Kitchen Strainer

Kitchen Strainer   watercolor   4.5 x 6.5

is a small painting...very small.  Taping the edges allowed for a small border.  The painting was done quickly.  Perhaps its small size didn't allow for as much "investment".  And it is one of my recent favorites.  The border ran into the metal rim (which I like).  The handle is rendered in a painterly way, which only implies reality.  The challenge was to imply the mesh bowl on the strainer without providing the lines that we know are there.  Instead, I used small dots of the background implying its translucent nature. 

Less emotional investment.  Less time.  An opportunity to play.  What could be better?  Making small paintings is a terrific way to spend time....when you only have a little of it.

Life is just a chair of bowlies....

Cherry Branch   oil on canvas   4 x 12 x 1.5

is quote from Mary Engelbreit and was seen on many of her greeting cards and like paper products some years past.  This quote always tickled my silly bone and reminded me not to take anything too seriously and to relish the unforeseen turn of events that peppers our lives.  Most of my work involves the creation of an idea, followed by sketches and the complex painting process of create and destroy, making the project last quite a while, sometimes a long long while, until resolution is reached....the point at which my personal sense of visual aesthetic is pleased.  But I try to sandwich light quick projects in-between...they take the edge off and fill my need for spontaneity.  While trimming a weeping cherry tree a few weeks ago, I was taken by the lush fruits that even this small tree was able to bring forth.  The work was painted from a clipped branch placed in view of my easel and worked on in, I believe, only two sessions, while I tried to capture its elegance before too much withering occurred.  I like it very much and feel that for a small work, it contains enough complexity to tease my intellect.  So be it.

Life really is just a chair of bowlies.

Little Ditty...getting your brushes moving...

Juicy   Watercolor   8.5 x 5

Winter sessions of painting classes have begun.  The first class is always a challenge as assignments have not yet been made.  There are always new artists who don't quite know what to expect and sometimes arrive at that class without materials.  So the goal for lesson #1 is a simple ditty with shared materials and shared experiences.  This time I brought a bag of oranges.  Each artist was then free to cut the fruit and arrange it in a way that was pleasing.  And....we painted.  No instruction, no warnings.  Just mucking around.  Truly, there is no better way to learn to paint.  The lessons must come over time...and a few at a time.  I painted with orange and its complement blue.  The arrangement of soft and hard edges (lost and found) create a rhythm (hopefully) around the subject matter.  I don't move my brush quite as freely at the focal area in order to retain whites and a bit of crisp detail.  As always, there is a bit of a thrill as colors run into each other to become happy accidents.  No high expectations.  Just play.  A Little Ditty.

Facing the White...warm up with small works...

Pumpkin Pie 1   oil/canvas   6 x 6 x 1.5

Pumpkin Pie 2   oil/canvas   6 x 6 x 1.5

Facing a white canvas or sheet of watercolor paper is a daunting task in the new year.  Our strokes are timid and insecure.  Our rhythms uncertain.  Our confidence waning.  I have faced this problem year after year when the holiday festivities pull us toward celebration and fun, which is certainly welcome, but away from the daily practice that makes for good art-making.  No athlete in any sport would be able to turn out a peak performance without the constant  and daily training demanded of him or her.  OK, then.  This year I decided to keep a few small canvases on hand for the couple of here-and-there hours that are freed up in just keep my brush moving.  In the past, my preference has been a total clean-up of the studio area in order to complement the activities in the other rooms of the house.  Not this year.  I was able to find some in-between time to paint when my guests had other things to do and other friends to visit.  As a result, the gap between the years was not so wide and so daunting.

The two pumpkin pie paintings were the result.

How DOES he do that?...

Still Life with Jug and Poppies   watercolor   4 x 6

Dean Mitchell, I mean.  Painting small, I mean.  Returning to the studio after the holidays is always difficult.  I understand the supposed ripeness of the dormancy period.  But facing the white canvas or the white paper is scary....more so after being away for a while.  I found that my strokes were too heavy, too deliberate.  My sleight of hand had also been on holiday.  After perusing the Dean Mitchell book of exhibition paintings loaned by a friend, I was inspired by some of the miniature works and decided to paint a small still life.  As a painter who relishes large spaces and big brushes, this was truly a challenge.  Smaller brushes.  Less freedom.  Being concise is a virtue when painting small.

"Still Life with Jug and Poppies" is 4 x 6.  I am happy with it.  But I am ready to get big again.

Dean Mitchell:  Space, People and Places is on exhibit at the Canton Museum of Art through March 6.

Play...

Blueberry Tip   oil/canvas   6 x 6 x 1.5

Sometimes I get overwhelmed in problem-solving in my larger paintings....pushing will not help.  It is all a matter of consideration and time.  It is then that I need to play.  Smaller paintings are the answer.  These small works are often done of fruits and vegetables where I paint what I see.  Their forms are already complex enough and the problems are usually readily solved.  Most of these small works are color-driven and provide an opportunity to experiment with color that lies just outside of the reality, the local.  I enjoy pushing those color limits just a bit.  There are other notions to be practiced as well....the painting of a bunch of small berries as a mass, rather than each berry one-by-one.  This lesson can be transferred to painting hair, bushes and a host of other things that benefit from massing.  Play.  With the benefits of play, I am further prepared to tackle more complex problems. Taking a break to play keeps us lighter....emotionally and with brush in hand.

Tis the Season...for small works...

Delicious   oil/canvas   5.5 x 5.5 x 1

I have found that most of my creative energy of late has been devoted to preparing for a wonderful holiday season with my family. I'm sure I don't have to list here all of the added activities that consume December time...we are well aware. As a result, my painting time has come almost to a screeching halt....I simply do not have the attention span or the brainpower to solve visual problems. Mini-paintings are a wonderful solution to keeping our brushes in paint. Sure, they have some problems to solve.....but not overwhelmingly so. And a min-painting can usually be finished in a session. The drawbacks, of course, are those confoundedly small brushes and setting up a large easel for such a small canvas. These small canvasses can be put on shelves and side tables for more intimate viewing....I am particularly happy with the color harmony in " Delicious". This painting is 5.5 x 5.5!

Slice of Time

Slice   oil/canvas   4 x 4 x 1.5

Most of the time, I am back and forth between 2 or 3 paintings. Problem solving is difficult work. But putting some distance between you and the work in progress is a great thing......it allows you to see the work with new eyes, in a new way, in a couple of days. This distancing is difficult to pull off, but quite necessary. Often, I am so involved in the work at hand that I can't stand leaving it at the end of the day to return to my "normal" life. Over-involvement is not good in painting, or in life. When this happens, I pull out a tiny, tiny canvas and just paint something at hand. Those small paintings are calming and reaffirming. And they just take a small slice of time!