Artistic Insights from the Studio of Erica Norelius

Starting on September 1st, I accepted a challenge from Strada Easels to paint outdoors everyday. This challenge came at just the right time; An upcoming show of mine had been canceled and I was losing my inspiration in the studio. Last October I had attended a talk given by the owner of the Strada Easel company, Bryan Mark Taylor. (Since then I have bought his DVD, called The Master's Mind, which I highly recommend.) Bryan had encouraged all of us in attendance, to pick one skill set we would like to improve, and to start doing one small study everyday – such as a compositional sketch, a color study, perspective etc. By doing one focused study everyday, our brains actually build thicker myelin around our nerve fibers, resulting in a faster nerve impulse and a mastery of those specific skills in a short amount of time. Note, it is not the amount of time spent, but rather shorter, focused attention, day after day. [...]

A few weeks ago, I talked my 10-year-old son into modeling for me after dinner. He agreed, as long as he was able to use the iPad throughout. Fair enough, I thought. I know my son, and I accept that he is very squirmy and would never be able to sit still for any length of time. The iPad might be just what he needed to hold his head still. I had him sit in a chair, found a pose and got started. Not even two minutes into the pose, his head had already been up, down, left and right. Since this was a complete experiment, I decided to go with it. He was having a fun time, and I was curious to see what I could do. Knowing that he was not going to last, I worked fast. There was no time for drawing, just gut instinct painting. [...]

Fourteen years ago, I found myself in a small art store in San Francisco wandering the aisles for unfamiliar art supplies. In one week I would attend my very first class at the Academy of Art. I was anxious and nervous. Had I really made the right choice moving 3000 miles away from home to become an artist? While standing in line to purchase my items, I casually entered my name for the drawing of a $500 gift certificate to the local art store. As I never had been a very lucky person, you can imagine my surprise when I actually won! This auspicious stroke of luck was just what I needed to invest in my first easel. The sign from above was a powerful confirmation that I was on the right path. It took me five years, a lot of late nights working in front of the easel, and a great deal of coffee, but finally I received my BFA. [...]