#20for20 Artist Spotlight: Tamara Stuart
What were your goals heading into the Challenge?
My goal was to reduce my tendency to overwork paintings by simplifying my technique hoping to create looser, less detail oriented paintings.
I wrote out a specific list of intentions to follow including which brushes I would limit myself to, what type, and paper size I would use as well as keeping to a limited palette.
I allowed myself to shift the hues of my palette choices, but I committed to only using a red, blue, yellow and one accent color.
I also committed to posting and commenting on my work, observing and commenting on the work of others, making notes on the back of each painting about my successes or challenges, and to not take my finished results too seriously.
Why did you choose 20 minutes max and how did you hope that would help you meet your Challenge goals?
I initially chose to paint alla prima because I thought it would help me simplify my work by limiting the time spent on it.
What were the benefits of keeping to the 20 minutes? What were the challenges of that?
The first round of 20 felt frantic! The advantage was once I adjusted my mindset, I really didn’t have time to overthink what I was doing and I could see a new spontaneity in my work immediately!
However the challenges were greater than the benefits and I learned very quickly that working with watercolor would involve a greater time period largely because of the drying time required.
The other obstacle for me was because I paint intuitively, I have learned to give up some of my control to the water and pigment and follow where that natural process takes me. The 20 minute limit, especially alla prima, made that harder to accomplish.
About halfway through the Challenge, you said that you felt that the 20 minutes max goal potentially felt too restrictive…but you didn’t toss it all together. How did you adjust the time side of things midway through and how did that help you? Was it worth keeping the 20 minutes to learn how to use it?
The first thing I did was add an additional five minutes to my time for drying. But I still felt frustrated that the time limit was keeping my paintings from reaching the goal I had envisioned.
I could have called it quits at 20 and accomplished my goal of simplifying my work, but the paintings felt unfinished, not simplified. So I stepped away from my alla prima pledge and used the 20+5 time for creating a “base” painting that I could revisit at a later date.
Most of them did receive final touches and were considered finished after the Challenge ended.
I found that the time away from the base painting created in the 20 minutes, but not worked on further until later, has indeed helped me to improve my tendency to overwork a piece.
How did you decide where in your day to put your 20? What kinds of things were you considering when planning that schedule (time, energy, other obligations?) Could you talk about some of that math and then also how that time (or times) ended up working or not working?
Usually I painted mid morning, which gave me time to ease into my painting mode after completing my usual morning routine and before becoming distracted with other things as the day progressed. Yes, I fully realize I am spoiled to be able to choose that approach!
One day I was away from home and not able to paint at all, so my compromise was to upload a previous base painting from the Challenge to Procreate on my ipad and experiment with ideas to try later.
How and where did you keep your materials the same? (Surface, size/shape, brushes, paints, colors) How much did keeping your materials the same benefit the challenge but also a daily practice? How?
For me it’s essential to start out with everything organized and systematic, even without the time limit!
That said, while actually painting it all goes to the wayside and I have brushes and tools scattered all over my work space!
In particular the placement of my paints on my palette needs to be the same so I can mix as I go without searching for the color I need. Testing new pigments is always a challenge for me in that way!
Did you prep materials before? If yes, how much of a help was that and why?
Yes! I prepared my work space the day before, taping my paper, choosing my palette and creating a sample card of mix combinations using that day's particular palette. I filled my water jars, placed my blotter paper, paper towels, brushes and other tools within easy reach, being sure I had everything I needed beforehand.
This method also allowed me to see it all just waiting for me, and it created a sense of anticipation to begin that I looked forward to!
How did you decide what to paint each day? What about that way of working worked well and why?
I paint intuitive landscapes verses following reference photos so I would take a few minutes the day before to imagine a scene, or grasp a general image in my mind and then lightly sketch a horizon line onto my paper.
The day of the challenge I would choose a playlist to fit the mood I hoped to create in the painting, activated my paints, took a moment to center myself into where I hoped the painting would go, took a deep breath and set the timer! Mentally, that allowed me to be connected before the first stroke of paint to paper!
What benefits did you find working daily even if not necessarily for a long time?
I regularly keep a daily (or almost daily) painting journal. It’s simply a 12” x 18” spiral watercolor notebook and I dedicate one page per month. It represents a place that I just put paint to paper with no purpose other than experiencing and learning. Often I make notes for myself.
By the end of the month images blend into each other and everything has been grossly overworked, but it has become an incredibly helpful tool for me! It also serves as a great stress reliever, because I can’t paint and think about outside thoughts at the same time! It’s my mini meditation time!
Any days jump out as having aha moments? Could you share what those were?
Yes. There were two.
The first was showing up to paint the day the Palisades fire began (see Day8 above), knowing that as I painted three of our family members were losing their homes to the fire. I painted not blindly, but with a level of intensity and abandon I had never painted with before.
I remember posting, “How do you paint devastation?” The support from the other members in the group was incredible, not just for my work, but for the personal aspect of the situation as well.
As with many of my paintings from the Challenge I revisited it later, and made minor adjustments. It now resides with one of those family members.
There was a second painting that was a failed attempt from the get go! Nothing was working for me so I just smeared the pigment all over the paper and was seconds away from tearing it up and tossing it in the trash when I decided to treat it as I did my usual daily journal and just kept painting, without specific purpose. I had turned off the timer, but felt I was close to the 20 +5 timing. It just evolved on its own into something I was very drawn to, but a totally different form of intuitive painting for me! It is much more abstract than my usual work. Now titled Indigo’s Ridge, A Moment Of Trust. Today it serves as a reminder to me not to give up too early!
My aha moment in both cases was in not over thinking what I was painting, as much as simply trusting what I was painting.
So often we try to finish complex, finished paintings as our goal. What benefits did you find in shifting your focus to showing up first and finishing something second?
Wow! Good question, and especially appropriate since I began the Challenge with the goal of painting alla prima! By simply showing up I felt the satisfaction of knowing I had accomplished a goal, even if the painting itself had not yet reached my expectations. I came to realize that once I abandoned the alla prima concept I still had the opportunity to fulfill the goal of completing that painting, but with more time to listen to my now unhurried intuition and partnership with what the materials do naturally on their own. I’ve come to enjoy the practice of a spontaneous start, followed by a slower finish!
What was the most helpful mindset for you to try and keep during the 20for20?
By far it was the “just showing up”! There were so many opportunities to grow even if my own painting time that day had felt disappointing.
I remember another member posting her palette. No painting, just the palette and a mention of a particularly unsuccessful session, and the words, “I showed up!” It was like receiving permission to have an off day and be ok with it!
The wealth of support and shared information among the members was incredibly helpful and a great incentive to show up and learn!
What advice would you give to someone who is doing the Challenge for the first time?
Just show up!!
Personally this Challenge helped me build my confidence in a supportive very positive environment. Posting my work daily taught me to not be as hesitant to share it with others. Summarizing my experience by commenting in my posts helped me evaluate my approaches and results by increasing my awareness of my own ability, while reading the responses from others provided a gold mine of perceptive insights!
The ability to structure the Challenge in a way that works well for each individual was a definite advantage! The structure and goals I set for myself went well beyond 20 minutes a day once I calculated all that was actually involved, but what I have taken with me from the experience has absolutely influenced my work as much as my own concept of success!
Learn more about the #20for20 here.