Critical Mass

Sometimes working on a particular project for a member of the family is more difficult than working on a commission for a stranger. One is never entirely sure that they are being truthful about the work or just being polite.

I finished this painting yesterday as a gift for my son and his wife. They just completed extensive remodeling at their home and I felt that offering them a new painting would be in order. After getting an idea of what they wanted, I began to work on Critical Mass, a three-panel painting measuring 48"x72". My daughter-in-law wanted something bold and vibrant in hot tropical colors to compliment their Florida home. The colors in the home are warm neutral tones and she wanted something that would be a focal point in the room.

Well, I definitely feel I accomplished that with this painting.

To get in the mood to paint something that would reflect the movement and energy that was needed for this painting, I decided to listen to music that would put me in the right frame of mind. Thank goodness for Oscar Lopez and his Seduction. As soon as the strains of his guitar started, I literally began to dance in rhythm to the music. My hand flew across the canvas as I drew in the composition. Before long, I had the "bones" of the painting pretty much established and was ready to start painting. I added textural elements as well as metallic silverleaf accents - one of the prerequisites of the painting.

I'm pretty happy with the result and after emailing some images to my son and his wife, I know that they are too.

I'll have to check out what other CDs Oscar has out. If you've never heard him, I hope you'll listen to some clips from Seduction. You'll be dancing too!

Check out my website for other new paintings.

Momentary Reflection

Finally, today I was able to spend the entire day in the studio without having to run errands, make phone calls or any of the other trivia that seems to fill my days.

I started this painting a couple of days ago but today I spent the time refining the design and building up the subtle layers of glazed color. It's a constant process of adjustment. Just when one area looks finished, I have to go back and "balance" it out with another areas of the painting. After several hours of this, I finally felt that I could pronounce it "finished".

Every artist goes through the same struggles nursing their works along, until finally, the image that once only resided in the brain has been transferred to the canvas, clay or what ever medium of choice. I like to always leave my options open because sometimes I don't have a preconceived idea of what the finished painting will look like. Those moments of serendipity when everything comes together are the times when I feel that the struggle was definitely worth the trouble.

I hope you'll visit my website to see this painting and the many others I have available.

Persuasion

Persuasion...that's the title of my latest painting. And, I guess it's appropriate.

Sometime last week I started to work on this particular canvas. I poured on the paints, scrubbed some areas out, added metallics and iridescents - anything that I thought would add the spark of life to the rather bland, dull canvas. Finally, tired of working on it, I moved on to another painting and just set the canvas in the corner.

Walking into my studio this morning, I saw the painting in an entirely new light. Rather than gessoing the poor thing, I decided to continue adding to it until it started coming to life. I guess that in some way the painting persuaded me to continue to work on it. As I added new elements and refined others, suddenly I realized that it was going to be a success.

I guess every artist has those "ah-ha"moments. They say a painting can speak to you...and I think this one did!

Dragon Street Art Walk

I am a member of a local group of artists in the north Tarrant County area of Texas. The group was formed nearly two years ago with the intent of bringing together some of the professional artists in the area and of presenting our works to the public. After some debate, we decided to call ourselves A.R.T.S., an acronym that stands for "Association of Regional Texas Artists".

We have had several successful shows in the area and have had quite a bit of interest from other artists seeking membership in our group. One of our challenges is to try to locate suitable venues for our upcoming shows. One of our members, Bryan Wetzel, has made connections with the members of the design district in Dallas. He himself is a talented furniture maker and painter. Thanks to his efforts, we are looking forward to taking part in an artwalk that is scheduled for Friday, November 2. This event is destined to attract large crowds of interested art collectors and interior designers.

Our group will be displaying our works at the Pettit Co. http://www.pittet.com/ at 1215 Slocum St. Pettit carries an extensive inventory of unique European furnishings and accessories. They are also know for massive carved fireplaces and other fine home accessories.

I will update this blog with further information about this event.

Carpe Diem!

There is some truth to getting up early and "siezing the day". That's what I did yesterday morning. As soon as my husband left for work at 5:00 am, I decided to leave the comfort of my bed and start the day.

I don't know if you have a routine that you are compelled to do every morning. I do, and unfortunately it really eats up a lot of my time. I like to have my coffee, read the newspaper and do all three cross-word puzzles before I start my day. It's a good thing I'm not working outside of the house or I'd never get to work on time. I managed to get all these "preliminaries" finished before the sun came up. Once I got to my studio, I read my emails, checked my Ebay auctions and did the daily picture puzzle on http://www.jigzone.com/. Finally, I was ready to paint!

I decided to do a collage painting. After searching for a few moments for materials, I applied corrogated cardboard, rice paper, metallic leaf and gloss gel to my canvas. When all this was dry, I started painting. Everything fell in place without a problem and by 9:30 am, I had the finished product..."The Messenger".

This morning, I contemplated repeating yesterday's schedule but fell back into my old routine. They say it takes two weeks to break an old habit. I guess I'd better start working on that one of these days.

You can check my other auctions on ebay at http://stores.ebay.com/BOOTH-Modern-Art-Abstract-Painting_W0QQsspagenameZMEQ3aFQ3aSTQQtZkm

Go to my website http://www.filomenabooth.com to see my entire portfolio.

Southlake Stampede!

Well, my longhorn has finally joined the rest of the herd at Southlake Town Square. Check out all the great submissions by other area artists:

http://www.southlakehistory.org/stampedeartists.shtml

My longhorn is sponsored by Newland Communities, the developer of the proposed new arts league, APEX, to be built in Southlake, Texas. To learn more about APEX, check out: http://www.apexartsleague.org/Center.aspx

It took a while to come up with an appropriate name for my longhorn but after a bit of thought, I came up with "Steerway to the Arts". He's located right in front of Corner Bakery and can be seen from Southlake Blvd. If you're in the area, stop by to see the herd!

A Whole Lotta Bull!

I know I've been talking a lot of "bull" lately. What I mean is that I finally finished the longhorn for the Southlake Stampede - http://www.southlakehistory.org/stampede.shtml. These "longhorns" are part of a public art project celebrating the 50th anniversary of the city of Southlake, Texas. A call to artists went out last year and sponsors were rounded up to choose from the many designs submitted.

My particular longhorn, Steerway to the Arts, celebrates music, dance, theater and the visual arts. I created it specifically for the developers of the new arts center that will be built in Southlake and will serve the entire north Tarrant county area. The proposed arts center, APEX Arts League, will be built by Newland Communities http://http://www.newlandcommunities.com/profile_aventerra.php/. For more information on APEX - http://www.apexartsleague.org/

My longhorn is still in my garage but will soon join the colorful herd that can be seen grazing around the fountain at Southlake Town Square - http://www.southlaketownsquare.com/ and other locations throughout this lovely city.

Now, I can finally get back to my regular painting!