Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Zen Painting Exercise


These were done in response to a Louise Fletcher video on abstract painting.

Monday, March 29, 2021

Finding my Artistic Voice, maybe ...


 













For a while I need to experiment; some may be horrid. This one is not terrible. I love trees, especially light through trees, and this is another version of that image.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

New Layer


 












I don't have a title for these yet. They are lively and fun with the addition of the yellow-orange and red-violet collage pieces. At least one layer to go. Gone Fishing? Not sure. 

Friday, March 26, 2021

Collage Papers Made Today


 


























These are for the two 16"x20" paintings I sanded today. They are blue-green and red-orange, and I am adding yellow orange and magenta collage shapes to the next layer.

A mystery was solved when I was sanding these canvases, which I had pinned up on the studio wall. The sanding seemed to create little circular marks and I was not sure what caused them. I thought it was the sander, a mouse sander with little holes in the face of it. But then I tried sanding them on a wood panel on the floor and it was MUCH better.
YAY MYSTERY SOLVED! 

I ordered some 16x20 wood panels to mount these paintings on. I will not try to wrap the canvas around the edges, I will simply cut it and mount it on the front. Wish me luck!


Wednesday, March 24, 2021

In Memoriam Today


 












I added lots of collage paper today.  Some are painted paper, others were printed with the gel plate. It has a sort of cubist look now, somewhat chaotic, but still the same image of trees. What the next step is, I am not at all sure, but it is an adventure!

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

In Memoriam


 












For many years, no one I knew well, no one in my immediate family, died. I was frightened that one day someone would die, and I would not know what to say or do. Finally, the time came, and my mother-in-law,  my parents, a good friend, my adult son, and a 19-year-old dog died in the space of seven years. I learned what it was to grieve, why it was okay that I had not known how I would feel. It is always painful and sorrowful. It fades to a dull ache over time, though it never leaves completely. Since then there have been more deaths, and I have come to view them philosophically as a simple change in form. 

When she was alive, my mother painted our apple tree, which was old, and had lost most of its limbs, when it was blooming. My sister Robyn has that painting. Today I did this diptych of some trees in our neighborhood, near the bayou, and it is very reminiscent of Mom's painting of the apple tree. I remember my loved ones and beloved dogs, and I hope they have gone on to something new, an adventure, a new form. Each person and pet gave me so much. I am deeply grateful to them for being part of my life. 

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Is That Your Final Layer?


 



















Frankly, I don't know. we shall see. I do like it a lot now, so probably it is finished.

Just for Fun


We had to euthanize our dog Bo on Wednesday, and I have not felt cheerful enough to work in the studio until today. This was a sheet of watercolor paper that I wiped my paintbrushes off onto, and I painted on it today with off-white to make hard-edged shapes. Then I added the squiggles, which I made from artist's tissue, coated with acrylic gel medium, dried, then painted on them. The medium makes the tissue transparent, so I can cut them out and look at them on different areas of the painting and decide where they look best. Just a warmup exercise for fun. 



I also cleaned up the studio and organized all my collage papers into drawers by color, just the primaries and secondaries (yellow, orange, red, violet, blue,  and green). 

Cropped


 



















This is one part of the painting I did in the "cruciform" composition. I did not care for the 30"x40" canvas, but this part and another small part were appealing. Unfortunately, because there are so many layers on the canvas, I can't re-stretch it properly,  so it will just be for me to look at.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Playing my Concertina


 I have made a very crude "concertina" sketchbook. It is for generating ideas and play.