I hope to be scared soon :/

531 × 390 - Robert Henri, Girl Seated by the Sea, 1893

16 x 20 - Pam Hartfield, Path to the Sea

 Imagine a world where you sit on top of the Ferris Wheel and never feel the slightest shiver or get the feeling you could fall.  What if you never felt a little eerie entering a haunted house or after you've climbed the mountain not been a little afraid to peek over the edge? Ever peered out at the vastness of the Ocean and wondered what creature looms away from the shoreline, but gasped at the beauty and intrigued by it all?

 In the words of our infamous Robert Henri, "Everybody who has any respect for painting feels scared when he starts a new canvas.  A person who has never been afraid has no imagination.


A GREAT painter will know a great deal about how he did it, but still he will say, "How did I do it?"  The real artist's work is a surprise to himself." Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

I'll buy that! I have yet to touch a new canvas when my hand didn't quiver just a bit. I bite my lip and say a little prayer.  I have even been known to whisper to myself, "It's okay me and God have this."  It's when a painting goes astray and lends itself to some form that has no recollection of realness that I whisper again, "Lord, where did I go wrong?"

I'll leave you with these thoughts to ponder today ...  GET SCARED PEOPLE and paint. (imagine the fear in me when I clicked the button posting Henri's seashore beside mine)

I'm not Famous but I'd Like to be ...

Yes, that's me non-famous Artist Pam Hartfield.  Wonder what it would be like to really be famous?  Never mind being rich!  I could paint until my hearts content, start a school for all those who really want to paint and can't afford to buy the supplies.  The list would be endless.  I can see it now P.H. Original's aka/Pam Hartfield up in lights with cameras flashing and journalist asking questions.  I wonder how many times I would stumble over my own feet walking that red carpet?  We all know I shoot from the hip when I have something to say so I assume they would just love to quote me saying something utterly stupid ... but then again that's part of my charm don't you think? ;)

On to a more serious note about someone who was famous in his own time, Robert Henri.

Robert Henri, Gertrude Venderbilt Whitney, 1916

"A work of art is not a copy of things.  It is inspired by nature but must not be a copying of the surface.  Therefore what is commonly called "finish" may not be finish at all.

You have to make your statement of what is sential to you-an innate reality, not a surface reality.  You handle surface appearances as compositional factors to express a reality that is beyond superficial appearances.  You choose things seen and use them to phrase your statement." Robert Henri/ The Art Spirit

"In other words if you want a picture buy a camera." Pam Hartfield/non-famous artist

It's Me Again

  View from My Studio Window (sigh)

Sorry for not posting lately guys.  I have a close family member with the dreaded Alzheimer's Disease and I am afraid I have been obsessed with that.  What I am coming to realize is that I must live today because tomorrow my life may be taken from me even if I am still walking this earth.  I vow to get back into my blog world and hope there are readers out there that enjoy hearing the things I share.

I have so many things in my head that I want to do.  I have paintings etched in my brain, a book I need to write (I have it started but I hope my laptop doesn't freak out on me) and there's still that Homemade Christmas Thing I talked my family into this year! It has been hard to get started on some of these things since we have been out of town for over a year now. We are scheduled to be back at home around the first of April and I can't wait. My Studio has been beckoning me from afar .... like a light from a lighthouse calling me back to the safe harbor of the world I like to live in.

enough said for today ... happy creating ya'll

Are you finished yet?

Grab My Button look right of the page

One must begin to ever finish. Isn't that the truest statement you ever heard? I suggest you begin at the beginning;the first feeling you felt inspired by.  A look on a persons face, a sunrise, a shadow at midday, an ocean view in all of its magnificence. Remember the feeling upon awaking to the dawn on a new day;you will pull from this feeling to finish your work. 

The feeling is fleeting so you must work swiftly.  I know I am holding my feeling if my cigarette burns in the ashtray.  This means I have set my tone correctly; color values are harmonizing, my brush strokes are precise and I am accomplishing what I set forth to do. I usually listen to music that matches the feeling it helps keep me in that frame of mind.

 "Do some great work, Son!  Don't try to paint good landscapes.  Try to paint canvases that will show how interesting landscape looks to you ... your pleasure in the thing. Wit.

There are lots of people who can make sweet colors, nice tones, nice shapes of landscape, all done in nice broad and intelligent-looking brushwork.

self-portrait-or-desperate-man-gustave-courbet

Courbet showed in every work what a man he was, what a head and heart he had. 

Every student should put down in some form or other his findings. .... What he leaves is so much for others to use as stones to step on or stones to avoid. " Robert Henri - The Art Spirit

( Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (10 June 1819–31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting. ...) 

Remember this and then enough said for the day. "If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you're right." P. Cunard

"Don't Worry About Rejections ..."

Yes, I am back to Robert Henri today and just read a statement from his book using the word "rejections" ... plural "rejections". What a way to start a day huh?

"Don't worry about rejections.  Everybody that's good has gone through it.  Don't let it matter if your works are not "accepted" at once.  The better or more personal you are the less likely they are of acceptance.  Just remember that the object of painting pictures is not simply to get them in exhibitions.  It is all very fine to have your pictures hung, but you are painting for yourself, not for the jury." Robert Henri, The Art Spirit.

I say when you are rejected, "Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience."  Happy painting ya'll.

I Hate to Blow My Own Horn but ... Beep - Beep!

Lemons to Lemoande- Pam Hartfield

 Ah, the sweet taste of lemonade.  I was late going to bed night before last and happened to glance at my phone, saw I had an "@mention" on twitter. I opened it and to my surprise I had been re-blogged! Some of you might think that would have been a little scary but trust me I was ecstatic! Thomas Rice at aaacoms.com has a blog where he writes about other blogs worth mentioning (that's me, toot-toot) and I fell in very good company with the Bloggers he has on his list. Take a look at his page and check out some of the things he has going on. Click on this direct link to see what he writes about.
P.H. Originals Journal of an Artist 

An artist lives hoping some one will discover their works and I don't mind admitting, "I am no exception."  Re-blog me all you want as long as you use my stuff with taste and don't degrade me or the contents of my page.  I believe in God, Family and Country so do not use me or my things to promote junk without morals ...  " If you do I will haunt you til the end of the earth."

Happy creating everyone and thanks again to Thomas Rice @aaacomsdotcom on twitter.

Re-runs and Last Year's News

image from google search

I am so sick of hearing Last Year's News, they have been telling it over and over again since Dec. 30 and this weekend is just awful for it.  OMG, and the re-runs! I am sick of them as well. Makes for a very boring blog when you have nothing new to say.  I mean really, how many times do I need to see all the bloops and blobs of every TV and Movie personality?  I didn't really care the first time I heard them.  Why in the world would I care the second time around?  Do you hear me TV Programmers? In case you didn't, "I DON'T CARE!"

Hopefully, we can all put last year behind us really soon and move on to new challenges for a better new year.  I for one hope to get back in my studio and paint up a storm. (or at least something controversial)

Good luck to all you artist out there and let's move on to the new year.  Find your Muse and get creating.

Robert Henri - "The Art Spirit"

The Art Spirit - Robert Henri

"For an artist to be interesting to us he must have been interesting to himself.  He must have been capable of intense feeling, and capable of profound contemplation."




contemplation  (ˌkɒntɛmˈpleɪʃən, -təm-)-n,  
As noted in The World Dictionary

1.	thoughtful or long consideration or observation
2.	Compare meditation spiritual meditation esp (in Christian religious practice) concentration of the mind and soul upon God
3.	purpose or intention

What a strong statement.  Think about it.  We as artists must create with a purpose or intention to portray our subject in its true form, sometimes distorting reality to provoke meaningful thought. I personally give thoughtful consideration to my subject.  I know where I want to go with my painting and try my dare level best to take you there with my finished product.

Did I take you into the thick of the forest to stop and wonder who may have been there before you?  If not, I miss my mark.

Robert Henri - "The Art Spirit"

The Art Spirit - Robert Henri

"For an artist to be interesting to us he must have been interesting to himself.  He must have been capable of intense feeling, and capable of profound contemplation."




contemplation  (ˌkɒntɛmˈpleɪʃən, -təm-)-n, 
As noted in The World Dictionary

1.	thoughtful or long consideration or observation
2.	Compare meditation spiritual meditation esp (in Christian religious practice) concentration of the mind and soul upon God
3.	purpose or intention

What a strong statement.  Think about it.  We as artists must create with a purpose or intention to portray our subject in its true form, sometimes distorting reality to provoke meaningful thought. I personally give thoughtful consideration to my subject.  I know where I want to go with my painting and try my dare level best to take you there with my finished product.

Did I take you into the thick of the forest for a surprise to stop and wonder about who may have been there before you?  If I did not then I missed my mark.

Robert Henri - excerts from his Biography

from google search

Robert Henri was born Robert Henry Cozad in Cincinnati, Ohio to Theresa Gatewood Cozad of Malden, Virginia and John Jackson Cozad, a gambler and real estate developer. Henri had a brother, Johnny, and was a distant cousin of the noted American painter Mary Cassatt. In 1871, Henri's father founded the town of Cozaddale, Ohio. In 1873, the family moved west to Nebraska, where they founded the town of Cozad.

In October 1882, Henri's father became embroiled in a dispute with a rancher, Alfred Pearson, over the right to pasture cattle on land claimed by the family. When the dispute turned physical, Cozad shot Pearson fatally with a pistol. Cozad was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, but the mood of the town turned against him. He fled to Denver, Colorado, and the rest of the family followed shortly afterwards. In order to disassociate themselves from the scandal, family members changed their names. The father became known as Richard Henry Lee, and his sons posed as adopted children under the names Frank Southern and Robert Earl Henri (pronounced "hen rye").

In 1883, the family moved to New York City, then to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the young artist completed his first paintings. info from: http://www.henrirobert.org/

I find this info interesting.  everyone has skeletons hidden in the closet.  The man had to change his name because of his father!

Robert Henri - "The Art Spirit"

Robert Henri - The Art Spirit

Let's get back to Henri's thinking today.  As an artist, I need to think about my plans for the new year and Robert Henri is just the one to "Kick me in the butt" and get me motivated.  I would love to have been able to attend his art classes, although I think he was a bit of a male chauvinist because he always refers to a "him" in his books.  I guess that era did not recognize women as artist so, I will let that one slide for him at the moment.

"The art student must master from the beginning; that is, he must be master of such as he has.  By being now master of such as he has there is promise that he will be master in the future.

A  work of art which inspires us comes from no quibbling or uncertain man.  It is the manifest of a very positive nature in great enjoyment, and at the very moment the work was done.

It is not enough to have thought great things before doing the work.  The brush stroke at the moment of contact carries inevitably the exact state of being of the artist at that exact moment into the work, and there it is, to be seen and read by those who can read such signs, and to be read later by the artist himself, with perhaps some surprise, as a revelation of himself." Robert Henri - The Art Spirit

People ... if you don't have this book I suggest you get it and read it again and again.  I always use his writings to inspire me to a new season of paintings.

Christmas is Over, Yah!

picture from Google images

Christmas is lots of money spent not only on presents but boxes, paper, bows, ribbons and name tags.  They get you ever way you turn.  That $20 gift you just bought is now totaling upwards to $30.  I don't think Christmas was meant to be commercialized.  Poor baby Jesus rode into Bethlehem on a donkey and spent his first night on earth wrapped in swaddling cloths and laying in a manger with hay for a bed.  Yes, we give the gifts in honor of his birthday but we are all going overboard .... don't you think?

Next Christmas my family and I have decided on a Homemade Christmas and I can't wait.  Yes, I paint pictures but I also woodwork, glass work, sew, cook and do a little gardening so there is no telling what I might give my family next year.  My 7 year old Grandson told me he just didn't have time to do all that ... but trust me he will!  In the beginning it was just meant to be my immediate bunch ... hubby, daughters, son-in-laws and the one grandson but my mother-in-law wants in already.  There is no telling who will join us by Christmas next year.  Anyone have any ideas for me?

By the way - Hope ya'll had a Merry Christmas.

It's Christmas Eve, ugh!

In My Shop/Studio

It's Christmas Eve and the threat of snow, in the south, is on the air.  A very rare occasion, especially at Christmas.  I personally don't care much for snow.  I never have.  I usually get into a serious funk and become a recluse in the winter but I seem to do a lot of painting during that time.  Usually a snow scene or some  rendition of a still life.  I definitely have the winter blues. I am sure when I put a fresh canvas on my easel and squeeze out a fresh palette of paint that something will pop into mind and the brush I'll hold in my hand will apply stroke after stroke until something wonderfully strange starts to appear.  For today I will not worry about the chill in my bones or the 2 coats I will wear, because it's Christmas.  A child's laughter fills the air and people are smiling everywhere. (yeah right)

Do you ever wonder just how fake those smiles are? I mean really ... give me a break.  I am tired of shopping, tired of people brushing against me in the stores, running into my buggy with their buggy.  I mean HELLO, you are spending all this time and money to make someone in your life believe you are full of Christmas Spirit and you can't even manage a simple EXCUSE ME? Give me a break I am tired of rude people, screaming kids and a messy house.

That's all for now. Oh, and Merry Christmas Ya'll.

Robert Henri - "The Art Spirit"

The art Spirit - Robert Henri

"We are not here to do what has already been done."

"Know what the old masters did. Know how they composed thier pictures, but do not fall into the conventions they established.  These conventions were right for them, and they are wonderful.  They made their language.  You make yours.  They can help you. All the past can help you."

 What a statement! ... and as an artist I can really appreciate it too.  This is truly what I believe.  I like to paint outside the box most of the time.  One thing I always hated about art class was a paint along. I despise doing them.  I really don't get off doing what someone else has already done.  I want to do my work not yours.  I know I am making sense to a lot of artist. 

Merry Christmas ya'll.

Robert Henri - "The Art Spirit"

Robert Henri - The Art Spirit

"When the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressing creature. He becomes interesting to other people.  He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and he opens ways for better understanding. Where those who are not artists are trying to close the book, he opens it, shows there are still pages possible."

Isn't this a compelling paragraph of statements? I, for one, am engrossed in studying this artist. I can feel from the bottom of my being the words I am reading.  They touch the inner most part o f me. Maybe I will find my muse while I am re-reading this book.  I look forward to discussion on this from any follower.

Merry Christmas Ya'll.

Find the Muse

I have been hunting my "Muse" lately. If anyone locates it please forward to hartfieldp@gmail.com.

An artist needs a muse and as long as that muse sits on the artist's shoulder she/he can create until the cows come home ... and for me that's a long time because I do not own a single cow. On the other hand, when their muse decides to take a vacation it can send an artist into seclusion, pacing the floors holding paint brushes looking at paint on a palette, moving it around and creating nothing! My muse has been on vacation for to long now. Please help me find it. If you can find it I will send you a free postcard with one of my Dreamscapes on it.

Cheap Art

Worked on my cheap art today as I am the epitome of the starving artist. I am working on craft pumpkins and ghost for sale this Halloween. Yea, you might say how could a fine arts artist stoop to this level but I say the medium used to create is just that a medium ... as long as I am creating I am learning.

Art Today

Art Today is somewhat of a farce. You create from your imagination recreate from memory try to express a feeling and stir emotion. Who really knows what you are feeling when you move paint around on a canvas? Do you really think the Historians will know what I was thinking the moment I made a certain brush stroke? I don't think so.