The Calling Bell &Paura Session- 14

Photo taken by Patty Eljaiek

The Calling Bell, formerly known as “The Gallery”, is a tattoo studio & artist collective, located at 51 Gibson Ave, Huntington New York 11743, was host to Paura’s artists artwork from Session 14, by owner & resident artist Brittany Lynn & event sponsor Len Marks Photography. After each session has ended Paura’s founders Diane Palma & Maria Misko showcase all of the work we have created during the session. Its a good way to learn to display our work while getting to know the community.

Showcasing while communicating my process to other people is something I am learning to expand on an even a bigger scale. I was lucky to have gone to Huntington Fine Arts back in high school, where they not only helped develop your talent, creativity, composition, but also your ability to critique effectively. We could not simply just say “I like it”, we had to explain clearly why we enjoyed the artwork. In present day, I am part of Paura where I get to re-exercise this muscle once more, but in a non-structure “art school” format. This Session 14, I truly got re-explore watercolors, a medium that I am working on strengthening. As I prepared pieces for the gallery showing by placing them in white frames, I took a long look at how the artwork came together. I realized I was very happy with what I created.

As an artist, I believe this applies to many, we are very critical with our work. There are times we are satisfied in the moment, only to later on, pick at the piece feeling dissatisfied. We can be our own worst critics. Its been a journey as an artist, as a person, between art school, deadlines, clients, personal life, its easy to care too much, to drown/rationalize out your own voice, to hopefully as you get older, not to give a “F!” Its an ongoing process that will not be perfect but as a person learning to selfcare, & have peace of mind, its an important process to keep at. How this is achieved is different for every person. The things I changed was not to over research, kept in mind a simple focus that, as I created each piece, I would continue with the color I ended with & most important for me was to have calming music while I painted. Of course, what I term as calming music is not always for another, as I listened to the band Faun a folklore/metal-ish band. For those with eclectic tastes in music I highly recommend them. It’s important to make your space comfortable for creating, it does NOT have to be perfect, just simply a space that allows you to create. Here are the works created this past Paura Session 14.

I believe next Paura session I will be creating on a bigger scale. The artists that I had a pleasure creating with above in the video are, Patty Eljaiek, Kiera McCourt, Maria Misko, Diane Palma, Lydia Rivera, & Jennifer Salta. Looking forward to Paura’s Session 15 in the coming new year!

Renovated Website & Paura

Welcome, everyone to the newly renovated website! It has been a long road to finally publish the new site. It started about a year ago, when I was testing templates because I knew the site needed updating & I wanted to upload more current work. Somehow after trying a template but deciding the layouts were not working, I canceled the preview, but apparently along with all of my uploaded work (some backup files had been previously lost as well). The horror I felt when that happened can probably be imagined by those who have worked on long hours on projects & then poof it all disappears!

After the loss of my old site, it took me a bit to start over. It was a frustrating time because website design is not my strongest suit, & the tools were not quite cutting it for what I was envisioning. I wanted to it be perfect, stand out, and was over complicating, & questioning my decisions. It’s easier to design for someone else’s clearer vision (the rarer clients who want good design/willing to pay for it). There was this hold of uncertainty of what I wanted, a fear of stepping fully into the spotlight, and yet the truth was simply I had to listen to the voice within, for I know what I like, I have the skills, the talent to accomplish this. Remembering this is not easy, its struggle for many artists but having good friends, colleagues, support network goes a long way. Despite the horror of losing all of the uploaded work, it was the push I needed to get uncomfortable, to realign with my voice, and continue to move forward.

PAURA

Coincidentally, but really more parallel, while working on my website, I had joined the latest Paura session. "PAURA" which is Italian for "Fear", created and run by Maria Misko a graphic designer in Huntington, New York, is a small group of friends creating and getting together to show and discuss artwork.
Typically a Paura session lasts 7 months. The group has a “get to know you meeting” for any new comers, we are given a list of words/prompts that are connected but find out at the last meeting how they link to each other, from the prompts we create in whatever medium, style we wish, & get together once a month to discuss.

During this Paura session 14- I chose to use watercolors & Dr. Martin Inks for all six pieces. Watercolors are medium that I am not as comfortable with but considering this past year was about being uncomfortable well it seemed to fit. Now with inks I am more familiar with so the blending of the two was fun. I am very happy pieces I have created! At the end of the session there is a dinner and we discuss the overall session & where we possibly might hold the gallery art show for all of the work we have made. I am happy to announce that this year art show will be held at

“The Calling Bell”- 51 Gibson Avenue, Huntington, New York. Artwork will be displayed from July 3rd-July 19th & reception will be on Monday, July 17th 6-8pm. If you are in the neighborhood & want to see beautiful artwork, please stop by to view my work & fellow artists, Patty Eljaiek, Keira McCourt, Maria Misko, Diane Palma, Lydia Rivera, & Jennifer Salta!

Sneak Peak of a few pieces…photos by Maria Misko.