Thursday, September 29, 2011

Finally!


The day is here. Tonight is the official unveiling of the Horse Fever II horses. Be on the square in downtown Ocala from 6 to 8 this evening to see 5 of the horses. The rest will be at their locations by Saturday morning. Check out the interactive map to find them. When you click on the horse it takes you to their page and you can see more info about them and the artists. Now I can finally share photos of what I've been up to this summer. Here's some progress pics. I painted Sunny at the studio I share with Kelli (see her horse here). My husband Mark also did a horse for the project. I say 'did' because he did a lot more than paint it. If you're in the area I hope you can see it in person. There's so much more to it than you see in the photo.

 So.... I started with gold leaf. Everyone wondered what I was doing starting with the gold. I don't know why people thought it strange. As far as the painting process it made no difference where I started. I worked with the gold first because it was fun and I was excited to see something shiny!

 Getting into the paint I worked from the top down blocking in the bands of color. I used traditional acrylics for the first layers.
 Once I got into the final layers I started using Open Acrylic to make the blending easier. I added Open medium to the paint to give me even more blending time. I could also do some detail work by doing glazes of color and then lifting out bands with a wet brush to reveal the color underneath.

In the last 2 pics Sunny has his final clear coat and is hanging out at the warehouse waiting to go to his new location. The clear coat really makes the colors pop. I can't wait to see him outside, standing in the sun all bright and shiny. Be sure to go to the map link at the top of the post to find Sunny and all the other horses.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Yesterday, today and crooked signatures

 Pumpkin 5
5x5
acrylic and gold leaf on canvas panel
SOLD

Pumpkin 6
5x5
acrylic and gold leaf on canvas panel
SOLD

Yesterday was all about the pumpkins. Here's 2 of the 3 I painted. I just love doing these lush, round, plump pumpkins. I use gold leaf for the background and Golden's Open acrylic for the fruit. It gives me a little more blending time than traditional acrylics. I do a tiny bit of glazing with color over the gold to give it a little more variety.

 Dusty Pink
5x5
oil on stretched canvas

This was today's painting. I didn't have any pieces with this soft pink color in the series of oil florals I've been doing so I took care of that. The collection is growing. I'll add this one to the Etsy shop soon. It needs a little drying time first. Do you see my signature? Why can't I ever sign my name straight? What is that..... I'm an artist, I can paint. You'd think I could handle putting my name on something so it doesn't look like it's falling off the edge. Maybe that's why I was destined to paint nature and abstracts. If I had a great desire to paint architecture I'd really be in trouble.

Notice there's no signature on the pumpkins. That's because I was too hasty in shooting the photos. I forgot to sign them first and I didn't feel like re-shooting. I'm obviously having identity issues today.

Passage 32
8x8
mixed media on stretched canvas

And now for something completely different, yet continuing in the warm color scheme. This little non-representational piece is made up of layer upon layer of acrylic gels and color washes. I left the brush strokes in the gel layers for texture. I used alcohol on the acrylic layers for yes, more texture. And.... when I wrapped a piece of sea glass in wire and attached it to the canvas I was intrigued by the shadow that the wire cast upon the surface so I painted the shadow in a bright turquoise color as an accent. More fun, I just can't help myself. This one is signed on the side.......

Thursday, September 1, 2011

 Passage 18
8x8
mixed media on canvas

close up

Ok, so here's a departure from my last post. I do love painting those sweet close up florals in oil. I love finding the right composition, just the right way to crop the flower to create an interesting design. I love the blending in oil and the smooth brush stroke. I love nature.

Now here's my other love ~ texture. I love the way the cracks surprise me. I love the thick raised areas and the fine lines of the smaller crackle. I love the spatter of color. I love the contrast of smooth against rough. I love to run my hands over the surface and feel the difference. I love the way color seeps into crevices and deepens. I love the way a color will suddenly run and spread, taking on a life of it's own. I love using natural stones to accent the composition. I love layering and building a painting until I can't find anything else that I would change about it. I love talking to the painting and hearing it answer me back.

I think these painting styles may look different but they're really not that different. The mixed media abstracts are still my vision of natural forms. The shapes still remind me of raindrops splattering on the sidewalk or mud drying and making pieces of earth that look as if they could be plucked right off the canvas. I'm still living in the natural world creating paintings from an abstract perspective.