Fireflies

Fireflies; 12 x 11"; charcoal and mica powder on paper

Rain Shower

Rain Shower; 12 x 11"; charcoal and mica powder on paper

I Was a Milk Cloud Floating

I Was a Milk Cloud Floating; 12 x 11; charcoal and mica powder on paper

I Had a Quick Dream

I Had a Quick Dream; 12 x 11"; oil and silver leaf on paper

  Easy does it in the studio right now.  Things are so rapidly moving and shifting that I am simply trying to show up each day and do what need to be done.  This is another in a small series of oil on paper which I am creating with my set of sumptuous Old Holland oil colors.

Small Oil Paintings

Life is But a Dream; 12 x 11; oil on paper

  The pastel landscapes have rolled over into a series of small oil paintings.  Here I am bringing together some of the imagery I am working with in the recent large format acrylic paintings, but due to the smaller format I am able to be much more agile.  These paintings go quickly, and the ideas for the succeeding images are pushing in before the current ones are complete.  I am thrilled by the freedom with mark and detail that I have in the media and with the rich, rich, colors that I am finding in the Old Holland paints!

Heaven and Earth

The Tower; 12 x 9.5"; pastel on paper

  This week I began a series of small pastel drawings in conjunction with the larger landscape paintings.  Here's the latest one.

Fountainhead

Fountainhead; mixed media on paper; 30 x 25 inches

Psst, I've begun a new series...

Swirl; acrylic and oil stick on paper; 34 x 34"

  The past year has been a cacophony of different series in the studio.  There were the large-scale forest drawings, the modest pastels of landscapes, drawings and etchings of fabric, carborundum prints, not to mention collages; and I am only just beginning to piece it all together and photograph it all.  Most of these projects have come and gone, but this series of paintings that I began last February has recently found new life.
  The work is all about the paint which is new for me.  My found materials have an outlet in my other series of smaller prints and collages.  These paintings are more raw, sometimes awkward, and a definite push to explore new territory in my work.  This is the first of the group completed last spring.  I'll be uploading the rest during the next few weeks as I continue to work on them in the studio.  Be sure to stop by and check out the developments.

Faculty Exhibition Opens Monday

  The Annual Faculty exhibit at the Community College of Rhode Island is being installed today.  I entered a small pastel drawing from my recent series of landscapes based on the book The Sheltering Sky.  The opening reception is this coming Monday, February 25 from 4 to 6 pm at the Flanagan Campus Gallery in Lincoln, RI.  See you there!

The Sheltering Sky

  I recently completed a small series of pastel drawings in tandem with the larger charcoal drawings of trees.  The pastels were a chance to rest while in the midst of the much more demanding large-scale work.  The composition was inspired by an image by Adolph Gottlieb, Orb.  I worked with this idea of balancing two compositional elements.  The resulting landscapes began to remind me of my former home in the Sonoran Desert as well as the novel by Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky.

The Desert; 8 x 6"; pastel on paper

Swelter; 8 x 6"; pastel on paper

Almost Done...

Probably my favourite title for a blog post. I am looking to get this painting wrapped up - get it off my plate. I am currently in the middle of a lot of work in the studio right now, and it would calm my nerves to put some more paintings in the "completely finished" category. I am excited by the changes that happened today. I like the expansion and collapsing of space that the outline and the realistic painting create. And I finally painted over the blank spots in the top lefthand corner of the painting - previously meant for birds...forget it. They won't be going into the picture. Lots of things are being resolved, however, I am still struggling with a title. Any suggestions?

"Eden"

I haven't posted any images of this painting in a while because I haven't been working on it. But it is time to get cracking as it is becoming more of a chore than a "delight". I think I made some marked improvements in the composition today and it has refreshed the piece in my mind.

Eden

I had a really good painting yesterday. I guess you never know when it is going to happen. It was a long day at work, and I dumped myself in front of the canvas rather reluctantly for just an hour. I was fed up with this painting - very frustrated at the craftmanship of the piece. As I was driving home from work I thought I should go back into it and really risk something, really try to paint, loosen up, push the color across the canvas with the brush rather than timidly dab at the pigment. And I produced the rock formation in the middle of the piece. I like it. I am excited about the piece again, and beginning to play with titles for it.

Here's that big painting again. It has changed a fair bit, but I am really struggling with working from photograph rather than life. The apple is from observation (There are apples in my studio?...surprise, right.) The mountain, is not. There just isn't enough information in my Monument Valley photos. I probably just have to blow them up.

I did away with most of the previous composition. It actually looked better as empty negative space rather than purplish mountains in the distance and a fuschia bleeding heart. It just wasn't working. So it's gone. The power of the brush. I still don't know about this whole thing. I just keep showing up.

I reread my first entry concerning this piece, and I am currently feeling completely the opposite. I am not a restrained painter. Trying to press myself into this box is just not going to work. I do best off the cuff, usually the first time, and often quite quickly. Which is beginning to make me think I need to give up the oil paints and return to acrylics. I currently fight with the preceeding layers of paint when I work, but with acrylics the paint dries almost instantaneously allowing me to constantly restate my observations without interference from underlying colors.

Great Big New Age Southwest Painting

Slowly, slowly...

I did get a small beginning on my ellipse piece as well, but it's not worth posting just yet. It's all very exciting!

Great Big Brand New Painting 30" x 40"

This painting is very much outside of my experience. The imagery, the surreal aspect, the restrained way in which I am working on it (background to foreground). I'm terrible at restraint when I am painting, but I think that limits me in a way. It will be far less frustrating at this size and complexity if I plan out my composition beforehand and then finish the painting in sections - like my first painting teacher tried to impress upon me. I think all my time working with acrylics in university developed a fast paced frenetic way of working that I love; but doesn't fit me right now. Hmmmm. This painting should be fun.

Here is the landscape with the reworked sky I was talking about.

Lemon Tree

I have spent two more mornings working on this painting. Here it is so far.