When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

acrylic painting

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Bearded Iris, plein air painting

Sunday, April 20th, 2008


 

Bearded Iris, top detail of 44H x 18W inches acrylics on canvas

Bearded Iris painted plein air,44H x 18W inches acrylics on canvas

Bearded Iris, 44H x 18W inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress  Bearded Iris, 44H x 18W inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress  Bearded Iris, 44H x 18W inches acrylics on canvas, work in progresss  Bearded Iris - plein air,44H x 18W inches acrylics on canvas, finished

Progression of work

I could no longer avoid the subject of Iris, have always thought the subject to be too cliche, but they are blooming crazily in our garden this week, are so beautiful. This variety actually blooms an unprecedented 3 times a year here in Texas! Some of the flower stalks grow well over three feet tall, with six or seven large five and a half inch blooms.

White Pine Bows

Friday, April 18th, 2008


 

White Pine Bows, 20 x 34 x 1.5 inches acrylics on canvas
White Pine Bows, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. (sold 2010)

Some paintings take a long time and change dramatically from start to finish. Others have a clear direction and seem to flow out in a day, as this one did.

White Pine Bows, 20 x 34 x 1.5 inches acrylics on canvas, just started White Pine Bows, 20 x 34 x 1.5 inches acrylics on canvas, phase 2

Post-dated note: showcased in Visual Arts Society of Texas’ 125 Show July 24th – August 15, 2008.
Also, Debby Davis a local Denton TX poet wrote a poem inspired by the White Pine Bows painting
Bouncing branch to bough within stiff white pines,
finding my eyes uplifted; what a show!
Violinist gently pulls; taut bow whines.

Bouncing branch to bough within stiff white pines,
like the beat of an orchestra playing.
Violinist gently pulls; taut bow whines
raining harmonies; colors displaying.

Like the beat of an orchestra playing,
my thumping heart strings tug me into now!
raining harmonies; colors displaying,
I am an audience of one somehow.

My thumping heart strings tug me into now!
It is the secret that only I shall know.
I am an audience of one somehow.
Fragile notes fracture light into rainbow.

Rocky Mountain Vista finished

Sunday, April 13th, 2008


 

 Rocky Mountain Vista, top detail image, acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

 Rocky Mountain Vista, central detail image, acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

 Rocky Mountain Vista, lower detail image, acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

48 x 24 x 2 inches, acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides paintedRocky Mountain Vista 48H x 24W x 2D inches, acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, detail images.

Left: Complete image. Paintings that are proportionately longer than wider don’t photograph well or show impressively on screen, so this has been split into three separate detail images.

Progress on Rocky Mountain Vista

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008


 
Rocky Mountain Vista, 48 x 24 inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress. 

Rocky Mountain Vista, 48H x 24W inches acrylics on canvas after one more day of work, still in progress and almost finished.

Rocky Mountain Vista started

Monday, April 7th, 2008


 

48 x 24 inches acrylics on stretched canvas - work in progress.

Started last night, work in progress: Rocky Mountain Vista 48 x 24 inches acrylics on stretched canvas.

Northern Delights 02, finished

Saturday, April 5th, 2008


 

Northern Delights 02, 24 x 36 inches Acrylics on wrapped canvas

Northern Delights 02, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on wrapped canvas, finished this morning.

Northern Delights 02

Friday, April 4th, 2008


 

Northern Delights 02 started, Quaking Aspen, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on canvas  Northern Delights 02, Quaking Aspen, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on canvas, phase 02

Northern Delights 02, Quaking Aspen, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on canvas, started this morning (left) – work in progress – above: after a few more hours…hope to keep brushstrokes and colors fresh and uncomplicated in this one.

Myrtle At The Zoo, March 10 – April 2

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008


 

Myrtle At The Zoo - 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, Phase 18, work still in progress

Myrtle at the Zoo, Crepe Myrtle branches and seed-pods, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas study, sides painted. Posts here go back to the start of work, sharing the process.

I’ve learned a lot and enjoyed playing with different ideas. It’s been interesting teetering back and forth between frustration and fun, but sometimes that’s what painting is all about. There’s been such a tension over this one as with no other painting, where the urge to throw it away is pitted against the determination to see what could happen. I still like a lot of things in it, such as the technique of dripping paint down the front that I’ve tried in previous paintings. Dripping re-energized the painting and me, and took the work in unexpected directions.

Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, Phase 16, dripped violet and purple down the canvas  Myrtle At The Zoo Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, Phase 17, work still in progress

April 1st: 1. dripped violet across the top and deep yellow from the bottom. This move brings about a new set of problems that may lead the way to what I’m searching for; could be that recovery is impossible 2. Later notes after one days of work, Apr.1st: I like where the drips made me go…sometimes you’ve gotta take a leap.

Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, phase 12  Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 13

March 27th – 30th The zebra is too prominent no matter what I try to blur it into the background, so more branches have been added to the foreground.
Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 10

March 20th – 26th: After another few days of remapping, I like the direction it’s taking with the larger Myrtle seed-pods in the foreground…hardly touched the zebra, except before starting today, scrubbed and washed off a lot of the surface and concentrated mainly on re-working the whole composition.

Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 9 Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 8 Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 7

Art in general, no matter what the media, has us confront varying emotions while we work, pleasant and unpleasant. If the piece is taking longer than anticipated, any self-expectations that mount don’t help the progress at all. There are also echos of things other Artists say, like “if it’s taking too long, trash it and start over”. That one always puzzles me – why tell someone to quit? How about searching for all that the work might possibly become? Fear of ruining work that’s already accomplished can hold us back from throwing our whole selves into it, bringing it to a new level.

It seems that so much fuss is made about paintings that are whipped off in a day. While the method of finishing work quickly is great, this is not the ideal for every painter. Most paintings do have a lot of life and zing after only one day of work and sometimes it’s best to leave them that way. Some Art is best left as “pure”, responsive, raw… and some work begs to be analyzed and dissected, perhaps to the death of the piece and having nothing to show for the labor.

Each artist knows if each painting at the end of the day has potential to become something more, and the decision to stay or to search is different with each and every piece. I say don’t give up if a painting takes too long to come to fruition.

Myrtle At TheZoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 6 Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 5 Myrtle At TheZoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 3

March 15th – Freestyle brushstrokes have livened work up a little since the last post. Intentions are for the painting to be more about the Myrtle than the zebra, but the zebra is key to determining the rhythm of the whole composition. The biggest challenge is that the zebra is such a striking subject alone, and competes for importance with the branches. Color is a huge issue also, because the ground is dry and bright during winter, but so is the zebra. This is why I have yellow tones in the ground, and gradually am adding darker values, playing with colors throughout the painting process.

Every aspect is gradually worked through as painting progresses; no definite decisions made until the final day. If/when work finally succeeds, all the stages of color transitions show through in bits and pieces across the canvas, contributing to the final color and depth impressions. It’s really the process of change in a painting that’s most enjoyable and educational. Every stage is photographed or scanned, and the process can be evaluated after it’s finished.

– am finding it hard to maintain a balance of weight on the right and left sides beside such strong tones in that fur…I may add is a couple of unusually large detailed seed-pods in the foreground to take the eyes’ attention away from the zebra at first glance. I keep playing with colors, patterns, brushstrokes, scratching/removal of paint and anything I can think, still aware that the painting needs more depth.

Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 2 Myrtle At The Zoo, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas Phase 1

March 10th – striving for an accurate portrayal of Crepe Myrtle branches in winter, and except for a few detailed seed-pods in the foreground, an overall abstract representation more than realism. The zebra is purposely off-center in an attempt to allow more space for the main subject. Establishing the composition is always priority over accurate colors at first, which of course are to be considered but like other details are left until the final day of completion.

Bluebonnet Season

Sunday, March 30th, 2008


 

Bluebonnets Abstract 36H x 24W acrylics on canvas wrapped sides painted, narrow frame

Bluebonnets Abstract, 36H x 24W acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, narrow frame.

It’s Bluebonnet Season in Texas again! The Bluebonnets Abstract is not typical of my work, but when studying any subject, it’s liberating and enlightening to try painting it from different perspectives and try many styles.

Emerge

Monday, March 24th, 2008


 
Emerging Myrtle leaves, early Spring

Above: this morning’s emerging Myrtle leaves, an addition to the Heart Shapes in Nature series.

Upcoming exhibitions:

1. Polypore Fungi is on exhibit at the VAST 40th Annual Spring Exhibition in Denton, Texas April 10 through May 29, 2008. Opening Reception Thursday, April 10th 6:00 – 8:p.m. at the Meadows Gallery 400 E. Hickory, Denton.

2. Firewheels, 18 x 24 x 2 inches Acrylics – Texas and Neighbors Regional Art Exhibition at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving, Texas April 26 through May 24th, 2008. Opening Reception Sunday, April 27th 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

 

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