Tag: leisure

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The art of giving gifts 2: traditions, colors and symbols

Art of giving gifts

Giving generously

This is the time of giving, forgiving and showing our love and gratitude to people, who are in our lives, to people who we know and to everybody who we don’t even know, but believe they need some Christmas mood lift.

The Latvian proverb goes like this: Dear God! Help us be so well that we could give others generously and not beg them kindly. Giving generously involves giving gracefully, with pleasure and beautifully.

Have golden heart

The ancient Latvian proverbs, folk songs and fairy tales were given verbally from one generation to the next one for many thousands of years, and they carry the Latvian moral and ethical code. They always emphasize that it is not a big deal to have much of golden money because much bigger deal is to have a golden heart. Well, we know how it is in reality: we need both, and yet, we need the latter one way more.

Traditions

Many centuries have passed by and life is not the same, obviously. The Latvian Christmas was initially mixed with the celebration of winter solstice, and we have so many superstitions and traditions regarding this time of the year! Thousands! Did you know that it is not a coincidence the Christmas or Advent wreath is round? This shape symbolizes the year and the human lifetime: the end meets the beginning, so our children pick it up where we left things.

Advent and Christmas wreath

The circular shape of the wreath also represents God, with no beginning and no end. Circle means completeness and abundance; and it is also related to the eternity. The evergreens in a Christmas wreath are used to share the message of the eternal life. The tips of a spruce tree branch remind a shape of a cross, which means this wreath is going to protect us from everything evil.

The Western world got its first wreath around 16th century, in Germany. Latvians were using wreath and circle shaped ornaments and decorations ever since they existed. The solstice is the time to call the sun back, and it needs to know the place where to return. Latvian wreaths and ornaments initially symbolized the eternity, the divine and the Sun. Whatever its meaning and whatever it means to us, the Christmas wreath is a beautiful thing. So are all the decorated gifts. Adding greens from the backyard adds so much freshness. We love the green color because it symbolizes the life and everything what is alive.

Be generous

It is important to be generous, not only at Christmas time, but always. We think giving a gift is a small gesture of kindness, but in fact, it’s much more. It is how we interact with the rest of the world. The more we give, the more we receive back. Small or large gifts, they all have to be wrapped up nicely because that shows we care about the person who is receiving our gift.

How to wrap up your gift

I kept my gifts in the traditional colors: heart red, evergreen green and added a bit of gold, silver and green-blue.

Art of giving gifts

An idea wrapping up round objects: make it look like a vase with blooms of ornaments and pine cones.

Roll up a tube of a firm paper. It has to extend the length of the gift item. Tape one edge of paper to the back of the gift object. Wrap around the wrapping paper. Tape one edge on the back. Fold in the bottom nicely and secure with tape. Fold in the upper edges. If needed, secure with tape from the inside. Wrap ribbon or gift string around the object. Add a bow or leave loose ends. Fill the upper part with tissue paper or some other light paper in any suitable color. Add some branches, pine cones and some small ornaments at the top.

It looks like winter vase with Christmas flowers! This takes practically 5 minutes when we have some materials and greens.

How to wrap up flat or large gifts

Flat and square objects are easy to wrap.

Ideas for gift wrapping

Sets of gifts look nice and they also speak to recipient with enhanced beauty.

Art of giving gifts

Traditional and very attractive colors warm up our hearts.

We start with the base and place the gift facedown. Tape with transparent tape or tape in a matching color. Use some ribbon or colorful strings; once again we start with placing the face side of the gift downwards. Add some bow or roll up the ends with the blade of scissors. They become curly and look very artistic. I like splitting up large surfaces, just as with painting, so I’d use everything what’s around. Gifts are wrapped for a short time, so we don’t need to worry about the durability of our construction. Its main purpose is to say “Merry Christmas, I love you!”

Art of giving gifts

Santa was helping me, as well. I also listened to beautiful music, and gift wrapping is a huge pleasure for me, in fact, always has been!

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The spectacular show of the fall: plenty to capture, plenty to paint

Art gallery and art studio of Inese Poga

Fall colors

Yellow, orange, rusty color and red: leaves say good-bye to their shelter tree and throw themselves into the swirling wind. It is the ancient show of the fall: the last waltz of leaves with the wind as they fall down, down, down …

Fall art, acrylic on canvas

While the fall is writing a summary about everything that was done during this year, the nature decorates outdoors with all its treasures: colorful leaves, acorns, rowan berries, chestnuts, wild mushrooms, rose hips, late fall blooms, vegetables in the garden and fruits on trees. This is the season of abundance, and this is the most genuine pleasure for our eyes and soul.

Golden sky, fall painting

Soothing, relaxing and pleasurable

Well, the wind could slow down a bit, and showers could be not that freezing. However, they’re just doing their job whether we like it or not. What can be more soothing and relaxing than creating some paintings in the warm and welcoming fall colors? A cup of herbal tea perhaps, or flavor of chicken soup on the stove? These are useful things for nasty and chilly fall days, too, but they don’t replace the simple pleasure of creation.

Fall art

Rewarding brushes

If there weren’t these fantastic colors out there, the pain of the summer disappearing behind a dark cloud would be unbearable! I hope everybody can enjoy some hot chicken broth or a cup of tea with homemade pastries at this chilly night in countries where it is getting cold. Other than that: we always have our brushes, pencils and paints. Let us keep painting and drawing, and creating as the fall makes us seek for a shelter indoors! Let us lighten up our inspiration so that we don’t have to blame the darkness and bad weather for our upset moods!

Art gallery and art studio of Inese Poga

I have attached for illustration some of the autumn nature series paintings.

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Advantage of sketching in watercolor

Sketching in watercolor what is the advantage

Reality of sketching

I’m usually advising my students: if you ever would like to learn drawing free-hand and manually, do not use photos, grids and other tools, but only your eyes in addition to paper and pencil. That gives us huge artistic freedom and allows not to depend on camera, printer, computer and photo editing software. That also saves a lot of time. It is more difficult for some people to draw and paint from a real subject initially, but it is like everything else: once you’ve understood how it’s done, the improvement is continuous.

Creating without devices

I grew up and learned painting without any cameras and photos. There was no internet, there were no computers. I suppose, that’s why the number of artists was noticeably smaller, too. In order to paint or draw something, you simply had to use your visual abilities and imagination. I am disagreeing with those who are trying to convince us that everybody was using some kind of camera obscura in the past in order to capture accurate details, proportions and perspective. It’s believed, that mostly amateur artists were using it since they did not have the knowledge and capability of producing good drawings. I know, everybody has heard about Canaletto whose drawings were created that way. Well, there were others, too. Some people can draw and capture everything flawlessly. I am one of them.

Why you can’t draw yet

I find that most people are unable to draw not because they have problems handling pencil and creating the image, but because they don’t know what to look for when they would like to recreate the subject on a paper or canvas. That takes practice and work, that’s all. I love doing drawings or sketches just for the sake of pleasure. It’s so great to see something evolving on a sheet of blank paper. Nothing really compares to this fantastic feeling! That always excites me, and I can spend hours drawing alone while other people are watching TV, for instance. As a kid, I was drawing my garden, street views, buildings and similar simple things. I used to draw portraits of my sister, other kids and later my daughter and my group-mates at the University.

Painting and sketching the easy way

Paintings are sometimes very labor-consuming, especially the large and very large ones. It is simply a lot of work. It can be hard physical work, as well, when handling huge canvas. Sketching with pencil, watercolor and pen is a quick way of capturing the desired view or subject. I do not draw anything tiny because I am trying not to use glasses. Glasses, just like camera can distort the image, and I wouldn’t like that to happen. These sketches were created while travelling, and sizes are between 10 x 12 to 12 x 16 in (25 x 30 and 30 x 41 cm). They were done in about 2 hours.

Sketching in watercolor what is the advantage

Advantages of using pen with watercolor

There are many advantages of sketching with pencil, watercolor and pen. First of all, sketching allows to stay focused. It’s like a daily exercise which keeps us in good shape. Our senses stay sharp and fresh, and it’s easier to get back to larger artwork after a break. It is also a great tool to overcome artistic blocks. Just start sketching without worrying about results. We allow our creativity to unfold and follow our imagination and inspiration.

Sketching in watercolor what is the advantage

Sketching is the quick way of capturing reality

Sketching does not take much time, it is very relaxing. Many artists and people, who are doing art for pleasure, know that. Lack of time is an ongoing problem. Not everybody is willing to sacrifice their free time only to drawing and painting, but they should. Doing painting and sketching regularly is already an achievement and it will certainly result in better skills. Sketching is very suitable to experience a new subject or style. There are millions of different ways of sketching, and that means: there is something for everybody.

Become a master in drawing

Finally, sketching is crucial for those, who want to master free-hand drawing from live subjects, or to capture a plein-air view. We can learn writing by reading a lot; we can learn many things by just watching how others do them, but drawing is a skill which we can  learn only by doing it. The more we draw, the more we sketch, the more artistic and skillful we become. We might get a new approach this way. We also might find a completely new style which works for us. I have always something on my studio desks: flowers, cups, jugs, brushes, paint tubes and similar items. Jars and cups are my favorite still life subjects. I have a large collection of them. I’m already looking forward to spring impatiently because that’s when the true sketching starts. Nature wakes up and takes us outdoors.

Framed sketch: why not?

It is also possible to frame sketches and use them as beautiful art for decorating your space. Sketches can make great illustrations and they sometimes serve as a standalone artwork.

Sketching in watercolor what is the advantage

Happy sketching! Please share your experiences with different media and subjects if you have time.

Link to sketching:  https://inesepogagallery.com/2018/05/02/how-to-bring-art-in-your-life-start-sketching-and-drawing/

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Art collections by Inese Poga