abstract
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Friday, November 30th, 2012
Work details: 1. applying resist medium 2. working with the challenge of a limited palette, watercolors were also dripped down the page. Tomball watercolor pen adds more details.
Birch Stand, 12H x 16W inches watercolors on 120 lb cold pressed 100% cotton paper. Framed size 22H x 26W inches.
Chrysanthemums: work in progress
Friday, May 18th, 2012
Chrysanthemums, 45L x 85W x 3D inches, graphite, charcoal and primer on 100% cotton, work in progress
Rather than priming the fabric first as usual, water and primer are painted to enhance the graphite while the composition works itself out. It’s been all about getting lost in the improvisation and surprise! Grass blades are implied by the buildup of thin streaks throughout, which also serve to balance and energize the work, plus add slight cubist effects.
This is will hang in a contemporary-style room. If color is used at all it will be limited to red, yellow and green areas near the large main flower. Parts of the surface may be left raw, so to set the finished piece, the entire back will be primed and the front will be sprayed with fixative.
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The chaos of this past year, moving to Oregon from Texas, has truly put my artsy artist’s statement to the test; that ‘creativity is an attitude toward life’. I’m accustomed to creating chaos in my artwork, then resolving it. With too many move-related priorities and unfinished renovations, no wonder I’ve felt increasingly disoriented. The good thing is that observations never stop, even if the focus on art-work has to.
Summer travels
Friday, August 13th, 2010
When I’m back in Dallas blogging regularly again, these photos will be posted on the photography website. An unplanned extra trip from Alberta to Ottawa; in Ontario a second time, means I won’t be back until the first week of Sept. Here are a few photos I took on the shores of Lake Superior just east of Wawa, ON.
Stars and Fireflies
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
Home from Singapore for a few days, and having to go north to pack up the Dancing With Trees exhibition, I drove up to Ontario first so I could see my sons in Canada before Christmas. At night in the fields and trees from Tennessee to Michigan there are stars and fireflies in the trees – so magical! Until I can express it in paint, here is a quick photoshop impression.
One in a million
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Artwork: Waiting For The Sun by Virginia Wieringa, 24 x 36 inches acrylics on canvas. I just met an artist-pen-pal whom I never expected to meet, and she’s as intelligent and enthusiastic in person as she has been online for the past four years. Virginia is adventurous and open-minded, yet soundly rooted in her spiritual faith – and therefore so is her art. I especially enjoyed the little 4 x 6″ sketchbook that she shared with me, where a number of ideas for paintings originate as she draws in it during church sermons. I think it’s really funny that she doesn’t listen in church, and she doesn’t preach, she works… and her work speaks volumes. I’ve mentioned Virginia in previous posts — she’s been so supportive, even promoting my work on her own website. Thanks “VA”!
The Sound of Silence
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
The Sound of Silence, 36H x 24W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, narrow frame – finished today. After a second application of mask medium only on the snowflakes this time, some unbleached titanium and yellow ochre brought color back to the trunks. Snowflake mask was then removed.
Oct 13th, above: Phase 01 and 02
Oct 14th, Phase 03 and 04: Mask medium removal, then highlighting snowflakes.
Breakthrough: a sneak peek
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Breakthrough, left side detail of 2 vertical pieces, each 48 x 11 x 3 inches, canvas strips over a gallery wrapped stretcher frame. A number of things have been tried over the 4″ pieces of canvas woven across the frame; colors upon colors: scarlet, yellow, purple, blues, black… crackle glaze, burnt umber wash, sanding, peeling the paint, and an overall coat of white.
There are so many competitions and exhibitions to look forward to in the new year, and I’d much rather be painting all day, but there are deadlines to meet. I’m anxious to post something though, because it’s been a while. I have been working, but in a non-linear habit, even more than usual. The results of about 5 projects are still unresolved, but I’ve learned to trust that plugging away at work continually, eventually it all comes together. Just try and aniticipate when! With only a few minutes to spare now and then off the computer, this two-part piece is the ideal thing to work on. Sometimes an idea goes off in a direction of its own and it’s not always agreeable to the initial plan, but I’m not as concerned about when it comes together. I only trust that it will.
Grackles
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Grackles, 11 x 10 inches soft pastels and graphite on paper. 20H x 16W” framed.
The Dallas area is notorious for its Grackles. In some places they gather in flocks by the thousands. I’m not exaggerating – they are especially notable during evening just before sunset; bird parties I call them, lined along telephone poles and wires, sitting perfect wingspans apart from each other, and packed full in the trees. Photos can’t capture it all, because the experience also includes their loud calls. It’s fantastic! I love it, but they’re a nuisance in public places like near restaurants and malls. Park your black car under a tree if you don’t mind driving away with a fairly white one when you leave.
Eastern Redbuds
Saturday, April 11th, 2009
Eastern Redbuds – Spring in Dallas, TX – finished April 11, 2009, took off all remaining masking fluid. 11H x 11W x 3D inches, acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Signature is on the side, so one is superimposed here on the front. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.
Eastern Redbuds is the first of sixteen 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas paintings of various aspects of trees, to hang together as a group or flanking other paintings. This one uses masking medium to block out areas of white. The first layer of dried medium was removed in the above thumbnails. Afternoon post, left: Adding another layer of masking fluid, seen as yellow.
Feb. 25th: below left, looks better turned on its side but it could be hung either direction, mask was removed then the painting was overworked unintentionally – all the marks that were the whole point of using masking fluid are hardly visible.
So on Feb. 26th: below right, more mask was applied, then white painted between branches, tore away a few select areas of the dried mask and left the rest on as texture.
$350.00 
Paint Arson
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
Paint Arson, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted.
Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface. Signed on the side so as not to impose on the composition.
Progress and process phases 1 and 2 images.
Painting, whatever the subject may be, is a journey through all kinds of unanticipated thoughts and associations; some are short and sweet, ending within 1 – 6 hours and not much more than a visual, but some are packed full of adventure that isn’t even realized until surfacing from a few hours of work.
A new jar of Cadmium Red medium hue was just the thing to reboot, then re-route some old habits I was falling back into, like over-working paintings. Trying a new color invigorates the work process like nothing else can, adding certain life to the results as well. Incorporated as a base, straight out of the tube or mixed with your usual palette, a new color can change everything.