in my early teens. It was her interest and encouragement that kept my drive alive. She and my grandma, who lived together most of their lives, had collected many pieces over the years. Both are long since passed. I still have part of their collection today.

My dad seemed to have stepped up to the plate after them. He, and my mom too, has a collection of my work and has some creativity of his own. I remember at an early age, Dad building sculptures out of pipe cleaners and customizing motorcycle helmets, expanding later to leatherworking, jewelry-making and steelwork of making knives and hatchets, etc. The only artist up my family tree that I know of comes from my mom's side. My grandma's brother was a painter and sculptor.

Support from aunt and uncle

One aunt and uncle, upon having to enter a nursing home, hung 14 pieces of my work on their walls, most purchased with 3 or 4 gifts from me to them. Their attendance and encouragement was there right from my very first exhibit, even more so than my parents.

The sewing box

When I clicked to see the responses to the letter about your mother I saw the photo

Sharon Pitts photo

of Sara looking into her grandmother's sewing box. How poignant that the image of the painting on the wall behind Sara echoed the spools of thread in the sewing box. This image supports the notion of grandparents' influence in our lives.

The paint box

I found a box in my mother's belongings when she died. It was a small, leather-covered box and it contained lovely old ivory-handled items with which to make lace. There was even a small piece of unfinished lace, yellow with age. My father said that the box had been my grandmother's. I also found a well used old paint box and brushes, wrapped up and hidden away -- my mother's? I never saw her painting.

Lines in oil paintings

I would be grateful if you would address the subject of lines in a composition. I really like the effect of the drawing showing through the painting but I don't know the theory or rationale behind it. I have seen some illustrations of early 19th century paintings which have thick black lines around shapes, but this is not the same thing.

(RG note) Outlining as afterthought is a stiff but effective way of pulling weak work together. The real joy of line, and I think your understanding of it, is where the line is in fact the act of finding the line. This is a dynamic approach that helps an artist to see. It also has the effect of smoothing out those fumbling lines that are the first resources of discovery. A thin, arbitrary line, when "found" can be reinforced with other media. These lines have appeal because they show the thinking of the artist.

Something out there

I have often wondered about morphic fields. I'm a doctor and it quite often happens that I think about one of my patients that I haven't seen for a while. And then that day or the next day or two, that person turns up. Also I seem to see more people with disturbed mental processes around the time of the full moon. It would be good if their increased mental energy could be channeled into a positive creative process.

(RG note) With our recent survey on Nature vs. Nurture, it put me in mind that we could pull off all kinds of experiments--scientifically handled of course. Like keeping track of how much and how well we create during a full moon. Has this survey ever been done before?

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