Birdseed 10" x 11"

Here is a print I have been working on during my Thursday night classes at the Shemer Center. It is a linoleum cut. I am working with two blocks - one for each color; and handprinting the image on rice paper. I have really been enjoying working with the medium. I like the graphic quality the rice paper gives to the lino cut, and I am very impressed that I can get such an even print without using a press. This is not a final version of the image. I am still hoping to move the red "seeds" up closer to the image of the birds, but first I must cut away more of the lino block.

More work accomplished

Not the past week but rather the one before I was able to spend a good amount of time working on this painting. I am really excited by where it is going. After a long week at work I feel derailed. And the whole diptych seems a little daunting - really ambitious. What the heck am I thinking?...But I'll muster the wherewithal to continue plugging along soon I am sure. I like the composition. I will be enlarging the roadrunner, keeping the tribble-cactus, painting out the back leg of the chair that descends to the ground under Tyler's right hand (because everyone thinks it's a cigar), and working more on Tyler's face. The photograph I am working from actually doesn't provide enough detail around Tyler's ear and neck. Maybe I'll have to photograph him again. Today I stretched the large canvas for the painting I am beginning of Memphis and Reagan. I really don't have anywhere in the house to store it...

Here is a picture of the progress I have made on the painting of Tyler. It is not the entire composition - the left and right sides are cropped out. I am getting some more opaque layers of paint down on the canvas. And I have covered the entire area with color. I am working out the composition in the foreground still. Earlier I added a small barrel cactus; but because it more closely resembles a green tribble in the bottom right hand corner, I will be changing it.

Ch Ch Ch Changes...

I am working on everything right now trying to tie up loose ends before beginnings more projects. The self portrait is really coming together. I worked into the cacti on the right hand side of the canvas and back into my shirt. It won't be long now for this one I think.

I have worked on the second panel of this piece as well, but the photo turned out blurry. I'll post it at a later date. I envision this piece as part of a larger wooden frame that maybe has hinged doors; but I think for the sake of the portfolio I will end for the time being by cradling the plywood. The advanced carpentry will have to happen at a later date.

Above is a quick snap of another linocut I am beginning for the portfolio - a grackle. I haven't worked out the composition entirely (even though I have begun cutting). Below is another linocut I will include. I have been working tirelessly to get a good print from this block, but my efforts with the press have yielded nothing. My next attempt will be done by hand with a barren on rice paper. I am currently thinking I will make this a two color piece by printing a second image in the large expanse of space in the top left corner.

Almost Done...

Probably my favourite title for a blog post. I am looking to get this painting wrapped up - get it off my plate. I am currently in the middle of a lot of work in the studio right now, and it would calm my nerves to put some more paintings in the "completely finished" category. I am excited by the changes that happened today. I like the expansion and collapsing of space that the outline and the realistic painting create. And I finally painted over the blank spots in the top lefthand corner of the painting - previously meant for birds...forget it. They won't be going into the picture. Lots of things are being resolved, however, I am still struggling with a title. Any suggestions?

Infant of Prague 16" x 20"

I have started another painting - like I need another painting to work on, right? This is the first in a series I have been thinking about. I am very nonplussed by it at the moment. The composition is static, the painting is very blonde, and it has none of the majesty I imagined for it. Still it is a nice break from working so large as with the current figure paintings. Additionally, this piece is solely from observation - my favourite way of painting.

More work on Tyler

I am slogging through it right now learning how to work when I don't really feel like working. It is time to hash out the rest of the composition of this piece and I feel like I won't find the answers to it today. So maybe I should put this up for a while. There are still some drawing issues to work out in the figure as well...

Desert Eve

I am finally finding the patience to build some complex compositions again. I am really enjoying working on this portrait even more so now that I am constructing a rich environment for the figure. The introduction of the cacti was precipitated by a hot and sweaty stroll through South Mountain this morning - which was inspired by Sina's continued postings of her encounters with Sabino Canyon.

"Eden"

I haven't posted any images of this painting in a while because I haven't been working on it. But it is time to get cracking as it is becoming more of a chore than a "delight". I think I made some marked improvements in the composition today and it has refreshed the piece in my mind.

Adam and Eve

Well of course I can't get blogger to format this post the way I would like it to. In the "compose" mode everything looks fine, but when I publish the post it goes haywire. The painting of Tyler is the lefthand panel of the diptych. I only began his painting today and it is still very rough. I was hoping that blogger would allow me to view these two images side by side as they are too large to view in the studio...need more space...

Eve

I have been working on this thing all day! And my eyes are beginning to bug out of my head. It is going well, but I have some challenges with my source material namely the photo of myself. I am not quite able to work out what is happening in the detail areas and may need to shoot the scene again in order to work out the face, hands, and feet.

Eve 42" x 42"

There's a lot to say today. I got back from a weeklong vacation to San Francisco and was eager to return to my paints. So I began mapping out and sketching in a whole new painting. The canvas is one I stretched myself - a beautiful fine weave linen that I picked up at the art shop round the corner at a fantastic price. I had some trouble with the first stretch and had to undo and restretch the entire thing. This has been a long time coming. I initially bought the linen with the idea of doing a similar composition but using my husband as the subject. Today I knew I couldn't wait until the weekend to begin and so started a piece from a photograph of myself. I think it is a happy accident...As now I see this piece as part of a diptych - using my husband in the other panel.

Diptych

It's a twofer today. I laid down the first bit of paint on the panel with the grackle on it. Yesterday I added the patterned box next to the apple blocking out the veins that used to be there. Hmmm....

Dry Point Etchings

Here are two pieces I made in my printmaking class I am taking at the Shemer Center. I love the results of working with dry point. The lower image of the onions looks especially moody - like a small ink painting. Both copper plates have been reworked a little after these prints and I have yet to proof the corrections, but these images are only undergoing slight adjustments. The etchings are tiny. I think the onion were scratched into a 4 x 6 plate? (perhaps even smaller). And the hibiscus plate is only 4 or 3 inches square.

Diptych 12" x 24"

I have only just started this piece, and I expect it to be the bottom panel in a diptych. We'll see. As always, I am really excited at the outset of a piece. I will probably be darkening the colors as right now they are very high key and the overall contrast in the painting is low. I am still working out the composition as well.

Squash

This was all done on the same day that I began the painting. I have added the shadows underneatht the squash and worked in more detail into the vegetables. It was a good day painting.

Squash 12 x 18

I really love the boards this painting is on. I love to touch them - the smooth sanded surface of the gesso, the mounds of block printing ink - plastic and chaotic - like a fingerprint. And now, once it is dry, the thick impasto of the oil paint. I'm so sorry that we can't interact with great works of art through touch. The photo of this piece was taken with a flash so the wet paint is reflecting that light in places, and I have already added shadows underneath the squash. It makes them look as if they are sitting on the boards themselves.

Eden

I had a really good painting yesterday. I guess you never know when it is going to happen. It was a long day at work, and I dumped myself in front of the canvas rather reluctantly for just an hour. I was fed up with this painting - very frustrated at the craftmanship of the piece. As I was driving home from work I thought I should go back into it and really risk something, really try to paint, loosen up, push the color across the canvas with the brush rather than timidly dab at the pigment. And I produced the rock formation in the middle of the piece. I like it. I am excited about the piece again, and beginning to play with titles for it.

noli me tangere

Here is a detail of the apple/pigeon painting. I added goldleaf to the halo today. It's really beautiful stuff. The result is a saturated gold surface that I couldn't acheive with the gold acrylic paint I previously applied. I am wrapping up this piece, still contemplating working back into both the apples and the pigeon to make them more life like. On the other hand, I don't want to lose the freshness the images have right now. We'll see if I get around to a touch up.

On other fronts, I have determined how much work is needed to compile my grad school portfolio; and it is time to focus and churn out images. The thought kinda makes me cringe, but at times I work well when I have to be quicker with my decisions. I don't linger. I printed two small poplar panels with a linoleum pattern today using an oil based ink to avoid the running I encountered in the background of the above piece. I also began preparing a large square linen canvas. It is on my list to stretch it today and hopefully lay down a sketch on it next weekend.

I can't put titles into Blogger right now for some reason. But if I could....#$%@!!! is kind of how I feel right now. Some days are like that. These two pieces are growing by leaps and bounds, however, very akwardly - like adolescents. We shall see. I am thinking of a new name for the piece as well.