Today's Painting

The beautifully bizarre vision came to my mind about the Shepherdess today. I was getting that she had something to do with water, but I couldn't figure why or how. But now it is clear that she is overseer and source of fish life, so her legs are made of fish eggs. This requires

a lo-hot of detail work and building up of that translucent red-orange color, but I have started.

You can see a few of her thoughts above her head....

One more 5" x 7" for the NVFAA show.....

And, on the note of another artist's work, I am really excited to be the proud owner of a beautiful Kathleen Kendall sculpture.She uses antique doll molds to make them. Katie and I have a show coming up together in February and we have been having coffee here and there. As soon as I saw it in her studio, I loved it.....

She is amazingly creative working with all manner of mediums and materials.....things I would never think of or be able to do....

The nest has a real tiny bird egg in it...

On the easel....

Yesterday, I started having a new flare up of shoulder pain. I sort of have been pushing through it, but now feel pretty sore, so I could only paint a few hours today.
I am really intrigued by where this is going. Her little face just speaks volumes to me.....I put in a few of her "thoughts" floating up.....

Painter's Block

Robert Genn's letter to artists for September 29th: How to Beat Painter's Block

Monday.....

Chicago Antique Market

Sunday, Nina and I walked down to the Chicago Antique Market, it takes place about 8 blocks from where we live on the last weekend of each month from April through September. This is the first weekend I have either been in town for it or did not forget to go and unfortunately it was the last day for this year.

One of the first things that caught my eye was this barrel of large spools of thread from the defunct textile industry of South Carolina, these are about 10 inches long.

I thought the display of thread spools on this old rake head was wonderful.

Check out this little old sewing machine.

I love this old copper tub.

This is Katherine Anne, who makes the best truffles I think I have ever tasted. She had little samples of her truffles and amazing melt in your mouth caramels, you could literally taste a subtle floral essence from the wildflower honey she uses.  I bought a small box of truffles and two single truffles for Nina and I to eat on the spot.

This is what her brochure says:

Katherine Anne has been making decadent confections ever since her childhood on a sustainable Wisconsin farm. Her mother taught her how to use fresh cream from the family's Jersey cows as well as honey from a nearby farm, to create batches of old-fashioned caramels. 

Katherine-Annes' Confections are sold locally in Chicago at coffee shops and Wholefoods but you can also order them online here, these are truly a slice of heaven and worth every penny.

We rarely see or hear cicadas downtown, but we saw this guy clinging to a fence post. This is probably the last one we'll see until next summer.

The Shepherdess....

As I countdown to the two openings in November, my to-do list is getting longer. I spent the day photographing, assessing, and applying retouch varnish to around 15 paintings. I need RAW images of everything, as I have been really lax about getting good archival formats usually messing around with jpegs. My camera can only shoot about two RAW images at a time, so I have to shoot and then download repeatedly. Tonight I will go over the images and re shoot anything weak tomorrow.

Press releases have been send and recieved and all is on track. I will begin getting a postcard together shortly. Hopefully, I can get another newsletter out, too.

I worked on our shepherdess most of yesterday. She is coming along beautifully.

St. Louis

I had such a great time in St. Louis, thanks to my wonderful hosts Judy Cobillas, president of MoFA and Carlene Fullerton, fiber artist and hostess extraordinaire.

Thursday evening I gave a lecture at the St. Louis Artist Guild, this was also the site for my workshops on the weekend. The St. Louis Artists Guild is in an old stone mansion that is being used by the guild for housing exhibits and holding classes. There are some beautiful architectural elements in this building, this staircase in the foyer was particularly impressive. Through out the facility many different rooms were being hung with incredible fiber exhibits as part of the two month long Innovations in Textiles 8.

Innovations in Textiles 8 is really such an impressive event with exhibits in numerous galleries in the St. Louis area. On friday Carlene and Judy took me to several galleries and to the Craft Alliance where there is a fantastic exhibit on textile collage with the work of Joan Schulze, Fran Skiles, Barbara Lee Smith, Bob Adams and Luanne Rimel. A week ago there were workshops with Fran Skiles and this weekend there are workshops with Bob Adams. There are so many incredible events happening, I hope the fiber world is stopping and taking notice, I don't think anything like this on this scale happens anywhere else.

After Gallery hopping we had lunch at Pi, Obamas favorite pizza place, it was delicious!

Friday evening we went to the opening of Fibre Vive an exhibit of fiber works influenced by Hispanic arts and culture by MoFA members. Following the opening, I had the opportunity to spend more time with Rosemary Claus-Gray and several other MoFA members over a lovely dinner at Carlene's.

Saturday I taught Mixed media Painted Fabric, I love seeing how each person interprets this technique though the colors and imagery they use.

This lovely work was done by Chris, I am sorry I do not know some peoples last names, but Chris has a wonderful gestural quality to her drawing and a beautiful sense of color.Judy and Carlene working.Jennifer, one of several students who traveled from the Columbia, MO area, who I got to spend some extra time with since they also stayed with my host Carlene on friday and saturday nights.
Carol Zemanand Leandra Spangler, who's name was so familiar to me and I just figured out why, she also contributed artwork to Virginia Spiegal's Fiberart for a Cause auction earlier this year.On Sunday I taught Tsukineko Inks, it was a whirlwind of a day covering more techniques than usual, introducing Ink Potion No. 9 into the mix and I never got in anytime for photos. I had a wonderful time working with all these textile/fiber artists who work in so many different media, I had so much fun, I would come back and play with these gals anytime.

New Painting

Man, this is painting. I had to utilize my ninja painting techniques today with those ears. There is nothing in the entire world like rendering a thing like these in oil. Getting that translucent quality is worth every mix and remix of color. Carefully placing the little veins........
If you haven't seen it and would like to, the sketch for this one is posted here. It will be interesting to see if I deviate from the drawing....




Happy weekend, all and many thanks for all your comments and thoughts whether out loud or not.

Painting....

I love my creative use of blog titles....need to work on that...

Ok, so I lied about getting those images up. Worked at finishing up the "Landlord" but really was not happy, so I had to rework a bit. I felt the lion's mane was becoming an entity of its own. Though I love specific and tight rendering of paint, my tendency is to get way too much into detail overall. It is my natural way of painting, and though it isn't "wrong", I like to incorporate more loose painting technique in some areas of a painting. In college, my drawing professor stated my rendering of clouds made them appear to be made of "lead" because they were so detailed.

Still really cloudy and dark yesterday, a supposed clear up is to take place today. So, hopefully, photos soon.

I started a new painting yesterday based on this sketch:

Ooh, I'm so excited, look what came in the mail!

I placed a pre-order for Creative Time and Space by Ricë Freeman-Zachery from Amazon, and it arrived this afternoon, just in time for me to get in some good airport reading tomorrow. Yay!
This book is so cool, please forgive the bad/fuzzy photos, the sun is going down and I am anxious to give you a look, since I won't have time to post good photos tomorrow.
This book is sure to please every kind of creative soul, there are mixed media, textile, doll, sculpture, painter and jewelry artists represented here.

Cool montage using samples from everyone's work in this image.
Photos of beautiful art work on every page.
Look, there's me and PaMdora aka Pam RuBert on facing pages.
Gorgeous studio shots
Wonderful tips and ideas from all the artists, including one of my favorite sages Judy Wise.
This book is gorgeous, I can hardly wait to sit down and start reading.

Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?

Occasionally, I like to watch or listen to movies while I paint. If I feel like I am thinking too much, which is about 99% of the time, I will watch something really simple. I think I am on the sixth and final season of "Leave it to Beaver" on Netflix. It sounds crazy, but it really works in a positive manner to silence to noise so the right brain is freed up.

Yesterday, I watched the documentary "Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock." The story goes a trucker buys a painting for $5 at a thrift shop and discovers is may be a Pollock. The film documents her battle with the "art establishment" to get the painting validated with out provenance. This is a really entertaining film between the crass character of the 73 year old female trucker and the unbelievable manner in which the art elite denies the painting despite forensic proof. You can stream it on Netflix free.

Painting

I made a lot of progress on the "Landlord" painting today, but it is really cloudy out and the end of the day, so I can't shoot an image. It should be completed tomorrow. I made the body an enormous birds nest...
Also working on the tamarin painting as well...
I will get images up tomorrow.

I have a buyer for "Ovis Nectarus," the llama painting. So many people have asked about this painting and so many have had a strong response to it. So, she has a new home in January after her commitments to exhibit close. '

I must say I have really mixed feelings about selling it. All of the major works I have sold have been to local buyers, but this one goes out of state, so it is highly unlikely I will ever see this painting again. But, the buyer is committed and in feel really connected to the work, so I know it goes to a great home. It is a strange thing. The paintings are part of me....I feel like I am losing a piece of myself.

Off to St. Louis

Image courtesy of Wikepedia

I am packing my bags, let's hope the kids and dog don't eat each other while I am gone. I will be giving a lecture Thursday night at 7pm at the St. Louis Artists' Guild and teaching Mixed Media Painted Fabric and Tsukineko Inks on Saturday and Sunday for MoFA, if you are in the area stop by and say hi.

Today's Painting

These little birds are so delicate. I used the goldcrest, a European bird, for most of the detail, but changed the markings some. This is evolving in that magical sort of way created things can....one stroke at a time.

A Lovely Gift

I love having talented friends. These earrings are a birthday gift from my friend Vickie Hallmark, aren't they beautiful? They are made from precious metal clay. When I first met Vickie, 14 years ago, she was an award winning textile artist, now she has added glass and metal to her repertoire, be sure to check out her blog to see all her wonderful work.

Update....

While painting last week, I watched (or listened to, mostly) a Ken Burns documentary about Thomas Hart Benton. The painting I am standing in front of in my banner above is one of his. A self proclaimed enemy of modernism, Benton was a forerunner of the regionalist movement along with Grant Wood, and of course, by the critics, was poorly received and accused of being "folksy." By the time abstract expressionism rolled around, he really was a gem, in my opinion.

The artists I really respect and appreciate are the ones who paint not only in their own style, but also do not change their work according to the popular trend of galleries and critics. They have a conviction about their life's work and follow through with their passion. Andrew Wyeth suffered the same disdain as Benton. Both were artists of the people, not artist of the art world hierarchy.

I was knocked out by a cold toward the end of last week and over the weekend. I have ordered all the frames for the Alexandria and Fredericksburg shows. Between neck, shoulder and other issues, there have many setbacks in painting over the summer, but my image lists have been confirmed by the respective directors. The body of work I have is strong and sufficient to cover both galleries. I am really proud of the work before me and look forward seeing it together in these exhibits. I keep thinking I can get one more done for the openings, and I may, but I realize I have to slow down or the work may suffer. Creativity being the multi-faceted jewel it is, I would be foolish to think I can get away with just painting away at it to squeeze out one more.


Both of the these paintings are now up on the website.





I decided to leave the fish alone, but I did change the horn. I decided it should be more organic and sort of translucent.

"The Unikoi"

The Unikoi

After spending the morning being reminded how expensive framing is, I gave up and went to the easel. There are a few tiny details to finish up tomorrow....considering adding a few small fish.

On the Easel: The Landlord (wt)

Off to sketch some ideas for this one.

Sketch...

When I was at the Atlanta College of Art, we had to show our sketch books at every prof/student meeting to show how we arrived at a finished work. I ALWAYS did the sketches after the finished piece. I don't sketch to this day. Well, today I rediscovered how very much I love to work in pencil.
I have had this painting on my mind for sometime....I suppose mine are more like drawing than sketches, but you all know how my style isn't exactly "loose." Lots of notes too...the little "bubbles" are her good and bad thoughts. Craig said "Oh, is she having bad thoughts about being run over by a car?"....very funny.

Back on the easel

Some of you have been with me since I started this painting back in January. The figure has become so special to me, I have not found a suitable environment for him. Like I am not hearing the frequency, or the story clearly for some reason. I have painted, repainted, and walked away from it for long stretches. I worked on getting a sky laid in today and played with a few loose ideas for the ground on which he sits......

Happy weekend all.

Lunch with the CSOF and IL/WI SAQA reps

Yesterday my friend Trish Williams and I drove out to the burbs to have lunch with Laura Wasilowski, Frieda Anderson, Anne Lullie and Emily Parson. Laura, Frieda and Trish are the new Illinois/Wisconsin SAQA reps., so it was part meeting and part social time. Most of us haven't seen each other since spring, you would think we would all see each other a little more often but with everyone's busy schedules it's hard to find a time when everyone is in the same place at the same time.

Laura's birdhouse and hollyhocks taken with Toy Camera iphone app.

On the easel: The Unikoi

I have spent most of the week on this and still have more to do......it is quite tedious. Water and fish now top my list of most challenging things to render in paint.

I was walking Reuben today and listening to Shearwater, an endless source of imagery for me, and I had a vision for the ongoing "baboon" painting. Yes, that baboon painting hangs in my house and is STILL unfinished. I will have another go at it today after a haircut. I am beginning to look like Billy Idol.

Richard J. Bailey: "In the Museum" book

My friend Richard J. Bailey has put together a book called "In the Museum." Richard is a creative genius with a magical ability to concoct images into a perfectly balanced expression of wit, atmosphere and form.

Oil Pastel

This oil pastel is almost 20 years old. I have never had the heart to part with it, so it hangs in my studio. It took many years later to realize that it is a self portrait. I caught a peripheral glimpse of it today while painting and am thankful I have held onto it....

Worked on "Unikoi" today... all those underwater scales.

Tsukineko Inks with Ink Potion No. 9 Tutorial

I just bought a relatively new product from Tsukineko Inks called Ink Potion no. 9 to find out how it works with the All Purpose Inks. One purpose of the solution is to help blend ink colors. From my estimation this could be a good alternative to working with aloe vera gel to lighten and blend colors.

I began this painting by lightly tracing the outline of a goldfish from a copyright free image onto white cotton fabric and gave the fabric a light spritz of Ink Potion.
Using the Lemon Yellow ink and the brush tip Fantastix pen tool, I painted in all the light and dark areas of the fish.
Next I used the Tangerine ink in the areas that are to be the darkest and used a very light touch to blend it with the Lemon Yellow in the lighter areas.
Using the yellow ink again, I painted over the image to blend the colors and to deepen the golden hue.
Next I used the color Autumn Leaf to deepen the darkest areas and help create more dimension by pushing up the contrast.

I used the Tangerine ink again to blend with the Autumn Leaf, making a smoother gradation and used a black fabric pen to add black to the eyes. At this point I heat set the fish with an iron set on cotton with a press cloth on top.
For the water I used Tropical Lagoon, sprayed some Ink potion onto a tray and dipped the fantastix pen tool into the ink and then into solution on the tray. I noticed that this had the effect of lightening the ink color the more solution was mixed in and also making the ink cover a larger area of fabric with less stroke marks.
I lightly spritzed the white fabric where I was applying the blue ink to help the color cover the area smoothly.
I was working quickly and not too carefully and it ended up a little streaky, but I don't mind because it does look a little like there is movement in the water.