I've gone dotty

I shared a few close up pics of a new painting on my FB/IG stories yesterday. I wanted to share again here too because when you look at the entire painting it can be hard to make out some details. I mentioned a couple of posts back that I'm playing with a paint shaper tool to add a bit of pointellism. I just dip it in the paint and .........

What I'm doing isn't the true definition of pointellism - "a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image" (think Seurat) - but using dots to enhance and add texture to a painting.

Below is the finished painting. If you enlarge it on your screen you can see where I painted the dots. Like the gold leaf I sometimes use and the textured gesso I put on the canvas before painting, sometimes seeing a painting in person is best. A painting can be experiential and doesn't translate as well in a photo. 

still deciding on a title

18x24

20x20

The 2 paintings above are the newest so I don't know what to call them yet. If you have any ideas I'd love for you to share them in the comments! I got on a warm color kick too. Looking back on past work, I seem to have gone through a "blue" period. It seems like everything I paint is mostly blue or cool colors. I don't usually pay much attention to trends, even my own apparently but when I noticed, I decided to play with some hot color for a change. We'll see where things go from here. 

Shimmer

20x20

acrylic and colored pencil

Shimmer was finished before I started the other 2 pieces so it's been added to my website along with the one below that finally has a title. It reminded me and many others of fire so Rekindled became it's name. It makes sense too because I seem to have rekindled a love for hot color!

Rekindled

20x30

And this one below..... I just remembered that I added it to the site but forgot to title it. I've been so focused on painting that I forgot all about it. It's more abstract than the others. Hmmmmm, something will come to me this week while I'm doing other things. I've been super productive in the studio the last couple of weeks so maybe I'm just getting ready to take a few days off with Thanksgiving coming up. My youngest daughter and her family are flying in and I'll have my local grandbabies here with me since they're out of school. It's time to focus on getting some work done around the house and wait for new canvases and gesso to come in the mail.

14x11

I hope you have a wonderful week. Enjoy being with your loved ones, eat good food, relax, and laugh a lot! Happy Thanksgiving!!

A new version of Spring

I did the above painting last year. It's called Spring. I had it hanging at Gallery B for a bit but I took it down because I don't want to display work that I'm unhappy with. It just never sat right with me. It's been hanging around my studio ever since. I kept looking at it, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Then it dawned on me.

I decided to give it the same treatment I gave the one below... Assembly Required

The background of Assembly Required bothered me at first because it was too bright and bold. I didn't like the direction it was going so I switched gears, glazed the background with a mixture of white and acrylic medium to tone it down and then I added elements from nests that I have in the studio.

For Spring, I did the same. I mixed a glaze of white plus medium and applied it so it left a ghost of the image. On top, I added twigs, moss and a leaf I found in the yard. I actually put these bits of nature right on the canvas after it was dry, arranging them until I liked the design. Then I took a photo and printed it to use for a reference. Now the result is a "new" Spring! 

Spring

16x16x1.5

This new version says "Spring" to me much more than it did before. These are the building blocks that birds use every spring to build their nests. Now, how do I categorize it?? Is it a landscape? Is it a deconstructed nest? Is it abstract? Does it need a category? Really it only needs a category to figure out where to place it on my website so I guess for now, click to see it right here in the landscape category. 

Till next time.