Working with a photograph

Since I most often take a lot of photographs of places that I love, and I use them as inspiration for my paintings, I decided to post a few of my photograps and talk about how I will use them to do paintings. This photo is of one of my favorite places - the beach - and one of my favorite subjects - waters edge. I have cropped this photo down to a square format and will emphasize the curve of the water at low tide. I will try to do this painting soon and post the result.

Horizon

Here is a new painting that is part of a series of "Horizons" that I have been working with. I thought that since I like to work with landscapes and abstract I could combine those two into abstract landscapes. This is looking like water to me, how about you? I would love some comments.

AARP class exercise

This painting, Square Dance 3, is the result of an exercise given by Steven Aimone to the AARP online class that he is doing. We started with a set of directions to follow, then we could develope the drawing/painting in any way we wanted. I was surprised to see that I ended up with a landscape design which I have been using in my most recent paintings. This was all done without any thought or direction at to how to adjust or finish the painting. I was just reacting to what was happening on the paper. I am actually rather pleased with how this turned out. I think the freedom of covering-up and repainting or drawing-into leads to some interesting work.

Not-minimalist; back to busy-ness

I am now at home again and enjoying my nice studio! I have several big canvases that I want to paint as a diptych or triptych, and I want to continue working with "notes to myself" in primarily gestural marks. In this first painting I have written several notes to myself and used some symbols to fill the canvas. I have left the painting in a primal, gestural state with little refinement or covering up. I plan to start the next one in the same way. Not sure if I will leave this one as is or not.

Horizons

Another minimalist horizon painting.

Minimalist

Here I am working with a minimalist mindset - just the bare essentials to express the idea. I am using color as the dominant design element and suggesting a landscape by the division of space. This fits into my newest series "Horizons" and I want to continue working with this theme with varying degrees of simplicity/complexity.

Summertime Landscape Abstraction

The weather is beginning to feel like fall here, but I am still stuck with loving the summertime! Continuing with abstraction, I am working on expressing the feelings of summertime with color and texture. I am feeling the landscapes of summer!

Back to Work

I am back home now and trying to get back into the groove again. I am still working with no image in mind, just design elements. Color and texture are the main emphasis with drawing into the paint. Also, still working with grids.

Watercolor

I have not done anything with watercolor in a long, long time. However, I am traveling and brought along a small portable watercolor set which I planned to use with drawing. I only brought a few acrylics since I was not planning to do any serious painting; but in doing some sketches, I was not happy with the colors I was getting with the acrylics. So, I tried the watercolors. It has been great fun to go back to seeing what the paper and colors do with the water, and I am loving the bright colors I am getting with this. I don't think I will go back to using watercolor regularly, but it is a good experience.

Painting Without White

Painting without using white pigment is my newest challenge for myself. I have been using white to cover up and take out things - assert and obliterate - process painting. Today I decided to not use white and cover up with black or other colors. It's an interesting challenge.

Energy of Abstract

Working with the energy of abstract - doing the dance of going back and forth, closer and further away from the paiting and adding, taking away from intuitive urges. The only thing set is the colors being used.

Working from Memory

Working from memory without any reference is a challenge. On the other hand, it does lead to more abstract images and is a fun way to express an idea. Images of summer still are in my mind as long as the weather stays so hot. This is memories from the coast.

Strong Edge

So, here is the "on the edge" painting that is the one done at the same time as the "center" one in the previous blog. This one feels much stronger and bolder than the softer one before, but I like both and feel both are "me" - guess I am soft and gentle with a strong edge.

Soft and Gentle

This month at the AARP website Steven Aimone's group is doing exercises with doing two drawings at the same time, one with the emphasis in the center and the other with the emphasis on the edge. This is the "center" one, and the comments I had from posting it were that it was gentle and nurturing, soft etc. I feel that the people involved with the group know each other pretty well since we have been doing this for a year now. I think maybe I have visually expressed the conflict I feel when painting: gentle and soft or strong and expressive. I will post the one "on the edge" next; it is what I feel much stronger. However, maybe I am somewhere inbetween the two, gentle with a strong streak. Something to think about! I like both!

Unfinished

I am thinking it would be helpful to post some unfinished paintings, and maybe writing about them and seeing them on the computer will give me the answwers I need to finish. Since I work on several pieces at a time, I always have unfinished work. Usually it is hard to come back to a painting and finish it without doing a lot of changes to it. Each mark made changes the whole thing, and I end up sometimes doing the whole paiting over making it totally different from what started out to be. My goal for this year is to either finish paintings or get rid of them - trash! This painting needs something done to the lower left corner.

Summertime Continued Abstractly

After being out of town, to a much cooler climate, I have now returned home to the hottest summer we have had in years. Nothing is green anymore as we have not had any rain, so I am missing seeing the wonderful green colors of summer. In my paintings I am continuing to express the feelings of summer, with light/bright colors. Texture is becoming more important to me and scratching through to what is underneath. Hopefully, I will now have more time to paint as July was devoted mostly to family things.

Color

Using new colors (for me) is the goal today. I am trying to use colors that I have not favored in the past; they have been in my paint box for a while, and I still seem to go back to the same old ones. Of course, I see that I am still putting some of the old favorites into the painting. At least I am starting with something different.

Summertime

Continuing to work with grids now and expressing the bright/light colors of summer, I am trying to do a series of high-key work to show what this extra hot summer is like. Bright colors are soon turning to brown in this heat, but we do still have some wonderful scenes.

Working Again

I am back from vacation and trying to get into my painting mode. It usually takes some time to get back into what I was doing before I took a short break from artwork. Today has been no different; I have to work for several hours before I can feel where I was before. I am continuing to work with abstractions of the SC coast; and since I was in Charleston this past weekend, at least I have a renewed feeling of the coast. I am still facinated by the edges of water, where the rushes and other plants grow. Also the distant views of the grasses and marshlands.

Grasses

I am continuing to work with grasses - in fields and in waters. I love the way grass flows with the wind and represents movement. Working with abstraction I am hoping to show movement and the energy of grasses growing.

Still Working Non-Objective

After having family here visiting for the past week, I am finally back in the studio and am trying to get back into the zone. Today I have been working with non-objective paintings of summer. The painting is very minimalist and is expressing the warm color of summertime.

Painting Energy

Now that I have been painting abstractly/non-objectively for several months I am finding that I can't go back to painting any other way! The energy of abstract has really drawn me in. Guess I will keep on with this, as I said, and work this way for a while.

Working in a Series

I have again been working with oil pastel over acrylic; I love this medium and wish I could figure out how to work larger with it as I have to blend with my fingers and can't do too much at a time or do a big area. This particular painting goes back to my series of "Thin Places" with my interest in grasses, especially growing out of water or water's edge.

Notes to Myself

I love paintings that have a message - literally! I have been wanting to incorporate writing into my work, and I have been working with numbers and letters, using dates and other images to work into paintings. This painting was done in response to a time when I wanted to remind myself of something important that I needed to never forget, and I wrote myself a note then painted over it. I will always (hopefully) remember what the message was for me.

Low

"Low" is an old acrylic painting covered up with oil pastels. The AARP group has been working High and Low, putting the emphasis on either one of the two choices. The scribbles and colors in the lower part of this painting make the lower part the more important, and the fact that this part is the greater area of the painting also makes this the emphasis. So much fun working with this group; we interact with each other as if we knew each other, but we have never met. The internet is great for making new friends.

Highs and Lows

The AARP online group is now working on "highs" and "lows" in drawing/painting composition. Today is the first day I have worked on this. In the past when I was doing landscapes I almost always had a high horizon so it would be natural for me to do the "high" design; many times I have tried to do the low horizon and somehow it would creep back up towards the middle. I am hoping that I can learn to do the "low" design by working on this assignment. I had fun today doing "High Fives".

Missed Opportunity

Wildacres Retreat is an area in the North Carolina mountains that is a retreat for artists and other workshops. I have been by it several times as I have often visited friends in that area. Also, I have a writer friend who spent a week there last summer and told me about the artist residency weeks. I got a call yesterday offering me a week in July to spend there working on my painting; it is such a dream come true to be able to spend time just on painting with no distractions. BUT I couldn't accept because I already have too many obligations for the month of July. I have recently learned that I cannot over-do as I pay for it later. It takes me much longer to recuperate from over-doing that it used to so I have had to learn to say no. I really hated to give up the chance to do the week there; I hope maybe I will get another chance in the future.

Showig Up

I have been doing a lot of reading lately; I always like to read about creativity and hear other artists' thoughts. Two things have struck me that I need to take to heart: one is that the artist is a servant of the creative process and his/her job is to show up and listen, the other is to try something new and different for at least one month. Even when we don't feel inspired to create, we need to follow somewhat of a routine and show up for the work; if we listen to the silence, we can access the creative spirit. I am showing up and still working with grids, my "new" thing for at least a month. Today I tried a different approach and did atomatic drawing first, then followed a very faint grid pattern. Much more "uncontrolled" for me!

In and Out of a Grid, again, A Work in Progress

Another day of working with grids! My major conflict of styles has always been doing simplified versus "busyness" in my paintings. I love both and cannot seem to stick to just one style. I recently was encouraged to see a quote attributed to Degas that said "I'm glad I haven't found my style yet, I'd be bored to death" and that is the way I feel. Today I have been working with "busyness" in and out of a grid.

In and Out of a Grid

It is so good to be home again and have all my art supplies handy. I am still working with grids and have worked at covering up most of the grid. Going back and forth, asserting and covering up, drawing and painting, this is what I love to do.

Rothko Inspiration

In the AARP Expressive Drawing class that is being led by Steven Aimone we have been looking at some of Mark Rothko's earlier paintings and drawings. I have always loved his later paintings, but I never was introduced to the earlier ones. It has been most interesting to see some of the periods he went through during his lifetime of painting, not to mention that it is encouraging to me to see that he went through so many styles. I have found that I really love some of the earlier ones - ones done during his movement into abstraction. Since we have been working with grids I have done a few Rothko-inspired grids. Some of the grids are readily visible and some are obscure. From what I have been reading this period was called his Multiforms period, and it lead to his Color Fields period for which I think he is most famous. Isn't it great that there is never-ending learning that can be done in the pursuit of painting!

Small-Space Grid

Today I have been working with a grid of smaller spaces than I have done before. I really like working this way! I limited color and concentrated on not seeing any recognizable thing happening in the painting. Setting new challenges for myself is a good way to go, I think.

Painting with a Grid

The new challenge for the AARP painting class with Steven Aimone started yesterday. We are working with grids; either starting with a grid and developing the painting/drawing or starting with intuitive drawing and imposing a grid on it. I have done this a few times in the past and am finding I really enjoy this method. I think I may do-over some old paintings.

Mostly Red

My new friend Martha just posted a wonderful item about our recent Steve Aimone workshop in Asheville. She has done a great job of telling about the workshop and showing pictures of a lot of people and artwork. It brings back such fond memories -and inspires me to work. I have been having a lot of fun working with numbers, dates, and letters. Using these as starting points, I intuitively work with paint and drawing. Today I am also concentrating on the color red. I feel that I need to continue working this way for a good while. Another inspiration for doing artwork is the continuing AARP site that Steve Aimone is hosting for Expressive Drawing. It is always a good thing to have a source of motivation.

April 15

In keeping with my theme of working with numbers, I thought of doing paintings that reflect the date; hence, here is my April 15, 2011. I am starting with the date, covering up, repainting, cevering up etc. hoping that some of the date may or may not show through but the spirit of the day is remebered. I am realizing that in order to give this non-objective style of painting a chance for me, I must work on it for a good while....

In the Aimone workshop last weekend we did some drawings/paintings starting with numbers or letters. Today I have worked on three 12"x12" canvases that I started with numbers. This seems to be a good way for me to get into non-objective artwork.

Palette Knife Symbols

Today I have worked with a palette knife. I have done this before and always find it easier to be more free with abstraaction. Since I have been using personal symbols, I put some into the paintings today.

Expressive Painting

After attending the Aimone workshop last weekend, I am finding that I HAVE to paint in an expressive manner. I always have a bunch of paintings going at the same time and sometimes group them into diptychs or triptychs. This group of three is working with personal symbols, something I have been thinking about for a long time and never have gotten around to doing. I think I will keep working on this theme for a while.

Aimone Workshop

I just attended a Steven Aimone workshop in Asheville. It was a great weekend. We had such a wonderful group of people from all over the US and Canada, and there was such diversity among us; but we were a really cohesive group and formed great friendships. Steve teaches an online class for AARP now and has workshops in several places during the year ranging from weekends to full weeks and next year ten days. Most of the people in the group had read his latest book EXPRESSIVE DRAWING and like it so much that they HAD to come. I took a workshop from him a few years ago and felt it was time to gain some more knowledge. I usually don't work in quite this way but am trying to learn! We worked really hard; Steve gave different projects to do, and we moved quickly through them. Not much time to think - that was the point - to draw straight from energy within with no visual reference. We gathered to look at each other's work and made comments or asked questions. Steve is a strongly positive person and sees the good in everything and is encouraging to everyone. I hope to do another workshop in the future and in the meantime am enjoying the AARP class. The painting I am attaching is part of a tritych gleaned from a large painting done in the class.

#links

#links

Triptych

I have been enjoying working with diptychs and triptychs. This post is of two paintings that I am working a third painting to go with to form a triptych. These two will form the outsides of the triptych with the third one making up the middle. I hope to finish this soon.

Without A Plan

I am continuing to paint intuitively, without a plan. I just pick colors that I like and start in with painting. I am stressing texture, line and color - or lack of color. Also, much removing and covering up is done. Wonder where this will end up!

Note to Me

I have been wanting to incorporate words into my artwork for some time, and today I did it with a "Note to Myself". There was something I really didn't want to forget, and I had been working on figuring out how to remind myself of this. I watched a u-tube video by James Kalm that said that words are becomming a big part of the art scene, and I figured there was no time like the present to try this. Paintings as journals can be a fulfilling experience. I will try more.

Searching

I have still been working with the AARP online class, and for the past month we have been exploring ways of expressing ourselves with self-portraits, not in a realistic sense but in abstract form. At the same time, I have been trying to find my "artist voice" as I have had a problem in the past actually defining my work. I love to explore new options and go with the "what if" questions, but I am beginning to see that I can only be myself. I may admire the bright colors and bold statements of others and want to do that kind of work, but in reality, I am a quiet, reserved kind of person who values a more subtle approach. I think that is why no matter how many bright colors and strong values I start with, I end up covering up a lot of it and am left with suggestions of what is there. For me, I don't feel the painting is right or working if it is not refined to a more calm feeling. A breakthrough???

Snow Storm

We have had a snow storm here in the South for the past two days. The snow is beautiful, but it creates a real problem here as we are not prepared for snow and ice. Everything closes down, and we are all stuck at home. Of course, that just gives me more incentive to paint! I am still working on abstract images, and this one is an abstract of a snow storm.

Another Me

I have been working with self-portraits in an online class by Steven Aimone on the AARP website; these are not to be actual portraits of how we look, but rather how we feel. I have discovered that every painting I do is actually a "self portrait" as it reflects how I feel at the time. In fact, doing this kind of exercise can really be a journal done with paintings or drawings instead of words, like a sketchbook. I am going to try doing this often in the future.

A Writer's Life

I have just finished reading Pat Conroy's new book, My Reading Life; and I am thrilled to be able to see some of his creative mothods and inspirations. As I have said before, I am interested in the creative spirit and the connections among the different creative areas in art. Hearing how the artist goes about his/her creation is so amazing, and I have learned that there are common threads among the arts.

Abstract Self Portrait

This is a computer generated self portrait, done in abstract form. It is to be seen as a feeling rather than a realistic picture. It is done completely intuitively without thinking too much, but rather feeling the gestures. After doing this, I realized from comments made about it that it really did reflect "me at that time" and maybe painting from feelings does lead to some truth.