Abstract painting in action

Sampler

2009-03-02T15:21:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile sence I last updated this blog. Here's just a little sample of some completed works

A View of Alhambra

2008-12-05T17:48:00.005-05:00

A View of Alhambra originated from an image I photographed in 2004 in Granada, Spain. This place of earthenly beauty and seeminly spirital energy has been a place of inspiration for me since the first time I explored there.

Georgia O'Keeffe once said that "Nothing is less real than realism.... Details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get the real meaning of things."

The Alhambra has such gradure; that to try and capture its entirety is overwhelming. It is the way the paths all lead to another, to another area of beauty and serinity; to another covered walk, arch and window. It is a unique blend of water, earth and man.

Most of what I paint comes from my responce to locations, people, events and thoughts. My camera is my tool for documenting of the original beauty as my eyes saw it. My brush is my tool in illustrating how my soul felt it.

Swirls in August

2008-08-18T22:26:00.010-05:00

On a night I couldn't sleep sprang 2 new abstracts. Blue then Green.

Both paintings are oil on canvas 16"x20"

There is energy here; a process of movement, color and intensity.

I only wanted to work with cool colors as to help calm down the energy.

I'm not sure quite what to call them yet. But I'm leaning toward "Curving In" for the green "Journey" for the blue.

But as usual, I'm also not quite sure they're finished.

Behind the bars and new adventures

2008-07-14T21:02:00.002-05:00

'Behind the Bars' is an oil painting I begain after hearing of the death of T.T. of Powhatan, A young soul shot down too early in life. With such a large spirit and a smal glimmer of hope for escaping Powhatan now permanently traped behind the bars of the ultimate fatal obstrustion. The choice of cool colors contradicts the violence of his death but acts as a glimmer of hope that one day the light from within his earthly soul will transend the bars of violence and earth and float gracefully into the afterlife. Peace be with you T.T.

Between the Bars

2008-07-02T21:58:00.003-05:00

BETWEEN THE BARS oil on canvas 12"x16"

As with anything I seem to do, this to seems incomplete to me. The design is set but I think it still needs more layers. Dimension and texture variation would help.

This painting was started on Monday 6/30 after a day filled with morning for a slain student. A funeral unlike any I have ever attended. One life still holding on and one life passed. My community is rattled; many families fractured, my students devistated, my coleagues stunned and me? I paint it. I've learned from 2 great artists that it is not neccessarily the recording of an event, but the expression of the effects of the event and the avenue in which the artist chooses to take in that expression is of greater importance. While I don't paint realism; I instead break down more complex memories, thoughts and specific details into the most basic elements. Line, shape, color, texture, value and form. No matter what I end up producing I am bound by finding and creating a good composition. Even if the subject does not make sence to anyone but me.

I am so fortunate to have a job that forces me to learn more about my most favorit artists and my own world an d history so tht I may share that with my students. What I absorb finds it way into how I view and create. It's inevidable that the artist creates from which they live. All actions have reaction. All experiences change the next.

The 2 artists: William Turner and Pablo Picasso

1week of art works

2008-05-17T15:35:00.001-05:00

Here's a great video I stumbled upon. Yep, It's all about the process.

Ode to the U

2008-05-14T20:08:00.002-05:00

Here is a work truly therapeutic in origin. One that is created and then put away because the process of creating it was and is more important than the final work itself. Here I reached back to my sisters Freda and Georgia. After an evening of research about my pending procedure I was compelled to paint. " Ode to the U" I will call it for now. Oil on board. About 16x20 I know there's significance to the colors, but I just can't put it into words yet.

Color Families Update

2008-05-11T16:04:00.003-05:00

On this Mother'sDay, my wonderful family granted me a peace filled day in my studio. Not only did my dear hubby take them out to find me the most perfect bicycle, but then, after a short family ride, minus JC of course as he was having Nintendo DS withdrawal, my dear husband announced to the kids that Mommy gets to have her peaceful day of alone time in the studio.

So back I went to continue adding layers to what I'm calling for now, "Color Families".

The yellow background is about done;that is giving I don't go out of my lines I've created for the other objects. My theory about coloring outside the lines still stands but when you create your own lines it is most rewarding when you can stay with in them. I suppose that could go for many aspects in life.

Working from left to right I've added layers to the for most little left ark but it still lacks weight. I'm still working at creating water movement around its cylindrical base. The for most large red ark Is my new point of focus for adding layers. I'm working on getting its dimension to emerge from the surface.

While "Color Families" still has a ways to go, I'm sure enjoying the all moments spent working on it.

Color Families Continued

2008-04-06T22:33:00.003-05:00

I was blessed this evening with some quiet time to add some more paint on this piece. I'm digging on the curve. Still trying to build each structure into a solid form. More layers are needed, but I'l get there... eventually.

Monocromes to Color Families

2008-04-03T20:58:00.004-05:00

The Monochromatics I've been working on are again evolving. Now working in color families, I've set out on 2 new paintings. The Purple and Blue is a diptych; each panel is 10" x 13" on board. Not yet finished, but no empty space. Now it's time for details.

The orange swirl abstract began as a watercolor painting and now is an oil in progress. Gentle swirls rising from waters.

Monochromatics to the Rescue

2008-01-27T22:34:00.001-05:00

In the midst of creative block called working for a living I've begun small quick oils that I may actually finish in 1 to 2 sittings. Unlike the larger oils that are on easles and leaning on walls in various states of completion, these are small enough for only one thought.

All three here began with a few lines on board. From there layers of blue and white pigments and oil are added and blended with both brush and finger.

Abstract thoughts in the begining blend with realism to create a new middle ground of likeness or resemblance in a final product. These studies are quick bursts of energy that keep the balance.

For those speratic breaks in regulare schedule there are larger works ready for brush and pigment.

This painting here is oil on velum. It began as most do with a few random marks and grew from there. For now, I'm calling it The Forest. In doing my homework for teaching my students I find a variety of great poses and figures that always seem to find their way into parts of my creations. From El Greco to Matisse and from Michealangelo to Picasso their images tell the stories that are the beginnings of new creations.

REACH is stuck now. This one needs a break before he can continue to grow. AS for now he can not grab hold of the blue arch because it's to fluid. Water maybe. Not to sure yet. We'll see.

Women throughout Art

2007-10-08T05:27:00.001-05:00

This viedeo was posted on UTUBE by antoniocejunior

Always In Process

2007-09-11T21:36:00.000-05:00

It's been so long sense I posted anything I forgot my password. School has begun again and I have a fresh new crop of young minds. It's been time to turn my attention outside my own painting.

Although I love talking about Art History and it does inspire me, it's never as much fun as creating it.

I still have 5 canvases in process. Had hoped to complete them before school went back into session, but well.... That's life.

Here I am working on Blue and Yellow. Like the paintings before it, it's still untitled until closer to completion. It has not shown itself to me just yet.

There are still a few turns this one could take. I want to keep it abstract as to focus on the color and form, yet I keep seeing possible forms emerging. I'd rather allude to a multiple of possible images within than make them concrete. This way, depending on the frame of mind and point of view one could see different things in the same paintings. MMMMMMM Who knows.

Maybe I'll have completed this and the others by Christmas. One can hope.

Changes and Additions

2007-07-17T20:58:00.000-05:00

Working on this one today I decided I didn't like the bursts at the end of the blue tube. Now the tube has a mouth so to speak. Looking at it on the screen it appears that not much has changes in a day. In the hours my children granted me to paint more layers of paint were applied to three paintings. It's amazing how much time and paint can be applied and yet the appearance seems insignificant. In a world of drive through dinner and instant messaging, the art of layering paint and the appreciation of the time invested is often undervalued

She Comes From Water grew a few more connections. Still many details to work out. I'm not so good at the little details sometimes.

PLAYTIME

2007-07-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

What to do with the extra paint before you change up the pallet?

You close your eyes and put on on some good music, dance a bit and see what happens.

This oil on board is a mix of Bio Ritmo www.bioritmo.com, , Pedro Almodovar, BB King, CCR, Carrie Underwood, Grateful Dead, and the radio station k95.

So this yet to be titled work will grow along with the others this summer.

She comes from water

2007-07-15T17:05:00.000-05:00

The more I work at this one the more she grows beyond the original sketch made in my book. This painting has become more about composition now as I continue its construction.

All the main elements are present and now it's about balance and details. The details of edges, balanced parts, separation of what is to be truly abstracted, and what has to be realistic. Where is the light coming from? Does it have to be coming from only one location? How many figures can I include in this one solid creature? How many faces will be revealed? How many ghosts will be seen in the background? Is there movement, contrast, variety, unity, rhythm and of course, is there balance?

This "figure" rises from water and is tied to it.

[Maybe it's not that it's tied but more nourished by the water] All the while she is inside of an egg (or is that an orange water droplet) that floats in a water world.

As I zoom in on details I can not help but continue to think on the purpose and symbolism in this work. Through it all I can not overlook the positive energy I have in painting it. The colors in my head radiate brighter and with greater intensity than I can paint. Maybe I should Photoshop it?

Chakra Centers Evolve

2007-07-10T03:04:00.000-05:00

Energy Centers in the body. The figures from different viewpoints are inside an egg on a blue background. The figure is wading in a puddle of water and land. This work in progress is 22"x30" oil on watercolor paper

This painting I started today originated, like many ideas from the little drawing book I try to always have with me.

This painting includes symbolic colors representing both the energy points (chakras), and the color of life, creativity, nurishment, calm,; blue.

Purple is royalty, majesty, support, wisdom and comfort.

The chakra colors of red for the base, orange for the sacral, yellow for the solar plexus, green for the heat, blue fo rhe throat, indigo for the head and violewt white for the crown are placed as cirles of color.

We'll see how this one developes. Must sleep now.

Summer Days..... Digital Nights

2007-07-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

When the days call for adventure out of studio and exploring with the family my camera is my tool and my computer turns into my easel. Fishing was the original purpose of our walk. While we didn't catch any fish a few images were captured.

Of course, with as quickly as my two move, getting THE shot on the card is not always easy. Thankfully there is Photoshop.

Here are a few images in various stages of manipulation.

These 2 are the original shots I combined to make the new one.

Thanks to layers of various transparency, and the clone and patch tools among others this new composition took shape.

Then color was another property to be varied.

I like this one the best of all the variations.

Summer Painting Season HAS Begun

2007-07-01T00:41:00.000-05:00

Summer is the time of new creations!

The paintings that were begun and put on hold during late winter, early spring are now getting their due attention. Two paintings that I started months ago and I have been staring at each time I walked through the studio to get very important things other than my brush. Important things like the laundry, or my son's shoes have ways of overshadowing creative outlets. But good news is..... Summer's here, school is out, kids are busy and playing and Mommy gets to paint! Happy Days are here again!

The above painting is an oil on board with watercolor under painting. This is the last in the monochromatic series. All proceeding paintings were keeping with just variation of a line and shape. This one incorporates the figure and then changes its flow. It seems sometimes that when the figure is introduced to a composition a certain level of tension is automatically created. AS with most my paintings, it has no title yet. It has not revealed itself to me yet. Yet.

More work to be done.

These hands hold the spherical egg which has two hands emerging from it. Entwined in rings of light, are spheres of energy. This oil painting on wood is still in progress. More work on the hands and dimensionality of the rings.

NEW CREATION!!! While the same subject/style as many of my previous works, this paintings incorporates a new media. All color is applied on clear velum. All black figurative lines are developed on watercolor paper with charcoal.

At this point I am envisioning a forest with figures emerging from many natural forms all in a cool color scheme.

LAYERS! OMG! It's photoshop with oil and more time.

This New Kid on the Block is unlike anything I have created before. Cartoon like with simple color and black lines.

This began as a drawing on board then is now underway as an oil on board. This time I inked lines firs and concreted the design. In my mind. This is a commentary on our dependence the screen. Dependant to the point of self crippling degeneration. Three different people have melted to only heads, deformed now as they may be. These heads, so lazy as to have melted away their legs, are being pushed in a shoe fitted with a wheel. Because everyone else has fallen to the lazy, the shoe is control ed by remote using the antennas on top.

The background consists of various roads, bridges and screens projecting meaningless mind clutter and a imaginary creature or two.

This one just makes me giggle! Maybe Mind Mush would be a good title?

So I have much work to do. What a great way to spend summer "vacation".

Circles Update

2007-02-25T23:36:00.000-05:00

Two paintings in process now are growing slowly into their own. Circles and figures. Hands holding spheres. Rings binding, or is it comforting, encompassing. Whatever.

Now I'm stuck so I put on the computer to play with color and texture in the white areas. I'm leaning towards the purples and reds. WE'll see.

As some planets have rings; we are each our own planet. Rings must be supported by something. Each sphere, or person, or planet is supported by something.

Blue and yellow make green, The center and the ring make one. One of what? Yet to be determined.

New Series

2007-02-18T00:26:00.000-05:00

Circles #2

I am begining to believe that it is totaly impossable for me to work on only one thing at a time.

A new seriese is emerging from the pool of energy that is me.

To me these seems a bit more uplifting, but it is early in their development. Cricles #2 began as two touching hands and a solar like ring around them. It is developing in to two hands emerging from a spherical egg which is held by two unrelated hands. The ray of light energy (still too yellow orange) that is also emerging out from the egg then wraps around the central element to then blend to the bottom and cradel the scene.

The Red Sphere in the background has not totaly disclosed its pupose. This 24"x24" oil on wood panel is in the underpainting stage now. Once the design has been worked out Thicker oils will be applied.

I have a more mystical feeling about this one. The difficulty lies in wanting to have bright, bold, vivid color without creating an overwelming energy force. How to get vivid color while keeping a soft easy feeling is showing itself as my challenge.

AS with most of what I create, the final name for these new paintings will be determined at their completion. For now, they get series numbers in order of their original emergence.

Circles #1

This is a watercolor that began as a memeber of the MONOCHROMES series but the birth of the green gave it a new destiny.

Here figures, or parts of them, are stretching to support various spheres.

It does seem that my creations often consist of circles and figures.

What can I say?... They're fun!

Works in Progress

2007-01-28T16:47:00.000-05:00

This is the newest painting to be in progress. This one, like most, started with a few quick stroke of paint and then a break. A second look as to what could emerge from it. It is still early in its life yet. However, the charactoristic circles and figures are beginning to appear. I think this one is in the underpainting state. The seed's been planted, so to say. Now I'm not all together sure how it will grow. A variation from the last fiew, this painting has its origins in water color and pensil, rather than oil pastel and oil paint.

Manipulated Monochromes

2007-01-23T06:07:00.000-05:00

It's amazing what Photoshop has allowed the artist to do in creating new images from original works. This began as "Purple" then I added various filters to the original painting. From there it's all just select, copy invert, rotate and place. Presto, a new image. Maybe I'll call this "Purple Reflections."
Poster edges and plastic wrap are the two filters used here. After creating new layers to apply the filters, the layers were merged and then copied and transformed. This type of Kalidascope image can be created with any image that has exterior posative and negative spaces. It is the play on posative and negative spaces that gives the image its power.

Purple In Progress

2007-01-18T20:29:00.000-05:00

"Purple" is still in progress. I am not yet satisfied with its values and textures. In the photograph it appears more harsh than as I see it in the studio. Seeing the painting on the screen helps me to reevaluate my intentions for the work. I think as artists we often can get so sucked in to what we are doing that we loose site of the total composition. I began this one, as with the other monocromes, with a few lines using the pure color. From there, each line becomes its own form and grows. Then each form has to find where it fits in, around, and through the others.

While I have become entranced with the monochome series, I am still wooking on Evolution of Herstory, some photorestoration and other digital projects. What can I say???? That's what drives me.

Monochroms Live On

2007-01-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you Martin Luther King Jr. for all you did for individual freedoms. You have made it possible for me to create another painting in the monochroms series. This one, for now, is "Yellow" 18x24 Oil on Canvas.

MonoChromes

2007-01-14T19:16:00.000-05:00

Here I am working in a monochromatic color scheme with oil on wood panel. I have not yet decided on a title for this one. As it sits in the studio I look at it each day and wait for it to speek it's name. For now, I'll call it "Blue". Its cool blue color gently blends from dark to light and back to dark again. With lines flowing in a circular fashion there are many ways of interpreting its meaning. Depending on the state of mind when viewing it can conjour up thoughts of things from the female reproductive organs to organic patterns. This abstract work is the first in a series of monochromatic works.

I'll call this one "Green" for now. It too is an oil but on canvas. This abstraction of swirling green evolves from its simple primary yellow and blue color to its more complex secondary green color. The central circular formation serves as a base, or seperator, of the two legs. A torsoless figure (meaning you can only see the legs) sits on a ball; or is it an egg emerging from between the two legs?

This painting, like "Blue", is but a piece a greater puzzell. Each panel I create must be able to stand on its own, but fit into a larger design. We'll see how they all emerge.

Ok, so this one is not exactly monochromatic. These colors are the same from "Evolution of Herstory" Again with the swirling, spiral of color evolving from one to the next and back again. The warm colors are full of heated energy. Blue and Green are much calmer paintings than this one which for now I will call "Funnel" All these heated colors funneling into what? The next painting in the series. Time to go paint!

Finished pieces

2006-12-04T23:05:00.000-05:00

Evolution of Herstory Acrylic and Latex on Cotton, 6ftx8ft 2006-07
While this painting was "done" by the show opening dat I still can not say that I think it is really complete.

The day finally arrived when I could say, "Ok, they're done.... well sort of. Getting a date for exhibiting my paintings and Photography forced me to finish what I started. I have found in life that things get done faster when there is a dead line. The following are images of my studio now with the paintings in their resting places. Here they will stay now that the exhibition is closed until one fine day when someone decides they just have to be a collertor of great contemporary art. That is, someone other than me.

Going down the stars to the studio one would find Some og my photography and painting.

The painting on the far right was not created by me. Rather it was created by a former studnet of mine, Jared Crane. Don't be afraid of the tree lady in teh corner. Even with her belt of bullets, she's practically harmless. My son has lent me Michaelangelo for inspiration and guidance in my creative journies. The painting on the close left is "Dancing Through Life" and nect to it is "Trinatys Myth"

Looking from the sitting area into my painting studio. When I'm not painting in this space I am setting up the portable studio and photographing.

The purpose of the cabinet for the computer was so I could close it up when not in use. It never seems to get closed.

Evolution of Herstory

2006-11-14T09:06:00.000-05:00

Evolution of Herstory

The painting has finaly made it to exhibition at Ty & Co Espresso. More input on it later no time now. IT will be on display from 11/10 -11/18 2006

Parts and Pieces

2006-10-22T21:45:00.000-05:00

This painting is developing a life of its own. Figures are emerging and faces are coming out of hiding.

If eyes are the portal to the soul then that explains why eyes are so difficult to paint. It is intentional that there is, and only will be, one set of eyes looking out from this painting at the viewer. All otheres are looking up, down or off somewhere else. Every being here is reaching, stretching, searching for something. What is that something?
I am drawn to the energy of the red, orange and Crimson. It is not an angy red, or a bleeding red. It is a hot, energy filled fire that burns in all of us. It is the burn of the search. The quest to stretch oneself to find the boundaries and to reach out of the safety net that is the box that binds us.

Torture of the Title

2006-10-10T05:00:00.000-05:00

After working on a painting for a while there comes a point when a title will help direct the completion. The Problem then is realizing a title that will not adversly effect or direct the evolution of the artwork, yet will capture the essance of its meaning.

A Title can ruin an artwork, but so can the lack of one. WE all need direction. The title I give serves my direction. What about the viewer's direction? What's to say that my direction is the only direction. IF we all are individuals with different backgrounds and experiences, then we all bring somthing different to we encounter. It is only with expressing the individual interpretations of any experience that we truely understand our own.

I'm thinking of calling the above paintings "life"

I can not decide on this one. I think it still needs more paint befor it has earned a title.

Versions and Variations

2006-09-27T05:29:00.000-05:00

Variations on a theme. That is what theses paintings are about. The theme? Evolution. Not evolution like the world and the begining of man, but evolution of mind and spirit. AS I work on these paintings I often get to spots I do not know what do do with yet. I refer back to my knowledge of design and try to see what would enhance the over all design, and then balance that out with the underling idea that everything evolves into something more. NOt nessacarily bettor or worse, just different. With every artwork there are sections that could be developed further and even stand on their own as a work of art.
Technology has made it possible to crop and explore vaiations of any image. So when I get stuck on a paintings I will turn my attention to my photography, or search other artist's works for inpiration for my own work. So here is a photographic images I have been playing with.

Abstract painting in action: Balancing Act

2006-09-21T05:47:00.000-05:00

Abstract painting in action: Balancing Act

Balancing Act

2006-09-20T22:02:00.000-05:00

I kept wondering what was going to be in the circle. Then last night after staring at it minlessly it came to me. So the eye ball is now emerging. While it still has a ways to go, I now have a direction and pupose for that part of the painting. The more I look at this painting, the more the words balance and balancing act come to mind. Sounds like I have a title emerging. Paintings are like children. Sometimes you just have to stand back and see how it develops.

The gifts you were born with were not granted to you arbitrarily. While you may never discover what impact your light has had on others, you can be certain that when you embrace your talents and share them with others, you will spread illumination in the world.

Comparing this image to the one from today, I difinitly like the incorporation of the eye. The new green added to the lower right side needs to be lighter, but it'l get there.

The people in the bottom of the big painting (still no title yet) are taking shape. Two hopefull women adding their support to the flying souls.

Happy Days

2006-09-10T19:56:00.000-05:00

Making progress. Today I worked on solidifying the upper right of the paingting. The center face is starting to take shape. I envision a female face looing out at the viewer from the distant center of the light vortex. Much work is still to be done. I feel the two women of the bottom right reaching up to support the figures in there quest to float up and out. A sence of hope emerging from beneath the whirlwind of energy.

Survival

2006-09-09T21:01:00.000-05:00

Survival seems to have such a negative conotation in my mind. YEt survival is just what it is... Staying alive or perpetuation a life force. No one said it was a good or bad thing. A fun or boring thing. A soft or loud,light or heavy, rough or smooth. So I guess it is up to each of us to decide that on our own. MMMMM

"Fighting for survival" We have all heard this. Ever heard laughing for survival? Painting for survival, Playing for survival?

In a way, I think this painting is about survival. All of these figures are emerging from, or stepping into, one thing or another. One strand or another, One path or a nother. No one total individual. All connected with lots of layers. Kinda like Shrek.

Connecting for Creating

2006-09-06T06:40:00.000-05:00

No one can opperate in a vaccume. Looking at art, talking about art, sharing the processes, all are essential in creating it. No pictures today. After great discussions and thinking and looking, and painting and .... I'm too tired to photograph it. Just excited to see what ideas tomorrow morning brings. Must make time for sleep.

Birth of a trio

2006-08-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

In various stages of development, these three paintings are the beginning of a new series. Still no tiltes yet. I envision this to be more than just these three paintings. It is my "Plan" to combine these with some other 2D and 3D mixed media and photography to create a full show. Of course, all the senses must be involved. The inclusion of good music, good writing or conversation, great smells and delightful dishes and you have the makings of a grand exhibition.

Faces from below

2006-08-26T22:33:00.000-05:00

NO TITLE yet but more faces are begining to emerge from the back ground swirl. As I see things I sketch them in chalk to see if that mass really wants to evolve. I thought I saw and arm and sketched it with chalk, but I don't know if I like it. This painting is getting hotter with only a few cool colours popping through to half separate images. Some viewers have asked if the figures were falling or emerging. I think a bit of both.

In the bottom three faces are begining to come forth. All women, all with questioning expressions. What are they questioning? What are they searching for? What are they reaching for? I don'y knoe yet. Guess maybe we'll figure it out when the painting is all done. True exploration and beauty in creation takes time. I am taking my time. Remeber... It's about the process!

Meet Fred

2006-08-26T14:39:00.000-05:00

Fred

Well, I call him Fred. This little toad has decided to keep me company each night when I am painting. He sits and just watches as I enter and exit the exterior studio doors. Every once in a while he hops over in sight of the painting, but mostly, he sits by the door. My first fan.

More Figures Emerge

2006-08-21T21:57:00.000-05:00

Today's painting was back on the smaller canvas. (I say canvas as a universal surface event's this is actually a Burgundy sheet that was attacked by diluted bleach for the starting point) I had previously sketched in some figures I had seen appear. Now in order to make them grow I realized I needed to work in the negative space around them. IN doing so so an eye, upper arm and torso came to life. While there is still much work to be done, nine figures are evident. Not all are shown fully. There was/is a choice being made here. One does not always have to give all the details to understand or recognize the point. AS an artist I feel I must put out enough information to realize my own objective for my artwork to be successful. In doing that it is still in the forefront of my mind to only make suggestions while ultimately, leaving the viewer to derive their own conclusion as to the purpose and meaning in any particular artwork.

From Sheet to Frame

2006-08-18T04:13:00.000-05:00

The sheet has finaly made it to stretcher strips. In the begining I just needed a surface to fling paint at and release some energy. As images began to emerge I quickly realized the sheet was becoming a painting with a life of its own. So off to the hardware store it was to gather the supplies I would need.

Now, picture this... Me, accadent prone and just plain clumsy, opperating power saws to make this frame. Nope, not me. My ever so loving husband and our very own Bob the Builder friend constructed the frame according to my instructions. Now, that's delegation. My talents rest in the conceptual zone, not the power saws.

I have never painted backwards like this. When I say backwards, I mean, Painting the canvas before it was stretched. Stretching partially painted canvas (in this case a sheet) can be a bit of a challenge.

About a million staples and a blister later I have a 6ft x 8ft painting in progress.
The painting has taken on a different life now that it is stretched. I see more things popping out and more possibilites for better design. This is a fun one.

Parts and Pieces

2006-08-17T23:24:00.000-05:00

There are many different parts to this painting. Her 3 figures are begining to emerge. A strong woman reaching out, A timid woman stretching and a woman in surender.

From the bottom come the hands. Various hands in different grasping states will continue to grow from the base of this composition.

Slow Process

2006-08-15T22:55:00.000-05:00

Figures have to evolve from the background. I have the unique oppertunity to help them emerge. To break free from the background. As each figure comes into focus I am left to wonder what is it that is coming into sight? Who are these people and what is their purpose. What kind of energy is waking up here? It make me want to continue to paint. Even when it's 2 am and I know I must sleep if I am going to be worth a damn tomorrow. When I can't paint, pastels so as not to forget the position and color when I can get back to paint. Then again....that figure may not get painted. That figure may always remain in sketch. Often, it is what I see in the negative space that allows for something to emerge. By working from the outside in, in some areas, one is not forced to "draw the form with line". Rather one gets to mold the figure into exhistance.

Life molds us into exhistance. From the outside in, we are shaped and colored. So which is more influential.... nature or nurture?

The process of creating a complete artwork is, for me, rather long. Anything rushed usually is unsatisfactory, and therefore a waste of time. I do not have time to waste. I have way to many paths to explore.

In creating this series of paintings, I am focusing on the process of creating rather than what is the purpose of the final product and will it bring money in. If I can complete this all to my own high standards, then I will think about what to do with it. Now is not the time. Now, I must sleep.

The Process of Painting

2006-08-15T00:19:00.000-05:00

Another day, another figue becomes more alive. What started out as just a need to put color on canvas; to just emerse myself in the process, has evolved into a massive, multi layered artwork. It is still evolving. Each time I begin to paint I discover something new to focus on. Who knows when I'll be done. It's about the process. Eventually I till actually stretch the piece onto a permanent frame.

Images Emerge

2006-08-13T19:28:00.000-05:00

What was once a bed sheet, is now turning into a painting. I first stretched the sheet and randomly applied diluted bleach. After allowing the bleach time to works it's magic, I cut the out a section that had interesting bleach designs. From there I streatched on a canvas strips and began to allow the images to emerge.

The Process

2006-08-08T23:20:00.000-05:00

Knowing that I wanted to create more than one painting

I started with the colored sheet. I then attacked the sheet with a brush and diluted bleack. With nothing particular in mind I used full body movements to splatter and brush the diluted bleach onto the sheet. I only

allowed myself the length of one Mozart movement to apply the bleach. While I could not see

the emediate effects of the bleach, it was the act of appling it that was liberating. I know it would be some time befor the effects of the bleach would show. With that in mind, I continued to the next paiting process.... the warm up for the big painting.

Painting Materials

2006-08-08T08:57:00.000-05:00

When I stopped painting to take a look at what I was actually creating I stepped back and looked and everthing around me. One of the best things about summer is the ability to get outside to paint. On the ground I set my pallet and brushes down and grabbed my camera. It seemed that teh painting was not the only artwork I was creating that day.

getting started

2006-08-08T05:27:00.000-05:00

In the begining there was a sheet and an energy that had to be expressed. A bed sheet that had no bed and a cabinent full of paint that had been neglected for way to long. No preconcieved idea. NO preliminary drawing. NO plan. Just a feeling. The need for movement in my search for silence. AS the day progressed more color was added and images began to emerge from the mass of color. My 4 year old daughter came out to "help" me and began a painting of her own.