New Painting: Which image matches your state of mind?

Hi friends,
There are various states of mind which we could find ourselves at any moment of our life. Yet, which is the one we can control and act upon in our reality? The past, present, future or dreaming?

In my opinion, the past and future are useful states of mind only when referred to as needed, not lived in. Dreaming (day or night) is another form of escaping this moment of reality, avoiding what's real.

With that said, I present this new painting to you.

Present, Past, Future or Dreaming

20'' x 24''

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

I chose rubix cubes because I feel it represents how our minds are nearly always in flux while there are moments when things may feel connected either just because or something was achieved. The rods connecting the four cubes reflect that.

Have you tried solving a rubix cube, think you solved it when you see one side was solved, but then you turn it around to find that another color was out of place? Another area to be resolved. That is represented here by the colors on the front of the cube matching. In these various states on mind, we are achieving something or getting something out of it (to escape, pulling references to help with a situation, remembering what it is that we want to look forward to). In a way we are rationalizing that train of thought and perhaps not recognizing that the nothing can be acted on in these other states, but at least the colors match from what I'm allowing myself to see.

Now what's the deal the the scrambled brains? Well I asked earlier in this post, which state of mind is the one we can control and act upon in our reality? I hope your answer was the present, this is where your brain, your mind, is in a state to be of most use or at its near full potential. Could it reach that in any other state of mind? The other images are then representing the mind in its non-actionable state. Whatever was sought after in the part, escaped from in dreaming or looking forward to in the future aren't useful if you are not either immersed, aware, or enjoying the present.

An example would be riding the train. What's going through your head? Thinking about where you are coming from, where you are going, what you are going to do when you get there, daydreaming, etc. What does any of all that though have to do with the present? Are you able to be present and just enjoy the ride?

Here are some in progress shots for you:

~Michelle Hunter

Some drawings from Central Park done on a beautiful NYC day

Hi there,

This past Saturday, I finally attended an event hosted by the Central Park Sketching and Art Meetup Group. We met at Fredrick Douglas Avenue and 110th street where over 10 artists began doing some warm up sketches of whatever was around us as we waited for more people to arrive. Here is as far as I got with my warm up sketch of a nearby lamp post.


After about 10 minutes after I arrived, the group begins our venture to The Blockhouse. 

At this spot we spent about an hour and a half and did two sketches in that time. After each sketching session, everyone lines up their sketch books so we can check out each other's work.

The next two drawings are those I did at the Blockhouse. For the first one, I focused on a hole in one of the walls which was probably used as a lookout point. I wanted to focus on that opening, getting a glimpse of what was behind the brick wall.

The second sketch was of the iron gated door which was the entrance to the structure. Many sketchers chose this spot for their first sketch. It was certainly an interesting spot so I wanted to take a crack at it as well. Instead of just drawing the door, I wanted to look more within the door. Therefore I spent more time on the brick wall beyond the door.

Honestly, I haven't been a big fan of sketching. I would rather paint. That provides more 'instant' gratification due to it being more freeing and comfortable. This experience was really nice though to be in  group setting exploring new areas of the Park.

While drawing there's no time so for me, I get caught up in capturing what's in front of me and I'll work on it until I'm satisfied. It was such a beautiful Saturday in NY too that it was just a great experience to be among fellow artists capturing our perspective of what was around us.

Below is the last sketch done with the group at The Ravine near the northern end of the park. I didn't know there was a mini waterfall in the Park. It was so relaxing. I scoped out the area a bit before I settled on focusing on a branch in the water. I don't think I tried drawing moving water before (excluding waterfalls themselves). The end result came out pretty well I think. The other aspect of the scene was trying to capture the sunlight reflecting off of the branch and the water. Not easy at all but I tried.

This was really fun to do. I'm looking forward to the next time I can make to the meetup events.