Floral Fantasy

Floral Fantasy

24"x48"

Acrylic on Canvas

If you know my work, you know that I don't normally paint flowers. Yesterday, as I was trying to salvage an abstract that was on this huge canvas, I found that my usual tricks and techniques just weren't working. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood to paint. When this happens, I usually resort to completely freeing myself from any preconceived plans or ideas.

I started to apply my paints in a heavier, more painterly manner. At first it dawned on me that I might be wasting alot of paint and that I'd end up gessoing the whole thing. But, stubburn as I am, I kept plugging along. Suddenly, something in the lower right corner of the canvas drew my interest. It looked like a flower of some kind!

I decided to go with that. Sometimes the muse whispers in our ear and we need to pay attention. I grabbed a pencil and started drawing floral shapes into the still wet paint. After doing a little negative painting, painting around and between the shapes, the whole image began to come into focus. I stepped back and decided that I liked what I saw!

I don't know if this particular painting is the start of a new trend. Probably not, but it was sure fun painting it!

I have the painting listed on eBay right now but if it doesn't sell I might just find a place for it in my own home.

Old becomes new again

Tapestry

22"x30" mixed watermedia on paper

While cleaning out my studio this morning, I opened an old portfolio that had been sitting in the corner since we moved to this house nearly four years ago. I pulled out this painting that I had done back in 2003. It's a mixed media on watercolor paper. Back then I was doing alot of this type of work - and I may go back to it one of these days.

I love the detail in this painting. I remember that I used a clear wax crayon to create some resist areas. While trying to get the wax off with a heat gun, the melted wax spread into other areas and created an interesting effect when I layered other colors over it.

Yesterday I decided to purchase a set of photographic flood lamps and tripods. Up until now I was setting my work on an easel and depending on the sunlight that floods my studio to provide ample light for a good picture. Unfortunately, these short winter days have made it difficult to shoot a good picture. It was taking too much of my time to try to adjust the colors with Photoshop. Anyway, I discovered that the lamps certainly make my life easier and now my pictures are truer to the original.

I just uploaded this image to Fine Art America, a really neat website that any artist would want to know about. Prints of this and other images are now available. You can have a print of this painting on paper or canvas. You can even order mats and frames through this website. How neat is that?

Weird, isn't it???

Morning Mist

30"x40"

It's funny that no matter how much I'm determined to blog every day, life seems to get in the way. Before I know it, a whole month has gone by!

I have been pretty busy working on some new paintings. You know how I love to experiment with new techniques. I think I have AADD - Art Attention Deficit Disorder. After exploring a particular style or technique, I seem to hit a dry spell and need to try something totally different. But, don't worry, I won't be mass-producing any nostalgic little cottages with golden light pouring from the windows!

Lately, I've been working on unstretched canvas that is stapled to a luan board. I like the hard surface. It lets me do my stamping and scrubbing without flexing the way stretched canvas does. Lowe's and Home Depot are great sources for supplies that I can't find at the art supply houses. Paint rollers, sponges, acrylic patch compound and floor adhesive spreaders are great to have in my arsenal of tools and materials. There's absolutely no reason why an artist can't use whatever materials are available to create an image. Of course, it's always a good idea to make sure the materials are archival. If you're wondering about the acrylic patch compound, I use it to texture my canvas before painting. It's a great substitute for the more expensive modeling paste. Just be sure not to buy the kind that has limestone in it - that will suck the moisture out of your paint faster than you can imagine. In no time at all, the paint and spackle just flake right off the canvas- believe me, I know from experience! Anyway, if you plan to try the texturing technique, use Elastomeric Custom Patch available from Home Depot.

I staple and tape the edges of my canvas to the luan board. After applying a thin layer of the patch compound, sometimes mixed with gesso, and allowing it to dry, I apply a couple of coats of gesso. That pretty much seals the surface and then I'm ready to paint as soon as the surface of the canvas is bone dry. When the painting is complete, I remove the tape and staples. I love the nice clean edge around the canvas. It almost looks like a print! Now, the painting is ready to be stretched on bars or to be rolled up for shipping. This is one method that allows me to paint in some large sizes that I normally would not attempt.

Here is one of the paintings I finished a couple of days ago. It measures 30"x40" and is pretty spectacular, if I say so myself. It is available on Ebay right now for a one-time listing. Hope you check it out!