Better than an Art History class
Frankly, when I took Art History in college, I was bored. I was not producing much art at the time and was only interested in life drawing in pencil and/or conté. Of course, it was interesting, but I had no way to know what all those artists were really thinking of when they were creating art, and I certainly didn’t understand their processes or their materials because it was beyond my scope of understanding at that point in my journey. Looking back on this now, I wished I had been more enthused.
It was only when I started using color that my interest in art history started to inspire me. (Okay, so sometimes it takes me a while to “get it.”) After taking dozens of workshops and following hundreds of contemporary artists, I realized I need more to fuel my creativity. That was when I started researching the brave and tortured artists from the past, to try to understand what drove their passion to pursue their art.
Doing this on my own was a lonely pursuit. My studio is in a remote location, an hour from town and any kind of social art activity. I miss the experience of taking in-person workshops, talking about art, and working toward a common goal alongside other artists.
As working artists, the last thing we want to do is spend more time on the computer. It robs us of our time to create. We all want to see what other artists are doing and we probably spend more time on our phones than we care to admit, following, liking, sharing and promoting art.
What if you could meet and work alongside other artists from around the world for just a few hours a month to share your progress, ask questions and get feedback on your work? The MFA Monthly Art Challenge is a community of artists who study a variety of painting styles, challenge each other to try new approaches and styles of creating, give each other constructive input, and share their art adventures together in a safe and supportive environment. Community is powerful.
You can try it out by going to https://www.patreon.com/Cmagellen. In order to maintain the intimacy and trust of the group as a whole, enrollment is limited, but our imaginations are not.
Happy Arting!
--Cheryl
