“Charleston”

I am not sure why but for some reason, “Charleston” made me cry. Not ugly face crying but just tears that came down my face. I have been working for months at making, “Art You Love” my next season of work. There is this technique of creating “Cells” in painting and pouring. I am not a big fan of pouring paint because I tend to make a mess and waste paint. On this day I took the colors I wanted to work with. Browns, Black, Gold and White as well as a whole assortment of colors. I scrapped all the tutorials I had been trying to emulate in my technique. I stopped reading blogs on how to do this or that. I just decided that all the tutorials were just not working for me. I am not sure what kind of brain I have but my reality is that nothing seemed to communicate, in the way that I learn, how to do this. Maybe this is why I failed miserable in painting class art school. Which baffled me because I got A’s in all my other classes that were unrelated to painting. Maybe this is why the teacher told me I was terrible at painting. His style of teaching did not compute in my brain.

I mixed up my ingredients of paints, and other mediums to create a flow and mixture of paint that felt right. I mean really felt right. I layered some of the colors and then went and ran errands so the paint could dry. I love acrylics. They dry so fast. I then added in the final colors and went off to run more errands with my son. When I returned hours later this is what was left. And, no kidding, I teared up. I felt like I wanted to call my mommy and say, “I did it”. Because I felt like a little kid who just learned how to ride a bike.

I have wasted so much time and energy trying to learn this technique that I had given up. Then I thought to myself, “Elizabeth, you never give up. You just find a different way of getting there or doing it.” When I started my first business I was met with so many, “No’s.” I would lay in bed and cry because I wanted so much to open a designer boutique specializing in kids room design. I had no education in business. What do you do with an art degree? Certainly not open up a store. My dad said if I went back to school and got a business degree he would support me financially. With two toddlers that was not an option for me. Plus I never really liked the classroom environment. So I found my way. Did it. Learned a lot and made over a million dollars my first year.

What people did not see in that season of my life is the behind the scenes YEAR of hard work building the foundation for success. Long hours in the library studying how to run a business. How to execute. Putting my children to bed and heading the library for months. Then I found my way. I saw this picture in one design magazine of a beautiful black brief case, tape measure, pencils, color deck and and yellow notepad. I went and bought that look because it look sharp and successful. Even though I had not been hired yet I was ready for my first client.

I share this because I feel like I found my way in a process of painting that I love. Six months of really trying to hit a homerun in creating this kind of art. And it’s not just this piece. You can read my previous blog here with another stunning piece: https://elizabethharrisartgallery.com/2021/09/02/red-white-blue/

I actually crated about a dozen color ways in this style of painting. I was so excited by the mixtures and mediums I had to stay on task and see if it was a fluke or if it really worked. And it did work. Here is a bit of the collection I will be presenting in future blogs, and on the Art For Sale page. “Charleston” is up on the sale page now if you want to buy.

Here is the collection of other artful pieces. Thanks so much for reading. Have a wonderful day.

See something you love that is not yet listed on our Art For Sale page. Shoot me an email and we can get your piece order in your custom size. elizabethtraubconsulting@gmail.com.

If you are an artist struggling to understand this technique I am here to help. I know the struggle is real. Reach out to be here: