Sunday, September 30, 2012

Something New (to me)







2012
6x5
encaustic monotype










I probably should have waited until I got a better photo as the color is a little off, but I am just so excited by this medium & process!
I have only just begun to experiment with making monotypes with encaustic, and I am loving it.



Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Palette Scrapers




2012
5x7
oil








When I have paint left over on my palette I just can't throw it out.
 I would rather waste a small canvas than the paint.

After these "palette scrapers" dry, I go back into them and try to turn them into something.

This one reminds me of a small landscape my mother had of a man hoeing a field under a moody sky.  It was painted by her step-mother's uncle,  F.W. Jackson, a minor British painter active during the late 1880's and into the early 1900's.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Figure Abstraction


Yellow Beret
2012
10x8
oil




Okay, I know this painting is a little strange.  But I am posting it because it feels like a leap in progress towards my goal to work with the figure in a very abstract manner.

I am trying to hybridize my figurative work with my non-objective, abstract work.  It would seem simple enough, but it has proven to be challenging.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Cold Wax




Peril
2012
14x11
oil with cold wax



Here's my first experiment with cold wax medium with oil paint.



I am finding it interesting to work with.


It is a natural for me in that I tend to use knives and spatulas more than brushes and because I have a process that works both additively and subtractively.

I also like that the layers dry faster with the wax medium.

Nevertheless, I still have much to learn before I feel really comfortable with this medium.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Another try at Still Life

Three Glass Bottles
2012
24x24
oil


Here is another still life I did last month.

Perhaps it seems strange for me to make such a restrained painting, but it was a great experience for me to go about this is a very methodical fashion.

I feel like I learned a lot making it, and I do like the resulting image.

There are just enough quirky spots in it to keep it lively for me.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Portrait of a Woman in Red
2012
10x8
oil


This painting went through some pretty radical changes before I settled
on this rendition.






At one point, I used a piece of paper to lift off excess paint, and got an interesting monoprint. It won't last, though as it in oil on untreated paper.

Friday, September 7, 2012

13th Annual Roddy Competition

Golgotha
2012
36x36
oil














I am really pleased that this recent painting of mine has been selected by juror, Jen Mergel, Senior Curator of the Contemporary Collection at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to be included in the 13th Annual Frances N. Roddy Competition at the Concord Art Association.

Frankly. I was a little uneasy about this painting, as religious imagery is not my "thing", but this was one of those paintings that just sort of emerged, and I felt confident in its strength.

What I was thinking about as I painted it was the persistence of brutality that humans inflict on one another.
Specifically, I was thinking about the current bloodshed in Syria.
Perhaps the image of the crucifixion is my way of hoping that something good can rise for the ashes of violence.

Show runs from September 13 through October 14th, 2012
opening reception Thursday, September 13th 6-8 p.m.

Concord Art Association
37 Lexington Rd., Concord, MA
978-369-2578 or http://concordart.org/ for hours and information



Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Painting out at West Hill Park




Marsh,
Late Summer
2012
18x24
oil





A group of us sporadically get together and attempt some plein air landscape painting.

On Labor Day, we met in Uxbridge, MA at West Hill Park & Dam .

It was a gorgeous summer day.

This was the result of my second painting. The first was too tight, as usual. I have since reworked it, and I think it might turn into something nice.

This one feels done. I'm not going to touch it!

A special thanks to George Hancin for organizing and hosting this time around.