Moara - Coops

[coops]

Its been a while since I have done a gallery for anyone so I hope you like this addition to MOARA. Enug is such a great and constant person in the forums with so many lovely paintings.
Hope you like this one ENUG

[Caesar]

WOW, dear Katie! You found another huge exhibition space for Enug art! Should I ever set up a gallery somewhere I'd ask for you as curator of the exhibition ...
Enug is just another marvellous art flower blooming in this Forum that You picked into MOARA to anybody benefit!
Thank You to both You and Enug if we can enjoy her artpieces in here!

[Enug]

Wow! Katie, what an honour - I am humbled and at the same time proud that you think me and my art worthy of a place in your Art Gallery. You can't imagine what a wonderful gift you have given me. Thank you so much for the tribute in adding me to such an exalted list of exhibitors.

You have given me such a beautiful room to display my art.

PS - I sent you a PM but your Inbox is full.

[D Akey]

Hi back, and thanks for the welcome!

Health is crap, and I'm a bit disabled, but working through it for the much needed diagnosis.

I've been working on paper and canvas, and have had a lot of commissions to do (see below). I miss Art Rage, but it's nice to get my hands dirty for a change.

I'll be back!

Ah. . . Well, you know what they say about dirty hands… Aren't they like the devils playthingies or something? So what you're saying is you've succumbed to the temptation of mineral spirits and that demon Turpentine! <Ahem Ahem> I say unto you sister, that there is hope to aspire, to return to your digital roots and ye shall be healed!!! YEW can clean the filth and grime from under your fingernails!!!! say "Hallelujah!!!" Can I get a witness?!?!?!?!

Come back! Oh, and by the way, those horse portraits are fantastic! You have not lost a bit of momentum there. And it's always a pleasure to see your work!

[gxhpainter2]

Hey Congrats Enug, your work is always improving and subjects quite varied it is wonderful to see them in your own MOARA gallery!...

[D Akey]

I'm out in the aether, DA. I'm not currently active at doing art but it's never far from my mind. I'm slowly restocking my Etsy.com store with old works and, I know, I need to get back to creating new works. Something happened to me and I hit some sort of wall that I can't explain even to myself. I'm pretty sure it's something that I have to behave myself out of but, that's easier said than done.

Yeah. Sounds a little like you're normal to me. Call it depression as a catch-all. Most people have experienced it in one form or another. I know I have and constantly have to fight through it. Age and a future has something to do with it, not that younger people don't have their version of it. I think that's one of the things that inspired the "Goth" movement, and the nihilistic Dada movement in the 1920s, and the beatniks and then too those pesky self destructive things like hypochondria and anorexia and bulemia and all those other words ending in 'ia'. I'm no expert, but I suspect it's a form of violence and frustration and anger etc turned inward. One of the cool things about art is that it allows for us to move energy that's clogged and gotten us mired. Sounds to me like painting could be just the ticket, recalling as I do some of the amazing work you did -- especially the expressive stuff, and not the tight stuff.

Technical skill is always something that will get people to tell one what a good human they are, but you, especially you, don't want to loose sight of your deep, and soulful expression.

The trick is to paint for yourself first. Painting to get approval from others is not always the best goal. It's nice to get people to appreciate it, but know your audience and their possible limitations. You're not necessarily a commercial artist and thus do not have those accursed restrictions of having to please.

The pitfall there is that if people don't react how you want them to, you're screwed. And you're giving your authority over to others, when it should be yours as the auteur. Express yourself for yourself, and let the chips fall where they may, and as a reward for that leap of faith, you may find that the joy will return.

My mind was seriously blown by some of your early expressive stuff. You later were working on technique, and that's great. But somewhere the look changed to what looked like you were chasing something less poetic. I sincerely hope you get back into it and let it flow if you can rediscover that voice inside you that has always been so elevated. Sappy sounding alert so be warned: But you have always struck me as an angel who is trying to hang on to earth because you keep floating up -- sort of like a diver who has lost his weight belt.

IMHO when you paint, let the ground go and when you come back down you'll have some paintings that are yours. The ground will still be there. And if you need a cheering section, you certainly have it here. And if you need to sell your work, I don't think it will at all suffer from you finding your personal voice. Risky in a way, but what a cool challenge. Try not to be judgmental of the expression right away and enjoy the personal journey. You may find that letting yourself be the poet you are, and the great heart you are in painting and drawing will favorably impact the rest of your world because you will flow.

On the rare occasions (I'm sorry) that I do check in here, I am continuously proud of the supportive and nurturing nature of this community. I would like to think that I, in some small part, had a hand in that but, I know, that I was but a small part of a greater community effort to make this place so exceptionally accepting in ways that transcended every possible level of judgmentalism.

Absolutely this is TRUE!!!!!!! And no shit Sherlock! You were absolutely one of the ones who set the tone from the get go of the supportive community energy. And when you left, part of that left with you. Should tell you something about the creative energy that follows you in your wake. Wade back in Robert. . . I mean paint it back in, my dear fellow. . .

[justjean]

June, great to see your wonderful gallery filled with your lovely paintings

[D Akey]

Its been a while since I have done a gallery for anyone so I hope you like this addition to MOARA. Enug is such a great and constant person in the forums with so many lovely paintings.
Hope you like this one ENUG

ENUG!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!! and a hearty HOO ROOO to yoo TOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fantastic work! I love this room, and I had forgotten how much work you've done in that last while. Lots of beautiful pics. After visiting here, it's tough to remind myself that you're a relative beginner, at least measuring by time. These look really great -- and Congrats!!!!! Time to start the paintings to go into the next room, which I look forward to. Smashing stuff. . .

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Ms Coops, you've done it again! I don't know whether to call you and artist, a curator, or a tributary! (come on now, no need to be Humber. . .er, humble. . .) Thanks so much for the constant injection to the community side of what we create here. MOARA! -- I mean MORE! -- well, I actually mean both. . .

[byroncallas]

Wow D Akey. It's been ages since I've been able to get in here to post. But when I saw this come through my email notices I had to stop what I was doing to say congratulations. More important is to say thank you for your enormous contributions in support of all the artists here. You are an extraordinary guy. All best thoughts.

Well since this is an anniversary of sorts for me, where I finally hit 20,000 posts, something it took me since 2006 to accomplish, I could think of no more appropriate thread to plant this personal mile marker. it's rather mind blowing to know that nine years have passed since I started doing this. And I can't help but look back and think of all of the wonderful people expressing their creativity in this extraordinary shared space. My mind is still blown by the levels of personal contact that the global platform has provided.

One of the changes for me was that I started out typing by hand, but of late I have switched over to a dictation program that does the typing for me. Sometimes it works well sometimes it gets confused. But it's just another example of how technology has changed how we do things.

I was a traditional artist for many years, but I must say that since the digital revolution, my methods for creating marks, with the vast control and flexibility of provides, it's completely changed how I approach a painting anymore. The other thing that I've noticed, is how much of a leg up programs like ArtRage have given the beginning artist. It's been win-win up and down the line.

I realize that this particular thread, created by Oriane Lima with the participation of many good people was a place to acknowledge our comrades, and for me to come in here and post this misses the spirit of the MOARA Gallery. And for that I apologize. But it's the closest thread to something covering the activities in the forums of the last nine years, I just wanted to acknowledge everyone else's time and how much I appreciate all of your work. It surpasses the limitations of words. So I hope you forgive this one vanity of posting here in this instance.

Ms Coops, we don't see around here nearly enough, had spent years creating tribute pages, new rooms added to the ever-expanding Galleries, has been one of the standout proponents of this gallery, which was originally designed with an open invitation to make tributes by showing a collection of specific artists' work that they have posted here in these forms. And she was a workhorse at it. But the invitation has been open for anyone who wants to create a tribute page for anyone to invent a space and fill it with those people's work. I think anyone who's had a page created for them got the sentiment and encouragement from such a pat on the back. I'd like to acknowledge her work in doing so, and I hope that she comes back sometime soon.

Anyway it's been fun, and it has helped my typing skills beyond measure. but as I said here dictating it verbally, the keyboard falls away more, and it becomes more about what is being said. And I think that parallels what happens with artists with all the new technology that has come into play. It's so much more, for my money, about what's being said, because the technology is allowing for the techniques to sort of take care of themselves.

So paint on! Tell it like it is! Or like how you wanted to be!!! Onward and upward… And thanks a million for the years of Raging Artists and their individual joys shared!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOOOO!!!!!!!

[byroncallas]

Terrific Coops. And yes, Enug's works is wonderful. It's great to see it showcased here.

Its been a while since I have done a gallery for anyone so I hope you like this addition to MOARA. Enug is such a great and constant person in the forums with so many lovely paintings.
Hope you like this one ENUG