Inese, visual artist, writer and life sciences blogger

December 22, 2016October 17, 2024

Dreaming goes on because art is timeless

Christmas gifts art sale, floral and nature paintings

Art is the most timeless thing I can imagine

Art is timeless, and for a reason. To remind us not to waste our time, but rather create. These, who do not create, can still support creativity by buying art and giving art as gift.

Many paintings to choose from

Looks beautiful and inviting

Taking break from teaching during holidays

It’s good to wrap up things and have the feeling of “I have done everything I could, and it is what it is”. It would be certainly even better to finish the year in more elevated mood, like “Was this ever fantastic!” It’s also good not to have any classes for a while because that allows getting back to my own preferences, not only classwork. Giving classes is a big responsibility and it takes a lot of energy, as well as time-consuming preparation work.

Finalizing steps, bits and pieces

I would like to move to my personal subjects and my personal visions in art, but unfinished paintings are standing in the way. You look at some, and it begs: hey, just add a few brushstrokes, just wash in more background. I end up spending a lot of time on finishing steps, It’s difficult to return to painting which was started many years ago. I have moved on, and it feels like catching up on some long time ago forgotten thought or idea.

Trying to be more disciplined

I will try to be more disciplined and not start that many new paintings, but then again, when I didn’t do demos on canvas, I suddenly painted a few great paintings … on messed up cardboard. The wavy texture shines through, and these paintings are not any good for display. It’s even impossible to take any picture of them. You never know with painting: something good can appear where we don’t expect it, and everything can go wrong when we have high expectations. There are so many forces and energies involved that it isn’t by far as simple as “just do it right or according to your plan”.

Prep work for art classes

Classes also put a lot of pressure on any teacher because teaching is also not that simple. I usually think and plan and sketch until I find the right image for a particular group. I also have to think about simplified ways how to put it on canvas or paper.

Red poppies, both are sold

Unfortunately, I don’t have any better picture of these red poppies, they were sold right away

Inese Poga's art gallery — Look at my gallery wall, most paintings are sold

Look at my gallery wall, most paintings are sold

Sunset over shore, sold

My solo shows at my own gallery

I had put up a beautiful show, those who came were really impressed, but I believe, my timing was a bit off. I will start to prepare the next show “Blooms and Leaves” fairly soon, and that might be ready by the end of April or by May. Anyway, there is not such a thing as lack of paintings for sale at my gallery. It’s always open and available to anybody over the internet. Just ask and you’ll make my day with a purchase.

Before you leave this site, please, spend a short moment with my other blog which has my fairy-tale about Christmas: https://inesepogalifeschool.com/2016/12/22/christmas-fairy-tale-going-home/

Merry Christmas to these who celebrate it, and fantastic holidays to those who have other celebrations!

December 13, 2016December 10, 2021

Red and gold for Christmas and holidays

Red and gold

Red and gold is a fantastic color combination for the festive Christmas season! I thought it would be great to have a good show this year since the summer was slow. It feels the bad years are over, and I can start fresh. much better, at much higher level, much more efficient and more skillful. That is not hard to do when my health has returned.

Late with posting on blog

I have been very busy creating the show paintings, I promise to post articles and poems more often when I get over Christmas. The theme of this year is red and gold for Christmas as I mentioned. Red is such a warm and energizing color, we need it in winter. We need it especially when it’s cold and nasty outside. I was spending the day trying to get pictures for my show. The light was bad, but I tried, tried and tried until it worked.

Small bird paintings

Red cardinal and golden robin paintings make a very beautiful gift. I also invite everybody to join the art classes and paint some gifts on your own, red and golden birds or a festive holiday scene. That can be painted in a comparatively short time when using primed canvas. Primed canvas has a coat already on it, therefore, painting is easier.

Red and golden-red cardinals, silver-golden robin with beautiful decorations, they are sold now

Red and gold colors increase the festive mood

Red and gold, and red is as in poinsettia, Poinsettia painting measures 20 x 16 in or 51 x 41 cm

Red and gold as in burning candles, this is Christmas still life, 20 x 16 in or 51 x 41 cm

Red and gold, and gold as in sparkling decorations

Red and golden colors make any space festive and elegant.

If you prefer to paint your own art, join the art classes.

Art classes at Inese Poga’s art studio

Keeping gifting in moderate range

I hope you are not overdoing with gifts, but choosing soul-warming, mood-lifting and energy-giving things, like a painting. Why not? If you would love to see what deals are on, please check out and follow my Facebook page which is about this art studio, my art, art sales and art classes:

https://www.facebook.com/InesePoga/

November 24, 2016October 21, 2024

Fall still life: time just flew by

Fall still life, shop watercolor paintings

Still life has it all

Still life has been my most favorite subject ever since I can remember myself. I love setting up some fruit and arrange some leaves, flowers and jars, so that it looks exactly as I like. Still life allows capturing everything that is important in a painting: proportions, values, direction of light and shadows and contrast. Still life is essence of art.

Time constraints

Time is rushing us so badly that it sometimes feels I just wake up and go back to sleep. At least, I got this feeling recently. Along with doctor’s appointments, household stuff, daily meals, cleaning, laundry, classes, preparation of new images and painting steps, preparation of hand-out materials, advertising, social media posts, two huge medical writing jobs: that meant there was no time to paint. Although, my show is coming up and this is a gift season for which I should have been preparing. Well, I am trying to do my best.

I put up a few decorations yesterday, and I had to give a class later, and that was it. The day just disappeared again. Anyway, I’m posting a watercolor still life which was done about 3 weeks ago,

Daily duties and art

I hope my duties will somewhat balance out during the upcoming weeks and I can get to things which I really want to do: i simply would love to paint more. I love just setting up a still life, drawing and painting it.

Starting painting for a class is not quite the same: I have to take into account all distinctive levels of skill, and we often have absolute beginners, so that painting is just an illustration for what I am saying while teaching.

Showing is definitely better than only telling about it. It is very helpful also that I can see and correct things which are usually problematic for students: very little paint, too much water, completely dry brush, dirty brush, putting too much pressure on brush and similar basic issues which frequently arise when starting to paint.

Common beginners’ mistakes

One thing which is always wrong when painting in any medium and using any subject is trying to paint with tiny bits of paint or not having paint on a brush. We have to be generous!

I think, generous people also have much better results when creating art, they simply are not that much afraid of wasting anything. That certainly helps!

About this particular painting

I had started it while traveling to Latvia. I had two apples and some beautiful leaves. I created a composition which felt like I needed to add something more to it. Since I didn’t have pears and grapes, I simply drew them in. I just got the first layer, and didn’t get back to this painting until I arrived back in Canada. It looked quite terrible as first rough layers only.

So, Thought what can I do about this painting because it looked promising and I loved the composition. I added background, quite a few layers, but don’t have any pictures, and after a few layers of extra washes, it came to life and started looking great.

Autumn fruit still life, 16 x 12 in or 41 x 30.5 cm

Feel your subject

For me, painting a still life means to become my subject and to feel its energy. I feel like the apple in this still life, or like the pear, or even the leaf. I love soothing and warm colors. That is best achieved when using not a photo, but real things. I will also not stop painting until the still life feels right to me.

Painting takes time. You should be ready to spend on a painting at least a few hours here and there, so that disturbances, interruptions or other activities are not a problem. I just didn’t get this chance recently, but I’m looking hopefully to the future.

Closer look at the central part

Reasons to paint still life

I intend to draw and paint more still life paintings. Why? I cannot frequently get out into the nature, but things to use in a still life setting are always easily available. I believe drawing still life is as good practice as drawing faces or scenes with figures. The main thing is: we teach our eyes and brain to see and perceive.

Art prints and other artistic products are available from Fine Art America

Art collections by Inese Poga.

There is so much to like, purchase, enjoy and decorate with!

Please, review my art classes schedule and if you are located close-by, join our classes and attend workshops!

Registration: Art classes and workshops

October 14, 2016August 2, 2024

Creating is learning and living more intense

Apples, Purple variety, watercolor painting

Creativity is personal

Any creation involves saying something about ourselves. That is how we are telling others what our point of view is. True creativity is never copying and reproducing, but taking an idea that lives or is just born in our imagination and bringing it to life.

The use of color and technique

The use of color is also a very personal feature. To mix up a color which we find unique and love, we have to learn the process of color mixing. It is important not to stick with paint colors out of tube. Composition can be explained as good layout of the painted subject on a particular size paper, canvas or other surface material. There are generally applicable principles, and we should know them. Specific take on composition is a personal feature of an artist, and we should rather develop our own preferred compositions.

Choice of painting subject

Choice of painting subject is always important, and it is also a very personal feature. We should remember that it is much more useful to learn principles of drawing or painting without reproducing subjects somebody else is already painting in a very specific manner. You like it because they are painting it great. Nevertheless, we should not copy this style and painting subject.

Choice of technique and style

How and what we draw and paint always depends on us. As we progress, we study the many ways of achieving the desired result. Learning is an ongoing activity, and it’s erroneous to assume somebody knows everything. Experiment is the best teacher of all. Try for yourself and you will see whether it works or not.

Experiment and error

Learning process always involves mistakes and errors. Only people who do nothing never make mistakes. Try not being a perfectionist, at least at early stages of learning how to draw and paint. Perfectionism lives inside many minds, but it is restrictive and limiting. Art which is less than perfect is still art and provides you with improvement value.

Take the path of discovery

I personally always think: let’s see what happens. Everybody who is painting or drawing has thrown out lots of paper and damaged quite a lot of canvas. There is nothing bad about that. I had a girl who once said: I do not want to throw away this expensive paper just because I started the painting wrong. Don’t do that! When something cannot be corrected, throw it out without any regret.

Start over

It is much more difficult to correct wrong lines and colors than start a fresh using the new knowledge you just discovered. I believe that every task adds something to our knowledge and skills.

Creating on the go

I am not at home at the moment, but visiting my closest family in Latvia. I had a few sheets of paper and student grade paints in too few colors. Such paints don’t have the transparency or flow ability of good quality paints. However, I could not resist when I saw this bloom and these apples, because I do not have these painting subjects in Canada. I always prefer drawing from real subject. It was more difficult because I didn’t have the right tools and brushes, but I did not allow that stopping me. I can reuse the same drawings with decent paints and better size paper or canvas at home.

Apples in apple tree drawing — Drawing for apple watercolor

Apples watercolor, unfinished — First layers of watercolor

More about drawing: Drawing and watercolor

Inspiration to take art classes: Get started

My art prints:

Art collections by Inese Poga

My life school blog

My life school blog deals with GREEN LIVING and importance of changing our perception in order the Earth was living and livable longer. Links to 3 recent posts which continue the same conversation about green living.

Living green means simplifying and enhancing life

The new perception of prosperity and green living has become a must

The very green walk in October forest: we have to end consumerism

September 25, 2016August 2, 2024

What it takes to complete painting, fall art show

Fall art show, studio sale, don’t miss art deals

Fall art show is here. Buy art from the artist. It will be original art and it will come at a lot less than buying from a gallery. Studio sale offers plenty of art at great prices. 3 ladies already responded. I am genuinely thankful for their support, and I hope they like their paintings, however, taking into account the large number of items for which I do not have left any wall space and any storage space, I would need much more sales happening. Please, take advantage of very affordable rates and keep shopping.

Perfecting my own style

I work a lot and hard to create my paintings. I know how much easier it is to make abstract art because that takes origin only in one’s imagination. Artists sometimes simply try to comply with market trends also. Unfortunately, I am not in abstracts that much, I prefer more challenge. I have developed my own realism style which is not a copy of photo, but artistically enhanced realism.

fall art show — *Fall art show: a few of fall landscape and tree paintings*

Creating art takes time and patience

When we look at a painting, it seems it didn’t take any time or efforts. It is due to the fact, that good art shouldn’t exhibit artistic struggles and technical difficulties, but mood and atmosphere of the painted scene or subject. When we get past such struggles, the genuine creation happens. Some of my paintings took 2 years to bring to a stage when I liked them. In average, each painting takes about 1 week to month to get it to the point when I am satisfied with it. There are smaller watercolors which only take one to two days to accomplish, but any larger work requires much more time because most of my paintings are rather representative than abstract.

Showing groups of paintings

Why do I love showing paintings rather in groups than just one image at a time? Internet display has huge drawbacks when it comes to art. Small 8 x 10 inch paintings virtually look the same size as 3 feet by 4 feet paintings, colors are also more realistic in group photos. I must add, that the online look of painting and its colors will greatly depend on your device and its settings.

Fine Art America site for art prints and other art products:

Art collections by Inese Poga

Author: Inesepaints

Dreaming goes on because art is timeless

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Red and gold for Christmas and holidays

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Fall still life: time just flew by

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Creating is learning and living more intense

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What it takes to complete painting, fall art show

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