The Creative Life - Barbara Trovillo

An artist is supposed to be creative, right?   Being creative suggests being playful, experimenting, trying this and that. Perhaps, even, being silly.   Up til now, I have been a very "serious" painter, looking hard at things, working hard, with very little play involved. Not much risk taking going on.    "A Change is gonna Come."   This painting called Festive Fare is one I began a year ago after fishing with my brother. We cleaned the fish and threw the carcasses to the seagulls. I took photos that day and did this painting I originally called Free Lunch. My favorite part of the initial piece was the [...]

I have just finished an autobiography about Georgia O'Keeffe. What a life she led! The story of her journey as an artist and her life with Alfred Stieglitz is very interesting and inspirational.   She lived in a time when women did not have the same opportunities and liberties as men. Early on in her career, she said to herself, "I can't live where I want to. I can't go where I want to go. I can't do what I want to do. I can't even say what I want to. I decided I was a very stupid fool not to at least [...]

I haven't posted since July! I'm sorry. I was mourning my puppy but I am back to work now.   I wanted to talk a bit about loosening up. You would think it would be easy to let go.  Just .... let go.     It is hard to let go of old patterns. I began my adventures in art carefully replicating whatever it was I was looking at, exactly as I saw it. The artwork that excited me most, though, was that which was done by the Impressionists. Dabs of color making suggestions. I found this way of working liberating, creating gestural marks that allow [...]

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Ciao Amici,   I am finally finished this "grandissimo" (4' x 8') commissioned painting! It is done in oil on canvas with the addition of cold wax here and there. This was quite a learning experience for me. I did my best work at this moment in time. I am pleased and certainly hope the collector who commissioned the piece will be too.   I wanted to share my thoughts about the process up to this point:   First, I had no idea where one gets a canvas that BIG! I found a local frame company who builds custom canvases. It was expensive...$850! I am not completely [...]

Good morning,    Today I would like to talk some more about impressionism.    I started painting in my 30s. My eyesight was better than normal! I could see so well that if I was in the driver's seat on a 4 lane highway, I could see across the road into a window and read the time on a clock! I am not exaggerating.... And I was one of those careless, cocky young people who believed it wouldn't happen to me. Oh, no, my eyes were too good. They would not fail me. But, of course, I was wrong. Somewhere in my mid 40s, I [...]

A few weeks ago, I did a post about abstract painting. I showed a painting done in the past and another that I was just starting. This painting has evolved into something closer akin to abstract realism.   I have had limited access to my studio in the last two months due to tenants living in the house where it is located. I have used the time to concentrate on watercolor (at my diningroom table!) I really wanted to get back into my oils but I was in a bit of a funk. So, I just started laying down color with a palette [...]

This painting is the sum total of a combination of images and imaginations. It could be in the U.S., although the stucco cottage more resmbles those found in Italy. The chickens parading down the path reminded me of the Italian custom of La Passeggiata. In the evening, people gather in the city center to stroll about, get some air, and visit with each other. Oh, how I miss the Italian people and the charm of Italy. Maybe in the Spring?.... [...]