ETV Program

I have been watching Paris The Luminous Years on ETV, and it is a wonderful program about the artists, painters,poets,writers etc. who lived or worked in Paris right at the turn of the 20th century. The program showed how being in Paris had an effect on them as they worked together and had great comraderie with people in all the arts. I have been interested for a long time in the similarities of the creative spirit of all the artistic realms and wish we had more of an interaction of the arts where I live. I would love to just hang out at the local coffee house and discuss painting or poetry or music with my contemporaries. As I have said in previous posts, I have been enjoying two classes on the internet, and I think it is the interaction with and feedback from other artists that makes it so much fun. That is what makes workshops so great, and I hope there will be more of these online classes in the future.

Cover -Up Again

I am still having fun doing the cover-up exercise from Steve Aimone's class. I am working on my reeds in water series trying to adapt this new method into what I have been doing. It is really not so different from how I have been painting, just more cover-up!

Coverup Symbols

Here I am trying to combine the Personal Symbols class with the cover-up assigment. Instead of doodles, I am starting with personal symbols, and then I start covering up or doodling over. This is a fun way to work, and I will keep exploring it. For a great website with lots of information go to www.creativechick.com; that is where the Personal Symbols class is.

Another Cover-Up

Here is another "cover-up" painting done in the AARP class of Steve Aimone. This is a triptych done with acrylic paint on canvas. I seem to be good at covering up as there is not much left of the original colors put down; I guess in order to get color left on the canvas, I would have to eliminate white paint! Is this the real me?

Covering Up

I have been taking Steve Aimone's online class at the AARP website and have loved the different assignments and the interaction with other artists. This week's assignment is to paint and cover up, paint and cover up etc. until the drawing/painting is done to your satisfaction. I have been working for months, really years, on a series of "Thin Places" some of which are shallow waters with reeds, and I think that this method of painting may be the perfect way for me to paint these. I am enjoying working on them!

Paint Program Fun

The AARP painting class with Steve Aimone has been so much fun. We are following his book Expressive Drawing, and he is giving us different projects every other week. We can post our results and see others results. This picture was one of my first attempts at using the Paint program, and I really enjoyed doing this. I found doing the doodles and scribbles so much fun, and I can actually see some beach sea oats in this. This is a far cry from the minimalist work I have done recently, but maybe I can reconcile the two.

Minimalist Again

Here is the latest of my minimalist paintings. It is acrylic on canvas. I am finding that this minimalist way of painting is really expressing what I want to say, and it is interesting to be able to reduce the painting down to the bare essentials and still feel that I am getting the message across. I love to play with the materials and can go on forever working on a painting, but it is a challenge to reduce it down to a minimum of action. This painting is named "Beside Still Waters"

and is another of my "still places" series. My suggestion for a website to visit is http://ruth-hunter-studio.blogspot.com.

Abstract Acrylic

I am posting an abstract acrylic painting done recently. It is a real reduction of "busy-ness" into a simplified design. I am enjoying doing these simplified big shapes with few details. One of my artist friends who is a more realistic painter and a detail person said she liked it, so I took that as a real comliment! My website recommendation for the day is http://www.emptyeasel.com/. This is a great website for technical information and inspiration.

Finishing

After having a few days away from home, I am inspired and excited to get back to work on paintings. Getting a painting finished is the hardest part for me; I can start a painting easily and get almost done, but the finish is hard! I always let paintings sit for a while and come back later to reevaluate, and I have a stack of unfinished work! I have set the goal for this summer to go through the stacks and either finish or throw out, and I am actually enjoying this. My studio is looking better! Moving towards abstraction is still the pull I am feeling, and I am finding myself more satisfied with what I might have considered unfinished in the past. I am attaching one painting which is an abstract landscape, and I do think it says all it needs to. My website recommendation for today is http://www.dailypainters.com/. I look forward to seeing this site everyday as it always shows wonderful work from wonderful artists.

Another Artist Website

As I said in my last post, I am going to share some artist websites that I have found to be of great inspiration to me. The one today is http://www.dailypainters.com/. I look forward to checking this site every day to see what is new. I have even tried the "painting a day" concept, but I have found that I get stuck painting small and don't do any bigger pieces. Also, it is hard to do a painting everyday. It is amazing to me to sometimes see that other people are working on the same things that I am, and I love to see what they are doing with it.

Inspiration and Vacation

I have been on vacation for two weeks. Or should I say, I have had children and grandchildren visiting, and although it was a great time, it was no vacation. I think I need a vacation now! Needless to say, I have not been painting! I am going to start posting some of the websites and blogs of artists I follow; I find great inspiration in seeing what these wonderful people are doing. Especially when I am not finding the time to paint, it is so nice to be able to see what is going on in the art world. The first site I would recommend is www.arthousecoop.com. I love all the projects this site has going on, and I am participating in the Sketchbook project and hope to see the exhibit in Atlanta next spring.

Minimalist Abstract Painting

I found an older painting of mine last week and realized that it is akin to what I am working on now. I think I can use this to continue a series of more minimalist abstract renditions of my same theme of "Thin Places". I have found several blogs that I now love and am following, and I will try to link them to my blog as soon as I learn how!

New Abstract Work

I am posting some of my latest abstract work. Among Trees is actually three acrylic paintings on 10" by 10" boards. I like hanging the three together and the unusual shape that is formed.

Now working

Well, the website is now working. After trying again the next morning to upload photos, I emailed the webmaster; he said to try again, and it worked. So, maybe it wasn't that I was doing something wrong afterall. I am posting one more of the oil pastels that I am enjoying doing so much. I am working on a series of small paintings, impressionistic and non-objective, to show my love for nature, especially the coast which I am afraid more than ever may be a vanishing landscape.

Website

I have spent most of the afternoon trying to update my website and haven't been able to upload my pictures! This is so frustrating!!! I think I am following the directions, and I have been able to do this before now, so what am I doing wrong? My usual solution after I have tried something numerous times and failed is to give up until tomorrow, and sometimes a miracle happens and it works the next time I try. So I have decided to write a blog for today and send a picture here. Guess what - it worked here!

Blue

I have just returned from another time at the beach! I have been working on several small oil pastels with bird images in them. I am working with a rather abstract painting with just a hint of a recognizable image, and I do love all the shore birds found at the coast of South Carolina so this seems to work for me. I am trying to do a series of about twenty paintings in this size which will be 12" x 12" framed. I am seeing a connection between the style with the oil pastels and the palette knife acrylics - hovering between abstraction and non-objective.

Palette Knife Acrylic

This spring has been the best one I can remember for the flowers in bloom! I have enjoyed the azaleas in full bloom at the beach and then at home in Anderson; this is the first year that I have hit the peak at both places. The colors are all so wonderful that it would be impossible to pick one favorite. I am working on several paintings just concentrating on color and texture. Using a palette knife I have applied many layers of acrylic color on the canvas and played with scratching through the surface. I just keep going until it seems right. It has occured to me that this is basically the same technique I have been using with oil pastels, and I am glad to see some continuity in recent paintings.

Working with Oil Pastel over Acrylic

I am trying layering the oil pastels over bright acrylic underpainting so as not to have to layer so much oil pastel. In this painting I treated the paper with a sand medium and then painted with acrylics for an underpainting. I then add some oil pastels and I could easily scrape back through to colors underneath. I am working on focusing on one or two elements when working with abstractions, and this painting is about color and texture.

Abstract Oil Pastel

I am attaching another small abstract oil pastel. These small paintings are so much fun to do, and I really think doing these is helping me to move into more abstract work. It is also nice to be able to finish some work as I find that working large can take forever!

oil pastel

I am back to using oil pastels and am finding that this medium may be the best for abstracts. I have had fun doing small abstract works; working larger with oil pastels seems really hard for me. There is so much blending to do; maybe I can find an easier way to blend. But for now, the small ones are fun!