ripping it up in the studio

Lily, colored pencil, 11.5x8 inches

I'm cleaning out old artwork and can hardly believe it but I just ripped up three old colored pencil drawings. The frames are on their way to the Goodwill. I saved the mats for possible future art.  When I came to "Lilies and Dahlias" I fell in love (again) with the lower left corner. I will cut it away from the rest of the painting and rename it "Lily."

the way things happen short story

 

I'm scheduled to be the featured artist for October at The State of The Arts Gallery, Olympia, WA. In addition to a dozen small still-life oils, they have also asked for a couple larger paintings. I thought I'd get around to that over the summer. It would be a new experience I wanted to think about it awhile.

Then, last week, online artist/friend Mike emailed me asking to purchase "A Glad Heart," one of the paintings set aside for the gallery. I said yes IF I could paint another similar piece to replace it.

So, this morning I put "A Glad Heart" on the side of the easel and for some reason, I put a 16 x 20 canvas in position to paint. I can't really say what happened next but it was so much fun! In about 20 minutes I had another, much larger "Glad Heart" roughed in.

If I had not taken Qiang Huang's workshop in April, I wouldn't be painting still life again. If State of the Arts Gallery had not asked for a large still life, I wouldn't have painted one. If Mike had not asked to purchase "A Glad Heart," I would not have painted it larger.

It seems my art evolves in steps.

1. The desire to try a new subject or medium.
2. The challenge of making it look the way I want.
3. The comfort zone of producing paintings in that genre (usually until I'm bored and the cycle starts over again).

Staying in one's "comfort zone" too long for optimum physical or mental health has been a family topic of late so it is interesting that I was sort of ejected from my comfort zone today into such a fun place! Now, I don't want to go back to 6 x 6 inches, they seem tedious in comparison.

favorite things

I've mentioned searching garage sales for reference objects for my paintings but some of my favorite props are items I use every day. Here is an example: my empty Kate Somerville Nourish Daily Moisturizer jar. I love this stuff, use it every day, and when the moisturizer is gone I remove the pump-insert jar from inside and save the blue/green translucent outer jar.  The image below shows how I used the empty jar in a painting.

Favorite Things, oil, 6x6 inches

too hot

The coming week will be spent with family instead of painting and blogging. Time for a break; it is too hot in Washington State! I'm ending the week with the posting of a new print, "Gift Box," on my Studio Sales page. sold

a bright tomorrow

A Bright Tomorrow, oil, 6 x 6 inches

Last month all the small still-life oil paintings I had were sold online. New 6 x 6 inch paintings will be framed for galleries but I am offering the images as same-size Fine Art Prints through my Studio Sales. If you missed the opportunity to purchase one of the originals last month, consider a print. They look amazing - if I do say so myself. :) A Bright Tomorrow is my first print offering. Purchase

a glad heart

A Glad Heart, oil, 6x6 inches   Sold

See the steps below.

A Glad Heart Step 1

Step 1: The Ampersand Gessbord panel is toned, marked for the center and paint is removed from the marble with a cloth and Gamsol.

A Glad Heart Step 2

Step 2: Transparent Oxide Red + Ultramarine Blue applied with a palette knife to layout the composition.

A Glad Heart Step 3

Step3: Still working with TOR + UB in various values from light to dark. From this step on, local color is added for the finished painting shown above.

wisdom and folly

Wisdom and Folly Step 1

Wisdom and Folly Step 2

Wisdom and Folly Step 3

Wisdom and Folly Step 4

Wisdom and Folly, oil, 6x6 inches

signs and wonders

Signs and Wonders, step 1

Signs and Wonders, step 2 artist meltdown and wipe-off

Signs and Wonders, oil, 6x6 inches  sold

Signs and wonders. It's a sign to walk away and take a break when you have muddy-mess of flowers. It's a wonder what a good wipe-off with a cloth, right down to the Ampersand surface, will do for a good night's sleep. Objects: dried Statice, my gift-box, a gift-cherry and Saturday's garage sale find of a shiny salt shaker (which was really fun to paint)!  The Yellow Ochre + Cad Lemon palette was a nice change.

waiting again

Last week I posted the top photo, the value stage of three little paintings. I thought you might like to see how they look finished. Now they will wait for their frames and gallery delivery.