Friday, January 29, 2010

Paint When Your Emotions are Invested



I'm going through a blue period....
I'm finding if you don't strike while the iron is hot and the emotions high then you become uninspired. I had a series in mind...but between life- the business of art-and having to research to figure out how to execute them...I've just totally lost it. Maybe it's the winter. After doing some preliminary sketches...I'm wondering if it's even going to work.

So...I guess I'll work on some unfinished pieces....gotta go start painting...maybe that'll inspire me.

Here are the drawings from Wednesdays session. I've been trying to use pastel...but need to keep practicing..


Just saying "Hi"

This is so true! Several years back while in Belgium...I walked up to this like pond...and I swear this little guy came up and said "hi"!!! No really he didn't actually say "hi", but he came up and kept looking at me. I reached out to pet him but when I got close enough to actually pet him he went under...a second later he was right back. It was the cutest incounter I have ever had with a fish!!!

Just a little amazing story for this little amazing picture of my friend...

All true! Do fish really do that???

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

EXPERIMENTING WITH MIXED MEDIA



Since I really don't know what I'm doing regardless of videos...I have to do the hands on approach and make the mistakes so next time I'll have a little more thought in the process. This is really just a play..don't worry piece...a learning piece. I'm showing it cropped..because I think I like it better that way. There's too much going on without cropping it.
I have.-watercolor-acrylic-oil sticks-pencil and metallics. Yeah...I know...I just had to try it all! Silly me.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Quote of the Day

Christopher Schink about the danger of getting stuck in the skill development stage:

"Mistaking virtuosity for substance, they become better and better at saying less and less."

From Mastering Color and Design in Watercolor

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Mary Qian


I received an e-mail from the Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago. I signed up for their e-mails as I do go into their gallery from time to time. They were advertising for an art opening for one of their artists and while I was looking around at their "represented artists" list I came across and artist that stopped me in my tracks. Mary Qian. She does figure, landscape,still life and graphite. It looks as though she leans heavy on the figure which is what I love about her work.

She was written up in Southwest Art Magazine in 2000 and 2004. I've included her website for you. http://maryqian.blogspot.com/

I just found her and had to share her work with you...I know you will love her work as much as I do!

Starting out the New Year

Here's to a good New Year for all of us!

Christmas was wonderful. We went to Columbia, Maryland for New Years and I came back with a terrible cold. I use to brag that I never got sick....welll, I can't brag any more!

So now that the holidays are over and I am feeling human again my mind is spinning with what I need to be working on. I need to do some last minuet work on a clients painting...and then discuss a possible new job for her. And, then there are always those on going projects.

I did a shoot to start my "Dividing a Life" piece which will be a part of a series of 3 paintings relating to loss. The other one I already have done in my mind as well...now I just need to start these pieces. They are in my mind saying..".paint and make me real!" These are not pieces that will sell because they are deeply personal. It will just be an interesting exhibit.

It's not always just picking up the brush and painting. There is always a lot of thinking on the best way to execute a piece. You have the idea...but you need to give it something different..something interesting to look at. Which is why I have to figure out on the dividing a life piece....if I take actual photos of my parents life and collage them on the canvas...fading it out in areas with medium or just paint the painting and then take a see through material-photo print on it and then seal it over the painting allowing both to show...And then there's the canvas. It has to be very sturdy and a 36x36. So...now I know I have to take a trip to Pearl in Chicago to gather my supplies

I strive for a productive year!