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 Get your paints out and come and join me in painting a beautiful bunny. I have all the resources you'll need right here!
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I've been arting about this week and there's more to come. So I've been asking myself "How do we gain confidence from our art?".   My blogs, seem to refer to art being good for you quite a lot.
Drawing from observation uses both sides of the brain. Drawing as an activity is calming and contemplative, and can lower blood pressure and reduce stress. Drawing can develop and enhance our appreciation of our surroundings. So, I dare you to come and draw with me! You'll have a super time.  Phil and I enjoying a walk in the New Forest How to make new year resolutions you can really stick to. Today I put new dates onto my site about art classes in Salisbury. Without sending an email, posting anything on Facebook or telling anyone about it, some places have sold already! Incredible. During my years as a teacher I was used to planning way in advance. I apply the same strategy to my business. This is probably more useful to my readers who are fellow artists and running their own business, but I'm sharing this with anyone on my blog. I've been reading Lisa Jacobs' blog for years and its really helped me plan my business and get develop a strategy, I'm not just an artist, I'm running an art business. Lisa is a PRO at helping online entrepreneurs excel to the next level. Her strategies are tested and proven to win! Watch “Become a Better Business Strategist” when you sign up here (it’s free): https://iw250.isrefer.com/go/vid1optin/Louiselutonart  I'm booking out my diary for 2018 already...if you can't face it just yet, watch this vid, it's a great start to get you thinking about your next step in business.
 Pink skies over Tower bridge. Oil on linen, 60cm x 60cm ©Louise Luton
My new collection is finding the truth in my surroundings. My Countryside Companions Collection was the most popular work I have done to date. In fact you may have one hanging in your home right now. I adore my oil painted animals on natural linen and they have been a real hit. I have wanted to expand my collection by including surrounding areas that inspire me and to paint them on my natural linen canvases to place beside my animal artworks. I have drawn inspiration from my hometown of Salisbury, the beautiful nearby Georgian town of Bath, and London. I have included some extracts from my forthcoming Town and Country collection in this blog before they are available to buy on my website. If you would like to reserve any before they are available, simply email me and I'll happily send you details. Some more beautiful animals will also be added to the collection too.  Bath Abbey after the rain. Oil on linen, 70cm x 70cm ©Louise Luton  Salisbury Poultry Cross, oil on linen, 60cm x 60cm. ©Louise Luton  The baths at Bath. Oil on linen, 100cm x 50cm ©Louise Luton  At the beginning of March I will be running a workshop in Salisbury Cathedral on how to draw the complex architecture without getting bogged down in linear perspective. I teach you some arty tricks to find your way through tricky subject matter. We will explore the natural beauty in this incredible place. I still have a few spaces left on this course; it's always good fun, relaxed and really useful if you want to have the confidence to go and sketch when you're on holiday or sitting in a cafe. I promise you it's not as intimidating as you think! Some of my new Town and country collection will be on display in Waterstones from 19th February. I'll be blogging about that exhibition next week...
 It's all too tempting, to click your way to re-stocking your studio. But few pleasures compare to walking into a bonafide independent art shop. Seeing all those gorgeous materials laid out before you and getting excited about what you’re going to take home. I’ve been chatting to Sharon Noble of Noble Art supplies in Salisbury and I’ve got 10 reasons why you should go shopping there. 1. You get to speak to a real expert! Online there's no help or advice. Sharon is experienced and can help her customers. "After the closure of Compleat Artist Salisbury was left with a gap and as there was still an obvious customer base still present I thought I didn't want to waste nearly 18 years in art retail and everything I had learnt about materials". And thus, Noble Art supplies was born. 2. You can do a custom order. With accounts with the main suppliers and also 2 good wholesale companies, Noble arts are happy to order in special items for you. From canvas to paint, from pencils to brushes. 3. Get up close and personal with texture. Sharon and I are agreed, there's nothing better than finding a good brush. Nothing compares to selecting that brush in real life!  4. You can browse while making up your mind! Browsing online is nothing like as much fun! There's been a lot of fuss in the news about an independent book seller in Yorkshire charging people to browse. But Sharon tells me "I am happy for customers to browse. Also someone browsing is a potential future customer". So relax and enjoy yourself! 5. It's a chance to see just how many colours there are in the world! Walking into an art shop is walking into an Aladdin's cave of colour. Take your time and choose well!  6. It's a joy. a social event! You'll find like minded people. You'll be able to discuss techniques. Art materials are tactile it's great to see the products you are buying 7. Keep your Highstreet vibrant and full of luscious shops! There's a campaign called just a card which was started based on a gallery "If everyone who walked into our gallery and said it was beautiful had bought just a card- we'd still be open" So, what can we do to make sure Salisbury keeps it only specialist art shop open? The answer to this is simple; shop local! 8. It's a great place to dream! You can imagine your next masterpiece, you can picture the colour palette you'll use. You can plan. You can buy exactly what you need, nothing more. 9. You'll have access to local knowledge. Sharon knows many of the Salisbury artists and the classes they teach. If you want to find out more about the art scene, she'll more than likely know what's going on. In addition, Plain Arts Salisbury members get a 10% discount!  10. Get some inspiration.
From the shop window displays, the array of paints, brushes and materials and the inspiring people who work and shop there, you're bound to see something that will get your creative juices flowing! See you there! Art is good for you. It really is. So this year, why not treat yourself to a workshop to get those creative juices flowing once more. Drawing from observation uses both sides of the brain. Drawing as an activity is calming and contemplative, and can lower blood pressure and reduce stress. Drawing can develop and enhance our appreciation of our surroundings. Unlock the power of your creativty in 2017 on one of my workshops. You'll have a super time.
 Drawing in the Cathedral workshop with Louise Luton I have three lovely workshops coming up and places are going fast so book early. On Wednesday 1st February I'm doing an all day workshop in my lovely studio called "Art for pleasure". It's my most popular workshop, and I simply love it. Everyone has a great time and learns how to get back to their art and enjoy drawing and creating once more, even if it's been years (decades!) since they last picked up a pencil. [I also have a few places left on Oil painting for absolute begginers on Monday 6th February]. Each workshop begins at 10.30 and ends around 3.30pm. Bring your own packed lunch, I'll provide tea, coffee and squash all day! We begin with drawing. A few quick drawings to start you off. I'll teach you some great techniques to build your confidence and get you going. You'll be amwaied at what you can achieve. You can work in a variety of different media - pastels have proved really popular in the past, when people have wanted to add colour, but don't want to head towards paint straight away. Alternatively, Watercolours are great to add a wash of colour to a drawing. I'm an oil painter by trade but I absolutely love to sketch in waterolours and lay down my ideas in this medium, so I can help with your watercolour technique too. My workshops are hands on - you'll work hard and I'll do plenty of demos to help explain how you can take your art further. I wont draw all over your own work, I'll demo on separate paper, so you'll really be able to see your won work improve and develop without me cheating! My courses are relaxed and enjoyable. A Maximum of 5 places means that I can help everyone achieve better artwork. Every course is always great fun, book your place on the next one! There's more info on my workshop page or to a how to get started in in drawing Don't delay, book today. I'll send you confirmation and details of how to get to my studio. Treat yourself, you'll have a great day! If you've got any questions, please dont hesitate to email me. louiseluton@gmail.com  Louise Luton Art for pleasure workshop in Salisbury  From my workshops I've discovered that there are hints and tips that I give out that can end up being the real "wow" moment of the course! Sometime, a little aside comment, can be the exact advice someone has been looking for all along. So this week I have a little you tube video for you, showing you how you can solve the problem of a saggy canvas, and how to repair a little dent in a canvas after you've painted it. The method is really simple. It only takes minutes, you have all the things you need already and it isn't scary! If there is something about art, creating art, collecting art, of anything about my art that you would like me to cover in my blogs, or vlogs, please let me know, I'd be delighted to share.
Why Art is so good for you. Looking at it, owning it and creating it. It is good for you. Grayson Perry has most recently described art as therapy. He commented that whatever is bubbling under the in the artist’s subconscious will come through in their artwork, and in turn will speak to the viewer’s subconscious. Art has an immediacy in its language all of its own, that kind of therapy simply can't be bought! And I’ve begun to wonder whether or not I, and other artists take it for granted. I think there is something wonderful about wandering round a gallery and simply becoming absorbed in the art work that I'm looking at. Sometimes I might know the artwork well, it might be incredibly famous, or something that I have studied before. As often than not, as I get older, I become more and more drawn to things that I have never seriously looked at before! I am drawn to artists that I hadn't previously studied. Grayson Perry is right, art can communicate from creator to viewer in an immediate way. It's good for us to see and “feel” art.
 Solo boat in Poole Harbour, Oil on canvas. Louise Luton Art. Alain de Botton has even written and entire book entitled “Art as therapy”. It's brilliant and I heartily recommend it. He refers to the idea that art helps us recall, remember and make safe our memories. The wonderful piece by Jean Baptist Regnault pondering the start of painting; depicting a young couple in love. The woman, so afraid she will forget her lover's face, traced his shadow with a pieces of charcoal. It's beautiful and touching, (regardless of its accuracy) it makes me think of how we often wish to make mental pictures and artists used to be the only people that could truly help with that! One thing that really strikes us when we look at art is the view. The creation of a window on the world. In Britain especially we are drawn to enormous skies and seascapes; is this because we are an island race? a nation of sailors? who knows, but seascapes appear to be the paintings speaking to us when we visit galleries. Most recently I have been working on a series of animals and these seem to speak to people even more than my landscapes and views. Again we are nation of animal lovers, we can't get enough of them. People seem to become very attached to paintings of animals very quickly they start saying “I love him” or “look at her she's so sweet” when looking at one of my cows, sheep or ducks. I think it is interesting how quickly we can engage in work of art, albeit a beautiful one, simply because it is speaking to us on a different level.
I also think the art helps us in our daily lives because it can raise our own sense of self and self esteem. This isn't simply about status and showing off at a dinner party, though a large oil painting in our lounge can well do that! But it raises our esteem by making us smile. Every time we walk past our painting we feel a little bit of warmth inside us, we might remember the place the work depicts or the lovely day we bought the work of art. Or maybe it's our own self conscious filling in the gaps and sending us somewhere else. There is new trend in adult colouring books now, supposedly as a kind of art therapy or a kind of arty mindfulness. I don't mind adult colouring in at all in fact I think it's a lovely little hobby and can be calming. But creating art, or learning to draw is even better for you than colouring in. Last night there was a program on TV called “How to stay young” , they made reference to going to life drawing in order to help your brain stay young. Life drawing is an extraordinary activity and unlike constantly doing sudoko puzzles for instance, life drawing presents a completely different challenge every time you sit down to draw.
I regularly go to life drawing even though very little of my professional works are are figures, but life drawing keeps me fresh, there's always something to learn and is an artist it contributes to your skill. As a non-artist, if you attend life drawing classes incredible things will happen to your brain as both sides of the brain engage in the activity and create electrical impulses all across your brain. Even if there isn’t a life drawing class or art workshop near you, you can reap the benefits by drawing anything from direct observation. It’s best that you're not copying a photograph because the problem has already been solved - a 2D photo into a 2-D drawing. However sitting down and drawing one of the dining room chairs, or drawing the view through the door from one room can create an incredible exercise for your brain. You'll also find it wonderfully relaxing as well it's something you can do every day if you want to. So I urge you this week, try to get some art in your life Go and have a look at some art work in a gallery, even a small local gallery or pay attention to the art work you might see in a local coffee shop or restaurant and let some art in your life. Draw. Just do a little drawing, don't worry about showing it to anyone. But do draw. Because art is good for you. It really is.
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