Art

End of the Road

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

Ten years ago I applied for an arts grant honoring Indiana’s centennial. Encouraged by a poet friend who was familiar with the process, I ventured into the world of grant writing and proposed a program that would celebrate nature in the state parks as I encouraged others to create art in natural settings. I threw myself into books about plein air painting and attended grant writing workshops. By the beginning of 2016 I began painting outside while preparing for my first year of a four-year journey to paint in all the state parks, providing visitors with supplies to create art with me.

By the end of 2019, I had held programs in twenty-three parks and painted in twenty-five across the state. I logged thousands of miles and met hundreds of visitors. My Paints in the Parks program was featured in a DNR magazine and local newspapers. What started as a challenge for me as a recovering artist to get out there and paint in public became an opportunity for young and old to create postcards with a variety of supplies including waterbrushes with water inside the handles, watercolor pencils and watercolor crayons. I watched with amazement as entire families sat together at picnic tables or repeat visitors sought me out at another park.

Instead of criticism I encountered enthusiasm for what I saw in nature while participants were encouraged to draw or paint whatever they wanted. There are no mistakes, I told them — just fun exploration and enjoyment of the outdoors. I was able to experience the incredible topography and history unique to each park and meet the many dedicated personnel who are proud and passionate about preserving the natural beauty they steward.

While I had hoped to continue with workshops or gatherings in nature, the pandemic and health issues have changed my focus over the last six years. It’s time to shut down this blog and close the sketchbook on Paints in the Parks. This adventure has healed many painful issues around art for me over the years and I’m so glad I took the plunge ten years ago. And to the many friends I made along the way, I thank you for your participation and encouragement. I couldn’t have done it without you.

(The Paints in the Parks blog will remain up until the end of the year if you want to revisit any of the state park locations.)

Art Therapy

/ Tamara Brown / 3 Comments

I see it’s been a little over a year since I’ve posted on Paints in the Parks. 2024 was a year of thirds. The first third saw me beginning the 100 Day Project again using gouache as a medium, only to lose my way after fifty days. Then on April 8th before watching the moment of totality from our back garden, I finished the eclipse drawing I began in 2017 during the last US solar eclipse. However, my wish to focus (my word for the year) on completing unfinished projects ended there unfortunately.

Except for a few lingering construction projects in the garden, I spent the second part of 2024 enjoying what I had created in previous years. I cleaned out the rusted metal and broken pottery unearthed in our backyard and hung up the odd bits that amused me on the grid of my patio trellis. The line of volunteer sunflowers along our bungalow became sculpture to me and still stands in the winter winds, a perch and shelter to birds while it casts interesting shadows on the house.

The final third of the year I spent focused on other creative pursuits like writing and cooking, preserving the abundance from my garden in interesting new ways. I tried creating herb bundles with different materials like rosemary. I also dusted off my ten-year-old Lumix digital camera with the hopes that I will finally read the manual and learn to take some better photos and possibly video.

Which brings me to 2025 and the start of another 100 Day Project at the end of February. I have been participating in an Instagram daily prompt so far this year and I’d like to create art from whatever I photograph each day. These would be small drawings and quick sketches to practice my line drawing with pens, pencils, markers and even crayons. In addition I’ve been reorganizing my art supplies and have a few canvases and pastel boards I want to use.

And last but not least, I hope to explore the world of videos and perhaps post a few on my YouTube channel this year. This project will require some education with iMovie which is intimidating and intriguing at the same time. As the world becomes darker and more chaotic, I find that art and creativity are more important than ever as good therapy and a much-needed lifeline.

Stay tuned.

Here Comes the Sun (and Moon)

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

One of my outdoor art projects last year involved a recycled table top, leftover house paint and new acrylic Posca pens. I’m forever grateful to my husband for doing the grunt work of washing, sanding, priming and painting the background. I then drew out a large sun radiating light beams that he expertly painted with the same color as our house. And there the object sat for the rest of the summer and most of the autumn while I procrastinated in the garden.

On one of the final warm days of fall knowing that I had limited time left to finish, I spent a very pleasant day outside on the patio listening to music and creating designs with my Posca pens. I have enjoyed creating mandalas in the past and this project was very therapeutic in its symmetry and simplicity just like a traditional mandala. At some point the addition of one color pulled the entire piece together into sacred geometry. The process was complete.

My Posca pens were so much fun to use that I felt compelled to find another project. This month I pulled out a $3 hanging wall kit from Target that had been languishing in a drawer for months and knew what I had to do. In the dark and dreary days of January a celestial theme seemed just the ticket to dispel my cold weather blues. So another sun was born using the gold metallic pen, and a shimmery moon with a metallic silver appeared on the other side. And of course they had to have faces!

Thus begins a new art year full of unfinished projects and potential materials both inside and out. In 2024 I hope to finish one art project per month and feature all twelve on this blog. Wish me luck and if my creative recycling and scavenging processes inspire you to take the leap, I highly encourage you to do so. There is nothing more energizing than making treasure out of trash and beauty out of blandness.

The Daily Draw

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

In my last post I had begun my 100 Day Project with daily word art. So the big question still remains–did I finally finish my 100 Day Project? The answer is YES I DID! On June 1st I proudly crossed the finish line with my word art compiled as a marvelous daily journal. Here are a couple of highlights from the Project:

Since this daily draw project was so successful (and I’m a glutton for punishment) I decided to take on the Inktober challenge with prompts for each day in October. Pen and ink was my first love, so it’s been fun to return to black and white with very little color. This art is all about texture, hatch marks and composition without relying on the color wheel. Here’s two of my contributions from Inktober 2023:

The question is, will there be more in 2024? One hundred days may be a bit too much, but I won’t rule out a monthly or weekly drawing practice in the coming year. My hand/eye coordination is not what it used to be when I was young but even the great masters got a pass in their senior years as longevity took its toll on dexterity and vision. At least I could benefit from the cataract surgery that wasn’t around for Monet. On the other hand I don’t have as good of an excuse for my blurry lines and shaky shapes, only my charmingly wonky style!

Back to the Drawing Board

/ Tamara Brown / 4 Comments

So far 2023 has brought renewed health and interest in art after 2022’s 100 Day Project came to an abrupt halt when illness derailed all my plans for the rest of the year. The long creative drought through many dark days has encouraged my love of all things bright and cheerful this year. I’ve finally taken to heart my own message that I repeated like a mantra throughout all my Arts in the Parks programs: don’t worry about mistakes and above all JUST HAVE FUN!

To honor my mantra I’m participating in 2023’s 100 Day Project challenge by creating word art (any subject, any medium) for 100 days. Without the restrictions I normally impose on myself, I’m actually eager to complete a quick drawing every day lasting no more than fifteen minutes while listening to my favorite radio shows. And suddenly twenty days have flown by!

Here’s two from the beginning:

Each day I sit down and draw what comes to mind and realize that my daily scribbles are becoming a sort of graphic diary, if nothing more than a note on the weather. I’ll be able to look back and see what I was thinking or doing on a particular day while I practice better hand-eye coordination and color choices.

Like baseball players in spring training, I’m limbering up my art muscles for a creative season in the garden with plans for colorful garden art and structures. Of course the operative word will continue outside too. Let’s have FUN this year!

Almost Halfway

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

The cold weather in March kept me inside busy with my 100 Day Project rather than battling the elements outside. The slow start with emerging vegetation sent me scrounging for subject matter and becoming punchy enough to create some anthropomorphic fruit, veg and celestial bodies:

I also took advantage of dead things:

Then there were the reliable houseplants:

And finally some fleeting spring ephemerals that I was lucky enough to catch:

I’m edging closer to the halfway mark for my 100 days and feeling a bit winded on this journey. I may have to switch up my style and medium to add some variety. I’ve been enjoying my ink pens and watercolor pencils but will venture into new territory soon.

Until next month when I hope to have more to show with my outdoor art, stay safe and enjoy the spring!

The 100 Day Project 2022

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

February’s snow and frigid temps kept me indoors and creating art based on my houseplants and photos from warmer times. I decided to join the 100 Day Project challenge on Instagram which I attempted in 2017 and lasted for 80 days of park art. This time the subjects will be small drawings of plants, seeds and fruit captured with their life force, auras or “spirits” around them. The hashtag on Instagram is #100daysofplantspirits if you’d like to check out my progress. So far I’ve been allotting a brief half-hour or so to create every day, a welcome relief from the stresses of living right now.

So far I’ve explored plant personalities from onions to herbs, healing to wholesome:

And in some cases I’ve celebrated the scales of an acorn, new growth emerging from the ground or the date I ordered tomato seeds.

My materials for the last fourteen days have included regular colored pencils, watercolor pencils and permanent ink Pigma Micron pens for the outlines. I hope to collect all the 100 Day art in a watercolor Moleskine that I’ve been using for many years. Maybe I’ll finally fill it up!

I’m looking forward to a daily practice that sharpens my rusty skills and improves my attention to detail while encouraging playful creativity. Hopefully March will bring warmer weather, new raised beds and some garden decorating. Stay tuned!

Back to the Garden

/ Tamara Brown / 4 Comments

It’s been two years since I completed the final art grant and posted Paints in the Parks’ last event. In that time eye surgeries, complications from those procedures, and the pandemic shut down my interactions with the public and my plein air painting. But not my creative spirit.

What follows is a brief overview of the small, fanciful and infinitely rewarding art projects that have enriched the creative spark that would not die despite days in bed, foggy vision, scarce resources and my daily anxiety caused by an uncertain future. My first attempts after adjusting to my new eye vision in 2020 used mixed media with tissue paper, iridescent watercolors, and watercolor pencils outlined in ink based on houseplants and photos.

Tradescantia zebrina

In the winter of 2021 I utilized items found in my yard and on neighborhood walks such as leaves, acorns and pinecones (even a pole bean) to create a wall hanging and nature mandalas.

Last summer I used a variety of supplies and found objects to create art for the yard, including iron spikes (mushroom stems) that may be from a circus that wintered over in our neighborhood in the early 1900s! My family helped paint the mushroom tops molded from air-dry clay. Unfortunately someone found them tasty because they were gradually nibbled away by the fall.

In 2022 I’m looking forward to new projects with garden art, including an old set of windows that I can’t wait to paint, outdoor mandalas, art journaling and some landscape design. I’ll take you along with me and hope that my adventures (or misadventures) give you a few ideas inspired by nature. Until next month, happy creating!

The Completed Quest

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

Paints in the Parks’ final event for 2019 took place on a beautiful Saturday in October at Mounds State Park near Anderson, Indiana. Known for its prehistoric earthworks and the Bronnenberg House built by one of the area’s first European settlers, the park also offers plenty of trails, beautiful views of the White River and an excellent Nature Center where our last painting activity and art show were offered in the spacious community room.

Twenty-five paintings either finished on site as plein air or touched up in the studio were on display along with a brief description of each state park, the date visited and a photo of the scene that was painted. A flyer from every park was also provided with maps of the trails. The art exhibit encompassed all four years of Indiana’s Arts in the Parks grant projects beginning in 2016 to celebrate the state’s bicentennial anniversary and the state parks’ centennial anniversary.

Visitors were also encouraged to try out the water brushes and other watercolor supplies provided to create art in the park one more time. Sixty participants created their own artwork on small watercolor blocks to take home as souvenirs of their visit. It was great to see old friends and participants from previous park visits as well as new faces stop by to join the painting activity and check out the artwork.

All in all we couldn’t have asked for a better finale to our four-year Arts in the Parks grant project and our quest to paint in all the marvelous state parks in Indiana. Paints in the Parks thanks the staff at Mounds and the entire Indiana Department of Natural Resources for their support over the years. This project was made possible by funding from the Indiana Arts Commission and the state of Indiana. And special thanks to all the new friends and artists we’ve met over the years. May all of you continue to create art in nature.

While this is the conclusion to our four-year project with the Indiana Arts in Parks program, Paints in the Parks will continue with our mission to creatively connect folks of all ages and experience to nature through art. We’ve recently moved and look forward to painting (and encouraging others) in the many parks and wildlife reserves in the rolling hills of southern Indiana, also home to a rich history in the traditions of arts, crafts and plein air painting.

We wish our readers a happy 2020 and hope that you will continue to follow us in our artistic adventures!

Bucolic Brown County

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

Paints in the Parks’ last park visit to complete our four-year project (before the art exhibit in October) took place on a busy Saturday during Labor Day weekend in Brown County State Park. Established in 1929 as the largest park in the state, Brown County is located in the rolling hills of southern Indiana near the university town of Bloomington. During the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps restored the cleared slopes of the park with plantings of black locust, black walnut and other trees to help stop erosion while building many of the existing buildings, shelters, roads and lookout tower.

Brown County is famous for its vistas that overlook miles of wooded hills, especially during peak foliage season in the fall. That is where I set up in the morning across from Weed Patch Hill to capture still-green leaves on the last day of August. The overcast day brought a hint of autumn chill on the breeze as I worked with my oil paints and talked to visitors who stopped by on foot or by car on this busy holiday weekend. With its 70 miles of bridle trails, 20 miles of hiking trails and 27 miles of mountain biking paths, this park has plenty to keep you busy. You can also stay at their large campground, rustic cabins or the Abe Martin Lodge after your busy day of activities.

After finishing my  8″ x 10″  oil painting (I’m faster after four years!) in good time, we headed down the road to the Nature Center where a nature fair was underway full of informative exhibits and fun activities for the whole family. We were lucky enough to set up our painting activity next to the DNR table with a display of butterflies and milkweed seeds to plant. Its proximity also offered excellent subject matter to paint in addition to the wildflower garden nearby still in full bloom.

We had a tremendous turnout that day with 66 children and grownups participating in our painting activity, rivaling the attendance at O’Bannon Woods State Park on a Labor Day weekend two years ago. You could find artists everywhere including the Nature Center’s outdoor benches by the overlook, the porch floor and in the gravel path! Even a brief rain shower couldn’t deter visitors from trying out the water brushes and art supplies. We were really happy with our Art in the Park program’s outreach on the final park visit and the smiles on visitors’ faces made the ambitious schedule and 23 painting activities all worthwhile.

In the afternoon I spent a couple of relaxing hours at the Hesitation Point overlook working with a pastel on Ampersand board. The gritty texture grabs the chalk pastels nicely for more intense colors in the waning daylight. Many stopped by to talk about my painting and show me their artwork. It was a delightful and fitting way to wrap up my Arts in the Parks visits.

But we aren’t finished yet! Stay tuned for highlights from Paints in the Parks’ art exhibit and painting activity held in October at Mounds State Park in Anderson, Indiana. Until then, happy creating in whatever way you enjoy.