DONNA ZAGOTTA

View From my Studio Window

I want to wish you all a happy, creative, and productive new year!

As promised in my last post (sorry to be so long), here are some things I tell myself when working on a painting…………..

Donna’s Notes to Self While Working on a Painting 

• No judgements allowed – paint spontaneously and then respond.

• Only create work you love – pay no attention to what anyone else says of thinks.

• Who you are is found in what you love.

• Find and paint that thing that is your own.

• Explanation is the biggest obstacle to creative and personal painting.

• Creativity trumps accuracy.

• Make it ARTificial, not real.

• Don’t paint things, paint shapes, patterns, and relationships.

• Be willing (and even excited) to embrace the mistakes, missteps, and surprises that show up along the way.

• Every painting goes through an ugly adolescent stage – don’t worry, just keep going.

• A painting is always about the artist rather than the subject that inspired it.

             And, here’s one more thing I’m adding to my list in 2018…………

• Take more risks – make your paintings more controversial.

The inspiration for that last note came from a book I’ve been re-reading recently – Finding Your Personal Voice, by Dakota Mitchell – where the author recounts the advice a friend gave her that helped her move past her hesitancy to paint less realistically and more expressively: “I don’t think anyone taught Jackson Pollock to paint that way. I think you should be controversial.” I love that!

Happy Painting in 2018!

Recently I got an email from Peggy B., who took my workshop in North Carolina. Here’s what she wrote: “I attended your fabulous workshop at Kanuga last year.  I do not have words to describe how much I enjoyed it and how freeing it was.  I loved every minute.  During that week, you gave us several “gems” — words of encouragement.  I wrote them all on one sheet of notebook paper, and it has been on my refrigerator door (the best place for me to receive daily reminders) all this time…..”

Well, I was intrigued about what “gems” she had discovered in my workshop and asked her if would send them to me and if she would mind if I shared her list with you all on my blog. So, here it is – enjoy! And thanks, again Peggy!

DONNA’S GEMS:

     No judgments. Paint mindlessly and respond.

      Create work you love, then it doesn’t matter what others say.

       Who you are is found in what you love.

        IMAGINATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN KNOWLEDGE.

       YOU ARE CREATIVE.

        Every painting has an ADOLESCENT PHASE. Keep going!!

        BE WILLING.

        Go beyond describing. Create a personal interpretation.

         IGNORE DETAILS, DESCRIPTION. LOOK AT SHAPE, VALUE, COLOR, LINE, TEXTURE. 

         FIND THAT THING THAT IS YOUR OWN.

         Make it ARTificial! 

         A painting should be about the ARTIST, not the subject.

The color was mine, the text and emphasis was Peggy’s.

Happy Painting!