Many looks...capturing one look out of many...Jessica

Jessica   Charcoal/Watercolor   14 x 10

After years of sketching and contemplating the human visage, I have come to realize that there is no one "image" that captures an individual.  Consider, for a moment, the variety of faces that greet you each morning as you look in your above-the-sink-mirror................some of them are pretty scary.  Right?  Over the years, I have had the opportunity to draw and paint various models several times each.  And each time I feel that I have a grasp on a bit of truth.  It takes years and years of contemplating family members in order to completely understand that brow bone, that nose bump, that one-sided smile.  And so I have ceased to be disappointed in that notion of likeness-perfection that can only exist in a split second.  I have painted Jessica four times in the past several months....each one is different.  This particular drawing has perhaps less of a likeness than the other attempts.  Yet, I like it.  Charcoal on 90# hot press watercolor paper.  The background was washed in at home.  Experimentation.  Excitement.  A bit of truth.  Mine or hers?

The Leap into the Unknown....a work with gold leaf...Paisley Shawl

Paisley Shawl   Watercolor/Mixed with Gold Leaf   28 x 20

My New Year's art resolution for 2011 was to finish each work to the best of my ability....to consider all possibilities.  My goal was to eliminate those "just fine" works and to push them into works that excite me.  Very often, that takes a work into a mixing of mediums.  "Paisley Shawl" was a "just fine" watercolor.  The work was executed according to my sketch, my plan.  It became rather dark even though, design-wise, it was in most ways what I had intended.  It still sat in my studio over the holidays almost begging for a makeover.  I used gouache to lighten and opacify (my own word) the background.  At that point, it started to look a bit iconic, so I went with that idea.   Imitation gold leaf was applied in a horizontal strip and in bits and pieces down the shawl.  I became so excited I could hardly contain myself.  After all, isn't this what art is?  A shaking up that challenges the static  technical application that becomes part of the artistic rhythm when one has painted so many paintings. 

"Paisley Shawl" became more dynamic, more interesting and more modern in my opinion.  Oh, the stimulation!

Fish?...considering a subject that is back-lit...Respite

Respite   Watercolor   8 x 17

Yes, fish.  I have never liked fish, to be honest.  I have tried introducing it into our menus several times over the years, but everyone always seemed so disappointed.  But the givens are:  we needed to drop a few holiday pounds; we needed to engage in a healthier diet; and I am currently trying to mix things up as far as experiencing the new and disengaging former prejudices.  OK, then.  Fish.  Our watercolor assignment was a winter landscape.  At that time, we had absolutely no snow, and none on the horizon.  I selected an image from my files of a woodpecker that was back-lit...certainly a subject that I would usually shun.  It became a bit of a challenge as the hard edges were overwhelming and I was quick to soften them.  The bird itself was rendered a bit more brightly than in my soft grayed reference photo.  Also, the notion of just "too much white" came into play as I softened and dropped in reflective snow colors....green and pink.  It is quite the challenge to imply snow without so very much white.  The resultant painting looks a bit like Asian silk, certainly not an effect that I sought, that resulted nonetheless.  A new taste.  A new experience.  Back-lit.  Palatable.

Respect Yo-Self...avoiding a group mind-set...Chameleon...a self-portrait

Chameleon   Oil/Canvas   20 x 16

Learning to respect yourself is, I believe, a lifelong process.  So is finding your own voice in the creation of visual art.  The big....very big...journey.  Eventually, the artist must feel secure enough in her/his own decision-making to ignore external criticism.  Competition in the form of art exhibitions is inherently a L-brain ritual....separating the work into categories:  the top winner, the peripheral winners, the accepted and the not-accepted.  All of this categorizing runs counter to the R-brain function of art-making where the pleasure is in the process, in the doing of the thing.  So, it has become my opinion that one should only enter competitions if the ego is strong enough to handle rejection.  In the circles of art groups, whether local, regional or national, the jurying is undertaken by those of like minds, with like-minded art.  The true art maverick may just have a harder time getting into the competition.  In some ways, the work in the group has been homogenized into a group mind-set that determines their own particular notion of quality art.  But we R-brainers know deep inside that art that is totally personal often cannot keep pace with that group mind set.  A contradiction to be sure.  The prize in art making is internal.  Nothing should stand in the way of it....it is just too sacred.

Chameleon was painted many years ago as a small, very small, step in self-respect.  After a lifetime of being called a paleface, I painted this work in front of my studio window during a raging snowstorm....I guess just to prove that I did, in fact, have color.  It's all a matter of opinion.

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.

Go Figure...seeing the universal in the specific...

Fragile Patterns   Charcoal/Mixed   19 x 12.5

Figurative and portrait paintings seem to be a hard sell...at least for me.  Buyers and collectors seem to be reluctant to hang an unrecognizable visage in their living space.  I have also heard many folks who seem to be too modest to hang a picture of themselves as if it were boastful.  I have a very difficult time with this notion as I see all of mankind in a gesture, a scenario or even the placement of hands.  I relate to something in each model...something that echos a bit of my self and my longings.  I guess that I wish to relate to a bit of what the model is feeling or revealing through body language.  That is the reason why I continue to paint people and why I continue to learn about myself through them.

For me, the experience is tender.  It is pure.

Go figure.

Informed Chaos...sends the work in a new direction.Pearody

Pearody   oil/canvas   8 x 24 x 1.5

For years now, I have been introducing a bit of chaos to my work.  Chaos in the way of subtle destruction, dripping, squeezing paint onto, scraping back, palette knife additions or subtractions, dots and lines.  This chaos provides a way of temporarily exiting the constraints of the reality of the subject matter.  New puzzles to solve.  Excitement.  The extra-ordinary.  I have come to realize that this chaos is not necessarily random...rather, it is informed.  Informed by all that I have come to be.  My experiences, my travels, my dreams,  my passions and, most importantly, the varied movements made with brush or pen on the artistic ground.  Keeping the tool moving without any particular goal while doodling, sketching and playing lets the confidence build in your own capability.  Play becomes the thing, the reward.  The more one plays, the more comfortable one becomes.  The more comfortable one becomes, the greater the possibilities.  Informed.

The right hand segment of Pearody reflects this notion.  The line work was scraped through to an earlier layer.  This process was planned so that the colors reflected, for the most part, the work that was happening on the left side of the canvas.

Chaos.  Informed.

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.

Resolution...

Rick at the Wheel...sketch

'Tis the season for resolve!  We take stock of where we are and where we would like to go.  For visual artists, ideas are everywhere....on the web, in galleries and even in the newspapers that are heading to the recycle bin.  Goals.  Techniques yet untried.  Excitement for the doing.  My own resolutions include:

* to pump up more pure color in the work.....I have long been a neutral lover....primarily for their soothing nature.....but pure color grabs the attention and excites.  I will give it a try.

* to paint more from sketches.....one step removed from reality, painting from sketches allows for more artistic freedom and interpretation

* to incorporate more patterning into the work.  I am a lover of patterns - wallpaper, fabric and the like.  Why not include them?

There we have it............Happy New Year!

Holiday Greetings....

in the mailbox are another of the perks of the season.  My spirit is uplifted each day as I sort through the cards from those whose lives have touched our own.  I am lucky to be on the lists of a few artists who continue to craft personal greetings. That is always such a treat!  In addition, we exchange names in each of the classes for those willing to spend time on such a project.  (And those who choose not to participate are always always forgiven and, in fact, complimented on their ability to say "no" in this season of way-too-much-to-do.) The two I received this year were both complete surprises and works of wonder....I realized the tenderness of time spent in each effort.  I am amazed and pleased....these will be keepers.  The cardinal by Jackie Roberts has been worked on 140# watercolor paper to a standard envelope size and folded in half.  It appears that Carol Weigand's was worked on a watercolor postcard whose edges were taped down with artists' tape....this card was then mounted on a piece of colorful card stock which had been cut to a standard envelope size.  The taped edges became a crisp border. Carol attended my demo at Summit Artspace early in the month and I distinctly remember someone taking photos.  She has translated this photo into a charming little work.  While individual paintings would be out of the question for cards, there are other possibilities for sure:  linoleum printing; linoleum printing on printed paper; scanned and printed images on card stock; assemblages from craft supplies and rubber stamping.  Thanks to: Ann Emmitt,  Susan Mencini, Mo Mosyjowski,  Janet Neubert and Delores Zink for their handcrafted cards!!!!

I should also mention a yearly project by artist Norma Ott. She and her husband Dave do a lot of traveling.  As a result, she has lots of watercolors done at national parks.  Each year, she makes up a calendar (at Kinko's) featuring 12 of her paintings which she presents to friends and family as a gift.  What a wonderful idea!  When her calender arrives in my box, my heart goes pitter-pat.  Thank you, Norma!

oh, the memories...sketching during family celebrations...Nate in the car

Nate in the Car...a sketch

of Christmas 2011!  They came.  We ate. We played.  We enjoyed.  We hiked.  We listened.  They went.  All the people that I love in this world!  It is always so bittersweet!  The tree has been disassembled and the cookie tin emptied.  I keep in touch with my pencils during this time of altered reality by using small moments for small,  intimate and, hopefully, soft drawings of my loved ones that will sustain me while the merriment ends.  I never ask anyone to pose, so often the drawings remain imperfect and unfinished.  Sometimes that is definitely for the best.  Stopping too soon is always preferable in my book...sketchbook, that is.  Love.

Friend...a tribute....Jo McGarvey

Jo   Oil/Canvas   20 x 10 x 1.5

I believe that it was Andrew Wyeth who said that one can create from love or from hate.  It is indeed strong emotional content that makes for a good painting.  Creating from passion.  For me, anything in between just won't do.  In this case, my painting of Jo is a tribute in love for the friendship that has lasted for ever-so-many years.  Our families were fast friends.  We each had 3 boys who were stair-stepped in ages.  We holiday-ed together.  We played together.  We shared each others'  traumas as well as the triumphs in-between.  And....we cooked together.  Lots of hungry boys.  Lots of cooking.  Our paths have paralleled throughout the years and created braids of time....with some times away from and some times the returning-towards.  But the foundation is always there.  Jo is an accomplished woman and a strong woman.  We seem to be able to read each others' minds at times....the knowing that that is intuitive and yin.  And, so, this portrait is, for me, greater than the sum of its parts.  It is a tribute.  Merry Christmas, my friend.

Jo - Session 3

When I approached this painting for session 3, I was fairly certain that it would be my last.  My goals were:

* add the necklace

* add hard edges to restate my chosen rhythm around the canvas; and, if necessary, soften others

* adjust the color temperature where necessary; i.e. warming sleeve-tops of the coat.  I will admit, that I like pushing the envelope a bit away from reality and towards more exciting. 

* add highlights....for this, I used a cooled-down white using just a smudge of phthalo turquoise which is in the background and part of my original limited palette

* MOST IMPORTANTLY, I tried to avoid re-stroking areas with which I was pleased.  It serves no intent at all.  I can live with slight errors in draftspersonship more than ill-painted passages.  That is my priority. 

I am satisfied.

Jo - Session 2

Jo   Session 2

First off, my apologies for a really lousy photo.  I was impatient.  The natural light in my studio was next to nothing...a really gray day.  Shutter stayed open for way too long.  The painting has moved on since this photo....no chance for a re-do.  Anyways, session 2 was about 3-4 hours.  Because of the 3-4 day lapse since the first session, I was assured that my original strokes were solid.  My goals were simply to come in for more detail in particular junctures; to assess and correct color; and to establish viable rhythms in the work.  All the while, I try to avoid painting over passages that were exciting to me from the first session.  Things happened easily in this work which is not always the case.  I was very satisfied with the underplayed countenance.  The background color went to a darker turquoise, almost teal.  A good painting day.

Demonstration

Every now and then I agree to do a painting demonstration.  In this case, it was part of a group of Saturday art demonstrations at Summit Artspace as part of the Kaleidoscope 2011 exhibition.  My friend Jo agreed to model.  Demonstrations are difficult to do....mostly due to the fact that my intuitive painting process (done in solitude) is broken by talking and questioning.  I can actually feel the chaos that builds between my L- and R-brain as a result.  I find that my choices are not always the best in this situation.  Because Jo has been a friend for so very many years, I was at least acquainted with a color palette that I deemed to be her own.  I asked her to wear a coat that personifies her personality and has been her mainstay for a while.  So....the pose, the colors and the atmosphere of communion were her contributions.  She seemed at ease.  Her face was comfortable and giving, which I attribute to the fact that she is an actress and seemed to know just what it was that I wanted.  My own goals for the day were to relax and to make juicy, broad and expressive strokes on the canvas that broadly interpreted what I was taking in.  The audience was wonderful....the questions well-informed and thoughtful.  I was pleased with the image at the end of the session which lasted 2 hours.  I knew that it was something that I could build on later.

Jo   oil/canvas   20 x 10 x 1.5

Figure Drawing...using a horizontal format...Ethereal

Ethereal   Charcoal/Pastel   5.25 x 17.5

For the last session of our drawing class, we elected to draw the figure.  The art teacher whose room we borrow at night was happy to recommend a high school art student willing to pose and make a few Christmas dollars.  Yeah!  Maggie was athletic, long and lean.  She was able to relax well for us in this extremely horizontal pose.  Results can be seen in the accompanying slide show.  I felt that we all did well as far as simple shapes and proportions.  There were a few angles(especially for the pillowed head) that were slightly off.  Judging angles visually is difficult but can be aided by using one's pencil at arm's length to find it and replicate it on the paper.  An angle that is off just a smidgen causes the head to lose its state of relaxation and appear to be full of tension, as if getting up.  Once figure drawing is mastered, an artist will be able to use photos for reference without point to point copying without anatomical understanding thereof.  Another problematic area occurred for those whose perspective involved the foreshortening of the head area.  I recommended treating this head and shoulders area as a shallow bowl, with a losing of edges and slight shadowing in the middle with the more complete rendering around the diameter where most of the light would appear.  A difficult, but interesting illusion.

For me, nothing is more rewarding than the curves of the human figure.

Test for Doneness...

Ella   Watercolor   18.5 x 12

The other day I met an old friend for wine at a local vineyard.   She is a professional cookie baker.  We were discussing the finer points thereof when she expressed her preference for cookies that are baked JUST BEFORE browning.  I have always preferred those with a golden color....probably baked a minute or two longer.  That very evening at critique, there were two amazing works on view whose makers expressed that they were "in progress".  Whoa.  I so loved them both as they were.  Michael Nevin paints street scenes, especially Chicago street scenes.  In this case the pencil drawing was revealed....some of the buildings and windows were painted in.  The pencil marks playing with the paint was invigorating to me!  Undercooked perhaps to him.  Barbara Krans Jenkins paints with colored pencil on dried gourds.  She has a fine eye and usually renders small flowers and birds on them.  When finished, one would be hard pressed to know that they are gourds....they are ceramic in nature.  In this case, she was asked to paint abstractly on the gourd using certain colors.  It seemed that this was a bit out of her comfort zone.  She had erased some masses of color thinking that they were mistaken.  The bits of color that had settled into crevices was wonderful....it was there but wasn't.  There was a good deal of rendering on part of the gourd which meandered into the halfway places.  Superb.  I would have considered it a fait accompli.  Again, she considered it undercooked.  Which just shows to go ya that every maker-of-things has a personal aesthetic that takes them along the artistic path and lets them off at different exits.  I feel that there are artists and people of all kinds who carry things too far just because they feel they are doing a good job.  If a little if good, then a lot must be great.  Not always.  An undercooked work allows the viewer to participate in the work....he/she is therefore engaged in the work as well.  The rule of 3's.  That which has been left undone.  That in which there is space to grow.

There are two images here of Ella, a high school art student who modeled for our watercolor class.  I later took the painting to completion at home.  But in this work in particular, I so missed the rawness of the work at the end of the live session.  This lesson will suit me well.

And as for cookies.....they rule.  Undercooked.  Slightly golden.  Whatever.  Joyful participation.

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!...

Christmas Chaos   Watercolor on Yupo   8 x 8

Holiday season is a crazy mix of emotions!  The extreme childlike joy that the season provides is immeasurable.  Likewise,  the frustrations.  We have a holiday tradition here that requires us to fix everything that has been functionally broken for the past year....all in the month of December.  Add to that the tempestuously tangled coils of holiday lights that you remember neatly coiling and organizing the January past.  How does it happen?  Holiday decorations defy organization entirely. (or the possibility of attic gremlins)

"Christmas Chaos" was painted at the end of last holiday season using a few bulbs that had hidden during attic reassignment.  Yupo paper provides the texture.  In fact, one simply cannot escape texture when using this paper, as the surface is a slippery plate.  Adding more pigments always always disturbs what is underneath.  Smooth passages are impossible.  Although this paper is not my favorite, I can understand how using it in certain instances will support chaotic intentions......

such as holiday decorations.

And, as far as those cheap light strings that work only for one year (or half of them go out).....I vow not to purchase them any more.  Please recycle them at :

Recycle holiday lights


All lights sent for recycling should be sent to:
HolidayLEDs.com Recycling Program
C/O Classic Turning, Inc.
4905 James McDivitt Street
Jackson, MI 49201-8958

Just what is expressive drawing?...my own definition...Fragile Patterns

Fragile Patterns   Charcoal/Mixed   19 x 12.5

In the time I have been writing this blog, there have been more hits on my expressive drawing posts than any others.  Unfortunately, until now, I have only described the steps we took in workshops without explaining exactly what I mean.  Expressive drawing is my own moniker, albeit general, that signifies a drawing where other considerations trump the exactness of the subject.  And, hopefully, it leads to expressive painting as well.

I use the design approach to drawing and painting.  Design  elements are the artist's tools.  They include:
1.  Shape (pattern, form, mass, object, subject matter)
2.  Value  (light and dark, tone, tint)
3.  Space (the illusion of 3-dimensional depth and 2-dimensional flatness)
4.  Edges (blurred and sharp, lost and found)
5.  Color Temperature (warm and cool)
6.  Texture (surface variation)
7.   Line (drawing versus mass painting)
8.  Color Hue (spectrum clossifications: red, yellow, blue, etc; local and arbitrary hues)
9.  Color Intensity (brightness, neutral versus pure)


The design principles ore the organizing aesthetic ideas that guide your use of elements in a painting. They are:
1 , Dominance (emphasis, focal point)
2,  Movement (rhythm,, directions, gesture, transition)
3,  Variety (contrast, conflict, tension)
4,  Unity (harmony, balance or not with intention)

These elements are shared by artists of all kinds from illustrative to culinary.  Each artist has his/her personal sense of aesthetic "correctness" that is a personal mix of the elements and principles dependent upon his/her preferences.  My own mix is just that...my own.  In expressive drawing, these principles are in play right along with the subject, the reality.

Drawing expressively relies on a good foundation in drawing; the desire for a bit of risk-taking; enjoying happy accidents and occasional chaos;  a skill in gross motor drawing from the shoulder (as opposed to fine motor with the wrist); and the ability to trust your own problem- solving and decision-making ability.

My own preferences for an expressive drawing or painting include:

* moving from 3-dimensional correctness and detail in the focal area to 2-dimensional flatness    in the far corners of the work

* calligraphic line (especially the S-curve) that mimic nature

* lines that extend too far

* broken line

* echo lines (or power lines) in important areas for strength

* combining like-valued shapes for simplicity

* unexpected shapes wherever

* warms played against cools

* line played against mass

* amazing neutrals played against a few pures

* as many lost edges as possible....leading to a bit of beautiful (hopefully) nothingness

* and rhythm, rhythm, rhythm using edges to create movement

Landscape!...

Pumpkin Patch   Watercolor   8.75 x 8.75

Because the interests of the artists in my watercolor class are so varied, we often vote on a genre to pursue.  Our last project in the fall session was landscape.  My goals were:  a small colorful rendering; using smaller brushes than usual due to its size; and, of course, animation.  I had hoped to stay true to my reference....as usual, that was not possible.  My love for strong design trumps reality.  I started by creating a nest for my pumpkin patch.....chaotic strokes and scrapings that would simulate the field in which they perched.  Loose to tight.  The reverse is impossible....for me.  I tried to create a rhythm around the rows of pumpkins, as well as washing over some in order to strengthen others.  This is a small painting - 10 x 10.  I am happy....at least as happy as I can be at the finish.  I always seem to yearn for the path not taken.  Indecision.

The next painting is always my favorite.

Just how far will you go...

Pumpkin with Canned Peppers   Pastel/Paper   7.75 x 8.5

...to finish a painting?  I go pretty far.  Long ago when things didn't go as planned, I would begin again, only to find different passages left wanting.  Commitment is the thing.  An interactive relationship between me, the artist, and the painting.  No over-control.  No under-control.  A seeming back-and-forthness that will take you into a creative place you have never been.  This work started out as a drawing demo during a workshop.  Not much color....just the contes and sticks in my pencil box.  At home I added pastel.  Thought it was done..... The next day when I evaluated it, I saw BORING.  Nothing worse.  Using linoleum block ink and a template made of tracing paper, I printed over top.  Zing.  I am much happier.  The last step was to touch up a few passages with pastel.  Having everything in its proper place is just not enough for me these days.  I need a bit of chaos, a bit of happenstance.  Love that word.  Love its effect.

Surprises are so sweet.

Gourds...

Gourd Fest   Watercolor   8 x 12

were another subject matter shared by both drawing and watercolor artists in my classes...those bumpy, shape-shifting and colorful natural objects that catch our eyes in November markets.  Each artist had his or her own goals.  Some chose simple monochromatic renderings with wispy shadows.  Others went for more complex compositions and a more filled-in background spaces.  In some cases the gourds are used only as a motif. for further design.  In others, they are incredibly lifelike, resembling serpents.  The addition of color always makes for a far more complicated problem. I am delighted by all of the results.

Tools...

Kitchen Mix   Watercolor   10 x 10

were the topic, the seed, for conceptualizing and design in both my watercolor and drawing classes.  The choice of tools as well as the number was up to the individual artist, hopefully providing each artist with enough commitment to do well on the project.  ( versus a topic selected only by me which might be difficult for all to relate and commit to)  The results speak for themselves.  These artists work hard and are serious-minded.  The results are varied.  Those who are beginners were encouraged to render only one item.  Those with more experience were encouraged to use more items which exponentially increases the complexity of the composition.  I see sensitivity.  Great design work.  Fabulous results.  I am so happy that each artist pursued his/her own vision.

Tools are personal and soulful by nature.  Add to that a willing artist.  I do not value a dozen cloned photorealistic works nearly as much as a dozen individual interpretations.  Enter emotion. Va-voom.

Raking...

Raking   Watercolor/Graphite   21 x 13.25

is an example of what I consider to be a watercolor sketch.  It has many elements that I adore....a figure in motion, a figure physically working (which I consider to be a soulful and noble endeavor), and a person I adore...my husband Rick.  Rick agreed to pose for our watercolor class a few years ago.  This painting is the result.  I am thinking that its brevity is its strongest virtue.  Having a model for a limited time period forces us to get to the point rather quickly...no time for extras such as a background.  In fact, sometimes when a work develops into a full-blown painting, the original spark becomes buried in the paint.  It becomes somehow duller.  Poetry.  Prose.  I enjoy everything about it.  Even the pencil squiggles that create a bit of a border.  Would I have been that carefree on a painting in which I had invested several days?  I don't think so.

The challenge then, for me, is to be able to save the original spark as the painting marches onward and becomes a bit weightier.

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.

Safari...

A Flair for Drama   oil/canvas   20 x 16 x 1.5

is a Swahili word that literally means "long journey".  I would like to think that its implications include a finding, a journey of the self, which is pretty much inherent in the notion of a long journey.  Our friend Pat recently returned from an African safari, not in search of hunting game, but in search of a knowledge of the world at large, and, of course, in search of self.  After years and years of the nine-to-five in support of his family, this was his treat to himself.  Likewise, each and every work of art is a journey....some longer than others.  The slide progression shows my journey in the painting of my rooster friend.  I yearned for my paint and my stroke-making to be all-things-rooster, in order to avoid the stagnancy of rooster-for-decoration.  And, a journey it was!  Each of my works has always included a problem area.....in this work is was the rear leg...the one that should be not-so-dominant and fading into the ground area.  However, as I work abstractly at the same time, the overall design seemed to be fighting with the notions of reality.  Originally, I had planned to discuss my decisions at each pass.  Unfortunately, those explanations have faded with two exceptions.  I always recall the feeling of unrestrained joy at the beginning, the first pass, and the openness of possibility.    I can also recall the thrill I felt as the cool green was added to the mix....that was, perhaps, the most exciting moment in the process.  As you can see, I played with many solutions and came to an agreement of sorts.  Is it finished?

I do not know at this time.  Perhaps the journey is over.  Perhaps not.

Fright Night...

Shocking   Mixed/Paper   34.5 x 22

I am a mystery-lover.  After all, isn't making a painting somewhat like solving a giant mystery?  Each October, I have a bit of a film festival for myself....mysteries, thrillers, haunted houses and the like.  Things that go bump in the night.  Things that jar us away from the day-to-day, the status quo that can become ever-so-monotonous.  When I hoisted the work "Shocking" onto its notch on the wall recently, I was reminded of how much fun it was to create this work.  I assembled photos of shocked and surprised friends and family:  my friend Concepcion, friend Brian and his two sons Oscar and Casper, son Seth and friend Cheryl who for many years, ran the now-defunct Brimfield Post Office.  Cut linoleum blocks printed onto the paper's surface provided the "look" of a film strip.  (which has indeed become an antiquity) The work continued by arranging faces and drawing with pastels in my favorite spooky colors.  I tried to keep a vague darkness going on....as if these were faces in a darkened movie theater.  My friends had fun posing for this work, I think.  And I had a great deal of fun making it.  "Shocking" is the title.  I am slightly hidden in the upper right hand corner.

Ah....Middle Age...a profile...

Middle Age   oil/canvas   16 x 8 x 1.5

In our youth- and diet-oriented culture, we seem to cringe at the the notion of middle age.  My work was painted from a detailed sketch made during a live model situation.  There were those who really didn't want to participate, as this gentleman's body veered quite a ways from  the beautiful norm that we admire.  As I have never appreciated or enjoyed the notion of physical perfection, nor likewise the notion of ugliness in order to make a statement, I thoroughly appreciated the opportunity before me.  (I much enjoy the French term jolie-laide, which incorporates a bit of both)  Middle age...the period where gravity takes its toll, where backs laden with fatigue become curved...where support is welcome...where plumpness becomes the norm.  Yes.  I relished the opportunity to reduce this drawing to a few simple shapes and lines that would tell the story of middle age.

P.S.  A simple look around the studio revealed similar bodies, even among those who scoffed.  Life is interesting.

Bold versus Sublime...

Pumpkin with Twisty Stem   Watercolor

I would have to say that I prefer bold paintings....those that pull you in from across the room and beckon you to come closer.  But I also believe that we need to learn to play all of the notes:  loud and soft; quick and slow; rhythmic and not-so.  These are the tools that allow us to solve all (or almost all) visual problems.  It seems to me that great musicians are masters of all kinds of notes that lead us into varying moods and feelings....they need to be able to manipulate their listeners.  Same with great actors.  And so, from time to time, I present myself with a painting problem that requires a more sublime presentation.

"Pumpkin with a Twisty Stem" was begun as a watercolor monoprint.  I painted tender strokes onto a piece of plexiglass then transferred it by pressing onto a sheet of hot press watercolor paper.  I continued to coax the image into being.  The sublime is more easily accomplished with this versatile medium.  I am pleased with these results.

Torrit Gray...in praise of neutrals

I am in love.  With Torrit Gray.  No, not a guy... a paint from Gamblin.

I am a value painter.  But I do appreciate neutrals a great deal, especially when laid next to pures and sparkling brights.  I have always mixed my own grays.  It is usually quite an ordeal, searching for a particular neutral nuance, while adding and adding and subtracting with my palette knife.  This summer I found in my color box a promotional tube of Torrit Gray from Gamblin.  I have absolutely no idea where it came from.  But I now hail its unexpected arrival.  Because it is such a beautiful gray, in my opinion, I found myself simply mixing the pure hue of my choice to get it to lean in a particular direction.  The tube says " In honor of Earth Day, we make this oil color from recycled pigments collected by our air filtration system".  Wow.

There is a special link on the Gamblin site that explains this pigment and its making.  I found it fascinating.

Torrit Gray is quite a guy.

Here’s the secret of being a great colorist: it doesn’t matter how well you combine the bright, obvious colors, it’s the so-called dull, closely related shades - gray-greens, pewters, tans, muted browns, umbers, ochres, stormy blues and charcoals - that determines whether you have an eye for color.

Dorothy Shinn, April 14, 2005 review of Yves Saint-Laurent, Akron Beacon Journal

Hanging Around...

Boston Beat   oil/canvas  40 x 30 x 1.5

is a term that implies a bit of laziness, without particular goals.  Hanging around was something we did as teenagers.....waiting for some excitement to stir us.  There are paintings that hang around in my studio.  "Boston Beat" was one such work.  I trusted my intuition as it resided there against the wall.  I was not ready to hang it, to wire it, to consider it finished.  It was just fine....all the pieces were in their places.  The forms interrelated to my satisfaction.  The color pleasing.  Still....I found it a bit boring.  Too much reality.  Values that, to my irritation, whispered.  Not to mention that dreaded green triangle in the upper left.  Painting is a process that requires continued learning and questioning.  I love work that has an immediate impact with its shapes and values.  There was only one thing left to do............surgery.  What it needed took its time to infiltrate my brain.  I am happier.

Resolution is always sweet.  Sometimes attainable.  Sometimes not.

Re-Do...

Onionskin   Watercolor/Gouache   20.5 x 13

I decided fairly early on in my art career that re-do's were a waste of time.  Sometimes we think that if we re-paint our subject, we will certainly do better.  Usually, for me, I find that some passages are improved and others, which were previously satisfactory, are left wanting on the second trip around.  Re-Do's also interfere with commitment.  Morayo is the younger sister of my son's friend Bandele.  She is a prickly girl.  She modeled many years ago during a hot summer for my colleagues Jack Liberman and Judy Carducci.....and me.....when we painted in an upstairs garret room of The Italian American Center in Akron. Her pose, with delicately placed fingertips and a flower, is at odds with her personality.  Her life had not been easy.  The first time I painted her, I was dissatisfied to the point of torture.  A second painting yielded approximately the same results.  Now, many years later, I look back on this work and realize that she is there.  I see both Morayo and her her brother.  I see who she is on the inside.

Onionskins......layer upon layer.  Sometimes it takes a while to get to the inside.

A painting is never finished....

Girls Named Susan   oil/canvas   8 x 8

  It simply stops in interesting places.
                                                         Phil Gardner

I know artists on both ends of this spectrum....those whose goal is a signature and a frame, being more stimulated by the product than the process ; as well as those who add a brush stroke now and again for decades.....really.  I guess I am somewhere in the middle.  I really like to keep a painting leaning against my studio wall for a while, usually upside-down, being somewhat certain that I have resolved most major issues.  The release of the work just happens....either sooner or later.  That doesn't seem to matter.  It is deeply disconcerting to find awkward passages in those works that have "passed over".  Usually, for me, it happens more often in small works, those little paintings that I would like to think are so casual that they fill in the gaps; those little paintings that are taken a bit less seriously; those that I haven't pondered about in excess.  And yet, "Girls Named Susan" hung on my studio wall for less than a week when I realized that it could me made stronger and more exciting by adding some violet passages.  I succumbed.  Removed from the frame, it was.  Back on the easel.  I am happier.

I think it is a mistake to constantly correct paintings....that goes nowhere.  The best tack for me is to internalize the lesson learned and apply it to future works.  I am, at this point, wise enough to understand that perfectionism is rarely the solution for me.  I adore the happy accidents along the way that provide a searching, a discovery.  And so.................I really do try to honor the release of a work into completion.

Almost always.  Never say never.

Game On...

Saturday Morning Mancala...a sketch

Competitive gaming on a large scale makes me nervous.  Too much tension.  Too much noise. Too many egos on the line.  But I am always up for board games at home.  I look at these games as mental exercise...they keep the brain moving forward and back, side to side, and help us to discover all kinds of possibilities.  I was fortunate to marry into a family of gamers.  And, as a result, we enjoy Euchre, Oh Hell, Dominoes, Phase 10, Scrabble, Pictionary, Quiddler, Rapidough, Sequence, Jenga and Mancala.  Mancala is our summer game of choice and is permanently set up on the patio for short breaks during the day, or for enjoyment before dinner.  As is the case with all endeavors, what seems simple is actually complex.  The more one plays, the more one is able to see connections that are not initially visible.  "Saturday Morning Mancala" is a small drawing done on a visit to our son's apartment.  He and my husband were playing on the balcony while I peered through the sliding door, trying to capture his head as it pivoted during the game.  It is a small imperfect drawing that gave and still gives me pleasure and sweet memory.

Rediscovery...

This week I have been getting some work ready for an exhibit which requires fetching, cleaning and, sometimes, framing.  In doing so, I come across works that had been put aside.  "Amanda" is such a work, a charcoal drawing which gave me pause.  In fact, I pulled it out twice.  Mostly, in pulling out past works, I focus and fixate on weak passages....those passages that haven't been considered.....well....well enough in my opinion.  In this case, I was pleasantly surprised.  Because I have been painting all summer, the strength of the drawing and its values pleased me.  I loved the quick and spontaneous way the charcoal stick had moved around the paper.  The color of mid-tone paper was satisfying.  I enjoyed the rendering of the short and choppy hairstyle.  I remember being disappointed at its completion that the likeness wasn't right-on.  In the rediscovery, I had completely forgiven myself for this shortcoming and was thrilled with its essence.

Time heals.  Rediscovery.

Amanda   Charcoal/Paper   16.5 x 11

Glory Be to Limoncello!...

August Limoncello   oil/canvas   20 x 10 x 1.5

Soothing essence of lemon.  My first encounter with Limoncello was the lemonade beverage offered by The Olive Garden.  Heaven.  A bit too sweet but I replicated this beverage at home.  Limoncello desserts followed.  But still I was in quest of a simpler way to drink it.  My friend and colleague Judy Carducci sips hers on warm European evenings at the end of the art day.  She keeps hers in the freezer where it takes on a freezy syrupy quality.  This summer my usual gin and tonic was replaced by a limoncello and tonic served over crushed ice.  Fabulous.  Quenching.  The perfect refresher at the end of a hot summer day.  Piquant.  New.

"August Limoncello" is the painted ode.

Flowers have an expression...

Sun Queen   oil/canvas   20 x 16 x .5

of countenance as much as men and animals.  Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock.                        

   Henry Ward Beecher

Painting with the season seems to suit me.  One of my challenges this summer is to incorporate a bolder color scheme into my work....just to push my comfort zone.  I am a unadulterated neutral-lover.  Loud colors scare me.  This morning while leafing through a fashion magazine, I came across a multi-paged article on bold color-blocked garments.  I shuddered.  "Sun Queen" is fresh off the easel.  I am not certain I am satisfied yet.  But the colors are bolder than I can recall using before.  The power of the sunflower seems to demand it.

essence...

Virginia Foothills   oil/canvas   20 x 10 x 1.5

is a wonderful word.  To me, it implies the distilling of something into its most flavorful, fragrant or visual parts.  A boiling down.

The Place:  Carter Mountain in Virginia
The Time:  a muggy day in May

My husband and I accompanied our son Seth and his friend Louise on an upwards hike up the mountain.  I was promised a natural fruit slushy of my choice at the top.  Well.....both Seth and Louise are marathon runners.  They trudged upwards effortlessly.  I enjoyed the exercise but was happy to wearing my sweat band......I was sweating like a.....well.....perspiring to some degree.
The fruit slushy was fabulous.  We took many photos.  The trip down was easier.  The day was amazing.

The patchwork patterning of the orchards was intriguing.

Essence.

Balancing Act...

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

Yes, indeed it is.  For almost everyone.  Finding that median in the land of polar opposites.  Work:Play.  Self:Others.  Visual balance is important in my work....and I have noticed that most people are highly sensitive to balance and can tell when, in any situation, it needs to be improved.  Being off-balance is disconcerting.  (There are cases, when asymmetry is very exciting and helps to tell the story.  In that case, imbalance is intended and purposeful).  Mary was a tall and lanky young model.  And then she did that pretzel thing with her legs wrapped around the rungs of the stool.  First of all, painting the human figure on a standard size canvas is difficult at best.  If the standing figure is painted in its entirety, the proportions of the surface are wrong to me, leaving far too much negative space.  O.K.  In this case, the lankiness was offset and balanced by some emphasis on the horizontals.  In the working of these horizontals, the relationships of shoulder/shoulder; hand/hand; knee/knee and boot;boot became even more important.  In this particular scenario, the stool had to be included as it was inseparable from the legs.  The horizontal rungs also helped to balance this extremely vertical situation.

I have watched people straighten a barely-crooked painting on a wall as they walk by.  I believe that a need for balance is deeply engrained in our physiology.

I am not a traditional realist...

Tomato Basket   oil/canvas   16 x 20 x 1.5

There, I said it.  Acceptance of my artistic direction.  Said with a sense of loss.  And also with a sense of relief.  I so admire traditional realism.  But after years of wiping out chairs upon which the models rest, I am ready to face my own direction with fortitude.  I have tried painting the barn behind the horse, the curtain behind the still life and the trees behind the model.  My sense of aesthetics has urged me to wipe them all out.  Yes, a light source matters to some degree.  It helps to describe my realistic forms, to ward them away from flatness.  But the design approach of dark and light patterns is where my thrill is....those patterns that exist and move and relate without regard to the subject matter.

"Tomato Basket" took quite a while to paint,  I remember being confused by my own desires being in conflict with the window behind the basket.  The tomatoes literally rotted while I figured it all out.

I am what I am and that's all that I am........Popeye