Collage Workshop

Cigar Box Decoupage

I had great fun bringing out my 'inner' abstract artist at a weekend collage workshop at the Art Complex Museum a week ago. I love cutting and pasting and gluing and I 'arted' up this cigar box with a torn map and buttons a la Sally Dean. She's the education coordinator at the ACM and was also a participant. Of course, we were incorrigible ;)

Inside, I put a photo of my niece Chrissie and I, taken in one of those photo booths, at Paragon Park, way back in the day. 

She's an artsy girl herself and I'm giving it to her. She will love it!

Cigar Box Interior

One of my brothers did the rabbit ears thing :D

The Gallery

Dowling Walsh Gallery

6x6 watercolor

I thought I was using removable frisket while painting this piece but it turned out that the stuff I bought is NON removable. Who knew? Anyway, it gave the first pass an interesting look so I added some more and just finished the painting. This is my interpretation of 'Interior' which is this months Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge. Meanwhile, I'll be looking up using non removable frisket to see what the point is. I'm sure there is one.

A Walk in the Woods

4x5 study of snowy woods

Inspired by the jaw dropping, Aldro T. Hibbard show I viewed Monday at  Rockport Art Association, I did this is a little study on a scrap of luan, from a photo I took many moons ago for this purpose, trying to get the feeling of a winter day in the woods. I went farther with it but this image taken earlier in the process, is the better one. Concentrating on mixing color and applying it in shapes to suggest trees and a frozen stream, was the goal. I love the rich color nuances in this winter landscape and it was hard to know when to not add another color, no matter how harmonious.

I can only say that I was unable to tear myself away from this stunning show of 125 paintings, and spent two hours virtually alone, except for a few RAA artists who were visiting the show and served as 'companions' with whom I could discuss and exclaim over the beauty of the paintings. Totally soul satisfying and although the drive home was in rush hour, the sunset sky was indescribable and I listened to some great music!

If you wonder where I've been, sometimes I need to focus on what it is that I want to do in terms of my painting. It isn't always clear and the hamster wheel of marketing and selling does not come naturally. As always, I appreciate your comments and am thankful for your encouragement, and I love to paint for you.

Palette Knife Painting

Red Flowers 6x6
SOLD @DPW Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser

I have been paying more attention to leaf raking and perennial planting and purging of the extraneous clutter in our house than I have been to my painting and my blog. I did have a few studio sessions that yielded a couple of wipers but I have also addressed and mailed many Open Studios cards, so that's progress.
Open Studios is November 17th and 18th this year and I will have lots of little paintings for sale.
This palette knife painting is straight out of my head. It was fun mixing and slapping it on, late into the night while I watched a documentary about the Doors. That was a blast from my past! 

The Foundry

The Foundry 
4x4 oil on board$100 plus S&H

I am fascinated by industrial scenes.  These complexes are really just big broad shapes and colors which makes them most interesting in terms of abstract design which is what each painting needs to be about. 
Abstract does not mean just throwing paint onto the canvas. In the best abstract paintings the eye moves over the canvas by design because the artist has a plan. This is not something I understood until I'd studied with some very good painters who pointed out the 'total picture'. We're never painting a flower or a beach scene. We're arranging paint into a beautiful composition on a canvas which just happens to end up looking like a flower or a beach scene. Each area of the canvas is equally important as the viewers eye moves around the picture.

One of my students on Thursday was a raw beginner and I must say I was impressed by his observational skills which included seeing reflections in the shadows and he also recognized that which I just stated. We're not painting lime slices it's about the big picture. The design. 

Nancy was on fire and very encouraging to Neal

Neal brought his sense of humor and he really 'got it'

We had fun.