Monday, June 30, 2008

The return of passion…

To my surprise, I had a magic painting yesterday! Strata was a planned painting, inspired after my experimentation on Composition 6 and Dapple earlier this year. Both of those paintings were interesting learning experiences for me, but they were by no means “magic”. Yet I knew there was something in both of those pieces that I wanted to pursue. Composition 6 was completely “evolutionary” in nature, meaning that I had no idea what was going to happen when I approached the blank paper, not even an idea of color. One thing just lead to another, and finally I had something that I liked. Dapple was a take-off from the former as I tried to recapture some of the amazing mistakes that had happened in the first piece. I even used the same color palette. From there I did a few layouts in Adobe Illustrator, and that is when I got the idea for Strata. So when I started this piece late Saturday evening, I had had a definite idea of where it was going. Even so, starting with a firm idea in my head does not insure I will have a successful painting. But from the minute I laid in the initial background glazes, I had the excitement that has eluded me for (seemingly) months. I couldn’t seem to leave the painting alone. I took several breaks throughout the day to run errands, and yet I wanted to get back to work on it. I even wired it last night at 10:00pm and hung it up!

Strata, 2008, 24" x 24", acrylic on canvas


Inspirations: Composition 6 and Dapple


The layout for Strata (Adobe Illustrator)

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Studio Sale at the Guild


The Guild.com (The Artful Home) is having a Studio Sale. They've asked their artists to go through their studios, find works of art that they are not currently selling on the Guild.com and for a limited time, offer them at a significant discount. I have eleven pieces in the Studio Sale which starts today and ends July 15.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Hot off the easel…

Finally, I have finished this one! Nearly a week because there are many layers of paint overlaid very thinly and each layer had to dry before application of the next. My painting relationship with this piece was a mix of excitement and disappointment. All started out fine. It was looking good, just a little flat… then at one point, in trying to create some contrast, I ruined it (hating that), but got back in the studio the next evening and after some more scumbling and glazing, brought the piece back to where I liked it for the most part.

What I would change about this painting if I could: the color scheme would have felt more natural for me as a monochromatic piece (eliminate the blue tones).

What I love about this painting: the branch in the lower left corner is the result of a dramatic mistake. Using GAC 100 instead of glazing medium to thin the white wash made it dry too fast and I almost couldn’t remove any of it. That removal process left a stark contrast between the black base and the white wash overlay which disturbed me at first, but as I worked on other parts of the painting, my eyes kept being drawn back to that amazing little mistake.

Flora, 2008, acrylic on canvas—24” x 24”

Monday, June 23, 2008

New Direction

As I said in my last post, my latest attempt is to take the Sticks & Stones series into a looser, more ethereal direction, similar to my recent botanical explorations. Sticks & Stones #39 does that, although I am not sure this is a better way to go or not. There is a flatness that I am not completely happy with. It seems to me it needs more contrast. Also, because the composition evolved (unlike all other Sticks paintings which are figured out prior to painting), the balance is a bit off. But for all it's worth, here it is.

Sticks & Stones #39, 2008, 30" x 15", acrylic on canvas

Friday, June 20, 2008

Practice, continued…

I am still feeling inspired to continue with these botanical-themed practice panels. In fact I have started a larger 24" square canvas in this theme and I am also starting a new 15" x 30" Sticks & Stones in this style, much looser and evolutionary than my previous Sticks & Stones paintings. We'll see how that turns out. I'd like to have something new in the Sticks & Stones for the upcoming ad I will be running in next year's Guild Sourcebook along with a Reclamation piece. I have a couple of weeks to get them together. And despite my creative block, I still get in the studio almost daily and sling a bit of paint, even though it may only be for a half an hour. I keep trying… I haven't given it up yet…

Small Botanical Study 2, 12" x 12", 2008, acrylic on canvas panel

Now, when I see the two pieces together, I am more pleased than with just the single piece alone. Somehow they make more sense when they are together:

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Bed Bath & Beyond

Image Conscious is the publisher that recreates my artwork as posters. It is a rare thing to actually see my work in a home store, although I once saw Sticks & Stones #10's image hanging in Z Gallerie. But I have always wanted something to go into Bed Bath & Beyond. Don't know why, but every time I go in there and visit their artwork section, I think "my art should be here". So now it turns out that Bed Bath & Beyond has placed a major order (nationwide – all stores) for two of my small Sticks & Stones repros! Finally, I will be in Bed Bath & Beyond!

Sticks & Stones #37: 2007, 48" x 12", acrylic on paper


Below, the areas of the reproduction on order for Bed Bath & Beyond, outlined in magenta:


So there will be two small square-formatted prints available for purchase at Bed Bath & Beyond later this summer.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Just sold from the Guild.com

Dapple, 2008 and Whim, 2007 both measuring 24" square.

The wonderful thing is, this is a customer who has purchased my art from the Guild before. It's always great when a collector comes back for another piece of art!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Practice Makes Imperfect

I experimented with a different textural base on this piece, overlaying self-leveling clear gel on top of light molding paste, which created a slicker surface texture than the light molding paste alone. It allowed the paint to be easliy pushed across the surface and yet it offered better resistance than "regular" weight or "heavy" molding paste. This is not a theme that I would normally pursue, but I had seen some work by a wonderful artist who does beautiful, ethereal paintings in encaustic and oils and I felt inspired to try my own version in acrylic. I utilized some older techniques that I don't use much now and was excited by some of the accidents that happened. I just wish I had better control over the accidents, resulting in a better composition.



Small Botanical Study, 12" x 12", acrylic on canvas, 2008

Sunday, June 15, 2008

More photos from the Pierre Paul Art Gallery

Reclamation #15 and Industria #11 are on the right.



Other artists' work at the gallery:

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Fond Memory

Just sold from the Guild.com, Rapport is one of my favorite paintings. Not only did it turn out to my liking, but it is what I call a "magic painting." I remember its creation fondly. It was effortless, almost painting itself. It was spontaneous, there was no hesitation, no conflict, no wondering "where to take it." One minute it was a blank canvas and seemingly the next it was a completed painting. Like magic.



Unfortunately, magic paintings are rare. Right now I find myself fighting with tiny canvas panels during practice. I am spending more time preparing canvases than actually painting them. Sometimes I think I should do something else completely. Maybe I wasn't really born to do this. Some say I just need a break (from what? I'm not actually painting), others say it's just a block, it will pass or I have to work through it or whatever. Frankly, I am starting to doubt that it will pass even if I work on it. But I keep trying, painting really bad paintings and attempting to resolve the frustration that results.

Rapport was painted back in 2005, during a time when I was good. Right now it is on its way to Florida. Meanwhile, I have to get back to the studio.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Lesson 1

As I continue experimenting within my Reclamation series, I find that not all progress is evenly-paced in a forward momentum. Two steps forward, one step back as the saying goes. But advances are made. So even though I am not as happy with this small piece as I was with Just a Bit Further, I have to admit that a learning experience has occurred. There are a couple of new techniques in this one that I am hoping will work consistently on larger pieces where I will have multiple repeats of these tiny lessons.



Lesson 1, 2008, 12" x 12", acrylic on canvas

The first thing is the grooves dividing the center panel into quadrants. I don’t know why I have never used my sculpting tools for this particular purpose. After all, that is what those tools were designed for. I have had them for years, knowing that someday they would come in handy. It surprises me that it has taken me so long to do the obvious with them. But the ease of using these tools with my chosen material was an exciting discovery. The second discovery was more accidental. It involves the circular “debossed” area in the lower left quadrant of the center panel. To achieve that effect, I usually employ a simple “reverse masking” technique, where I literally use circular paper masks. The problem becomes removing those masks once I have achieved the correct depth of material. I have developed my ways of course, but it is somewhat time-consuming, involving a compass blade and preservation of the center points which then leaves a very sharp-cut edge which I then have to soften with hand-applied material for a more natural quality. My new discovery involves using simple plastic containers, applied upside-down directly into the material, allowing the material to dry outside the plastic, but the container traps the material inside, keeping it wet. Once the outside is dry, the container is removed (revealing a glorious natural-looking rough edge!) and the still-wet material can be wiped away. This results in a much more natural-looking area of debossing. I am going to try it on my next painting.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Wow, I completely forgot about this one!

I was weeding through layered Photoshop files of all of my paintings this morning, looking for older pieces that I could offer at a discount through the Guild. The Guild is working with all of their artists on offering a "Studio Sale" next month and I was trying to find whatever pieces I have to be included. And I came across this painting. It is entitled Trio and although it was sold years ago, it took me by surprise because I had completely forgotten about this one. I am not a landscape artist, but I have made a couple of feeble attempts. It's funny, I didn't think this painting was that good when I painted it and was happy to sell it on eBay (back in the day when I did such things) for a pittance. But now I rather like it. It does not grace my website, so I thought I would give it some exposure here on the blog.