I have not forgotten . I know that I owe 2 weeks of doodles. I haven't posted partially to laziness, partially thanks to my one kitten destruction team. I have no scanner, no big computer, no photoshop, and not the best monitor. I do have the internet again, so at least that is in my favor.
Here is a set of not so great studio shots of a triptych I have finished. Ain't much, but it is what I have to offer right now.
I hope to return to my regularly scheduled blog soon.
Here is another painting in my 'Sprout' series.
I started to make 2 separate paintings, but while working on them, I realized that they were meant to be stacked into a single piece.
They look complete, but are really only about halfway done. I will be adding embroidery to this one. I thought it might be interested in seeing how the embroidery effects the composition and completes the piece.
I don't have a great set-up here for photography. Hey kids, this image, while good enough for this sort of casual documentary use, is a perfect example of Why It is Always Important to have one's artwork professionally photographed!
(*Notice blatant plug for friend here*) I recommend Patrick. You will get great photos every time. Plus, all around nice guy, and he has very friendly pets. Don't want to take my word for it? Check out his gallery of work he has done for artists.
The name of this painting is 'Fertility'. See? They do really have names!
Another image from my show, and no, I don't remember the name! (She hangs her head, totally embarrassed.)
I know I have said that I think all Artist Statements Suck, and I include my own in this category. Nonetheless, they are mandatory, and I have written one for this body of work. They do nothing for me, but perhaps you will find it illuminating, or at least, interesting.
‘Growing Myself ‘
Time passes, seasons change and people come and go in your life. Such is the stuff of ordinary life.
Through the stories we tell, we try to make sense of it all. Mythic losses are the reflection of larger seasonal cycles of loss, yearning, quest and attainment. We repeat this cycle many times throughout our lives.
The dreams we have for ourselves start with a passion, a burning desire for something. The heart is passion’s first forge, and from there we build what we can out of our lives. It is the deepest and truest part of myself that I draw and paint.
I doodle constantly, and the imagery is consistent. I believe that doodles are the drawing version of dreams. I have endless pages of flowers, seeds, and stars. Endless repeating patterns, in which I find the truth of myself and the world around me.
These paintings of breaking free and beginning anew, are inspired by my doodles, which show what my heart really desires and who I really am.
There is plowing, there is sowing,
There is all kinds of growing,
There is good luck forever.
-from The Kavala, a Finnish epic poem,
translated by Keith Bosley
Here is another painting will be in my show which opens on Thursday evening. Ok, laugh at me: I don't recall what I named this painting.
As a matter of fact, I don't remember the name of most of them!
I know what all the names are, but I don't know what name belongs to which painting. I won't know for sure until Thursday, when I see the painting on the wall with the name on a little label beside it. How embarrassing is that?
I honestly don't name them randomly.
Plenty, bounty, abundance are themes throughout mythology. Every culture on earth has a symbol of abundance. In Greek myth there is the horn given to Amalthea, the Finnish have the myth of the Sampo, there is the Grail myth, and the aptly named Cauldron of Plenty in Celtic legend, if you had one of these, you would never starve.
Oh, and nerds have the Star Trek replicator. Replicators are a sore spot with me. My Dad promised me I would have one when I grew up. I am still waiting.
The running theme of these paintings is the profusion and fertility of life, of the world we live in, the sheer muchness of everything.
It is important that we stop and remember that we are so lucky in this life.
Here is a painting that will be in my upcoming show at Talisman Gallery.
It is just a teaser. there is more where that came from.
The show opens Last Thursday, February 28th, at 5:30pm. Come see my new paintings. (There will be cookies...)
Greetings fellow holiday survivors! A new painting for a new year.
This little painting is gracing my annual New Year cards. I can never get it together before the holidays, so I don't even bother. But, hey, I am busy baking, ok? Cookies... yum.
I write them when I am in San Diego visiting with the in-laws. I don't think I did a single doodle while I was there.
Besides the relatives, I have two amazing reasons to go there: the beach (In Oregon we have the coast, which is a to-TA-lly different thing.) and this big, bright, yellow thing in the sky, aka the Sun.
They put in a new staircase from the beach up to Torrey Pines. It is always a favorite place to walk. We even managed to find a trail we can't ever remember hiking, which is amazing, because we go there every year. Nick, Kira and I also hiked the Penasquitos Canyon loop. I recommend visiting if you are in the area. It is beautiful, and wilder than you would think for deepest So Cal suburbia.
I hope the new year brings new and wonderful things into your life!
... but it takes all my time.
That is one of those things that I say a lot. Probably one of my top 10 phrases.
This is what I managed to come up with to work on while the photographer, Jason, was shooting yesterday.
My problem has been scale. I am trying to work on small pieces for Open Studios and the small works benefit. But, truth be told I love to work large.
This canvas is 30x40 inches, and I want to go even bigger. Drawing this piece has unleashed the flood. I am bubbling, bursting with images!
Here is the quilt top for a quilt I am making for my pal, Julie. It is all pieced by hand. I am a Luddite. God gave me fingers for a reason, and I like to use them.
I am excited to get to making the sandwich and doing the quilting on this one. Hours and hours of stitching fun, and a nice warm quilt to be under as the evening get chilly. A gal should always have a nice warm project for the winter.
People always ask artists, "How long did that painting take to make?".
It is a hard question to answer. It is not just how long it took to actually cover the particular canvas with paint (which is what I presume people want to know), it is how you got there.
A painting is like the photos you took on your vacation, a record, a reminder of a journey. It is proof you were actually there.
This is a failed painting. It is loosely based on ideas from the August 4th doodle.
Usually I am the only person who sees my failures, like the photos that don't make it into your photo album. You know the ones, the one where people have their eyes shut, or the one where the tower on that castle is cut out of the frame.
Let me explain why this painting won't make it out of the studio.
I was trying for a strong central circular movement. I wanted the left side of the painting, from the bright green fern frond, to move your eyes to the right.
Then the swirly should catch the eye and move you down around to the other frond which would lead the eye back around to the left. Instead, the movement is strongly diagonal from the lower left to the upper right and out of the painting.
The lower right movement to the left is broken by the lower left corner, and the upper left of the painting is not strong enough to pull your eye back around.
I tried to compensate for the compositional weakness by painting the upper left the bright Cadmium Red Light, but it was too strong and pulled the eye straight up. By painting the leaves a brighter green, I could probably save the movement.
I will probably do it just to see what happens, but the basic composition of the painting is flawed. The painting is based on doubles, which is difficult to do well. It doesn't dance and flow.
I do like the way it is painted, the colors and that the embroidery is under the paint .
I spent 2 weeks painting a 40 x 30 inch painting no one should ever see.
All artists do it. We just do it behind a curtain. When we challenge ourselves and fail, we learn things that make the work we do show you better. Bite off more than you can chew. Sometimes it is really good for you.
This is the piece I painted for the Talisman Gallery's 7th Anniversary group show. There was no theme, but I did this painting based on the number 7 for my own amusement.
There are 7 layers of paint, the grid is divided into 7 rectangles, there are 7 yellow flowers, there are 7 groups of leaves, 14 raised shapes, and 7 embroidered elements.
I thought about limiting myself to 7 colors, but decided not to. There are so many fabulous colors! Why limit yourself?
Obviously, I can't.
