Diane Clancy's Art Blog

Now can this be a circus? Is this fun? I love the swirls and circles … the way the colors – especially the yellows and blues – play off each other keeps my attention. And those different shades of blue swirls engage me.

Beyond V, Digital © Diane Clancy

Sue, I tried to not make any eyes that might feel scary … but only you know for sure whether I was successful. What do you (everyone) think … feel?

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: colors

I had posted another image earlier and asked, “Can this be a circus then?” But I decided that that image disturbed me – and I don’t like to be disturbed – enough of that to go around already! Is this friendly, now? I really like this … entering into something deep or a third eye … I like this a lot!

Beyond IV, Digital © Diane Clancy

Trust me … I am going somewhere with all this … the business cards have gotten in the middle of this project. If you look at the categories this is posted in, you will find a hint.

Do you have any thoughts or feelings about this?

~ Diane Clancy

Castles in air … enter into my world … the chaos of life, reflections of life, reflections of the carnival, reflections of outer space, reflections of inner space …

whimsical, comical, vivid, fun, topsy-turvy, dr suess, children, play … the wild blue yonder …

Beyond III, Digital © Diane Clancy

What do you think … feel?

~ Diane Clancy

This digital painting was created in Studio Artist. It has been one of those days of working hard but not having a lot to show for it. So I needed to have a change … so here is a totally different kind of image. I like the way this pink relates to the flowers in the top image (currently) in the “mini-shop” – the kitty in the flowers.

Flower Essence III, Digital © Diane Clancy

Susan Elkin got her Etsy shop set up today and also got her blogspot blog personalized. She sat next to me and I guided her through the process. It was actually very gratifying because now she has a whole new appreciation for why doing all this online networking and figuring things out takes so long. I am extremely grateful!!

I have listened very carefully to the feedback I have gotten on the “looks” of the blogs and I am trying to find a theme for this WordPress blog that is conducive to a clearer look. I need one that can have my Conundrum I image in a banner (currently the second image in the Etsy “mini-shop” on the side). I like that with the little shop you can see some of my paintings very easily.

So I am trying to figure out a theme so that I can get a look more like my Blogger blog – I like that look and I have gotten a lot of positve feedback about that look. But I find that extremely tiring. But I will get through it all! Thank you again for being with me in this process!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: digital painting, Studio Artist, Susan Elkin, blog, WordPress, Etsy, Blogger

An e-zine came to my In Box during this last week as I have been grappling with my creative style(s). Molly Gordon of Authentic Promotion (www.authenticpromotion.com) wrote an article about “How to Have a Business that Fits Just Right.” Molly talks about Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ house where Goldilocks tried different porridge, chairs, and beds before she found what fit for her. This article was a breath of fresh air for me! The timing was perfect.

Abstract Design V, Digital © Diane Clancy

I like the way she validates that we all have marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and business strategies – whether or not they are conscious. I believe that would also include creative strategies. My strategies are actually fairly conscious and often honed. So perhaps I AM on track!

I like making plans and making progress toward goals. I am still in the process of learning that I don’t have to prefer porridge too hot or too cold for me. My purpose here is to do MY work MY way – with a lot of outside input and help. Sometimes I forget that it is myself and my vision that I am most responsible to. After all, that is part of what makes me an artist – having a vision and expressing that vision.

Thank you, Molly, for reminding us that we are responsible to find what fits for us – not for the next person. Art and business, like so much of life, is about educating ourselves and making choices that resonate with ourselves. I am delighted to feel back on track of remembering that being honest with and to myself is most important – whew! I know how to do that!

Thank you again for sharing my journey.

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Molly Gordon, vision, journey, business, strategy

I am being inspired by Sue O’Kieffe‘s mandalas to share this digital painting with you today. Sue’s mandalas are very different from this, but tonight after looking at her blog, Sacred Circle Mandalas, the vibrancy in her latest mandala sent me searching for a similar “feel” in my own work.

Nature Reflections II, Digital © Diane Clancy

This image was created in Studio Artist (SA) from a pretty photograph of yellow and blue birds. This program specializes in transformation of images. If you would like to see another variation made from the same photograph, you can check out post Nature Reflections I. There you can find the start of the following conversation.

I have been asked the difference between SA and Photoshop. SA is vector based, like Illustrator, rather than bitmap or pixel based like Photoshop. In a vector based program, one can make a circle and it is determined by a mathematical formula. If one enlarges it to as big as a house, it is still a perfect circle since it is created by a formula or vector.

With a bitmap image, when one increases the size, the circle will get ragged because it is based on a certain number of little squares next to each other. When one makes those squares bigger, all the jagged edges of the squares are more obvious. Truly the circle never was a circle, but a circle drawn by squares.

More about this another day … I love the vibrancy of the colors – especially the purple.

- Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Sue O’Kieffe, mandala, digital painting, Sacred Circle Mandalas, Studio Artist, transformation, Photoshop, Illustrator, color, inspiration, nature

This image has me going in several different directions at once. Sometimes it looks very cosmic to me with vision or an eye in the center, with cosmic rays radiating out. Other times it seems to be an icon for modern culture – somewhat garish and not quite on target. Either way to me it does look like a mandala – not like Sue O’Kieffe‘s mandalas – but one nevertheless.

Emanate II, Digital © Diane Clancy

This is a digital painting that I made with Studio Artist. Sue has asked in a comment about this program and how it differs from Photoshop. When I am less tired, I will explain some of the differences. If you look at “Conundrum I” in “2 Collages With a Quilting Influence,” and then look at “Emanate II” again, you may be able to see some resemblance.

In this creative process I was playing with Studio Artist to understand how it works and I used “Conundrum I” as a base image to play with. Hint: with Studio Artist, you always start with opening a “source image.” You don’t have to use it – but you need to have it. When I look at “Emanate II,” I see “Conundrum I” very strongly – having spent dozens of hours creating “Conundrum I,” I know many of the scraps of quilting fabric quite well!

Let me know what you think. Do you see “Conundrum I’? Do you see an icon or a mandala? Or what else do you think?

- Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: icon, mandala, Sue O’Kieffe, digital painting, Studio Artist, creative process, quilting, fabric, Photoshop

I’ve always enjoyed the colors blue and yellow together – ever since I was a child. There is some way my eye goes back and forth, back and forth between a bright blue and a bright yellow. Many people have been drawn to this particular digital painting – from my aunt who was over 90 to young children. The birds, representing nature, are part of what I think draws people into this picture. Also, this image is at the border between realism and abstraction – where I think much interesting transformation happens.

Nature Reflections I, Digital © Diane Clancy

I created this image using Studio Artist, a very unusual art program. I started with a beautiful photograph of several birds and then digitally transformed the picture. I think many people are drawn by the fact that they can see birds – but often they keep looking trying to understand what is going on.

As with much of my own creative process, I can never quite reproduce what happens by accident. I do much better when I am aligned with my muse and allow the flow to happen than when I try too hard to “make” things happen. Of course, technical skills are still crucial – but, for me, the greatest reward comes when I feel in the flow. I wish for us all to be able to live in that flow.

- Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: color, digital painting, nature, transformation, Studio Artist, creative process