Thursday, December 11, 2008

"Three Persimmons"

Connie Kleinjans fine art
Oil on unstretched canvas, about 14.5 x 18

Every once in a while I'll tape a piece of canvas to a board, paint on it, and crop it afterward. I did a batch of these in February of this year. What it does is allow me to crop after the painting is done, rather than choosing the size by painting on an existing board or stretched canvas. It's fun. This time I painted these three persimmons.

So, above is how the painting currently looks. Next I get to play with cropping. I use my computer, so I can try options and undo them. But I also have a couple of L-shaped pieces of foam core, and I can use those, too.

I haven't played with a lot of options yet, but I do like how the persimmons are lined up vertically, and I also like the incomplete shadow at the very bottom. This suggests a tall, narrow cropping. And one reason I paint this way is so I can show the paint strokes at the periphery. Mix those together and you come out with this composition. I like it. Or at least, I like it today.

Or maybe it's too purple...

2 comments:

  1. Hi Connie,

    I found your blog through my friend Dori Dewberry's blog. Your work is beautiful!

    I just wanted to add my 2 cents on your persimmons. I absolutely love this uncropped! I was about a foot away from my monitor as your blog was loading and this struck me as such a powerful, graphic image. Your cropped version below is nice too but this one on top has so much power and combines a pop art feel with a traditional style of painting. It's very cool!

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  2. Omigosh, thanks, Kim. I had surfed to your blog and Etsy store from Dori's once or twice. I met her in a Tom Brown workshop about a year ago.

    Anyway, you know, I think that from sitting in my study, the painting had gotten kind of invisible. And I think you're right! There's something about the kinetic edges that does give life to that painting. And you absolutely nailed it that I like still lifes that have a bit of graphic art to them. I've been wrestling with how to do that pop art thing and still keep a feel of intimacy.

    Thanks for stopping by. :)

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