Art by Niki Hilsabeck

"Lil' Goat" 5 x 7 Mixed Media on Watercolor Card Original Sold It's been a while since I've posted, although I've been painting most of the time since the last post. I'm familiar with writer's block. The way I got around it was to force myself to write for a set amount of time each day, which was easier to do if I already had a story in progress. Artist's block is different for me: there are plenty of things I want to paint, but I have trouble deciding which projects to devote myself to, because I hate to start paintings and not finish them. Daily painting still keeps me in practice, but if I don't find the finished product particularly inspiring, it makes it harder to start a new piece the next day. Here are some ways I've found to get around this particular brand of artist's block: Play with media-- the goat painting above actually features pomegranate juice as the purple in the background. (I actually squeezed a fres...

No art today. I'm alternating between irritated and slightly amused. I'll be posting the following on my journal on RedBubble instead: Arrrgggh! Once again, someone didn't take the time to read. I don't do Facebook, or Twitter, or any social networking-type stuff because I don't trust myself not to post knee-jerk reactions online. Today, I'm going to post one on my blog. I recenly wrote an article for Empty Easel. (You can read it for yourself here: http://emptyeasel.com/2012/02/07/if-art-is-a-language-how-well-do-you-communicate/ ) The point of the article was to express that if people aren't understanding your work as an artist, it helps to take some time to communicate with them so they do. To be fair, Empty Easel does some heavy-handed editing that can affect the meaning of some of the articles posted. I've seen this happen to other artists who submit articles to this blog. I knew that when submitting my article, but figured I would take my chances. ...

"Harbor Reflections" 12 x 16 Mixed Media on Paper Click here to purchase original No surprise here: when feeling discouraged, I turn to the color blue! The painting above was done mostly from imagination, although I did flip through a few reference photos of boats at the harbor in Oceanside, CA for inspiration. I am enjoying the process of adding thick acrylic with a palette knife to structure a piece, and layering in pastel to finish it. I did have to use some gesso, having run out of white acrylic. The gesso worked nicely as a base for some of the chalk, and I'm tempted to stick with that instead of buying more white for a while. I wanted to capture the effect of bright sunlight, which deepens the blues and highlights the stark whites when the weather is at its finest down in Oceanside. For my next piece, I went to another familiar theme: cats. "Now What?" 9 x 12 Chalk Pastel on Flat Canvas Click here to view Etsy listing This particular cat appeare...

"End of the Continent" 9 x 12 Chalk Pastel on Paper Click here to purchase original Whenever I paint a location, I try to capture the essence of the place by setting the mood with color. This painting was done from a reference photo taken in Provincetown, Massachusetts. I took a trip to Massachusetts a few years back, and my mom and I thought it would be interesting to drive up the cape to the first place the pilgrims landed before settling in at Plymouth. Being a California native, I'm pretty familiar with beautiful coastlines; however, I was stunned at how striking the cape was in this particular area. It was a cold, windy fall day when I took this photo (so cold and windy I had to keep my hood over my face and snap quickly!) Looking out across the marshes and ocean, it felt like I was at the end of the world. I've kept the photo out all these years, hoping to make a painting of it with the right combination of color and medium. Using chalk pastel on waterco...

"Last Light" 9 x 12 Chalk Pastel, Water, and Red Wine on Flat Canvas (Original not for sale) Click here to view print choices: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/works/8290572-last-light-pastel One of the benefits of painting familiar things is the freedom to strip them down into their basic elements. In these paintings, I chose to focus on forms, as the strong directional shapes were what inspired me to paint them. I am one of those people who finds comfort in familiar surroundings, which means I spend lots of time studying the things I see every day and looking for patterns and characteristics to help me paint with ease. For "Last Light," I used a photo taken on my phone at sunset in Oceanside, California as a loose reference. I often get distant photos of people along the water and use their forms in my paintings. I get lots of sunset photos, because I'm not an early morning person. This translates into paintings that typically have a lot ...

These paintings have taken a while to complete. They were done in multiple layers, over sporadic sessions. The first one began with an acrylic knife painting on Canson Canva-paper, and was inspired by a photo of the plants at a butterfly exhibit near San Diego, CA: "Indoor Garden" 12 x 16 Mixed Media on Paper Click here to purchase original I finished the painting by adding layers of chalk pastel and a bit more acrylic. It was so heavily textured, I had to knock some of the pastel back to soften the center of the piece. I wanted to show how alive the plants were: flowers swaying from the ceiling, blossoms bursting out of pots and bushes, and leaves sprouting all over the background. The large black pot and green beams help anchor all the plant life, reminding the viewers that they are experiencing an indoor garden, rather than a lush jungle. In contrast to all this vibrant growth, the next piece was inspired by the comforting forms of a pair of pitchers: "Big...

"Maurice Car'rie Barn" 9 x 12 Chalk Pastel on Paper Original sold Click here to view print choices It was not the best day to set up a tent outside a winery to sell paintings. The cold was bearable at first, until the wind kicked up. My booth held steady in the wind (my tables, not so much). There were some great views from my spot, though, so I decided to make the most of it and work on some pastel paintings. Painting plein air has become quite comforting to me now. I've learned to tune out most distractions and concentrate on what it is I'm painting, which is a difficult thing to do at first. I'm even learning to appreciate the conversations that happen as a result of painting in front of strangers. I had a particularly funny conversation with a young child (they always find me-- teacher radar I suppose) about painting. He wanted to know if I was trying to copy something, and I said no, if I want to copy things I take photos. He wanted to know how ...