"Introspection"

36x36x0.75", oil on stretched canvas

OK, this one surprised me. I had a background with lots of texture and color, then started working on a face and got frustrated. So, using a trick from a recent class with Melinda Cootsona, I decided to turn the reference photo and painting upside down. When you work with an image upside down, you're less invested in how accurate the shapes are. Rather, you're more in touch with the composition. Also, I had seen some paintings where light blue was used as a way to articulate contours on a dark background, so I used that. Eventually, when I turned it right-side up, I liked it much more, and I clarified a few things and balanced the values better.

That blue really is kind of neon, isn't it?

"Geometric"

30x24x1.5", oil on stretched canvas 

In an earlier painting (that I haven't posted yet), I had a figure with lines crossing it. Wherever that happened, colors changed on the figure. I used that approach here. It's relatee to some earlier work I did, where I painted still lifes in non-representational colors. The theory is that, if you keep the value the same, you can still figure out what the subject is. I can't say that I stuck with actual values here, but I hope that makes the work more interesting. You can still see the figure, but it merges in the background more.

"Pensive"

30x24x1.5", oil on stretched canvas

As time goes by, I'm migrating towards two styles of paintings: abstract, and abstract figurative. I'm still collecting found objects that might one day make their way into a piece, and I'm also working on learning to depict the figure.

This one has a mood that I like. It came from a photo taken during a photography session in a class I took. But the painting itself came out really neon. One comment was, "I looks really modern." 

Hmm. As I look at it, I see a few things I might want to tweak. That's hard to do after you put it on the blog. Then again, until I sell it, I guess it's mine to modify.

"Empathy"

24x20x1.5", oil on stretched canvas

This might sound strange, but I'm not entirely sure what to make of this painting.  It surprises me.

The way I developed it was that I worked on an abstract painting first. After awhile, I saw the beginnings of a figure, and decided to go where that led. And that was here. The body position isn't a normal one, but it's what came out. But I do love the red in the middle. So, I'm not sure it makes sense, but there's something kind of compelling to me about it.

"Caldera"

20x20x1.5", oil on canvas

I've been studying with Melinda Cootsona the last month or two. She's a marvelous teacher who does abstracts and figurative abstracts, both of which I'm interested in. Her classes are small -- maximum of four people -- and held in her studio. Because of the small size, she's able to really see how we work, and help with the process. For example, the other day I got snarled in poking at a specific part of a painting, and it didn't improve? She could see that I needed to change something, and suggested that I use a bigger brush. Boom! I was past it.

The painting on this page came from a process that she works with: You start by building an abstract painting, adding layers and depth and richness. Then, if you can find the suggestion of a figure in it, you can make your painting into a figurative abstract. On the other hand, you might find that you like the abstract that you did. This was one of the latter.

"As If"

12x12x2", acrylic and mixed media on board

I've mentioned the awesome Stella Zhang, whom I've taken textured abstract classes with. I think this was one of my first works with her. I came into the class with all the subtlety of a Hawaiian shirt, and she toned me down. Now, some people in her classes would like to use more color, but I do get the point: If you have too much color, you obscure the texture.

I decided to include the figure below so you can see that I put the texture material around the outsides, too.

"Yin Yang"

12x12x1.5", acrylic, pigment powder, and rubber gloves on canvas

One of the fun things about the textured abstract class I took was that anything could become part of a work of art. In this case, I had some rubber gloves such as artists use to protect their hands when painting, and I played with arranging them on a canvas. This arrangement reminded me of the Yin Yang symbol, and also a circle, which I've used in paintings before. I went over the top with white pigment powder in a solution of white glue and water.

"Network"

36x36x0.75" acrylic, pigment powder, and mixed media

This one has cool texture. It's kind of a part of history, for me. A couple of years ago I had been doing my small oil still lifes, mostly about 6x8", for a year or two, and wanted to go bigger. So I took a workshop with Robert Burridge. (I wrote about this before, so sorry for the repeat.) In the instructions sent out, Burridge said that if students really wanted to challenge themselves, they should bring ten canvases that were about 36x36". TEN! So I did. I didn't touch them for the first day and a half, but then I dove in and, by the middle of the fifth day had filled nine of them. This was one. So I'm fond of it. FYI, the texture is made by tissue from the hotel room. Heehee!

However! I wasn't sure I liked how it came out. So I took it to one of my textured abstract classes with Stella Zhang, who does amazing work. I simplified it, using paint and adding pigment powder mixed with white glue. Powder has the benefit that it sinks into the texture, where paint covers the entire surface. Eventually the wonderful texture emerged, and it only needed a focal point, which came from the black drip in the middle. It's pretty cool looking. If you feel like it, try clicking it to see the texture and subtle colors.

"Three Sixteenths"

8x8" couched masonite board, acrylic paint, screws, leather cord

I haven't posted much in a while, but it seems like it's time to share a few things I've done. I have a fondness for abstraction, texture, and found art. So, while most of this isn't found art, the leather did come from a belt I unraveled.

One of the things I found interesting about this is that the same rules of composition apply here: value, focal point, line, temperature, etc., etc. I was also pleased that the dripped lines of paint are about the same width as the leather cord.

It's a fun piece, and made it to my wall.

"Pipe"

OK, this one is a little unusual. I had put down a layer of crinkled paper, then painted it green and red, then went over that in black, then sanded it down so the colors appears as spider lines. I've reproduced it pretty big so you can see that.

But then I popped a hole in the canvas. Not a large one, but an interesting one. And it was pretty close to the center. I talked to my teacher and we looked through the random materials I brought, and chose the pipe and the chain. I put the pipe through the canvas and adhered it on the back with some very strong glue, so it's stuck pretty tight. The chain is screwed to the wooden frame in back, so it's pretty secure, too.

So, this is what it looks like up close. You can see that I framed it.

Here it is from a distance, hanging on a wall in my house. I like it that the chain is long enough to puddle on the floor. The dimensions are 17.75" x 21.5" including the frame, but not including the chain. It leans out from the wall a bit, which lets the chain hang free.