The Majesty of Trees Collection

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The Shavingbrush Tree

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

The Shavingbrush Tree in front of a flowering Jacaranda tree seen in Chapala, Mexico, 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, work in progress. Thumbnail, left: started March 31st

The last painting helped me more aware of how powerful contrasts of light and dark can be. Here, areas of primer will be purposely be left unpainted. I was going to just carefully avoid the white areas and paint around them, but during the second phase I dripped some of the masking fluid to block out a few details in the main flowers. Already it is a very different painting process-wise; right from the start it has felt like a complicated puzzle; that stage doesn’t usually appear until near finishing. The first stages of painting are usually the most liberating but since I never pencil in an outline before painting, I fought a lazy brain right from the start that did not want to map out the placement… which doesn’t make sense because I really really want to paint this one! These are not typically the colors I use either, so there are a few intimidating factors. I hope to maintain fresh, bright Easter colors — partly because this is when they bloom in Mexico. Painting is much like a runner hitting “the wall” but persevering and breaking through it…however in painting there are many walls to conquer.

Oxide Gallery

There are a few pieces hanging at Oxide Gallery, Denton, TX for the next three months: Rocky Mountain Vista, Zen Garden #6, and all four recent encaustic works.

Our Carbon Footprint

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Our Carbon Footprint, graphite on paper, scanned, digital pen

Creativity is above all our best resource to finding and maintaining improved solutions with regard to our impact as consumers on the earth. Our carbon footprint is worthy.

The Majesty of Trees Exhibition was just accepted to show at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum in the Steinhauer Trust Gallery during May and June, 2010.

Using masking medium

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Grand Fir in front of a giant Sequoia, 48H x 24W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, using masking medium to outline the mossy dead branches.

Some work, some don’t, but I haven’t given up on it yet; work still in progress, but since this won’t be in the Raleigh show in 7 weeks I can’t afford to spend more time on it now. I hoped the flat white would work against a fairly realistic background, but it doesn’t. This could go a few ways: 1) flatten the whole surface and make the painting an abstract 2) downsize the sequoia, add shadow and color to the fir then create a more realistic forest scene 3) block out more dead firs with more masking fluid, echoing the main one, still as an abstract or realistic or 4) ditch it! Some paintings are worth spending time exploring when they reach a certain stage, and with others chalk it up as experience, re-cover the stretcher frame and move on.

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.

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Branching Out

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Branching Out and Conifer, each 6H x 6W x 2D inches Encaustic, side surfaces also done.

Encaustic is designing/painting with beeswax. I’m not usually intimidated by trying any new medium, but wax is so unique and there are so many possibilities for it, I was a little overwhelmed when I took an introductory course with Deanna Wood. She offers her students workshop days where they can use her supplies to continue experimenting with the medium. Although I’d love to have my own supplies to work at home, the encaustic process is so messy, not to mention expensive to get started, so that is a generous offer. Today’s studio work produced 4 small encaustic paintings, and 2 are successful. Compared to other media, wax is so versatile it can be scraped off to whatever degree, reworked, layered, carved and manipulated as much or as long as you wish. It’s a lot of fun!

Neighborhood Heron

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Neighborhood Heron, 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.

Sold but a similar piece can be recreated upon request. Please allow 7 days to paint before shipping.

Started with a base coat of very watered down translucent pthalos green mixed with cerulean blue. Spraying rubbing alcohol over a damp painted water-based surface then allowing it to dry without moving it will create starry, spotty textures. Salt shaken over wet paint allowed to dry, then wiped off with a dry cloth will produce similar effects.

Alcohol loosened up the entire surface of paint, so using fingernails under a damp smooth t-shirt cloth, I rubbed off areas to shape the heron and winter trees. This represents a super argument for the wingin’ it methods!
In college I took a pottery course for one semester, and the thing I remember most is the instructor saying how it’s a good idea to allow some of the raw characters of the materials we work with to remain and “speak” without trying to smooth over and perfect everything. She was of course referring to clay, but over the years I’ve found that it applies to many other mediums also. In Heron, the branches extend into the body of the bird, connecting it to its environment. The effect also does a subtle play on the motion of its flight too.

Showcased in the J. Mane Gallery’s Fins, Feathers and Fur 2020 exhibition.

Iguana and Strangler Fig

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Iguana and Strangler Fig, Costa Rica, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.
The Strangler Fig is a parasite. Seeds sprout in moss or decaying matter among the branches of rain forest canopies. Roots gradually extend downward and over time completely surround the host tree, which dies while nourishing the Strangler Fig growing in its place.
March 14th, March 13: Phases 1, 2 and 3 earlier progress in thumbnails below. Today layering thin washes of pale yellow, placing the iguana more into the background. Some of the details of the Strangler Fig growth that are now covered up might be brought back into focus since this is more about the tree than the iguana. Posting the painting on the blog is helpful because it’s viewed differently than while painting or studying it. It’s somehow easier to see areas that still need change when looking at it on-screen.

Chapala Wind

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Chapala Wind – Lake Chapala, Mexico, 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.

Sold but a similar piece can be recreated upon request. Please allow 7 days to paint before shipping.

Sprayed alcohol loosened the paint and I was able to scratch it, at first with my nails and then a pottery tool. Thanks to Karen Xarchos for all the feedback and additional information. We worked together painting murals in Ottawa for a couple of years. Karen has done extensive work in restaurants and homes in the Ottawa area.Thumbnails: phase 1 and 2 in progress.

Myrtle At The Zoo

Monday, March 9th, 2009

Myrtle At The Zoo – Crepe Myrtle branches and seedpods before pruning, February at the Fort Worth Zoo, Texas. 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.