Summer is gone before you know it!!

I had a couple months of just creating late spring and half of summer. So wonderful to really work on a body of work. One of my goals this year is to get a body of work together that is a series.One good think about a series is you don't have to keep reinventing the wheel. So often I will do work to learn techniques because I love learning but when I look at all the work there doesn't seem to be a any continuity. Yes, I have a style but what I am trying to say. I have been reading and thinking alot about what it means to be an artist. I seriously started painting about 6 years ago.I have worked very hard to finally get to where I like my paintings. In one lecture I heard, they talked about the first couple years of painting you are learning techniques and developing a style but after a point you jump to a new level which is what am I trying to say. That has been the hardest thing for me because I would paint these women and I didn't really have a personal connection to them. Yes they portrayed emotion but not necessarily mine. So I had to dig deeper. What is it I want to say? Going to Scotland to a workshop with Gillian Cox was a turning point for me. She had a story and it was personal....where is my story? I started taking pictures of abandoned buildings. Some of the pictures included me in dark dilapidated stairways. Some had reflections of me in the windows. I do go through periods of melancholy in my life and discovering these building with not so happy of a past touched me. I related to the fear and sadness these buildings held. I then realized some of my past was not so good but I always pulled out of it and made something good from it.I don't do happy art but I don't do completely sad or remorseful art because there is always a thread of lightness that is weaved into it. So, it will be interesting to see how my story develops in my work ahead.
I am thinking, too, about my teaching. Do I just want to teach techniques and make nice objects or do I want to work with students and dig deeper? It is a tricky thing because I always want students to feel comfortable and safe in my classes no matter the level, but I do want to attract the students that want to create art and be willing to put in the time to develop. It is so important to practice in the studio and not just take classes. Artists need that time to grow.It might mean some students will not want that from a class because their life is so full of other equally important things and want to take classes mostly to have fun being creative because it is the only time they have to do that which is a very, very valid and good reason. But I have been talking and meeting a number of students that really want to pursue art and maybe even make a living from it, but for the most part are driven to do art. I relate because that is what I had to do. Alot of students look at my work and are intimidated because they can't see themselves doing it, but I tell them I started from no where. I did very childlike portraits with no idea what I was doing. I kept at it trying to find something I liked. The key was the practice, putting in the time. It really is the only secret to getting better.
So here is some of the work I have been doing the last couple of months.

Alot of the portraits I have posted here are demonstrations of my latest online class, Fractured Portraits. If you are interested in taking this class here is the link:

http://www.fracturedangelics.com/product/fractured-portraits-e-course

Here are some photos of the abandoned Stonewall Jackson Reform School 

NOW FOR THE REALLY EXCITING NEWS!! I have been accepted into Ciel Gallery in Charlotte, NC. It is wonderful gallery with so many talented artists and they have all made me feel so welcomed. Here is a link to the gallery: http://www.cielcharlotte.com/
I will soon have some of my artwork up there in the next month. Here is where I am heading and I love this direction. I need to dig into this for awhile and see where it takes me.....less color but so much to look at:

I will have to post after all of them have been framed and hanging in the gallery. They are also interested in my ledger girls that I can frame. Here is the start of those:

If any of you are interested in coming to Orvieto, Italy in Fall 2016 for a workshop with me, here 

is the link:http://www.adventuresinitaly.net/f16thompson.html

Here are a few ideas:

Thanks for reading my blog post!