Sunday, November 21, 2010

"No Latitude" (25 of 25)

 8x8", acrylic and mixed media on board

This is the final small painting I did for the show a few months ago. Now, I've continued painting, so I'll be posting more in the next weeks. 

Now, I seem to alternate between big textured abstracts and small still lifes. I don't know why. I just know that to do this authentically, I need to pursue it from my gut, and my gut says I want to do those kinds of work. 

On the abstracts front, I've been taking a class, and it's become the highlight of my week. The teacher, Stella Zhang, is immensely skilled and supportive. She also introduced me to using pigments. It's also interesting to hear her talk about pushing past her current status to the next level. So, for instance, I find I still want to do work on canvases, although I might add found things. But she pushes into three dimensions and installations.

On the still life front, I took a workshop taught by Michael Linstrom, who paints interpretively. When I do still lifes, I tend to paint tightly, and I find I don't just want a good product from my efforts, I want a good experience. Tight doesn't feel good. Loose and interpretive does. Michael takes the view that the painting does not need to accurately reflect the world, and he paints loosely to get there. There's a nice intro here. I'll be taking another workshop next month.

So, more to come.

1 comment:

  1. Connie, this is a beautiful abstract! Looks like it would be a beautiful place to live. Amazing texture and color.

    I checked out the Stella Zhang video. Watching her create the pieces and prepare the space for the exhibit was very inspiring. Thanks for posting that.

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