Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Paint toxicity
I want to share a good blog post by Caroline Roberts about acrylic paint toxicity. She has an good blog. I think as acrylic painters we sometimes get complacent about our painting materials.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
New paintings to Art on the Boulevard
The following paintings were taken to Art on the Boulevard gallery in Vancouver WA a few days ago.
"Earth Guardian"
30X30
Acrylic on canvas
"The Promise"
30x30
Acrylic on canvas
"Field of Possibilities"
30x30
Acrylic on canvas
"Future Harvest"
30x30
Acrylic on canvas
"Harvest Potential"
30x30
Acrylic on canvas
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Interview with Collin Murphy
Photos from Collin Murphy's studio
I'm always curious about other artist's art studios as well as their process. So I've picked a few abstract artists and have asked them a few questions--well, I'm always better with questions than answers--and photographed their studios.
Today is Collin Murphy, an abstract artist from Portland OR. I did not concentrate on the artist's bio or their past experience because the focus is on today and their current studio. I asked Collin to describe her studio before she started answering questions.
She said:
My studio is about 2/3 of a full basement. It has loads of space; artificial light, which is OK for my work. A more comfortable floor would be helpful; ie, interlocking rubber mats. A dedicated small sink is on my wish list, too. Also, I would like a worktable on which I could construct 3-dimensional pieces, possibly with a turntable. I am really lucky to have so much space, and I don’t have to worry about messing up the rest of the house. I am a very messy worker and don’t enjoy cleaning up.
Who would you invite to a small dinner party you were hosting? The person (artist or not) could be living or dead, including fictional. Describe why this person is your choice.
What an intriguing question. Most artists I admire probably wouldn’t make great dinner companions; eg, Rothko, Pollock. I think I would have to choose a literary person who would be a great conversationalist and George Sand comes to mind. I would love to ask her about her real relationship with Chopin, but more important, she was a feminist way ahead of her time, even though she chose to use a man’s name in order to publish and dress like one in order to be able to go where she wished.
Who are some artists who stir your soul and why? Botticelli, because of the exquisite beauty of his painting; Michelangelo because of the combination of beauty and power in his work; Chagall because of his dreamlike images and bright colors, Van Gogh because of his brushstrokes, Hundertwasser because of his unique vision and colors, Diebenkorn because of his geometric abstractions and quality of his lines; O’Keefe because of the power of her “magnified” images ; Hilda Morris because I can almost feel her touch upon the clay; Hans Hofmann because of his lively colors, contrasts, quality of motion within abstraction; Paul Klee, because of his imaginative drawing; Picasso because of his amazing versatility… I could go on and on….
If you could study under any artist living or dead - who would that be? Hans Hofmann. He was at Berkeley when I was there but I was busy being a scientist. If I had studied abstract painting with him then, my life would have been totally different.
How important is it to you, that your work be seen by others. When you balance the making of the art versus showing or exhibiting your art, how do those stack up? The Process is more important to me than the Product. Making art gives me sensual satisfaction. I can never recapture the feelings I had while creating art when I look at what I have done later.
What is your favorite reaction that anyone has ever had to your work? When a person said to me at my very first show: “I am in love with your paintings”, and promptly bought two of them. What was the most deflating? I tend to block out negative comments, so I can’t answer that one.
Do you find titles to be integral to understanding a work of art? I try not to look at a title until I have studied a work; I think the viewer needs to develop a response intuitively and not be led on by a title. Then, sometimes, the title will help to refine one’s understanding of the artist’s motive. Describe how you develop titles for your work. Titles and narratives come and go as I work on a painting. Sometimes at the end I immediately think of the right title and sometimes I have to struggle to come up with one that won’t lead the viewer too much. I think it’s better to let the viewer imagine more rather than have implanted ideas.
When you are working in your studio do you think about your audience and their reaction to the work? If I am working on pieces for a particular show with a theme, I do try to fit in with that theme, but mainly I think about my inner narrative of what’s happening in the painting. And if yes, who do you imagine your audience to be? I just imagine someone looking at the work and getting the feel of the story that’s in my head, not the actual story, just a similar emotional state.
Where does your need to create come from?
It is a driving energy force and I do not know the source!
Explain what happens when you first get to the studio.
On a new piece, I just start putting colors on until the entire surface is covered. Then I start to think about shapes and “stories” that are going on in the painting. It is like making a clay man that comes to life gradually .
Does art serve a function beyond decorating walls?
I can’t believe you are asking this question!! Are you a Republican on the budget committee?? :>)
Name something you’ve done to further yourself as an artist that you thought wouldn’t be successful but was, and something you thought would be great but wasn’t. I guess this depends on how one measures success. Sometimes the payoff or lack thereof does not occur for years, so I don’t think I’m ready to make these judgements yet!
Best book or books about art you’ve ever read.
Too many books for me to mention, but there are great biographies of De Kooning , Cezanne, Matisse, O”Keefe that are worth studying.
How do you define abstraction?
Any painting/sculpture that is at least partly non-representational.
Do you have any favorite art supplies that you would like to recommend? No, anything is fair game.
What special tools do you like to use? Styrofoam meat trays cut up to make surfaces that can be indented with a tool for printing on a surface without a press.
What would you really like for people to say about your art?
That it makes them happy or makes them think.
If you could go anywhere-any country-for inspiration, where would you go and why?
It doesn’t matter where I am, my inner landscape is my real inspiration.
I'm always curious about other artist's art studios as well as their process. So I've picked a few abstract artists and have asked them a few questions--well, I'm always better with questions than answers--and photographed their studios.
Today is Collin Murphy, an abstract artist from Portland OR. I did not concentrate on the artist's bio or their past experience because the focus is on today and their current studio. I asked Collin to describe her studio before she started answering questions.
She said:
My studio is about 2/3 of a full basement. It has loads of space; artificial light, which is OK for my work. A more comfortable floor would be helpful; ie, interlocking rubber mats. A dedicated small sink is on my wish list, too. Also, I would like a worktable on which I could construct 3-dimensional pieces, possibly with a turntable. I am really lucky to have so much space, and I don’t have to worry about messing up the rest of the house. I am a very messy worker and don’t enjoy cleaning up.
Who would you invite to a small dinner party you were hosting? The person (artist or not) could be living or dead, including fictional. Describe why this person is your choice.
What an intriguing question. Most artists I admire probably wouldn’t make great dinner companions; eg, Rothko, Pollock. I think I would have to choose a literary person who would be a great conversationalist and George Sand comes to mind. I would love to ask her about her real relationship with Chopin, but more important, she was a feminist way ahead of her time, even though she chose to use a man’s name in order to publish and dress like one in order to be able to go where she wished.
Who are some artists who stir your soul and why? Botticelli, because of the exquisite beauty of his painting; Michelangelo because of the combination of beauty and power in his work; Chagall because of his dreamlike images and bright colors, Van Gogh because of his brushstrokes, Hundertwasser because of his unique vision and colors, Diebenkorn because of his geometric abstractions and quality of his lines; O’Keefe because of the power of her “magnified” images ; Hilda Morris because I can almost feel her touch upon the clay; Hans Hofmann because of his lively colors, contrasts, quality of motion within abstraction; Paul Klee, because of his imaginative drawing; Picasso because of his amazing versatility… I could go on and on….
If you could study under any artist living or dead - who would that be? Hans Hofmann. He was at Berkeley when I was there but I was busy being a scientist. If I had studied abstract painting with him then, my life would have been totally different.
How important is it to you, that your work be seen by others. When you balance the making of the art versus showing or exhibiting your art, how do those stack up? The Process is more important to me than the Product. Making art gives me sensual satisfaction. I can never recapture the feelings I had while creating art when I look at what I have done later.
What is your favorite reaction that anyone has ever had to your work? When a person said to me at my very first show: “I am in love with your paintings”, and promptly bought two of them. What was the most deflating? I tend to block out negative comments, so I can’t answer that one.
Do you find titles to be integral to understanding a work of art? I try not to look at a title until I have studied a work; I think the viewer needs to develop a response intuitively and not be led on by a title. Then, sometimes, the title will help to refine one’s understanding of the artist’s motive. Describe how you develop titles for your work. Titles and narratives come and go as I work on a painting. Sometimes at the end I immediately think of the right title and sometimes I have to struggle to come up with one that won’t lead the viewer too much. I think it’s better to let the viewer imagine more rather than have implanted ideas.
When you are working in your studio do you think about your audience and their reaction to the work? If I am working on pieces for a particular show with a theme, I do try to fit in with that theme, but mainly I think about my inner narrative of what’s happening in the painting. And if yes, who do you imagine your audience to be? I just imagine someone looking at the work and getting the feel of the story that’s in my head, not the actual story, just a similar emotional state.
Where does your need to create come from?
It is a driving energy force and I do not know the source!
Explain what happens when you first get to the studio.
On a new piece, I just start putting colors on until the entire surface is covered. Then I start to think about shapes and “stories” that are going on in the painting. It is like making a clay man that comes to life gradually .
Does art serve a function beyond decorating walls?
I can’t believe you are asking this question!! Are you a Republican on the budget committee?? :>)
Name something you’ve done to further yourself as an artist that you thought wouldn’t be successful but was, and something you thought would be great but wasn’t. I guess this depends on how one measures success. Sometimes the payoff or lack thereof does not occur for years, so I don’t think I’m ready to make these judgements yet!
Best book or books about art you’ve ever read.
Too many books for me to mention, but there are great biographies of De Kooning , Cezanne, Matisse, O”Keefe that are worth studying.
How do you define abstraction?
Any painting/sculpture that is at least partly non-representational.
Do you have any favorite art supplies that you would like to recommend? No, anything is fair game.
What special tools do you like to use? Styrofoam meat trays cut up to make surfaces that can be indented with a tool for printing on a surface without a press.
What would you really like for people to say about your art?
That it makes them happy or makes them think.
If you could go anywhere-any country-for inspiration, where would you go and why?
It doesn’t matter where I am, my inner landscape is my real inspiration.
Thank you so much Collin!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Four new starts
I haven't been painting for two or three months and yesterday I started four 24X30 canvases. Today I took photos of them. Two just have texture and two are covered in gold leaf.
The textured canvas is very hard to see right now. I'll post them again once I start work.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Good sense advice
Today I would like to point you to a wonderful blog I subscribe to called Copyblogger. This article really spoke to me today and it can apply to publishing as well as painting or any kind of work one does.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A few photos from the January trip
The first two photos are of the Palm Springs aerial tramway.
Here are some photos from the Coachella Valley. I especially like the mountains that surround the valley.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Southwest Art Fair
I went to the Southwest Art Fair in Indio CA at the polo grounds on Friday 1-23-09, which was the opening day. The weather was perfect, the grounds were a flat and spacious lawn. There were a variety of arts represented including three dimensional, painters, jewelers, wood workers, glass makers and a lot of miscellaneous works. A very mixed bag with some high end work as well as some work I wondered how it made it through the jurying. It would have been a much smaller show if had had been the juror! Just kidding! I think their goal was to have a variety of price points available to the public. The local newspaper said they had a larger crowd this year than in the past.
I had a wonderful time and spoke to several artists which is always fun. It was a very well managed show.
If you happen to be in the Coachella valley any time I would recommend the Living Desert in Palm Desert as well as the Palm Springs tram. The weather just cannot be beat for this time of year.
I'll be off line for several days as we travel home and hope to have some photos to share soon. I'm looking forward to being home again even though the weather doesn't look at all good but it's what I've come to expect for this time of year.
Can't wait to get on the road again!
I had a wonderful time and spoke to several artists which is always fun. It was a very well managed show.
If you happen to be in the Coachella valley any time I would recommend the Living Desert in Palm Desert as well as the Palm Springs tram. The weather just cannot be beat for this time of year.
I'll be off line for several days as we travel home and hope to have some photos to share soon. I'm looking forward to being home again even though the weather doesn't look at all good but it's what I've come to expect for this time of year.
Can't wait to get on the road again!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Photos while traveling
I mentioned I was going to post some photos of my trip here in the Coachella Valley. But the borrowed lap top had other ideas and is being a bit cranky off and on. So I'll wait until I get home to post, which will be early February.
I'm surprised how not having a working computer has affected me. I thought I would be more upset but it turns out it's OK. Very surprising to me. When I finally could get to my bookmarks and read my blogs I found only a few I really wanted to read. Same with my other bookmark lists. Having this much free time has been a treat and I hope to continue the same feeling of freedom when I'm back home.
I brought I few paints, brushes and smaller pieces of watercolor paper with me but haven't had much time to spread it all out and do anything. I probably won't have anything thing to show when I return. Can't wait to be home and have my computer and studio again!
There is a large art fair here January 23, 24 and 25 called The Southwest Art Festival with over 300 artists. There is an admission fee as well as a parking fee. You can even have a valet park your car for an additional fee. I'll take photos.
I'm surprised how not having a working computer has affected me. I thought I would be more upset but it turns out it's OK. Very surprising to me. When I finally could get to my bookmarks and read my blogs I found only a few I really wanted to read. Same with my other bookmark lists. Having this much free time has been a treat and I hope to continue the same feeling of freedom when I'm back home.
I brought I few paints, brushes and smaller pieces of watercolor paper with me but haven't had much time to spread it all out and do anything. I probably won't have anything thing to show when I return. Can't wait to be home and have my computer and studio again!
There is a large art fair here January 23, 24 and 25 called The Southwest Art Festival with over 300 artists. There is an admission fee as well as a parking fee. You can even have a valet park your car for an additional fee. I'll take photos.
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