ADVICE FROM
KATHERINE CHANG LIU
Never feel precious about your
work.
Be peerless. Pay attention
to your own mind. Generate
your own ideas. Don’t keep
other artists’ work around for
reference or inspiration.
Your work is a refl ection of
who you are. Consider it your
“self-portrait.”
Art is about growth. You
should be constantly striving
to grow, evolve and improve.
Learn to appreciate the variety
and creativity of other artists
without judgment.
Look more deeply at other art-
ists’ work, beyond the surface.
Instead of inquiring about
medium or technique, study
the work for what it has to say,
for what the artist is trying to
achieve.
Put Post-it notes on your
painting with comments at the
end of the day. The notes will
provide a starting point when
you return to the studio the
next day.
When you do a series (20
pieces, at a minimum), the
fi rst fi ve are the easiest.
Beginning around number
six, the real work begins,
when your imagination is put
to work.
On the “left brain versus
right brain” question: Every
decision you make as an art-
ist is a combination of “left
brain” (analytical, systematic,
orderly) skills—what colors
to choose, for example—and
“right brain” (intuitive, instinc-
tual, subconscious) abilities—
how to use those colors.
LEFT: Katherine with students
(clockwise): Catherine Maunsell;
Barbara Kellogg, B.J. Arnold,
Joyce Homan, Everett Webber.54_tam1216Liu.indd 57 9/22/16 9:32 AM