My Big Fat unfinished art -- a workshop with Jane Davies

This past weekend I was fortunate to take a "Big Fat Art" workshop by nationally recognized artist and teacher Jane Davies. Here's how she describes her approach:

Big Fat Art is a state of mind rather than a specific kind of art.  It is all about loosening up and getting past the thinking/evaluating zone and into the creative spontaneous one, where you can be freely expressive...We start...with process-oriented exercises using inexpensive paints and drawing materials.  This generates loads of works-in-process, which we then use as playgrounds for layering paint, drawing, and collage, and expanding the visual vocabulary.

It's harder than it sounds. Jane challenged us to give up traditional rules -- about compositional balance, color harmony, and unity -- and aim for variety and surprise. She invited us to enter "that precarious I-don’t-know-what-to-do-next zone." 

I consider myself an intuitive artist, but it's hard to let my hand grab whatever it wants -- pencil, brush, scissors -- and see what it does on the paper. It's also a challenge for me to focus on the details -- making each mark intentional, spending time to spread the paint evenly.

Below are some of the pieces I started in the class and continue to work on at home. I'm still getting comfortable with the process. I'll be adding many more layers to these and starting lots of new ones, I hope.