Paint Party Friday: Week 10, Year 2 Check In Featured Artist: Charlie Corrigan

image courtesy of Charlie Corrigan

Welcome to Week of Paint Party Friday (Year 2) and to the next edition of our Featured Artist Series! (Would you like to be a PPF Featured Artist? Please click here for details!) Our featured artist this week creates imaginative paintings that invite her viewers into a beautifully painted world. Please welcome Charlie Corrigan of Barnum's Winter!

1. Please tell us a bit about your personal history with painting. (When did you start painting? How has your painting evolved since you first started?)

I've always loved pretty things and I've tried a lot of different ways of making pretty things since I was a kiddo -- cake decorating, cross stitching, sculpting, crafting, etc. But, I started drawing when I was a teenager and started painting about four years ago in my senior year of college. My husband is a musician and frankly I needed something to do in the long hours that he's playing guitar at home (other than sit by his feet making doe-eyes and being impressed -- in spite of vague teenage fantasies, that is only engaging for just so long). So, I decided to focus on painting.

Over these last few years, I've been trying as hard as I can to improve, to teach my hands what to do when my brain gets an idea. Mostly I've learned patience. And, I've gotten a lot more ambitious about what I want to make with my paints. I've gone from just wanting to make "pretty things" as decorations to wanting to make an entire world of my own, like an epic novel series, but in pictures. I'm not there yet, but I'm on a mission. I still want it to be pretty though.

2. What are your favorite techniques, media, and tools to use in creating your paintings?

I keep it pretty simple. I use mechanical pencils and a sketch book for drawing and unmounted canvas and acrylics for painting. And, I only use four colors: Cadmium Medium Red, Cadmium Medium Yellow, Cerulean Blue, and Titanium White. Everything I've painted in the last two or three years was made with those four colors.

3. What is your favorite thing to paint? Why?

I like to make up characters and give them personalities in my brain and try to get those personalities through in their expressions and postures. The strange thing is that almost every character I've imagined dislikes sitting for portraits, so they always seem to have a tiny bit of contempt, impatience, or reluctance in their expressions. But, as lame as it might sound, in the end, my favorite thing to paint is simply anything that turns out attractive and at least somewhat close to what I meant to do.

image courtesy of Charlie Corrigan

4. What is your proudest painting moment and/or greatest painting achievement so far?

In January of 2011, I made myself do a Painting-Everyday-for-a-Month challenge, actually inspired by Kristin Dudish of Paint Party Friday. Not everything turned out well in such a mad rush, but a couple of my favorite paintings of all time came from that challenge, including a couple of pretty robots and an epic apocalyptic scene. And, I really learned to stretch my creativity muscles having to come up with some new idea each day. I still haven't recovered over a year later, but when I do, I'll do it again.

** A note from Kristin: I just had to hijack Charlie's interview to say that I was lucky enough to be able to purchase one of the paintings that Charlie created during her challenge and it is even more amazing in person! Everyone who sees it hanging on my living room wall comments on how fantastic it is! **

5. What's next in your painting future?

Practice! And more practice! A little further down the road, I also think it might be really cool to illustrate a children's book or make my whole living from making and selling art. But for now, practice.

***

Thank you Charlie! If you would like to see more of Charlie's artwork, please visit her at:

www.barnumswinter.com
www.barnumswinter.etsy.com

**Would you like to be a PPF Featured Artist? Click here for details!**

What great artwork, paintings and fun at the party last week at PPF! Now, here is our check-in for this week's party:

Please make sure to use your post URL address NOT your blog home page URL address as there are many late visitors who get confused as to which post is for PPF when they arrive (after Friday) at your website. If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Linky, an explanation of how this tool works can be found on Week 1 and Week 2 Check-Ins.

Have a great time at the party and for those who have it as a holiday on Monday - Happy Victoria Day!