It has happened...12" x 16"

Well, how's this for a change in direction?

I visited a friend's studio and had the pleasure of viewing her newest work - big juicy oil paintings! They were fabulous. And while I was there, I was struck with the desire to return to oils in my own studio.

Here it is. I don't know where this will lead. Will I incorporate my acrylic vocabulary of painting into new work in oils? Is this an aberration? We shall see.

I sure had a lot of fun making it.

Botanical II

I couldn't resist the urge to work back into this piece with watercolors in select areas. I'm not so sure that was the best thing. Right now I am going to take some time away from this drawing and see what I think after a few days.

Botanical II 22" x 30"

Here is a second ink drawing. I am hoping they develop into a series. So far I think there is enough to the process and the resulting compostions to continue exploring. I am building up these botanical spaces by combining the practice of drawing from photograph and from direct observation. Currently I am focusing on exploring the ink and my ability to expand the vocabulary of marks I am making. How can I effect the drawing through the contolled application of water, or masking, by slowly developing wash layers, or directly drawing on the paper using a nib, ink and concentrating on texture. These are very exciting for me right now.

Finished...

I think.

Adobe Illustrator

I am dabbling in design. I got a smokin' deal on an older version of Adobe Illustrator and am hoping to develop my fluency with the program. (There are even rumblings of children's book illustrations, but they are faint.)

I have been popping in and out of children's boutiques lately - you know the yuppie ones that sell baby booties for a mere $40 a pop. I suppose it's that biological clock of mine. But I have been interested in little alphabet cards I keep seeing. So I sketched out a few ideas last night and tried my hand at starting one with AI today. It's a little overwhelming, but I am surprised I got this far...Stay tuned.

Taking Care of Mizuko 8" x 10"

This took a surprising turn. Paintings have seemed a little forced lately...I got out of town this weekend down to Cape Cod, and I think it was really good for me. In a "filling the well" sort of way. I had a few ideas for linocuts. I don't know that I will sit down to work on them, but I did find the inspiration to push this composition in a different and what I think is better direction.

8" x 10"

I'm not so sure about this one, but I began working on it today. It is very small and nearing completion. I would like to create another panel to go with it.

Botanical I

I think it's finished...

Do you live in Phoenix?

Go see my paintings at Burton Barr Central Library beginning Jul. 1.

Too many posts

I know, I know...Get a job, right? Well, some days it's hard to focus on stuff like that. I decided instead to turn my energies to the studio since reviewing job postings is making me feel inadequate today. I am interested in showing my work locally, and the idea is to get some stuff up at a certain coffee shop. (no, not that one.) They seem to do a pretty swift business selling art, so I saw it as an opportunity to put my clandestine polaroid project to a good use. I have been snapping the darn things off and on for 6 years and have really come up with some surprisingly great results. I posted just a few of them under a "polaroids" link to the right.

Here is a teaser to get you interested.

Botanical I

I put some more work in on this today. I am discovering new ways to articulate the various textures and shapes. I especially like the grass I am starting to build on the right side of the piece.

Polaroid flowers 22" x 30"

It was time to get to work in the studio today, and I didn't feel as if I knew where to go with the Rose Garden painting. So I grabbed my polaroid camera and took a quick walk round the block and finished out the film snapping flowers in people's gardens. I began sketching one of the photos on a gessoed canvas then it dawned on me that what interested me about the photo was the multitude of overlapping textures. So I put away the canvas and pulled out a piece of watercolor paper and my india ink. The resulting drawing is still in it's early stages. I am hoping to work up some very dense darks and textures. Unlike recently past drawing projects I think I will see this through to its resolution.

Work over the weekend

I spent some time on this over the passed weekend. I realized I was feeling very stuck by the piece. I had laid down an initial layer of images over almost the entire canvas and I didn't know how to proceed. I chose to work on top of and paint out some of the plaid, introduce the black at the bottom of the canvas, begin working with rose silhouettes and outlines, and painted a larger, well articulated flower in the upper right hand corner of the piece. I think it makes the composition more dynamic. The piece is still progressing, so check back to see what happens next.

Bored?...

Play dress up. under the "games" link.

Minot rose garden 20" x 20"

I started a new painting today. There is a call for entries at the Arts Center where I volunteer on Tuesdays. They are looking for works that are inspired by a local public rose garden. I visited the space yesterday to photograph the flowers. Today I got to work on a small linen canvas I just stretched at the start of the week. I purchased the linen down the street and it is beautiful. It has such a nice silky, fine, weave; I really think I am going to like working on it.

I photographed the new painting, but as is often the case, the photo that was in focus wasn't quite the right exposure. It is included below in all it's darkish glory. The second image is the same jpeg that I altered in Photoshop. I still haven't mastered the art of color correction with that program. The alterations I did make allow the painting to be more easily viewed online but do not provide an accurate representation of the piece.

I also worked back into and finished the "elm" painting - for which I still don't have a satisfactory title. Any suggestions? I posted the final picture of it under my portfolio links to the right. Don't expect vast changes. I only tinkered with the red border I was articulating around the iris.

I was reading Mindy and Carianne's blog the other day when Carianne wrote about how posting a picture of her work helped her to view it more objectively. I didn't really think about it at the time, but now that I am working in a more intuitive fashion and my decisions about a painting's progress are more arbitrary, I am finding the blog posts a useful tool in that way. They allow me to see the painting differently. I suppose it is the translation of the physical canvas onto a 2-dimensional screen. With that said, this painting is not yet finished. I had an idea after I saw it online.

I think it's done.


****

I had a thought about the work. I think it is primarily about chroma. As I work I am driven to select images and then react to the colors I put down on the canvas...

It's all too fresh to articulate exactly; but it's about reaction, and intuition, and fate / does "arbitrariness" sound too convoluted?...

Oak Affirmations

I am playing with titles for this piece. I worked out all the venetian red background. I am conscious of not using it as a crutch. I still have the overabundance of stencildom, but I am selectively working over that.

not elm but oak

Okay, so I got a little out of control with the stencil...I cut out some Frisk paper (is that what it's called?...I can't even remember now) and continued to stick it to the canvas and fill it in with paint. I am going to have to take a break so that I am able to work back into this painting and obliterate some of these leaves. I am not all about hard edges and flat surfaces; but I am glad I found a way to work that aesthetic into my pieces.

alium linoleum

alium linoleum 3' x 3'

Here is something I am working on in the studio today. It's rainy and warm in Boston right now. The world is fabulously wet and drippy.