I think it's time to post some of the abstracts that I have been working on. Trying to put together enough work to have a show in February. It's Christmas day and I am snowed in maybe today will be productive!

Another Rainy Day

Today was yet another rainy day in Sioux City. It's Saturday and the 2nd annual Art Walk was taking place. The Walk was a little damp and soggy but I did enjoy the day, reconnecting with old artist friends. In the end... there is just never enough art!

Class was bumped to the annex which wasn't all bad. It's easier access and less pretentious than upstairs at the art center. Today we used a palette knife only to create our painting. Mark set up a composition of wooden figure models on top of a pile of beanie babies...nice. Any way, our task at hand was to create movement, using the palette knife only, putting down thin layers to create a layering structure and extract a general feeling about what the figures are doing, such as walking through leaves or distorted body poses with various shapes and colors, gravitas and blah blah blah. My painting does have movement almost like people charging out of hell and yelling. It was fun....I think I need more palette knife experience.

Class

I am sure you are saying....oh another dull boring blog entry. Sorry but I was really excited about this class. Previously we talked about extracting things out of a painting and doing master studies. It was very interesting and definitely made my brain stretch. The next exercise was to cut out various shapes from a magazine and arrange them to create an interesting composition. Once that was done we then extracted things out of that composition and began sketching ideas for a potential painting. After the initial sketches were made we took an element out of the sketch and began putting paint on canvas. To me this was very therapeutic and I really enjoyed creating layers. I struggle with values and sometime feel that my paintings are overall at the same level of intensity. I began by putting in darker areas to create depth. I had some oil pastels so I used those to bring out my lights. I really enjoyed seeing how the colors popped off of each other. I am a color freak! The result I used as my header in my blog, I was very pleased with it. This photo shows the collage then abstracting on paper, then the final product. I know this type of art isn't for everyone but I truly wish everyone could experience what it felt like to make it!

Christmas cacti and turtles.

Today's class was about the layering structure in a painting. Using efficiency instead of drudgery. Using transparent layers to create a complex effect. Its actually a very straight forward process creating a complex look. One thing we were supposed to take note on was how objects interact with each other. Also to look for objects of the same nature repeat themselves in the painting creating a very cohesive piece. I struggle with using the same brush strokes throughout out my painting and it was suggested that I switch to a much small brush to force myself to make different strokes. Each of us painted the same Christmas Cactus but they all had a very individual look. This painting was layed out in alizerin crimson.

Non-Objective Art

Non Objective Art
Today’s lesson started with discussion of an article about “did the Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock hide his name amid the swirls of a one of his paintings? “ This led into using something tangible to create a non-objective piece of art. There is a gap between lack of imagery and emotional response. Non objective art is just that….no recognizable object. Color shape & line are used capture this exact moment and infuse energy creating an emotional response. You can use lots of tools to get the different effects, today’s purpose was to free up our brains and allow us to put past behaviors & habits away and be completely free to express whatever was going on at that moment. Sometimes small finishing touches can push the painting to be completed. Such as with this painting, it didn’t come together until the areas of black white were laid out. A non-objective piece of art is an art piece where you can't recognize the things inside. Meaning, you see the art piece and you may have a few ideas as to what it’s depicting, but you can't really say for sure what it is because there are just too many possibilities. They are normally made to give the viewer a certain emotion when they see it. That is the goal of non-objective art…to create an emotion response. Pickup up a paintbrush and try it!

Art Class w/MK

I am currently enrolled in an acrylic painting class with a local sioux city artist. We have had two sessions and it has been a refreshing and enlightening experience. Today's post is a very quick drawing then extremely quick wash of a still life. Just trying to get used to putting paint on paper again and will be learning new techniques for applying paint....who knows what I will use to put paint down with. There are no rules. Actually there are rules and you need to know them before you can intentionally break them. The class seems very promising and there are a variety of students with extremely precise drawing skills. It will be a challenge for me. Keep you posted on next week.

An exciting thing happened, my sketchbook from 2006 was found at the Art Center. I was a little hesitant about opening it up feeling failure as I held it close to me. But, inside what I saw was a very focused person with detailed drawings narrative about what direction I wanted each peice to go. Even a few news paper clippings. I listed medium formulas, glazes, and inserted examples of they way I wanted a painting to turn out. Oh to be that focused again. I will, I shall, I can. This painting was one of Bailey on the beach. I wrote a couple of pages about the painting and sketched it out several times before attempting it. Some time the first year of painting is the most exciting.....before you start judging yourself.

unfinished business

OK enough of social networking, I need to get down to some serious creating. I have started painting a little again. For some reason I don't seem to finish anything, not sure if it's because the painting subjects are so varied or what. Anyway here are a few pieces that are so called orphans.....really no home and really not complete.

At least it's a start.

After about 6 months of not painting, I finally picked up a brush last week and began working on a floral piece. It started out as a challenge from one of my painter friends. Florals are not a subject that I usually paint. We took pictures of a flowering crab apple tree and were both going to paint using the same reference photo and see what each of our interpretations would be. My work is much different than hers, and this project helped get me out of my painting rut. It felt good to get a brush back in my hands. Painting is very relaxing for me and helps me get to know myself. Here is first glimpse of my crab apple tree, using only about 3 colors and water soluble oils still not sure if I like them..... I miss the smell of turpentine.

Never say never.

I said it once and I will say it again....I'll never have a rummage sale again. That was the event for the weekend. After hours and hours of sorting, hauling, stacking and marking I think I made a whole $70.00. Oh well, sometimes the payoff is in the moment. For instance who would have thought that Frank our pet gorilla would have been bought by a nice couple in convertable and wisked away. I found all kinds of silver jewelry that I had forgotten and even some items that took me down memory lane....back to my Texas roots. Now that it's over.....the task for the day? Load up the remainder of items and head to Goodwill. Maybe I should have just done that in the first place.

Springtime in the Midwest

This is the time of year that I have to eat my words...... I have to chew up all those negative comments I made complaining about the long Iowa winters. It's amazing how beautifu foliage can make you forget the long winters. This time of year the flowering crab apple & purple leaf plums begin to bloom in all their glory. Here is a picture of one outside my office building. These beautilfu trees are all over town creating eye candy on every corner. Next will be the tullips, then lilacs, then peonys. Coming from West Texas, I was amazed by the synronised blooming each week during spring. My friend and I took lots of pictures of this tree in hopes of great paintings for the future. Enjoy!

Everybody loves Fridays don't they? There is so much hope, and so much possibilty, we can't wait to get started doing exactly what we want to do right? This painting is named "Red" I love it because she is a woman contemplating......Maybe she is contemplating what to do on her weekend. For Nikki........

Ok, so now I am compelled to put something on this blog other than my face....how about the painting "Bungalow in Pink". This is an oil on canvas painting that I painted looking out my back porch across the street. I love making the everyday ordinary sites into beautiful paintings. It's hard to improve on a beautiful sunset that was created by God but it takes real creativity to make a little bungelow house in the poor part of town look beautiful. When the art professor at Morningside college saw this painting he told me I had a very painterly style. I took that as a complement. This is a typical style of the houses here in the Mid-West. I hope you enjoy this work. By the way....this is my Sister Carla's painting.

Hey, Hey, Hey......you know sometimes when you have this elusive date set way in the future that you only think about occasionally and feel it's way too far in the future to contemplate? Well that just happened to me yesterday, that's right Fif-tee, the big five-oh, five decades, five-diddly-oh, ten till sixty, five-dash-zero....it arrived yes it did. I kicked, screamed and protested but all along I knew it was inevitable. I actually had an amazing show of support from friends, co-workers and family to help me celebrate my birthday. What I thought was the end of an era in my life as I know it turned out to be a refreshing show of support to me, and gave me great hope for the future. I was showered with gifts, fresh flowers, cards and lots of decorations. I am very fortunate to have many people that care about me. Now....the great part is that I get to plan the next 25!

First Time

Hi, here I am a miss-placed Texan living in Iowa just doing what I do.....creating art. I'll start with a picture of me with some of my art work in the background and see where this takes off. This is the first time that I have ever blogged before....pretty exciting stuff.