Folk Art/Tole Painting
Alethea Raspa
I've been lurking around in this newsgroup for a while now, and have not
seen many mentions of tole painting mentioned.
I was wondering if there is a email list for tolepainters (it's known as
folk art or decorative painting here in Australia) hiding on the net
somewhere.
Thanks in advance,
Regards
Alethea
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ale...@cougar.multiline.com.au
Calling from Perth, Western Australia
Hallo, Sunshine!
Catherine E. Stroh
Alethea, please stop lurking and jump in! What would you like to talk about
Decorative painting is a love of mine too. What type of painting do you do?
Do you paint on wood, cut your own. Let me know about yourself.
Cathy
Arts & Craft Junkie
sar...@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
I am very new in this craft and just returned from a weekend painting
"retreat". It was great fun and I learned a few things. I guess I am
wondering if most people who tole paint have some artistic ability to
begin with. I am struggling and hope it will get better with practice.
I have trouble keeping everything neat and in the lines. I hope my
shading will improve too. As you can tell I am really a beginner.
Sarita
Karen J. Cravens
Well, I'm not a tole painter, I just play one on TV. Er, that's not
right. I'm the daughter of one. Anyway, before Computers Changed
My Life (I'm a programmer now), I was going to be a commercial
artist. My mother encouraged me, and always said the talent must
have come from Dad's side of the family because she "couldn't draw a
straight line," or she "couldn't even draw a flower that isn't
lopsided." She was absolutely convinced that, although she enjoyed
all sorts of "crafty" things, she didn't have any "real talent."
But a few years ago, she took a couple of tole painting classes, and
got interested... for a long time, she carefully traced every line
and dot from the pattern onto the wood. That was, as I said, a few
years ago. These days, it's a full-time career... she keeps
raising her prices, and still can't keep up with the orders; she
doesn't even do craft shows anymore, because word-of-mouth
generates enough sales. (Not to say she's making any real money at
it, of course...)
It's been my firm belief that *nobody* really has this magical
"artistic talent." Most of it's just good hand-eye coordination,
and with that and a quarter you can play a video game. What it
really is, is "artistic DESIRE," which is what makes you keep
practicing until you're good at it, at which point everybody is
amazed at your "talent." When I was a kid, I just drew because I
enjoyed it, and eventually got fairly good... so supposedly I have
"artistic talent." But I tried a couple of tole painting projects
recently, and darned if I can keep ANYTHING "neat and in the lines,"
as you say... a *lot* of it is just plain brush technique, which
takes practice, and none of my artistic training has been in that
direction (I work primarily with colored pencils). My supposedly
non-talented mother, on the other hand, took a watercolor course
recently and absolutely AMAZED me... she'd worked with acrylics for
so long that she didn't have to worry about controlling the brush,
and could worry about the actual *art* part. I'm jealous.
So yes, it does get better with practice, even if you *think* you
have no talent.
Silver
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"It's not just a mistake, it's an adventure!"
finger pho...@tyrell.net for information on online roleplaying
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Catherine E. Stroh
love painting and I have always loved art, but to get better is like anything
else, effort. It helps if you enjoy it thought. Keep practicing, don't get
discouraged, don't be to hard on yourself when something doesn't turn out
the way you thought it should. Leave it for a day and go back and look.
Look at what you like and what your no so happy with and find ways to change
what you don't like. Let me know how your doing. (By the way, I am totally
self taught, so I sure don't know everything about it yet, but I keep reading
and practising)
Cathy
Arts & Craft Junkie
Kathy Cardoza
<Pine.A32.3.90.950329...@srv1.freenet.calgary.ab.ca>,
"Catherine E. Stroh" <st...@freenet.calgary.ab.ca> wrote:
> Welcome! I would love to hear about the retreat and what you did their. I
> love painting and I have always loved art, but to get better is like anything
> else, effort. It helps if you enjoy it thought. Keep practicing, don't get
> discouraged, don't be to hard on yourself when something doesn't turn out
> the way you thought it should. Leave it for a day and go back and look.
> Look at what you like and what your no so happy with and find ways to change
> what you don't like. Let me know how your doing. (By the way, I am totally
> self taught, so I sure don't know everything about it yet, but I keep reading
> and practising)
>
> Cathy
> Arts & Craft Junkie
I, too, am a tole painter and looking forward to my first retreat this
weekend. And, no, I don't have any real artistic ability. It is just
techniques learned and practiced. It's nice to see other painters on the
Net!! BTW, Jackie Shaw's "Big Book of Decorative Painting" is a wonderful
book for beginners and non-beginners alike.
Kathy
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kca...@pacifier.com
So much to learn -- so little brain
marlene abriel
ever since. In fact, so much so, that I taught for two years. I've only
run across 2 people that couldn't develope their skills. With
persistance, patience and practice you'll do just fine. Above all, don't
compare your work to the work of others. Develope your own style and
talent. Once the basics are there, it's like riding a bike.
Practice at least an hour a day, until you can make commas in your sleep.
You were taught the comma stroke? My students learned to hate commas! But
after about two weeks, I was hard pressed to tell the difference between
mine and theirs.
If you have any questions, just ask. I'll try to help. Teaching across
the net would be a unique experience.
Bye for now.
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Marlene Abriel af...@cfn.cs.dal.ca
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Dragonlady
S> "retreat". It was great fun and I learned a few things. I guess I am
I have a *dumb* question to ask you. I've seen tole painting mentioned here
in the base, but I have no idea what it is. Just what exactly is tole
painting?
Catherine E. Stroh
Painting, and Decorative Painting are all styles of painting done by
regular people. I am self taught, but there are a lot of classes offered
at craft stores. Some is done on furniture, some is on wood cut outs (I
cut my own and enjoy the cutting as well as the painting) and some people
do it on anything, metal, plastic, pottery. It is painting just about
anything you want to make an object "decorative". Add pictures, patterns
flowers, scroll work, you name it. Let me know if I didn't succeed in
answering you question. I love it by the way!
Cathy
Arts & Craft Junkie