Filed under: painting, printmaking | Tags: abstract, acrylic, art, artist, painting, printmaker. visual arts, printmaking, woodblock print, woodcut print
Okay. Remember how I was complaining about the “dusting” of snow the other week? WELL. As those of you in the Northeast well know, now we had something to really cry about. Yes, snow…lots of it…before Halloween. I am lucky to be writing this email at all, as there are many people who are STILL without power. Can you imagine? Not good. Think, “The Shining” but with more, yet likely smaller, houses. Really not good. The scene of our backyard:
Looks worse than that last photo I posted, right? Now, I grew up in upstate New York for my elementary school years. Their snow makes our snow look plain silly. BUT…I do not recall EVER having snow in upstate New York before Halloween. It’s just not right.
I’ll stop whining now.
My son’s halloween costume, which he refused to wear trick or treating but was happy to wear at home in order to help dad with the mail:
No, I did not make that costume. I gave up for two reasons: 1. a crocodile was too complicated to make, and 2. I had a strong suspicion that he would not wear the costume in the first place. Don’t even get me started about the costume that I slaved over last year that he also did not wear. My child finds halloween too stressful. Hmm.
Art-wise…I think that this was a pretty successful week. I had a GREAT printmaking workshop with Catherine Kernan over the weekend. SOOOO GREAT. She does all sorts of crazy things with woodblock prints. I found her to be such a good teacher and very inspiring. Here are my prints from the weekend:
I like it! Next:
It’s odd how different the background paper looks, even though it was the same for all of the prints ( I mean the white area at the perimeter).
I saved that one above from being a muddy mess. Nice!
Catherine really liked that one above. It looks better in real life. Last print:
You can tell if you have a good teacher when the quality of your work really improves. I felt that this was true at this workshop. It was a lot of fun! All of those prints are made from just two blocks.
I also had some success with painting. Here it is:
My teacher really liked it. He had some helpful comments along the way. It also didn’t feel hard to do. I’m wondering if the fact that I was actually in a bit of pain at the time of doing it (think: big headache), somehow helped. Because of that, I wasn’t totally focused. My thoughts kept getting interrupted by my discomfort. This sort of quieted down any inner discussion about judging the work as it progressed, as my mind was preoccupied. Not that I’d like to be in pain when I paint, but I am wondering somehow if it actually was a help! Sound crazy? Perhaps so.
I like the painting anyway. Comments? Everyone have a good halloween? I think that I’ve consumed enough candy to last me until 2013 at least…not that I’m letting that stop me from munching on more “fun size” calorie bombs.
Filed under: Drawing, painting, printmaking | Tags: abstract, acrylic, art, artist, colored pencil, etching press, klimt, painting, portrait, profile, Stencil
Today, my car said it was 32 degrees. That’s cold. I know…talk to me in February…that will seem balmy. Still, I feel like I was wearing sandals just yesterday. Not only is it cold…but it SNOWED last night. Here’s what is left on our yard:
Look at that sad little water table in the background! It can be a skating rink for squirrels.
This week, I definitely made some odd stuff. I decided to dabble again with figurative work. I started by “copying” a face from a Klimt painting:
Klimt’s painting is, of course, stunning. I was just trying to study his way of rendering the face. Then, I did this one:
A little blurry…think of it as a “fuzzy filter” to improve the appearance. Hmm! Then the next one:
Strangely enough, that one looks a little like me. Not on a good day, of course. I showed these to my painting teacher. He said that they were “postmodern”. Hmm. I guess that means anything that isn’t “modern” pretty much. He likes modern painters, like Pollock and De Kooning. So…I think that he prefers much more loose and “painterly” paintings. That means more apparent brushstrokes, etc. As a result, I tried in his class to invent a figure painting that was more painterly:
I know. The red is a bit much. I think that I’ll try again, but with a more neutral color for the figure. It’s hard for me to paint a figure without one in front of me to look at! I know…practice, practice, practice. Detail:
He had some positive things to say…but this might have been to encourage me. He did not like the red, though. Hmm!
In my other painting class, we worked on an long 18″ x 48″ painting. We were told to pick three colors inspired by “regeneration”. Then, we had to mix the colors, and choose one for the background. The shapes were made with stencils that we cut out of paper which were insipred by shapes from green/red peppers. Interesting! The teacher, Adria Arch, is wonderful. I highly recommend taking one of her classes. The outcome:
It was fun to do. I’d flatter myself to think that it looked a bit Marimekko.
In my portrait class, we used colored pencils. I asked why colored pencils never seem to be in “high art”, only commercial art. Who knows??? Somehow, it’s just not seen as a fine art medium. Does anyone out there know of an artist who uses colored pencils? What do you think of his/her work? Here is my profile portrait:
I was really happy with how this turned out. This isn’t a great photo, but I think that I got a good resemblance and the coloring was decent. Maybe I should do portraiture? Only because I enjoy it so much…
Okay…the BIG surprise of this week is….
I have a small etching press!!!!!!!
CHECK. IT. OUT!!!!
Yes, it’s small. But it has a press bed of around 13″ w x 20″ l. This will take some typical sized plates and paper: 8×10 plate…9×12 plate. Ideally, I would have a bigger press. BUT…a bigger press is big $$$$. This little press was being sold by a lovely gentleman in Newburyport. It was his wife’s. I hope that he felt that it was going to a good home. I’m worried that the shoddy desk will collapse under it’s weight. I hope not. I haven’t printed with it yet…CAN’T WAIT!!!!
Filed under: Drawing, printmaking | Tags: art, artist, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, drawing, portrait, printmaking, visual art, woodblock printing
So, this past Friday evening was the opening to the portrait show that I have a drawing in! It’s really VERY low key…but I was excited nonetheless. The show is titled, “See You, See Me: The Art of the Portrait”, and it’s at the Belmont Gallery of Art until November 13, 2011. Here is what some of the works looked like in the first room:
See the two women standing in front of a large painting? The woman on the right is the artist of that painting, and it was so amazing. It appears to be a portrait of her daughter looking at picture books in a sunny, but dark, room. It’s an oil painting, and she’s clearly a talented painter. Her name is Noriko Fox, and here is her website.
This is the room where my drawing was…you can see it on the back wall…just to the left of the guy in black:
closer…
Here it is!
Here is the funniest thing…So, I had to put a title on this drawing. I did not know the name of the model, nor did I know any possible way to find out his name. So, I made up a name…”Michael”. He just looked like a Michael to me. I just didn’t want to call him “Man”, or “Portrait”. WELL…would you believe that there was someone else who had also done a portrait of him? I am not kidding! Of course, she had his correct name, which is “Dan”. My friend, Janet, came to see the show and recognized him and confirmed that his name is really Dan. Sigh. If only I knew that! At least we both did a good job creating a likeness of him, as pretty much everyone recognized that it was the same person!
Some other good news this week is that I sold three prints from the show at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT! I was really happy. Only one of my prints was selected for the official show, but the other two prints were in binders with all of the other prints that didn’t make the cut. However, someone bought not only the one officially in the show, but the other two as well! Not the same person, I’m sure.
My last bit of good news is that my basement workspace is finally furnished, and I’ve moved in! I will show you a photo at some point, but it’s a bit messy right now. I’m preparing for the Arlington Open Studios, so I haven’t had much time to really organize it. I’ve been trying to make progress on packaging all of the prints that I plan to bring to the open studios. Mark it on your calendar! October 15 & 16 from 12-5pm at the Arlington Center for the Arts. I’ll be in the big auditorium space.
Here is part of a woodblock that I have been working on. This was printed by hand, but I’m hoping to print it with a press on Monday. I’ll update you on how it turned out!
Filed under: painting | Tags: acrylic, art, artist, Paint, painting, portrait, self portrait, still life, visual art
My painting teacher asked us to bring in an object to paint, or “present”, in his words. I didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded intimidating. He brought over a Rauchenberg book to show me an example of what he meant when I asked him about it. Hmmm. No pressure. Setting the bar astronomically high…okay. Have I already mentioned that I love Rauchenberg’s work? I probably should have just crawled under my easel at that point, but I didn’t. Maybe if I had a stuffed goat and a tire, I might be able to sort of get within the same solar system as Rauchenberg’s work. Maybe not.
Anyway, I picked a small elephant toy that I’ve had since I was a kid. My childhood friend, Anita, gave it to me. Her dad was from India, and they went there on vacation. So, here is my little elephant…in pretty good shape if you consider how old it is…
Cute, right? He doesn’t stand up well, and tends to tip forward. I think that either his trunk puts him off balance, or his front legs are a little too short. I empathize.
So, here is my painting of this little guy:
I’m happy with it. I mean…it’s no Rauchenberg. I know. Trust me. This is what happens when you don’t crawl under your easel. I’ve always thought that still life painting was kind of…ummm…not so exciting. I gravitate towards abstract and messy art, so still lifes are so…well, still. Maybe I need to try it again? My teacher said nice things about it. Again, I know. He has to walk that delicate line of being somewhat frank, but not completely squelching me with reality. It’s only my third class, so I think that he’s still trying not to scare/offend anyone. He mentioned that three people left one of the other classes that he teaches, so perhaps he was worried about making the beginners in the class, like myself, run as well. Comments?
So, I’m still not done with this odd/icky self portrait. I know. Just paint over the whole thing and start again. My teacher suggested some abstract colored blobs to break it up a bit:
I don’t know. I’d like to help it somehow, but it might bother me too much to keep working on it. This is one of those painful confrontations with reality. I need to go out and buy a lot more titanium white to fix this thing. Maybe just getting a large tub of gesso and a paint gun would do the trick…I think that I get points for even posting it though, right? Maybe not. Sigh.
Filed under: painting | Tags: acrylic, art, artist, Canvas, charcoal, figurative, Paint, painting, portrait, visual art
For one weekend every year, my husband and I go back to where we were married…sans enfants. Thanks to the generosity of my mom who is willing to watch my son, we can have a weekend escape! I know. How lucky! We go to the place where we were married in the Berkshires. It’s SO lovely…so quiet…just the noise of the wind moving through the trees. Ahhhh. I wish that I could bottle that and bring it home. Perhaps that’s what those Bose noise cancelling headphones are like…sounds appealing.
So, I’m thinking about my next painting class coming up. My teacher suggested figurative work. I like drawing people, so perhaps I’ll like painting them too! I made an effort not to “draw” the paintings. Don’t get me wrong…I love the way that drawn lines look in a painting. I just thought that I’d try to keep my paintings truer to the medium. I basically reworked the two canvases that I had started in class. This proved to be a challenge, as both canvases were VERY textured. I mean…REALLY textured. So, it was tough to do something on top that wasn’t abstract. Here was the first one, based upon a suggestion by my teacher:
I think that you can see what I’m talking about with the “extreme” texture. Here is a close up:
Okay, it wasn’t an assemblage, but still. It was really tough to paint over that goopy surface. Anyhoo…this was kind of fun. I liked using the odd colors too. I decided to do another one:
Hmm. I layered this one a bit more, as I felt that it needed something to tie the abstract background with the portrait. Perhaps I need to be a bit more abstract with the portraits. Hmmm…
I’ve started another one, but this time…I began with a charcoal drawing on the canvas. I have also added some texture to the canvas, but it actually relates to the image, as opposed to the two paintings above. We’ll see how this one goes!
I found that the charcoal sort of smeared when I went over it with the acrylic medium, so I actually put most of the medium on the background.
I’ve also got a woodblock that I have to make some progress on. I’m not using the gourmet shina plywood, but some other plywood from Woodcraft, a store in Woburn. This is a royal pain. I’m so spoiled with the shina plywood. This other plywood splinters, is hard to cut, and is a general pain. It’s made me sort of drag my feet about carving it. I need to finish it up though! Hopefully, I’ll have some prints next week to show of it.
The opening reception for the portrait show that I have a drawing in is this Friday! So, if you are in the area…please stop by the Belmont Gallery of Art between 6-8pm on Friday. I’ll be there!
Filed under: painting | Tags: abstract, acrylics, art, artist, Paint, printmaking, Visual Arts
So, I’m happy to say that my portrait drawing was accepted in the show at the Belmont Gallery of Art. Yay! This is a show titled, “See you, See me”, and it’s only portraits. I saw some of the other works when I was dropping off my drawing. Should be interesting! (You can see what the drawing looks like in my September 8 blog post). The show opens on September 30 and runs through November 13. Please stop by!
This weekend, I went to the Hyde Park Open Studios. This was great, as my printmaking teacher, Selma Bromberg, has her studio there. Her work is really beautiful. She draws gorgeous flowers, then turns the drawings into prints. She was doing a woodblock demonstration when I arrived. I also saw Prilla Smith Brackett, whom I met at my woodblock print class. She’s primarily a painter, but is starting to work more with prints. Her work was also lovely. It was fun to see some of the completed woodblock prints that she began in class.
My painting class is still fun. My teacher did not like the big paintings that I brought in. He likened one of them to a “shower curtain”. I can tell you all of this as I’ve gone through many an architecture crit, and have heard it all. I really appreciate his honesty. I think that he’s a good teacher. Let’s see if I can learn something, though! He wants me to try figurative work, as that’s my background (as evidenced by the portrait drawing). Hmm…okay…we’ll see! I also did a few mini-paintings. These are only 6″ x 8″.
It was fun to work on these tiny canvases…
I may have to revisit all of these…we’ll see…
On another note…I’m horribly disappointed that the portrait class that I’m signed up for will likely be cancelled. It’s called “The Expressive Portrait”, and it’s at the Arlington Center for the Arts. We need THREE more people in order to have the class. I’m so sad, as it’s highly unlikely what we’ll get them in the time left. Having a class cancelled on you is so frustrating. I’ve had this happen several times. I’m always dumbfounded when it does happen. You mean…not EVERYONE wants to take this class??? WHY NOT???? I’ve tried to send out emails, etc. to other people who might be interested in signing up. No luck so far. If you’re interested…PLEASE sign up! Seriously. Do it now. No joke.
I wish that there wasn’t a minimum number for a class. I mean…don’t I count at all? Doesn’t my enthusiasm make up for the low enrollment???? I guess not…*DRAMATIC SIGH*
Filed under: painting, printmaking | Tags: absract, art, artist, Paint, painting, printmaking, visual art
So, today was my last open print studio at Cambridge Adult Ed. It was great to spend time with Paula and Cindy (hello, if you’re reading this!!!). They are both accomplished artists, so I look to them for advice and suggestions. Today, Paula suggested that I try to incorporate my drawing skills (limited), with the abstract work that I am so interested in. As I struggled to think of something to “draw” today, I just looked around the studio for inspiration. We share the printmaking studio with clay, jewelry, and…woodworking! So, my subject today turned to the drill press. Yes…inspiration can truly be found anywhere. Here was my first print:
That’s slightly wonky, right? Anyway, when I did it in studio…I was not impressed. But now that I look at it again, it’s kind of interesting. Cindy remarked how one’s frame of mind really affects how we view our artwork. Old watercolor paintings that she had previously set aside were better than she remembered when looked at anew. Distance makes the heart grow fonder? Maybe. The second one:
I can’t really make a series about drill presses…as those are the only two that they have! Maybe a power tools series in general would be interesting…not sure what that’s all about.
I also worked on some VERY messy paintings. These were very fun…albeit a big mess. Here is the first one:
I know. Garish colors. I kind of like garish colors, though. I feel like that person on the current season of Project Runway who feels compelled to “BEDAZZLE” everything. If only I’d had some glitter… a detail:
Messy fun! Then, I did ANOTHER messy one. Seriously. You’ll see…blobs of paint everywhere…
I know…right? Another “hot mess”. Another Project Runway reference…I need to get a life. Detail:
Then I decided that less is definitely not more, so I did ANOTHER super chaotic one:
I know that if I was at school, a teacher would have taken away my paints by now. Boo!
Detail:
Doesn’t it look like the melted ice cream in the bottom of your bowl when you have slathered on a grotesque quantity of colored sprinkles? By the way…what ARE sprinkles anyway? Have you ever eaten them straight? They’re disgusting. Like little wax chips…and the chocolate ones are no better.
Okay…so tell me the truth about the messy “paintings”. (notice that “paintings” is in quotes). What do you think? Keep the messy stuff for when I’m eating ice cream only? Should I put away my paints permanently? Should I have my artistic license revoked? Hmpfh.
Wish me luck on that portrait show. I’ll break the good/bad news to you when I find out myself!
Filed under: painting, printmaking | Tags: abstract, acrylic, art, artist, monotype, painting, printmaking
So, I started a new class. It’s called “Supercharged Painting”. VERY fun so far. Lots of messy, gloppy stuff. This week, we were playing around with acrylic mediums to create texture in our work. So, I have two canvases that I started…but there is no color yet. I kind of like them plain…but they won’t stay that way! First one:
It’s hard to see in a photo, but these blobs are different textures…some gritty…some smooth…
In Christian Siriano’s words…it does look like a “hot mess”. That’s okay. It will get worse…trust me… :p
The other canvas:
I think that I upped the contrast on this image too much, but you get the idea. Big blobs! What fun!
Most of the other students in the class are “regulars”. There are only a few of us that are new. The “regulars” all know what they’re doing…and it was sooo great! It’s so amazing to be surrounded by so many talented artists! I loved watching them work. When I find out their names (beyond their first name), I can put some links in my posts so that you can see what they are doing.
Last week, I had a so-so time in the print studio. A motley array of prints:
Hmmmm… Next one:
Hmmm…
I liked some of the color combinations in that one…
Here are others more on the theme of what I did last week:
And the other:
Those prints get a sustained, “hmmm”, from me. Comments? Thoughts? This week’s class will probably be my last one for the year. Let’s see what happens!
I had coffee with a local artist, Regina Valluzzi. Please check out her work. She is really having some great success, and was so kind in making suggestions for me. We weren’t discussing our artwork, specifically, but were just talking about the local art scene. She’ll be at the Arlington Open Studios (as will I) in October. Please stop by and see her work firsthand! She currently has a show at the Blue Glass Gallery in the lobby of the Hancock tower in Boston. Go see it!
Filed under: Drawing | Tags: art, artist, charcoal, drawing, portrait, sanguine, Visual Arts
A while ago, I took a portrait drawing class. This is really one of my favorite things to do. I don’t know why, but I really do love drawing people’s faces. But when I am not in a class, I find it really hard to do so. I mean, who is going to sit still long enough? Nobody. The other thing about this is…I don’t think that I would necessarily want these drawings hanging up in my house. I love crazy abstract art. I am less inclined to like realistic art. So…these are attempts at realistic images of people that I don’t even KNOW. Why would I put these drawings on my wall? Hmmm. I am considering taking another portrait class, just because I love doing it, but I’m not sure. If I don’t like the end products, then why do it? Or, is that just me being too “product/end result” oriented? Here are the drawings. Note how the corners of them got crumpled in the attic. Sheesh. I need a flat file.
I’ve managed to flatten that one out a bit. I may try to enter it in a portrait show. Who knows. I don’t think that it is really “original” enough, but we’ll see. He was kind of a character. Here is the second drawing:
She got quite crumpled. Hmm…I will have to work on that. I managed to crop my feet standing next to the drawings, as I thought that would look odd. This was a hard pose to draw, as a profile doesn’t give much depth. A 3/4 view is always better. In a crowded class, though, you can’t always get the good spot.
I’m still chasing after abstract art. Is it futile for me? I’m not saying that these drawings are amazing…but I have some modicum of ability here. Should I keep going with the portaits, or try out the crazy abstracts, which I love?
I have a painting class that starts next week. Wish me luck! I’m hoping it will help me a bit.
Hey, if anyone out there wants to sit still for a few hours so that I can try to draw you, let me know. No, you’re not allowed to fall asleep! I also don’t want to draw someone with a “zoned-out/tv-coma” face. Not a good look.
Filed under: printmaking | Tags: abstract, art, artist, Jacob Hashimoto, print, printmaking, visual art
I was lucky enough to get to go to the print studio today, thanks to my mother who watched my son for me. There were only three of us there, so we REALLY spread out. When given the chance, printmakers are like molasses…oozing out in every direction, taking up more and more and more space. I guess in the “heat of the moment” while working on a print, you just grab any space you can get to put something down, or to work on. The more plates that you work with for a single print also means that you need more and more room. ANYWAY…it was a great luxury today to be there and to have so much room.
I felt that it was a productive day. Some days, I’m just off and the whole thing becomes so frustrating. This day was better…probably because the studio was quiet and roomy. It’s hard to think when it’s crowded, there is a line to use the press, and you have no space to work. Here is the first print that I did:
Not my favorite…it wasn’t going well, and then I added the thin, black layer. This helped. I may have to revisit this one…but I’m going to leave it alone for now. Next:
This one was also just okay…I like the bright colors, but the textures did not turn out as I had hoped. It was a bit of an experiment, so I learned a bit…well, a bit of what didn’t quite work. The black helped this one too. Next:
I like that one, and it was a bit of a happy accident. This was what was left on one of my plates from working the previous prints. Odd, right? The textures are delicate and interesting. Maybe I can get better at this, and fine tune it a bit more. Next:
So, I ran out of paper, and started to use these long scraps that I had. It was fun to do the full bleed printing and the vertical format. These three vertical ones work together well…a classmate suggested that I keep going with this series…
I like that one too.
I realize now that I should have taken a picture with all three together. So, I’ll mash them together in photoshop, instead:
Hmmm! Maybe I should keep going with these. They would also be fun to turn into an artist book. I’d love to do that. Maybe that’s what I’ll work on next time…
Comments? Artists that I should look at?
Here’s an artist that EVERYONE should look at. Check out Jacob Hashimoto. I WORSHIP his work. So stunning…I have yet to see it in person, but I hope to do so some day. Has anyone seen his work first hand? If so, tell me what you think!
So lovely…
slightly wonky 