New paintings

Here are four new paintings. The first one (Gilded History) has some gilding near the top but it's very hard to photograph and the only real way to see it is in person.

The bottom painting "Muse I" is the first of three similar paintings. The first background is a very bright yellow and the top or darkest color is the background of the second painting "Muse II"-which looks very orange in the photo. The third painting's background "Muse III" (which looks more red in the photo) is the darkest color on the second painting. Still with me? The third painting ends in dark blue.

All four can be seen at Art on the Boulevard in Vancouver WA.

Gilded History

Muse III

Muse II

Muse I

What to do when stalled?

When the only paintings in the studio turn out to be problems, what is an artist to do? It's time to tidy the room. Not a total overhaul where you can't find anything after cleaning but a good dusting and mopping.

I almost didn't want to mess it up and didn't for a a couple of days but I also had company part of the time. So before I go back to work I took a few pictures.

Remember, this is the cleaner room!

How long does it take to paint a painting?

I've had two 36x36 paintings sitting around the studio facing the wall for many weeks now. So I figure what have I got to lose if I work on them and they are wrecked? I've been taking pictures right along as my ideas developed and I'll decide whether I want to share them on the blog when I'm finished with the paintings. The stages I go through on the way to finishing can be seriously ugly! I either use alcohol to cut through paint to see what is underneath or cover parts with diluted white gesso and then sit and re-evaluate for long periods of time. I also make notes and do drawings of the painting. I've never really wanted to know how long it takes me to paint a painting. People who look at paintings want to know how long it takes an artist to do a painting and I never have a pat answer for this. It takes much too long. Not the actual painting time but developing an idea and then the evaluations along the way take the most time for me. Then the non-artistic part starts with thinking of a title, taking to the photographer, signing, putting on the hanging wire, putting into my inventory and finally taking to the gallery.

Not complaining here just figuring out an answer to how long does it take an artist to paint something from start to finish. I don't know and don't care to know at this point! It just takes the time it takes to do it right and to do it to my satisfaction. I have many paintings that didn't make it out into the world. I gesso over them and start again.

The photo above has nothing to do with painting, I just thought it was wonderful.

Is Art Broken?

I've just finished four new paintings and will post them after they are photographed. Below is an earlier painting that I've always liked called "Latent Potential".

Go here to read about if art is broken or not.

Artbiz blog has a good list of books about art.

Thoughts about painting/holiday photos

Here are two photos taken at my daughter's house at Christmas. The video of a fire place was very realistic and even burned down to glowing cinders before going back automatically to the start of the fire. The moose is decorated for each holiday or season.

Before Christmas I went to the Pittock Mansion and here are a couple of photos.

Thinking about painting is seldom far from my mind even when I'm sick or confined to the business of daily living. I've been dealing with a series of upper respiratory infections since the holidays and certainly have run out of patience with the whole mess long ago!

So I've purchased some new canvases--did I really need more? No. But they were good prices and I'm dreaming of creating larger pieces. My studio set up limits me to 36X36 canvases so I'm thinking of painting multiple canvases and hanging them together in different configurations. It's all in the development stages right now.

I liked this quote. Does it seem a little over reaching? Maybe, but why not stretch a bit.

"My aim in painting is to create pulsating, luminous, and open surfaces that emanate a mystic light, in accordance with my deepest insight into the experience of life and nature."Hans Hofmann

If you're checking your "trap line" Steve, hi there!

Splendid post from Jon Morrow on Copyblogger

Just wanted to point to a wonderful post from Jon Morrow on Copyblogger today. Jon had a lot to overcome but he had a mother who wouldn't give up. Read it and be inspired!

High horizon paintings

I seem to always gravitate to high horizon abstracted paintings for some reason. So I decided to do an exercise where I make a warm up painting on a piece of 140# cold press water color paper which I tear into 8x8 pieces. I can only take 30 minutes on each one. So I've turned to my small supply of pastels to do the warm ups. Doing my usual acrylic painting would take too long to dry between coats. I do many, many layers when I paint and that's why I need at least three pieces in the works. Pastel is so quick and I love the intense colors. I don't love the dust and the need to fix them with a spray. I really don't like the need to frame them either. Some of the paintings below have some acrylic on them but it's mainly pastels.
How do you like the bunny switch plate?

I needed some sort of a color framework to start with and I had recently purchased the Goof Proof color wheel from Bob Burridge. In his mainly monthly newsletters he gives an example of how to use it. So I made a list of examples and when I'm done with the list I'll venture out into other combinations. I seldom use blue and looking at the wall where I hung the paintings I can see a lot of blue. So it's a good exercise in using different colors and finding out how much can be accomplished in 30 minutes too. And pastels are so instant!

New paintings

Here are five new paintings recently delivered to Art on the Boulevard in Vancouver WA.

They are all 16X16 inches and painted over either gold or copper gilding with acrylic paints. There just isn't anything like the glow one gets when painting over metal leaf. I started with the most transparent paints and toward the end, if needed, I used more opaque paints. These five pieces were in process for many weeks and then were on hold as I worked on a large commission. Sometimes a painting needs to be put aside for a week or two and then placed around the house in different places with different types of lighting. Once I've studied them for a time I can then proceed to the last steps and feel that it's a finished painting and no further study is needed.

I plan on doing more work on metal leaf now and am working toward a more simplified look. It remains to be seen if I can do simplified.

45 Life Lessons and five to grow on

I'm really going to get off my blog bookmarks very soon but first wanted to tell you about this list of 45 Life Lessons by Regina Brett who writes for the Plain Dealer. Many of them resonated for me and are gentle reminders to remember to be mindful and that everything changes. And if not now then when?