"Good Tidings, GREAT Art!", Dec. 9th & 10th at Above Elite Studios

YOU are invited to the most fun, festive and FABULOUS event of the season!

Good Tidings, GREAT Art!

Friday, Dec. 9th, 5:30-9pm

Saturday, Dec. 10th, 10-4pm

Hosted by Above Elite Studios

181 Main Street, Westerly

Featured artists include:

Laura Gaffke, Millie Donovan, Kathy Johnson,

Sarah Martin, Juli Rankin Mancini, Ian Newbury & Diana Sartor

with live entertainment on Friday by Evan St. Martin.

*Added bonus! Every purchase from one of our artists will earn

you a free chance to WIN tickets to Westerly's Granite Theatre.

I paint because...

"I hate flowers–I paint them because they are cheaper than models and they don't move."— Georgia O'Keefe.

It seems like we all do things we don't necessarily like to do. Today, I spent my time in the studio working on small cards and collages that I hope to package and have ready for the holidays. This kind of activity drives me bonkers! There is usually paper all over my worktables, paint splattered across my face and gel medium stuck underneath my fingernails. I don't mind the mess as much as I do the feeling of panic as I look at the small pieces and wonder why. Why am I adding to my to do list? Why are they taking so long to finish? Why do I continue to paint the things that I don't necessarily like?

The simple answer is because...Because in order to work on refining my voice I must borrow from the creative language currently at my disposal. That is to say, I use what is around me and gain inspiration from it. This is a tricky thing to do when surrounded by a community of outstanding creative people all reading the same publications, using the same materials, applying and exhibiting at the same galleries and shows. All of us making similar "products" and hoping to provide enough visual interest in our respective work to make the connections we all crave.

At the end of the day I found myself with a handful of new pieces that I was pretty content with. I had found old collages and painted book pages. I cracked open some new tubes of alzarin crimson and light green (colors I have admired in paintings by my studio mate). I cut out words from an old copy of my daughter's favorite book, "Ramona the Pest", and mixed them up like domino tiles. I painted and applied textures using mesh, bubble wrap, plastic bottle caps and the flat end of my pencil. The result well...you decide...maybe it's not quite a Georgia O'Keefe but it is a Millie Donovan and it was a lot cheaper to create with all these found objects then to hire a motionless model.

"She Did", mixed-media on paper © Millie Donovan

Holiday Shows I'm working towards: (wish me luck)

Harvest Craft Sale at the Noank Foundry, Saturday Oct. 29th from 12-6pm

Good Tidings Great Art at Above Elite Studios, Friday Dec. 9th from 5:30-9pm and Saturday Dec. 10th from 10am-4pm

For the pure JOY of it...

I have been struggling with recent comparisons of my paintings that have left me without inspiration. In my attempts for originality I had failed to make a connection and for some that saw my work, they only saw another's. I was lost to reason and obsessed over my perceived lack of originality. It was as if someone told me to SHUT UP...it was a slap in the face...a slammed door...a ruler rapped on the back of my knuckles. My ego was not only bruised by broken.

See, this is the problem with choosing a creative path: sensitivity is heightened. The paper we push is meant to be treasured. Even our doodles have intention. We do not abide by check lists and results oriented goals, profit and loss sheets, or marketing strategies. These are just activities we must do to help pay the bills. Instead we are moved by a nod of approval and the utterance of 3 little words..."I like it." I LIKE IT enough to include in the show, I LIKE IT enough to hang on my wall, I LIKE IT enough to give it to a friend.

What I didn't realize was that those 3 words needed to be spoken by ME...the "artist". I recently found my VALIDATION at the bottom of my paint tubes. I dusted them off from a long summer hiatus and squeezed the paints onto my favorite palette. The colors did not forget me! My hands did not betray me. It felt good to have paint underneath my fingernails. The thing with painting or writing or any other creative activity is that you have to set your EGO aside and not be concerned with comparisons or critiques. Your only concern should be the ACTIVITY of creation and how much YOU LIKE IT!

As for originality, well is anything really ever original? I had my studio mate, Laura Gaffke, take a quick picture of my hands and palette...because I LIKED how that moment felt. I loved how my hands were messy with paint and the palette was full of rich, lovely color. On the same day, I saw a beautiful photograph my friend Joy had taken of her own paint spattered hands. It seemed to scream I LIKE IT! Our hands, the moment we chose to document said it all. We both LOVED what we were doing and shared that moment. Original? Maybe not but the moment was just ours and it was LOVED.

Photo by: Joyita Neerkaje

Photo of: (me) Millie Donovan