A Beginner

Much to my delight I inherited some interesting art supplies from Connie....including these water soluble crayons at the top called Neocolor II,  a starter set of another kind of water soluble crayons right underneath, some pastel pencils, watercolor pencils, and a black charcoal pencil. I already had a set of round pan pastels and the soft pastel set at the bottom....and I didn't know how to use any of it. 

All the above are water soluble....but I also inherited these old school pas sticks and oil pastels which are not. And I didn't know what to do with these either.

 

So what do you do when you want to learn something using things you already have?  You do what Connie would do....sign up for a class. And it just happened that an artist I follow,  Roben-Marie was offering an affordable class called Blending Abstracts...

"a beginner's course for learning how to use different tools and mediums, blending them together into colorful and messy abstracts." 

Score! I had a variety of media I didn't know what to do with....I have a hard time working loose and messy....and I'm most certainly a beginner. 

https://www.robenmarie.com/       

https://www.instagram.com/robenmarie/

Blending Abstracts is a self paced online class using videos and a classroom Facebook page for sharing your work, getting feedback and asking questions.  I'm off and running....and although it's way out of my comfort zone...I'm finding it quite intriguing.  It has even involved coffee grounds.

Here's a just a few inches of one of my practice pieces.  It's a wild crazy mess when you look at the whole thing...but when you just focus on a little chunk it seems to suddenly have some hope.  Connie would be proud of me.

For those of you who are new to the blog....Connie played a huge role in my life for 8 years.  She was my friend, mother figure, and teacher, and I was her decorator, gardener, shopper, caregiver, and art buddy. I introduced her here in this post back in 2015: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/let-me-introduce-you-to-connie.html

If you put her name in the search box at the top left corner of the blog...dozens and dozens of posts will come up where she is mentioned.  We went through a lot together....we collaborated on art projects and shared some interesting adventures.  She continues to be one of the most influential and life changing figures in my life and I am surrounded by useful and colorful things that once belonged to her.  I miss her.

And...the pad of sketch paper in the photo above was hers too....and turns out it's great paper to work on for this project. The price tag was still on it....she paid $1.89.  Just perfect for this beginner.