and speaking of inky blue...a Halloween sky

Halloween Sky   Watercolor

Television seems at times more boring than ever despite the countless choices.  Sometimes, for me, it is a commercial that gets my attention.  Like the new Cadillac commercials....that whole package is terrific...the music....the street soul...the "that's the way we do it in LA", or Detroit-thing.  Outstanding.  Especially since Cadillac is on my never-ever list.  So imagine my surprise when the current issue of Vanity Fair includes an article on "Art in the Streets - The West Hollywood Library Murals" presented by, yes, Cadillac.  Graffiti artist Retna has created his own symbolic amalgamation of languages....beautiful marks that read as hieroglyphs/old English/middle eastern/centuries-old calligraphy.  Meant only to be read visually. That is enough for me! The movement of the paint or ink resembling Sheaffer fountain pens, the ink flowing from translucency to opacity in a single stroke.

Beautiful.  Thoughtful.  Inky Blue.

copyright:  Vanity Fair, November 2011.

Inky Blue over baby blue...

daisies over roses...lemons over oranges. These are some of my preferences.  I believe that, as artists, we need to pay attention to those things and those situations that spin our fans.  Self-definition.  In order to find yourself and your own style in your creative endeavors, you must be able to identify that which is you and that which is not.  Self-Realization.  Attention must be paid.  Although we take classes with other artists, and admire other work, we must be willing to find our own ways, our own personal journeys.  As a teacher, I find it very difficult to tread the fine line of "these are the things that could be improved in your work" versus "do this is you wish to paint like me".  The latter does no one any good.  It is my opinion that every art student, even those more experienced, will benefit from the gradual whittling down of "that which I am not".  Of course, that all leads to "that which I am".

Paying attention to what gives us a buzz is fun as well as informative.  It seems as if we spend so much of our lives trying to fit in that we ignore our preferences.  A lot of this is cultural as well.....as well as gender-bent.  (don't get me started)

"Halloween Sky" was painted from a memory that was presented to me as I headed home due East one late night after class.  Inky blue was part of that memory.  Wait a minute....inky blue was the memory.

My personal fashion style:  baggy.  soft.   And, above all, garments and cloth items made in India.

Play Time...just for the doing and stamping...

Bibliophile   Mixed/Paper   14 x 7

sounds like the name of a day care center.  And just think of the fun to be had there!  Crayolas, paper, blunt-edged scissors and glue sticks galore!  Sometimes we artists take ourselves much too seriously and skip over play time without accessing its benefits.  A few weeks back at our art club, we had a model session where each participant took a turn at a 10 minute pose.  My goal for the evening was to attempt to render each pose with as little detail as possible.  My paper for the evening was a thin 90# cold press watercolor.  Efforts on newsprint are forever locked into practice, as the paper disintegrates into yellowed nothingness.  Of the 5 or 6 done that evening, the one of Shannon reading a book was the most successful.  It was interesting to me.  It sat on my work table a while before I decided where it would take me.  First I made a template from tracing paper to cover the figure.  The copy was then worked using petite rubber stamps....oh, the boredom.  Then watercolor on top.  I resisted the urge to return the figure for more detail.

Fun.  Not-so-serious.  Yeah.

How to Feel Miserable as An Artist

is one of those humorous lists that artists pass on or e-mail to each other.  This list was shared by Tom Auld and is worth further sharing.  There is no credit line.

1.  Constantly compare yourself to other artists.

2. Talk to your family about what you do and expect them to cheer you on.

3. Base the success of your entire career on one project.

4. Stick with what you know.

5. Undervalue your expertise.

6. Let money dictate what you do.

7. Bow to societal pressures.

8. Only do work that your family would love.

9. Do whatever the client/customer/gallery owner/patron/investor asks.

10.Set unachievable/overwhelming goals.  To be accomplished by tomorrow.

Subtitle:  What Not to Do.  See yourself in any of the above?

Fragile Patterns...

Fragile Patterns   Charcoal/Mixed   19 x 12.5

tickle my fancy.  This portrait of Elizabeth was done from life at a session a week or so ago.  Elizabeth is a long and lithe and terrific model....very beautiful.  She was wearing a necklace comprised of hundreds of beads, a red vest and a black sequined bra.  I used vine charcoal to render the portrait.  At home, I thought about the pattern of the beads and chose a Moroccan design for the background.  Red watercolor washes overall.  The beads were intensified by dipping a pencil eraser into printing ink and pressing them onto the surface.  Patterns and jewelry are a woman's armor, weaponry if you will... peaceful decorations that celebrate beauty and love.

Pattern recognition and musical patterning are functions of the right brain.  

Fragile patterns celebrates this notion.

Stem to Stem...a group pumpkin gesture

Stem to Stem   oil/canvas   20 x 10 x 1.5

One year ago mid-morning,  I shot lots of photos at a local farm that puts on fabulous fun Halloween displays to tickle the fancies of children and adults alike.  Until now, I have included pumpkins in many still life paintings, but this time felt drawn to render a row of pumpkins....a row of $5 pumpkins, as they were lined up according to size.  This project became rather tedious as my goal was a vertical wedge of orange, rather than individual pumpkin portraits.  As I worked it became harder and harder to tell them apart, to separate them.  The crevices in-between became more and more important.  The rhythm throughout became a bit of a tangle.  The intense colors urged me on.  The stems (hats?  hair?) with their twisting, turning and varied directionality was the turning point.  I chose to leave the $5 signpost out of the work... that touch of commercial seemed just too vulgar compared to the beauty of the skins, the shells.

The work has been drying for several weeks now.  I am quite pleased.

Endless Possibilities...a humble onion

l'oignon   watercolor

I believe in endless possibility.  In painting.  In life.  Each element is a variable:  the medium used; the paper used;  the choice of brush; the color palette; an artist's individual sense of aesthetic; the force and rhythm with which the surface is stroked; and so on and so on; scooby-doo-be-doo-be.  Harriet Elson, a regional watercolorist whom  I so admired, used to refer to caressing the surface.  Therefore, those detractors who feel that in representational art, "it has all been done before" are out of line, out of touch with the individual and the endless choices made by that individual.  My opinion, of course.  Somehow, we representationalists are made to feel lesser by the modernists whose squiggles and random shapes require page-long explanations of the work.  Truth is, I believe that we all matter.  That our work matters.  That it can all be appreciated.  The work and website of Wendy Artin, an American watercolor painter who lives and works in Rome, was forwarded to me by fellow artist Tom Auld.  It is truly spectacular.  She considers and reconsiders.  She is representation.  And she wields a soft caressing brush.

I have chosen my painting "l'oignon" to accompany this entry, as I feel it is perhaps the most sensitive watercolor I have done to date.  Of course, most in my circles would call it a watercolor sketch, as it doesn't have the power (and background) of a powerful painting.  And, most likely, it would never be accepted into a major exhibition.  Too small.  Not enough impact.  But sensitive I think.

The Letting Go..the real + the imagined...carousel

The Letting Go   oil/canvas   40 x 30 x 1.5

was painted fairly recently as a therapeutic work for myself....and vicariously for a friend.  The work was created from many photos taken click-click-click.....style on a beautiful spring morning in Boston.  The figure is a composite of two separate girls. The face is made up and played down to increase the power of the overall figure.  The arm is made up.  I modeled my own hand.  The horse is a composite of real and imagined.   The interior of the carousel's roof  was flattened into a 2-dimensional pattern.  I was concerned with the overall lightness of the bottom of the canvas.  I was advised at a recent critique to leave it alone and consider the work finished.  Terrific.  Using a design-centered approach can leave one up in the air as far as a cemented finish as there are always patterns that can be enhanced.  OK.  Wonderful.  There was also a comment regarding the lack of sheen on the painted surface.  Up until now, I have used a 5:1:1 medium mix of turpentine: stand oil: damar varnish.  I may experiment with a 50:50 mix of turpentine:stand oil.

Learn.  Re-learn.  Keep moving.