Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Art with Petra Winterkamp


The experience at Petra Winterkamp's personal art studio was one that I will remember for a long, long time. I've never looked at colors as vibrant and strong as the one's we were privileged to be inspired by and to work with yesterday. After a day of painting and sketching I felt like I had achieved a new state of mind - one where the part of the brain that we overwork in our everyday lives could rest, and where the creative, flexible part could be activated.

We began with a discussion about art - specifically the Blaue Reiter movement. What constitutes art? Why is abstract art considered beautiful? Are shape and color only useful to portray the physical world, or can it be used to evoke inner emotions from the viewer, or reflect the inner world of the artist? After the discussion, we set to work with sketching. Since animals are a large part of the Blaue Reiter movement, our models were little animals sculptures.

My favorite part of the workshop, however, was working with color. In fact, I got so carried away with working with subtle and vibrant hues, and textures we could create with a paste that could be applied to the canvas, that I forgot to paint an animal! I experimented with watered down color, creating pastel mixes, and contrasting the boldest and most opposing colors on the color wheel. I dripped color and smeared paste, and eventually I found a form hidden in the colors. In the end I coaxed what appeared to be a little blue-bird or a penguin from the canvas.

Never before have I created art so organically. The dynamic metamorphosis on the canvas was riveting for me, as if I was an observer of the creation of art that came from somewhere else. I truly feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work with a skilled artist in her personal studio, and to be able to take away such a unique experience.


2 comments:

  1. I agree!!! It was amazing. Can't wait to see your paintings.

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  2. This is beautifully worded, Karin! I was trying to write a reflection about the workshop and I struggled to find words for it, but this is wonderful!

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