Update on Italian flower girls

oops! I thought I'd posted this update already....I painted more on this...but it's still NOT done...taking a break from it!

Organic Abstract

I had to put down my three Italian girls for awhile...It get's just too tight for me...so I started something with no rules....(there really are lots if done properly) an abstract. It seems every time I try an abstract it turns organic.

It's evolved over time and it's still evolving....

Slowly adding color

Here's an update on my three flower girls in Italy...I'm slowly adding color. I thought I could just glaze over it, but am having to re-paint over it...Not sure what I want to do if anything with the background....I'll figure it out as I go. Intuit....isn't that what you call it? Feeling my way through this....

Up-Date on my Little Italian Girls

It's 10:18 pm, and I've been painting most of the day. I'm sure my arm will be screaming at me tomorrow....Hope you can notice a difference...

Flower Girls in Italy

Yes, it's been awhile since I could immerse myself with painting. The wedding the adjustments, etc..

I took a plein air class that set me back..mentally (I took it after the wedding and hadn't rebounded yet)....but I got up..brushed myself off and came back to the studio to start once again another laborious painting. This one was taken by my good friends in Italy that attended a very traditional Italian wedding and sent this along to me in the event I could make a painting of it. Years later....here I am starting that painting.

For me this painting was about the color in the ribbons and the baskets...and then the personalities of the little girls...the one on the left passively looks down at the one in the middle..the one in the middle is in the middle of it, actively doing something...and the one on the right...being contrary and stepping on the ribbon of her basket. You may remember that little girl with the pig tails. She is the one I did years ago that was accepted at the Salon Show.

I started off with just umber...then umber and black...then I introduced white....just working on the values ,drawing and details. For me it's about finding shapes in the folds the hair, etc...once I find these things...then I can soften them. I know there's a better way to do this...but I never seem to follow rules....as I guess I am a rebel at heart. When I'm done getting the drawing and details and values right I'll glaze in the colors. I did this on my painting of Makenzie when I was taking a portrait class in Chicago.

Just a note...I have a new appreciation for plein air painters. The sun...shadows keep moving constantly and you have to keep readjusting your painting....I think I'll stick to a photograph that doesn't move!

Franklin Goose

I just had to take a moment and post about a shop I have encountered that I absolutely love!

Franklin Goose. It's a baby-children's store and on-line store that features very cool products that have been researched to be the best in the industry for baby/children and the environment. Safe and green! I have ordered several times with this company and have been totally delighted. I love that they have done their research to protect our children from hazards of toxic paints, varnishes that may be harmful, etc. I was able to go to the store in Richmond while there this past summer and it's adorable on the inside! They have painted murals around and all their displays are recycled items which is good for the environment! Very, very cool products. I love it!! Check it out...http://www.franklingoose.com/retail/richmond.php

Theresa Bayer

I just wanted to share my latest purchase by Theresa Bayer...an artist who lives in Texas. I found her on Daily Painters of which I subscribe.

Check out her website....She is also a very interesting person.

National Academy Reopens - artnet Magazine

National Academy Reopens - artnet Magazine

Walking among the Giants

So Wednesday I drove into Chicago to meet two other fellow artist friends to gallery hop. We met at the new CAC (Chicago Artist Coalition) in their new location which turns out is in quite an industrial type area. It was hard to park as close by were a lot of movie trailers getting ready for some production of something. I know Oprahs studio is close by. It was a windy day and we had several strikes against us when we found several galleries were gone! We gave up the endeavor and went to the Loop area and went throug the Columbia Univ. Photo Gallery and walked in Grant Park among Magdalena Abakanowicz forest of headless giants made of iron. It was awesome. Now I know how tiny children feel walking downtown with a bunch of adults.

The best part of the trip was sharing ideas and thoughts from each other. Exchanging ideas and learning a different perspective is always refreshing.

Madness on Canvas

You know that desert landscape I started...and just never really liked? Well, this is what it turned into...after the need to slap paint like a kid without intention...so I call it my madness on canvas. No doubt I'll work on it again. But doing this helps me to want to do something structured again. I am like a pendulum. If I swing too far one way I want to swing back. It's like purging a need. Self discovery.

Struggle

I haven't posted for awhile. It's partly due to planning my daughters wedding and taking advantage of the sun when it decides to appear...and lots of yard work along with a lot of travel.

But part of it is that I started working on something I haven't done before and is a little foreign to me...and on top of that I am searching for something...that something being a new style, or whatever. I usually know when it's "right" or suites me, and I haven't gotten there yet. I guess I'm somewhat of an intuitive painter. I'll post what I started out with. I got tired of what I had and just smeared color all over it...now mind you...I am not abandoning the painting....I am just abandoning the approach. Part of this is that I feel the need to play!!!!

When I smeared color all over it ,I went to Home Depot and bought a drumel tool and different attachments. I started doing all kinds of crazy things to the canvas...just to see what would happen. So I learned what worked, and what didn't. I use the canvas like a piece of drawing paper...I just paint out a glob and see how I feel...

I almost never do landscapes...so don't really know how to approach it. I have learned to take it in sections or shapes...etc....but when do you break the rules....when do you forge a new path? The path less taken?

This is my yearning to break away from detail and tightness...eventually I'll get there.

This will probably wind up in the trash can...but it won't be a total waste, because it allows me the time to "play"...and discover.....and release....then...I'll start on another up tight piece again!

Life Drawing Study

Things are slowing down a bit.....

Went to Life Drawing at the Art Barn..here's a study....with the weather getting a bit better I have been taking advantage of the sunshine and working in the yard. This also is good for my soul...along with painting. There are so many things I want to do....if I could only cut myself up in tiny pieces and spread myself around.....to accomplish all that I want to!

I'm getting ready to go scuba diving with my sons in Key West and hopefully get some photos that may inspire me for a painting. There is a lot of craziness in the Keys to take advantage of!

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities. ~Theodore Geisel

Best of Show for Reflections of Copenhagen

Went to the reception for a show I hung "Kool Heat" in at the Southern Shores Art Gallery and found they chose my painting to grace their window. That was a compliment for me.

The reception was great. A major turn out! Lots of interesting people...and several other galleries were having receptions (First Friday). Michigan City has declaredd the area an official art district and I see great things happening there.

Saturday went to the reception at the Art Barn. I love the Art Barn. I'm going to post some pictures for you. I'd love to paint it some day. Anyway, I discovered I won Best of Show for "Reflections of Copenhagen"!

I always feel funny winning an award....because there are always other paintings that are worthy of the award as well. Not to say I really, really needed the lift. Sometimes you can work so hard on a painting and it goes no where...and some times you work so hard and it's just nice to get the recognition. I paint...because it's a part of my being. I have to paint. It's like breathing for me. A language I am still trying to cultivate.

Parisian Puppet Master Update after Saba Dive Trip

I absolutely have not had enough time to paint lately. Why does life get in the way???

We took a dive trip to SABA...a Dutch Carribean island for a week and I've been running since we got back. I'll post some pictures of the island. It was really wonderful. The island has the shortest runway in the WORLD!!! It's not for the faint of heart. When we left the island they had to chase the mountain goats off the runway. The island only inhabits 1500 people. They live like mountain goats also as everything is straight up or down. They have a rainforest and cloud forest. We hiked the cloud forest. 2.5 hours and my knees couldn't go down without pain by the time we got to the resort...I could go up...just not down.

The diving was awesome!!! All the coral reefs were alive and beaming with life. It was like diving in an aquarium. Saw a giant reef baracuda that looked like a shark. We saw areas where the sulfer was coming up from the underground valcanoe and we could put our hands in the sand and feel it's warmth.

Enough of the trip. Still trying to figure out how to make the painting look more contemporary...I decided I wanted strings attached to his hands...like he also is a puppet...someone is always pulling our strings....I still have not addressed the fence seriously..still working on the man and puppet...since they are the main focus...I don't know why it takes me so long to work on these things. Some people pop out paintings like theres no tomorrow....I envy that...but I can't. My paintings are painstakingly done. Sometimes they become a burn out for me. I put so much time in these things that I feel like I should charge a billion dollars for them....no one understands why paintings are so expensive...because of the TIME that goes into them!!!!

Stress Release

What do you do when you get all tense and tight from doing tense and tight paintings??? Let it Rip!!! That's what I do. Sometimes I want to NOT think...but just flow...fast, quickly and just enjoy being like a kid again...not worrying about how it's going to look. After I do this, I am ready to move forward on a planned ,tight piece.

This canvas was given to me by a friend that was moving. The canvas was warped and the canvas wasn't stretched properly and it had way too much slack on the stretchers....so I used it for my release piece.

I'm done with Reflections and had started The Puppeteer....yes, another controlled piece that has a LONG way to go.........(if my arm doesn't fall off first). The hazards of painting and over use of ones arm. What is NOT fun is the fence. I'll probably spend more time on that fence than anything else. It has to be just so correct or it'll be soooo noticable. Remember in drawing 101...when the professor let you pick something to draw... your shoe or a bottle, and the students thought drawing the bottle was so much easier...and then later realized that drawing the shoe was easy and the bottle...much harder....because it has to be just so right. WEll that's that crazy ornate fence! So when I get stressed on the fence, I'll take down my "release" canvas and slap some more paint on it....and just smile....like a kid....that's doing it for pure "JOY"!

Street Performers from Around the World

Street performers from around the world...that will be the series I start on now.

I started a large canvas of a Pupeteer in Paris on a bridge over the Siene. His puppet which is a rocker is dressed like his master, and the Pupeteers hands are doing it's charm for his little friend.

I'll post what I've gotten done in a few days...when I can get the drawing and placement down.

Reflections of Coppenhagen-Update

I thought I was done with this and then decided I didn't like the sign as dark as it was so I lightened it. I likeit better lighter, but am having a hard time covering it with a consistent color. Maybe this is the drawback of acrylics. Also the other sign shows through and it was hard portraying that and having it look right.

Like I said...I'm just never done with a painting...there will always be something...

Cawain of Paris

This is a picture of one of his paintings that someone on Facebook posted. Now you can see the comparisons of what I acquired several years back and what he's doing now..

Cawain of Paris

So here's an update to several older posts. Many people have been looking for Cawain of Paris and until now he had fallen off the earth.

On my Facebook Artist page someone notified me and sent me his site! I have posted it belowe.

I find it odd though...as though the artist went through something that changed him because his work for me has changed a bit. Post a comment and let me know if you feel the same way.

I am posting a picture of his that I acquired in Paris several years ago..

Mahmud Cawian

www.badzinski.de

http://www.badzinski.de/cawian

.htm

Mahmud Cawian

www.badzinski.de

Reflections of Coppenhagen-Update

I haven't been able to paint as much as I'd like, due to my shoulder again. I'm certain it's repetitive stress syndrome...but anyway.....

This painting has been fun and a different challenge for me...as I keep finding different things that I didn't see before...such as...under the shelf up towards the top there is a scene of the countryside and the top of a building which is a reflection of the reflection of a building with windows reflecting the image. Also in the far left window someones light is lit and the shade is cockeyed. Also a reflection of another window above the man and a tree. Now the interesting thing is that there is also a door that is reflected on his head which I haven't painted yet.

So many little things in this painting....

Quotes for the Soul

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. ~Henry Ward Beecher


Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~Scott Adams

Another up-date on "Patriot"

Softened some areas and lightened the background....

As I said...my paintings are never done...and I think that's because...I get too involved working and get sooo close that I stop being objective. When you put the painting away and relax and then walk upon the image fresh.....then....you see some problems.

In Progress "Reflections"

Painted a little more over the week-end. Still in the mapping and refining stage.

An interesting observation while working on this...When I was working on some of the splotches on the window...I noticed that the reflection of the baby in the baby carriage on the bike had a reflection of a babies face in the window. Also the whole city block was reflected in the window.

What I am always amused with when working with photos is that when you really start looking, you find things you would have never ever noticed. That's what intrigued me to do this. I think the title "Reflections" is perfect. It reflects the time I was there and all the reflections in time and space.

Started A New Painting...

I know....I'm doing it again....working on a painting non stop for hours on hours without eating lunch..staying up till 11:30 and painting....now the arm is killing me again! I just hope it holds out so I can go to Life Drawing tomorrow.

This will be and is a very difficult painting. I took this in Denmark at a Cafe Station in the middle of the square. You can see through the booth...see him and see from the reflections in front of him...and then my reflection also. It shows the Danes coming and going and all the hustle and bustle. I'm hoping to make it more about all the color. Right now I'm spending tedious time mapping this thing on the canvas. It's taking hours just figuring it all out.

The Patriot

It's done... (I think)..I hope..unless something pops out at me later which usually happens.

I look at this and still wonder....A full colonel that went rouge or just a guy who likes military pins????

Maria Pace-Wynters

This is my new acquisition. "Dream Me Up". I absolutely love it. I am an artist that loves to paint and I love to collect. I only buy if it speaks to my soul such as "Dream Me Up".

It's odd, but I find at most gallery openings the majority of people there are ususally artists. So I guess it winds up that artists support artists. Very few people off the street or people who are not connected to art come to these openings.

This artist is Maria Pace Wynters who resides in Canada. Check out her web site:

mariapacewynters.com

Patriot

A little more each day. So much little stuff in this painting and my shoulders bothering me again. I painted from 10:30 till..well I just stopped and am no making this post. An up-date. I think I'm going to call him Patriot because he has some Full Colonel wings on with a pin above that has red white and blue.

Anyway...Still working on him...

Beginning A New Painting-Blue Eye

Since We're still under a state of emergency due to the storm of the century and snow coming up the door with drifts in some areas of 5 ft., I thought it the proper time to start my new painting.

I ran into this fellow in Boulder, Colorado at the Boulder Fest. I was walking around with my brother and sister in law and found this fellow sitting working on some jewelry. My brother asked to take his picture and he agreed for $5.00! I was intrigued and scared of the man, but there was something about him that really captivated me.

He had all kinds of things on his hat (including the proper insignia for a full colonel) on his hat which I will put later. He also had a strange looking jewelers loop on his left eye which I am not putting in and I brought his hat down farther.

Amazing what being snowed in can do to you...gets you UNdestructed!

I'll post again when I'm done.

I'm Done.........I think..

I'm calling it "Kool Heat". It's suppose to be about the heat of the pavement. I saw this while walking to see Ernest Hemmingways house in the Keys. I loved the shadows...and trust me..in July it was a HOT day!

I intentionally tilted the sign towards the bike. I guess I'm odd, but I don't like things tooooo perfect...it's not reality for me. I don't mind following rules...but after awhile I just have to break them.

I called it" Kool Heat" because there is the COOL blue sky meeting the HOT pavement..and you can't have hot without the cool....plus...the jazzy red bike with the Key Lime Green fenders is "Pretty Cool"!

"EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP"

OMG!!! I watched "Exit Through the Gift Shop" yesterday and found it quite amusing! I have to say for all my artist friends this you will find interesting.

Its a TRUE documentary about this man who was from France and ran a vintage clothing store in Los Angeles. He started filming everything out of an obsession. He had tons of tapes and never did anything with them...but then he started filming Street Artists doing their thing at night in hiding. I was intrigued by the devotion of these Street Artists and how talented and famous some of them were. And I can summize that some had very comfortable means. Anyway he's filming =the street artists and befriends the famous BANKSY and Thierry (later known as Mr. Brainwash) tells them he's going to do a documentary on them, which he never did.

So when one of the Street Artists found out all the footage he did of them was just sitting around he told Mr. Brainwash to start doing Street Art and do a show. He had no idea.

Mr. Brainwash was NOT an artist of paint..and yet he produced (like Andy Wharhol) type art, put on a BIG show and became FAMOUS overnight. He sold MILLIONS of dollars ; in my opinion NON ART.

I think the things here to discuss is this. He was either stupid or brilliant enough to attempt it and limitations NEVER got in his way. What is ART???? Are most of these famous people only famous because of the media hype that has been given to them. In other words were they,are we all brainwashed into thinking they were all that?

I have been to a LOT of galleries as the rest of you and I'm sure you've said the same thing to yourself....hugh???? Why??? Am I missing something here? Some works are fabulous and you know there is skill or a very brilliant thought involved...and some you just think....???????

I have always believed that there are a lot of people who are like ants...just going along with the flow of other ants. Never really thinking for themselves. I am horrified at the thought of being an art, and yet I guess I am to some extent. I think the ant mentality runs through politics, religion, and most aspects of life. If someone tells us something is great....it's easier to believe them to really THINK and question it for ourselves.

Which leads me to this. A lot of people think it's bad to have an opinion...because we've been taught not to question. Well, I LIKE people who can think for themselves and have an opinion. In fact I like people who have different opinions than myself, because then I can talk to them and maybe learn something from a different perspective than I would have otherwise...and visa versa.

Mr. Brainwash...picked out his name correctly... check out the movie! It's TRUE!

picture from Rotten Tomotoes by Flixster

Up-Date on The bicycle Painting

I'm still working on it. Added the sign...but had no real sign to look at so I am having a hard time getting this thing to look like a real sign...need to research some photo's and see if I can see a sign and get ideas....

Looks a little different from the bright colors I started out with doesn't it? I want you to have a feeling of HOT pavement....it's summer in the Keys....and it's hot....but I also wanted the cool to meet the hot...I like a little friction...

Claude Monet

I am relating to this quote right now:

"Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment."

Why am I relating to this quote right now? Because I am an artist but mostly because I just repainted my dining room. It only took 5 gallons of wasted paint and then I got smart and started ordering the small trial cans...I just had to match the silk curtains that shimmer only aqua, blue violet, red orange and cranberry red. You only see those colors when it shimmers...I was insane to get into this project!! The walls looked like a coat of many colors. I didn't give up...and after a month found a color I could live with that was pretty good. Color is SCARY!! It changes all the time with light and it changes when it get's close to another color. I have always had a great respect for color.

On the photo I'm showing you there are 5 colors!!

Yes, Monet....I understand the Joy and TORMENT!

At least the guys at Sherwin Williams know I'm their best customer.

Back to Life Drawing

Back in the saddle again as they say....yes, last week I finally made it back to Life Drawing at the Art Barn. It felt good...I felt a little rusty.

Tonight was Life Drawing but our model came down with the flu...but that gives me the time to blog...work on my painting of the bike which I'll post soon....

My Crazy Red Head as I mentioned earlier will be hanging at Studio 659 in Whiting for the month of February.

New Years Resolutions

A new year...new hopes. I once again make the same resolutions as I usually do....paint more and get things done. I'll try not to let life get in the way.

I bought the Artists Way on cultivating your creative being which now lays next to my bedside and it seems I can only get 3 pages read at a time because my eyes feel so heavy every time I read.

I started working on things that bothered me about my house. Much needed up-dating and re-doing. I am a creative being and it doesn't stop with just paint. My house, my life is a canvas and I work on every aspect of my creative life. However I struggle with those as I do with my paintings. Just yesterday I found a color I LOVED and started painting in my dining room to discover it cheapened the room and just wasn't right. Color is a very complicated thing. Some days I feel like I just can't do anything right. That's why I ride high when things are flowing! We all have to take advantage of the good energy flow because they don't last forever!!!

I worked more on my fish...never feeling satisfied with it....got to the point I said "screw it" and just started mindlessly painting. It's now laying on the floor in the studio to be reckoned with another time. I'll post a picture of my mindless ramblings on it. That fish has NEVER been right. This picture just feels wrong. See I post my failures too...I'm not proud...

I also started a painting of a bike I saw in Key West. Trying to keep with my feeling of a warm hot day I decided to keep it warm and tropical looking...so this is my new project. I have no idea how it will end up. I always say I'm not going to get into detail and I always wind up getting head long deep into it. I must succumb to the fact that it's my nature. We are always wanting to be something we are not I guess.

Studio 659 in Whiting was looking for Mardi- Gras material for their recent show and was interested in "Crazy Red Head", so that will be hanging there for I assume the month of February. I take that over January 27th. I have never seen this gallery before so it'll be a new adventure.

Next week I plan to drive to Fort Wayne to see "Jazz Lady" hanging at the FWMoa (Fort Wayne Museum of Art) as the show comes down in February and I haven't seen it hung yet! Bad me.

Went to the Brauer Museum of Art in Valparaiso at the University. There hung a collection of Robert Lovings pieces which I very much enjoyed. Do check out his recent works! Loved, loved his work. I'll try and post some of his images if I can.

The image with the birds nest is a painting titled "In a Budding Grove, 2008" oil on canvas, collection of the Artist (Richard Loving) which is hanging at the Brauer Museum of Art.