My first blog is a bit if a cheat, it is pretty much copied from the "About Me" section of my Burnt Offerings by Robyn Facebook page!
I attended a retreat weekend with a group of ladies and one of the exercises was to describe yourself with an adjective starting with the same letter as our first name. After laughing, to myself on any adjectives I could think of starting with “R”, such as ravishing, robust, rich and riveting, I was truly stumped for a descriptive word. When time came to reveal our word and explain it I had to admit I had not come up with one. One lovely lady that I’d come to know immediately said “rustic”. Rustic Robyn, um okay, why not? I’ve thought many a time over that description and was never quite sure of it. I recently thought about it again and looked up the definitions, I found the following in Collins Dictionary online:
“You can use rustic to describe things or people that you approve of because they are simple or unsophisticated in a way that is typical of the countryside.”
Okay that works,
”typical of the countryside”….I have lived over 60% of my life in the country, surrounded by forests, fields, and gardens. I love working with herbs and canning produce from the garden and foraged from the wild. Pioneer life has always intrigued me and I’m in my element when I have egg laying hens and ducks to enjoy.
“Simple” (I’ll take this as straightforward, uncomplicated)…. I live a sincere, non-pretentious life. I chose to buck the norm and be a “stay at home mom” for my children’s early years, though it meant a more frugal life.
“Unsophisticated”….well I’ll take the “homespun” synonym for that one, the rest sound insulting. LOL
How does this all relate to my artwork? Well I am attracted to capturing the beauty and simplicity of nature, of animals, of people and of items of the past.
When painting my palette is simple I generally work with 3 basic colours and mix my colours from them. This brings a pleasing flow to the colour pallet that, as in nature, compliments each other.
When burning wood in my pyrography the warmth of natural wood and the hues of browns gives a depth and comfort to the art.
My hope is my art will convey a warm feeling of comfort often found in a simpler, “rustic” life
Comments