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.