Mucho Memphis

I spent six hours painting today, phew! It's going really well. I was telling my friend, Nina, today that I think this painting is coming easily because I have sat on the idea for a while before beginning the actual work. I have already made quite a few compositional decisions, now it's just a matter of getting it down on the canvas. It doesn't hurt that I am racing to finish for my portfolio deadline.

Small addition

Wow, Blogger actually loaded this photo! That's a first in a few weeks. I snuck in an hour of painting today after a work shift and was able to lay in the sunflower. Sorry about the moll stick in the frame, but I didn't realize how distracting it would be when I quickly took the snap.

Memphis

I began a new painting today, and it's all very exciting. The painting is HUGE, and I started with a venetian red gesso ground. But I can't get blogger to load any of the photos of the piece, boo! Good thing Picasa Web Albums works. Just click on the link titled "portfolio" on the right hand side of this blog. Then you can click on the new photos for a close up peak.

Newly finished pieces

I have been wrapping a few things up as well as pushing to compile a portfolio for a series of college interviews I have on Saturday. Here are photos of a finished Eve, a reprinted linocut (white on cream so I apologize if it is hard to see), and a little more work I have put into the old painting of the squash. (Check the portfolio link to the right for pictures of the squash painting. I can't get Blogger to load it to this post for some reason.)

She said, "Let there be background"...

and there was.

Slowly plugging away...

I worked on this piece a little more today. Really I was just putting in some details on the prickly pear cactus and some highlights on the open fig. I also tried to work out the feet. I stared and stared at my feet in the mirror, and I think I've ended up with statuesque Rodin sized clonkers on the ends of my legs. But...I may leave them out of proportion. I'm not really going for photorealism here anyway. I have been puzzling over the composition of this piece as well. It seems empty compared to its twin - the painting of Tyler, and I am toying with the idea of laying a ground and horizon line; but pretty annoyed that I am thinking of doing this now. It will mean some backtracking... hmmm.

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.