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!