Making Marks

Back from Vacation

I love where the ocean meets the shore. I adore beaches in Hawaii, Australia, and Oregon. The sea splashing against rocky crags in California, Alaska and BC also gets my heart pumping. Like many people, I find the rhythmic sound and sight of the waves soothing. So, this trip to Tofino, British Columbia, was a real treat. The photo here is a view from our room!

Our luck with the weather was terrific. We had a couple of days of misty rain and several days of brilliant sun. I liked the mystery of a few clouds or fog the best.

Along with the magnificent views, I was enchanted by seaweed. Upon close inspection, one side of seaweed has amazing designs and patterns. I may be starting a series of paintings in response to the linear layers in the landscape and patterns in seaweed I saw on this trip.

Here's an alternate view from the room. This one looks out the window from our huge soaking tub. What luxury!

Notions, Transitions and Sentiments

When I started painting the Circles Series, I would describe my frame of mind as very much thinking about circles. The images are literal. The colors are layers and layers of paint applied as I was working out the ideas I wanted to convey about circles. One element that has continually fascinated me has been little bits of color peeking out from behind the top layer of something. (I think if graffiti in addition to fine art examples.) Because of my emphasis on thinking about the shape, the first part of this series will have "notions" in the title. (I'm still working on exact titles for each piece.)

I made sense of the second part of the series after seeing all the paintings together. One example is posted here (the red on a green background) and another was posted earlier. They definitely express my development of the series,  linking the other two groups. As a result, they will have "transitions" in the titles. This group has seven paintings, and they have also undergone myriad layers of development and paint.

The final group is a significant change from the original "notions" group and reflects an integration of my previous work (in nature themes) with the circles theme. The shapes have an organic quality and are inspired in part from sea foam on the sand and river rocks. These pieces will have "sentiments" in their titles.

Thoughts on a Series

It started as a simple enough concept - paint circles. Try different media (from cold tar to glazing medium), different application methods (brushes to rags to palette knives) and use a simple shape as a focal point. Of course it was not that easy. Like many projects, I've experienced highs and lows and learned about myself and the artistic process over the past seven months.

This piece (8" x 8") was started in January. It's been through several significant changes, the most recent of which was adding an image transfer. I really liked the designs I created in Wild's class at Sitka, and this painting needed some pattern in the background. I drew designs and spent some time at the photo copy machine enlarging (to about 400%) and lightening them to create a pattern to use for an image transfer.

The series of 29 paintings are divided up into three groups. The first one is "Notions" because I was very much thinking through what I was doing. Each piece is painted on gallery wrapped canvas and the sides are painted a color from one of the circles.

I've now applied a layer of gel medium to all the work and it's time to start varnishing. Just a few more steps until they are ready for the opening on Sept. 7th: photography, titling and hanging.

Circles Everywhere

Yesterday I went shopping at several large chain stores, and I saw circles in the art prints at each place! It was eerie and strange because I've been working on circle motifs for my show at Lunaria in September.

This is Kandinsky's work, Farbstudie Quadrate, painted in 1913. I wonder if this work settled into my subconscious years ago and has been percolating there.

I'm not yet ready to share what I've done. I hope to post some examples here and the whole 29 paintings on my website in a week or so. I want to sit with them for a little while to see if they need any adjustments.

Taking a Line for a Walk

In March, I posted about  classes I wanted to take this summer at Sitka. The anticipation was fun, but taking a class last week was even better. The piece on the left was completed in Rebecca Wild's class inspired by Paul Klee. We created our own alphabet based on our signature and used the symbols throughout the workshop. I enjoyed both her process and the results so much that I went out and got the supplies to keep going with the ideas I learned.

I've never considered myself to be into drawing, but this workshop opened up the possibility to me.

During the student introductions  at the beginning of class, almost half of the people said had taken a class from her before and they would take any class from Rebecca Wild. I thought it was hyperbole, but she really is a terrific instructor. She's full of information, supportive, and yet also encourages students to explore on their own. (I would link to her work if I could.) Thank you, Rebecca!