Blank Canvas revisited

...help son with flat tire, tend to malnourished and injured stray kitten found in yard, volunteer to gallery sit at county gallery.........

Entering Shows

Fourteen   pastel/paper   23.5 x 17

Mary in Polka Dots   oil/canvas   30 x 24 x .5

It is difficult to decide which shows to enter. There are so many considerations such as: entry fee, shipping costs, distance to travel and having the appropriated formatted images, as these days, every show seems to have difficult requirements. Usually, the prize money is a consideration. Of course, there is no guarantee of winning a prize, but at least there should be the possibility of recuperating the costs of the entry. But sometimes there is an exception. Two of my works, "Fourteen" and "Mary in Polka Dots" were just shipped to Woodstock, Illinois for "Real People 2008" sponsored by The Old Court House Figurative League. This show just felt right to me. Quite simply, my goal is painting real people. Then, when I took a look at the work of juror Alice White, I was convinced. I was awed by her large canvasses that focus on huge groups of people with lots of interaction. My own work shows solitary figures. I just had a good feeling. The exhibit is August 7 - September 28 at The Old Courthouse Arts Center on Woodstock Square in Woodstock, Illinois.

Blank Canvas

A blank canvas is a horrible thing to face. The start-up is the worst....and every day that goes by without putting strokes of paint onto the canvas and into my world seems somehow void of meaning for me. My usual routine includes 4-6 hours of studio time per day. My routine has been disrupted....it happens every summer so I should expect it by now, but it still leaves me empty and frustrated. There are the 3 days preparing for the workshop, the four workshop days, the follow-up days of returning materials to their studio homes and sorting through notes, the visits with friends that have to be squeezed in before summer melts away, the studio door that needs painted, the day that was wasted on computer foul-ups, the vegetables that need to be harvested. The list goes on and on. Each day I become more grumpy and agitated. Tomorrow is the day that I hope to be back in my creative niche. Tomorrow is the day the canvas will see action. Just a few paint strokes and my world will be mine again.

Full Circle

Peggy...a gesture

For me, all of the experimentation in line, doodling, layering, smudging and smearing done in our expressive drawing workshop have the express purpose of leading me back to seeing realism in a new way. My goal is to be a "freer me".....where I can express exuberant lines and shapes without the dark cloud of correctness continually hovering above. On our last day we did a series of gesture drawings, some only 2 minutes, some 20 minutes. I saw so much beauty in the lines that all of the artists made! It is then, somewhere on the path to achieving perfection that we go astray. All this is my own opinion, of course. "Peggy gesture" is a drawing from last year's workshop. I like it very much.....perhaps because its freshness is still in tact.

Child's Play

Stand of Trees...an ink drawing

I am a firm believer in playing with art materials in order to gain a freedom of stroke and a disengagement from the perfection that will kill a work. "Stand of Trees" was done in our expressive drawing workshop. I used a tongue depressor that has been cut straight on the top and given a slight bevel in order to hold the ink. Most of the work was done with that crude tool, using it by pulling in various directions and by using a corner for the finer line work. The lighter blue color is ink that I borrowed from another artist. The bright blue sparkling touches were added by using crayon. Our goal was using direction of stroke to support the concept.

Do the Frieda Kahlo

Doodle

Another exercise that we did during the workshop was inspired by a page in Frieda Kahlo's published diary. The exercise starts with random ink spots or blobs on the paper. I consider the blobs a "given", or something to initially spice up a work and to stifle the status quo. We then connected the dots and did uninformed or free consciousness doodling in the spaces. This is a wonderful way to practice and learn all of the elements of great design without worrying so much about reality. It was such fun! One participant asked me what the point of this exercise was. I had to think a minute. Does one really need a purpose in order to play? I hope not.

Expressive Drawing - can also be doodling

Birthday Doodle for RIck

Last week, I lead an expressive drawing workshop at the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center in Ohio. My goal for this workshop was to meander away from reality-based drawing, in order to increase the knowledge and freedom offered in drawing more expressively. We started with doodling and using line to express our ideas and patterns.....nothing too profound. I believe that artists who doodle on a regular basis become so familiar with line-making and with holding a drawing tool loosely, that it all becomes second nature to them. They have a greater freedom. "Mosaic Doodle" was an exercise in which we created a mosaic pattern on the page, then filled in each little tile with smaller doodles of varying sizes and densities. We were shooting for balance on the page. Lots of fun!

Painting is Life

Every Mother's Daughter   oil/canvas   36 x 48

For me, painting is life. Every noteworthy moment either reminds me of a painting already done or spurs me on to one that is yet to be. "Every Mother's Daughter" is a painting of a young friend done several years ago when she was in college. She posed while sitting on the fireplace mantle in her rental apartment. My easel was as far back as it could possibly be.in the small space. I loved painting her and, to me, she somehow represented all young women who are coming of age and recognizing their potential, seeing all of the possibilities. I had the opportunity to visit with her last evening where friends gathered at a local winery. It was a treasured time. She and her siblings have grown into the most beautiful young adults. Kate now lives and works in Los Angeles.

transparency::opacity

Tomato, Pepper and Sage   watercolor/gouache   10 x 10

Transparency and opacity, and their relationship, plagued me for years. Watercolor paintings without some opacity seem to bother me, as well as did oil paintings without the slightest notion of transparency. Upsetting the boundaries and limitations set forth by individual mediums is important to me. Yesterday, my husband and I visited the opening of The Butler Institute of American Art Midyear Exhibition opening. The works that stimulate me the most are those that seem to transcend the limitations of the medium, or seem to merge various mediums. In approaching, I am trying to decipher the medium, but am puzzled. I love that! I recently unearthed an older painting "Tomato, Pepper and Sage". I am more pleased by it now than I was at the time. I can recall the need to make the sage opaque, both the color and the texture. I felt that it simply couldn't be done any other way. So I added body color in the form of gouache. Ahhhh.....cooking without a recipe.

The power of Black

Angie   conte crayon   20.5 x 14

I love working in charcoal! The medium is messy, smudgy and bold. Charcoal drawings capture my attention with their directness and simplicity. Perhaps the power of an image is diffused by the addition of color: the more colors, the more diffusion. This week I have been working in charcoal. It is what I needed...to get away from complexity and back to basics. "Angie" is a drawing done many many years ago in my living room during a summer heat wave.....the fans were blowing and we were all uncomfortable. To me, there is a freshness here, an unrefined honesty that is hard to perpetuate deliberately. Angie is the delightful young woman who manages my website.

Boring

Boring   mixed on paper   22.5 x 15

Yesterday was what I consider to be a typical day in my studio. I first finished up a couple of mini paintings that just needed a few strokes and a signature. Then I set to work on a still life painting of two tennis racquets that said absolutely nothing. The colors were not working. After a couple of hours in a vain effort to induce excitement, I covered it with paint and decided to use the canvas for something else. I guess I was trying to create a painting I thought might sell....always a loser. Then I switched over to project where I am mixing media........instant excitement. By the end of the day, I was completely stoked over the possibilities! "Boring" is a mixed media drawing done from my expressive drawing workshop last year. The assignment was to find a basement/garage/roadside object that had lost its function, or was somehow unexplainable. Our creative assignment was to alter the object to make it somehow exciting.....we used inks, rubbings and all manner of drawing materials. I am starting to think about the expressive drawing workshop that begins next Wednesday at Cuyahoga Valley Art Center.

Flow

Woodland Strawberries...a watercolor sketch

Arriving at "flow" in any activity is an optimum experience. Things seem effortless and pleasing. After finishing the strawberry jam card, I looked around for another subject..........woodland strawberries were climbing my rock garden so I thought I would have a look-see. After grabbing a bunch, I laid them on a piece of white paper on the picnic table. At first glance, the set-up seemed quite complex and the relationships tangled..........that is the kind of problem-solving that interests me. This subject was painted in a leather-bound watercolor book given to me by my son. All in all, I had a quality experience and a wonderful afternoon. Pressure's off in weekend painting.

Weekend Painter

Strawberry Jam...a watercolor sketch

Because I am a full-time painter, my weeks are spent, of course, painting, drawing and solving visual problems. I usually use my weekends to do other things as my mind needs a rest. But sometimes on a beautiful summer day, I crave the relaxing zen-like experience that painting provides. I get out my small travel watercolor set and smaller brushes and park my stuff on the patio. On these days, I paint simple objects, usually from the garden, with no set goal in mind. I paint without the feeling of being productive. Ahhhhhhhhh.....so very relaxing! The hours seem to fly. This weekend I painted a jar of strawberry jam as a thank you note for my friend Leta who generously gave it to us. Being a weekend painter is a good thing.

Simplified Forms

hand carved rubber stamps

One of my artistic quests is the simplification of form..........that helps me to avoid detail, take a new spin on reality, and to enjoy form and line for their own sakes. I also enjoy the quality that printmaking provides....a kind of secondary soft application of pigment onto paper, which the direct application of painting cannot provide. Hence - carving rubber stamps. The commercial kind which can be purchased at any craft store are amusing enough, but just don't offer the rudimentary beauty which can be achieved by hand-cutting. It is not an easy endeavor, but is a creative outlet that doesn't require lots of time. All that is required is: a creative mind, an eraser, some lino cutting tools, some tracing paper, and some colorful markers. Tonight is my first class of "Everyday Art - Hand Carving Rubber Stamps" at Cuyahoga Valley Art Center.

Beauty

White Shirt and Tie   watercolor   8.5 x 6.5

I am surrounded by beautiful faces! ....faces that emit energy, kindness, courage and honesty. Nothing makes me sadder than a person who doesn't recognize his/her own beauty. We are conditioned to find fault, I guess. I know for a fact that my own notion of beauty is quite broad, I guess in my attempt to counter the beauty-definition of the media. Robert Plummer is such a person of beauty. He posed for our group many years ago in his white shirt and tie, the mark of respect from his own generation. Years later, when he and his wife bought the painting, I had the opportunity to visit his magnificent gardens.......a quality hidden beneath the white shirt. Now, when I look at the portrait of Robert, I smile.............I see dignity, a love of nature and a drive.............all are gifts to me, and, I hope, to him.

Painting what you love

Carved in  Stone   watercolor   13 x 18.5

For years, I have been watching students bring their beloved items into painting class for a still-life set-up: raggedy stuffed bears, well-worn baseball caps, small boxes and brightly-colored what-evers. I must admit that sometimes I actually wonder why anyone would want to paint the thing. We are often defined by our possessions and collections, the things that help us to define the "self". It is different for everyone. I see students putting flowers in cherished vases, when I prefer painting flowers laying table-flat, without being contained. All a matter of personal preference. Painting what we love offers to us the quality of commitment in the creating, the inability to give up.

In the Flow - Literally

Crux   watercolor   21.5 x 28

Nothing is harder to paint than moving water. I confess that I am not much of an outdoor painter.....I guess that I am not fond of mixing the elements with the concentration that I require as a painter. But the real reason is that painting is private to me, and painting in the open seems to leave me as exposed as if I were wearing no clothing..........oh, the thought. Because my family and friends are all paddlers, the canoe and kayak kind, I am forced to paint using photographs. I have tried to make up for the stationery image by using lots of movement when I paint. I splash, splatter and gyrate in an effort to bring the water to life. "Crux" is such a painting. In it, my husband is playing in the surf at the beach......something he and friend Pat taught our combined 6 boys when they were younger. I think that I carried the painting a tad too far.............but he loves it. "Crux" is one of 20 or so works that I am showing at a local winery Viking Vineyards during July and August. The owners Jeff and Dana Nelson are terrific........hope you can stop by.