Sunday, June 5, 2011

this week's piece

It took several weeks to get to a finishing point on this piece. There were many moments when it felt like a lost cause but I kept at. At one point I was ready to cut it up into smaller components but that's my earlier way of managing a bigger work, so I resisted the impulse, luckliy!

One thing I'm finding is how much I love working with pastels. They work beautifully for expressing layers, especially when I rub them in. I find that with the rubbing or gesture, earlier strokes like lines of graphite come through beautifully. It's so visceral to do it directly with my hands too.


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

recepticles

I've been pondering how much I love the shape and fullness of vases or containers of any kind, so decided go for it yesterday. I took some pieces (one of them the work in process from the last post) that felt like they might work in this new vein. I'm going to sit with them for a while as I feel something coming about the fertile fullness of the shapes.




Sunday, May 22, 2011

May swirls and gestures

I'm still working on this piece-in some form. I find it really interesting when an artist posts the process of a piece so that's what I'm going to do here. I can already feel the next step. What I like the most are the layers and what's seen beneath. Let's see what happens!


Sunday, May 1, 2011

works from the end of April

This top piece is a larger work-18 x 24- that I made this week. I'm really happy with it and feel all kinds of next steps. I've used charcoal, pencils, pastels, acrylic paint and my hands. It's an outgrowth of the quick, smaller, idea sketches you see below. The sketches get the work flowing like playing in a sandbox-no constraints, just kid's play. I'm working with a couple of things: expressive gesture and movement and what's expressed with the different line types and then what emerges as I make layer upon layer of color and texture and gesture. I especially like the expansive swirls that feel so playful and freeing. There's something really important and exciting about this non-verbal language I'm exploring and I love getting my hands messy!


I call this piece "Fertility".



Nothing much was happening with this sketch until as an impulse, I did the two final dark curvy lines. Loved the movement and rhthym they brought. A friend picked up on that and said she wanted to see it big! The painting above was born.







Thursday, April 14, 2011

recent sketches

I'm having fun with these recent sketches! They were drawn quickly using charcoal, pastel, oil pastels, pencil, erasers and acrylic paint. I carry my sketch pad wherever I go, giving me a chance to always be working. The process is freeing with many surprises as I keep adding, obscuring and unveiling layers of image. Being very organic, I love the way it unfolds, almost of it's own accord. I'm learning to step out of the way as I'm breaking out of my usual ways of expression. Learning loads and definitely in the student mode. Great place to be.

This process really took off when I found Steven Aimone and his art services on the web. He's written two books, one on design and the other modeled after his workshops called "Live and Learn: Expressive Drawing. A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within". They're really inspired encouraging the artist to break boundaries into their own expression. I'll be taking a workshop of his in the fall. Yay!

Here's the website for Steven Aimone Art Services









This is a larger painting on paper, 18 x 24. I've generally worked small so there's something important and expansive coming with working larger. Very freeing as I keep adding inches. Look for more to come.

I call this piece, Emerging Seed.