Come learn art from nature

Come paint your frustrations out. Let your brush become an extension of your inner-self and release those feelings on your canvas. This is what soul painting is all about, the releasing of feelings on canvas.

I have painted many scenes and many people but then I stopped painting what I saw and started painting how I felt about what I saw. My paintings took on an entirely new look. My visual reference was a launching point for what was inside of me.

At first, I mixed the visual reality that I saw with my inner reality of what I felt.

Mixing these came up with some interesting results, then sometimes, I literally forgot what I saw and only painted what I felt.

It was a totally different experience with some surprising results.

If at the end of a painting session my canvas was a complete mess, maybe it helped move the mess from my insides to the outside and possibly let my insides be cleaner and tidier than they were before I started painting.

The other part of this process is that you can’t take yourself too seriously. You need to accept going with the flow wherever it leads you.

Harry Croghan is an artist, photographer, writer and teacher. You can send comments to croghan@dragonbbs.com or call (740) 852-4906.