Friday, September 18, 2015

Tis the season?

Ok, so this was my first week of daily painting and as you can see, I went a little wild.



 This first piece is 8x10 on canvas and was taken from part of a painting I had seen in someone's house, but the work was unsigned.  I really hope I haven'y broken some international law or anything like that:)  I liked the thick brush work and the colors.
 This piece is also 8x10 canvas and it's title is "Caroline in the Park".  both of these first two pieces sold on facebook.  Again, I liked the loose brushstrokes and I'm with my friend in saying "I just can't stop staring at it,"
 I honestly can't remember the dimensions on "Chloe", I'm thinking probably 12x12 on canvas.  That is actually gold paint and not just the flash:)  When I first posted it on facebook, it hadn't dried yet and a friend said "Oh, I love the gold" and I thought "Snap!  That's what it needs to be completed",  So I finished it off in the morning and sent it out to Chloe's mom.
 Again 8x10 canvas, from a photograph by Joe VanDeGraff.  I kind of slipped back into a more comfortable, smoothe style ( I needed a break).
 This one is larger and I actually finished it sometime ago.  It's called "The Ancestors' Walk"  I kind of love this painting, unfortunately it was painted on a really cheap canvas and it has started to warp.  Not sure what to do about that one.
 This is another larger piece from a photo by Joe VanDeGraff.  I like the colors and shapes actually.
 This one is large and I will literally pay someone to take it off my hands.  I painted over an old painting and it just doesn't feel like this one will come together for me.
 8x10 from photo by Joe VanDeGraff.  This one turned out feeling stiff and flat to me.  The reference photo is beautiful and I think I just couldn't do it justice:(  Sorry J and K
 Then......the gessobord panels came in!!!!!  they do not have a frame, they're just flat 6x6 panels.  I used the same palette for this one as I did for the tulips and it feels a bit more like my natural style, bold and wild.
This is my favorite of all.  I love the effect you get by layering paint and then scraping it back with a palette knife.  Very satisfying.
Lastly, this goodie is from a photo by David Gillette.  I can't find the finished product.  There was a lot more scraping of paint in the foreground, and in the end it kind of overshadowed the barn, but I'm a sucker for paint scraping:)

More gessobord, from photo by Joe VanDeGraff.  Did I mention I love paint scraping?


Ok, I guess I lied, I painted two barn pieces this week! Whew  From another photo by David Gillette.  This is the one where the scraping got a little out of hand:)
Lessons from this week: I gave waaaay too much time, attention, and thought to art, and not nearly enough to the really important things (6 of them) in my life.  I feel torn because I am expecting a shipment of Pebeo paints uhm, tomorrow (might have been over nighted in a manic rush of artistic enthusiasm).  I am so excited to be working again and I know about local and online galleries and shows, I may or may not have temporarily opened and etsy shop again....but maybe this is my season to keep drawing coloring books for the two at home and sketching when I can.  I love the idea of doing some kind of art each day, but I hate dragging kids to the graphics shop and then the shipping shop (they're especially lovely by that point), and then checking my phone all of the time.  I really didn't get attatched to many of these pieces, I didn't have time to consider titles and this post has literally taken me an hour because I'm just THAT good with technology.  Maybe in six more years it will be my season to really get into marketing and such (because my life will have slowed waaaay down by then right?:), "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Daily Painting

So, in my attempts to loosen up a little, I came across a book titled : Daily Painting by Carol Marine.  Everyone has a sticking point(s).  Mine is the plural.  First of all, starting a new piece can be intimidating, not to mention expensive if it doesn't turn out for me.  Second: I'm a perfecting person:) and I can get so caught up with details that I lose my love for whatever piece I'm working on.  Then it becomes more of a chore than a joy.  The ideas behind painting daily, or as often as you can were intriguing to me.   Painting small pieces often:
-Fits into your busy schedule.  I've got six busy schedules that I have to try to work around.  Most of the time when I would get and hour to myself it would come down to: nap?,study?clean?............paint?  Painting usually lost.
-You're more inspired to experiment.  Like I mentioned, painting large pieces can be intimidating, especially if your style is naturally tight.  Working on small pieces I can experiment and then when I have more time, I can use new techniques on larger pieces.
-You're less emotionally involved.  I like this one because it's not a huge crushing blow emotionally and financially it something doesn't work out.
-You gain confidence.  I'm still trying to find what my style is and this gives me the opportunity to try a lot of different things and find what I like best. 

Here's this week's batch.


This first one was my interpretation of an art piece I saw but was not signed:/ I hope nobody's offended. I really loved experimenting with colors here.


This second one was a great study for me on brushwork  I enjoyed loosening up, and I'm titling this "Caroline in the Park"


What do you do when you have thirty minutes to yourself?  I sometimes paint portraits of my friend's kids:)  This was a first for me, I actually am not a good portrait artist.  I've painted two of my children, and felt that I was only able to do that because I knew them so well  For me "Chloe" was more of a study in mood and texture than an exact portrait.  But, hey, thirty minutes right?

This last one is from a photograph by my talented friend, David.  Again, mood, color, and texture.

All of these are small paintings 8x10 is the largest.  I hope to produce five or six each week and I'll post the final products here.