Fireworks

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Wow, am I pleased! I know I keep talking about how excited I am with my own paintings lately, and I must apologize. But I am absolutely in love with the results of allowing the paint itself to play a much larger role in my paintings. The challenge and joy for me, is finding the balance between using paint to create the illusion of form, versus using paint to become the form.

Paint becoming the form is a goal I've been striving for, for several years now. finding my own unique voice to do that with is key. Each painting I do lately feels closer and closer to realizing this goal, so I'm just on cloud 9!

Multitasking

Two easels going - this is a first for me!  Lately my head is bursting with ideas for new paintings and compositions.  Suddenly I can't keep up with the inspiration I seem to find everywhere.

I've posted a good bit more on my inspiration behind these paintings HERE for anyone interested.  I would love to hear how you get inspired, and what inspires you all out there.  

Art Chicago - Next 2009

Yesterday Chicago's annual art event, Art Chicago - Next, came to a close.  This event is an opportunity to see galleries from all over the world, and the artists they represent.  It is the highlight of my spring to see so much artwork all under one roof, and one of the reasons I'm grateful to live here.  

This year was my favorite of the three I've attended, and I have posted a video of my visit to the show on my new blog.  Click Here, and enjoy!

Melt

Is it wrong to say how much one loves their own painting?  I can not tell you how much I love this painting and all the new possibilities I'm thinking about right now!

I've posted in progress shots on MY NEW BLOG AND WEBSITE.  I'm considering eliminating my original website for this new one, I like that I have almost complete flexibility with design aspects.  I'm not a trained graphic designer, so feedback would be welcome :)  

This painting is 10x10, if you are interested please email for info. 

Dandelion

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Passion for Painting

Thank you to Sara Winters, who tagged me for the Passion for Painting award.  I am honored!  Sara's paintings are flooded with light and clear color, and her execution of reflected water with unblended brushwork seems fresh and new.  Take the time to enlarge her paintings to see the abstract quality to work. 

Here is how it goes, name 7 things I love, and 7 other artists whose blogs I follow.

Seven things I love:

1. God

2. My husband, Clay

3. Family

4. Friends

5. Paint

6. Sunshine, fresh air, 80 degree flip-flop wearing day.

7. Snow, 25 degree boots/scarf/hat wearing day.

I follow many many blogs, which makes this difficult.  I decided to name blogs that contain discussion, advice, observations, and information, that help us grow as artists.  From step by step PhotoShop advice, to gallery solicitation advice, to serious discussions about being an artist.  Hope you enjoy.

1. Alia El-Bermani

2. Larry Groff

3. Edgar

4. Edward Winkleman

5.  R. Garriott

6. Christine Mercer-Vernon

7. Neoteric Art

Chocolate Dip

I've been trying for two days to upload my finished painting "Dandelion" and for some reason the painting's colors are very washed out compared to the actual jpeg. Has anyone else experienced this problem? I noticed this with my last post, but since the painting was in process, instead of completed, I didn't worry much about it. I am using a Mac with iPhoto to crop the image and making zero adjustments to color. The jpeg is vibrant, but when I load it into blogger, it loses a lot of color??? If anyone knows what I might be doing wrong, please let me know. The painting above posted very close to the original jpeg, I can't figure it out???

While I was trying to figure it all out, I luckily decided to paint this monochromatic painting. I talk a lot about color, but not much about value, which is a key component in inspiring my paintings. I have always loved monochrome paintings and value studies, and don't know why I don't do them more often. They seem quiet and still to me. The actual bow is red, but I used Burnt Umber, Payne's Grey, and white, to show the form using only value.

Besides the actual meaning I find behind these bows and presents, they offer a kaleidoscope of color and strong value shifts within one single object, and I seem to never tire of their possibilities.

Painting in Progress

Form or Color?  Which is more important - this is the question that's always in my head.  I love both.  I LOVE form.  I love seeing the volume and weight of an object in a painting.  But color ..... ah .... how I ADORE color.  Color feels alive to me.   

One part seeing, one part feeling, hard to choose.  Both are magic.  

Painting in Progress plus Palette

First layer of color, and I already love it!
This is my palette, but I never use all this color at one time.  I select specific colors for each painting based on a complimentary color scheme (even though this painting is actually a close-compliment scheme of yellow and blue.)  First I decide my "star" color.  The star for this painting is yellow, so I'll want to pick out a variety of yellows and its compliment purple.  My main yellow will be Cad Yellow Medium, and main purple, Garnet Lake.  
I've mixed this on a piece of glass to see the color easier.  I rarely use tube earth tones since I can mix them using compliments.  In this case, making a yellow ocher, which I can easily make lighter and darker, or warmer and cooler.  If I use a cooler and bluer purple, the colors will end up a bit on the green side, and I'm seeing a lot of greenish-ocher color in the shadow side of the "flower." 
These are the rest of the colors I will use for this painting, plus white.  I love having lots of choices, so I usually add warms and cools for each compliment.  For my yellow side, I add a warm of Cad Orange, then four cooler yellows.  I'm not going to add a warmer purple, because I can warm up the one I have with the Cad Orange, but I am going to add several blues.  

That's my color scheme theory in a nut shell.   

Drawing and homemade view finder tool

In typical Chicago spring fashion, it's snowing here today.  Lucky for me, I have my own make believe spring growing right here in my studio.  This is the completed drawing on the 10x10 canvas, basically the same as my last post's drawing, except bigger and on canvas.  I did spend more time with this one, and I really loved every minute of it.  

Since this is more or less repeating my last post, I thought I would show my little homemade view finder tool.

I made this years ago, as you can see by the smudges and dried paint, from a 5x7 gray mat you can purchase for framing photos.  I cut the corners, then marked off the interior edges, starting at the corners going out, every half inch.  I can view my set up through my adjustable opening and determine exactly what size canvas will make the best composition.  Once that is decided, I paperclip the corners and continue to use it to help locate the major shapes during the drawing phase.  The mid-toned gray can be used to judge values as well.  

Now back to fun with flower!