Setting Up

I found myself enjoying the feeling of nupastels.  They are on the hard end of soft pastels and come in long thin square sticks.  I like to use them because I love to draw above all and I get the chance to experiment with line and and shape.  I started this painting with a watercolor under painting in compliments.  I tend to cover up most of my original painting, so why do it?  It loosens me up.  It is rhythmic and relaxing and gets me on the map.  So when I place that first mark down with soft pastel it doesn't stand alone.  It is a mark that feels right or doesn't because of what is already down in the under painting.  Silly, maybe, but it is my process of warming up to the surface and feeling my way through.  It works for me.  Sometimes I just lay it down with strong strokes in a very alla prima style, but today I love tickling the paper and let line build slowly and securely.  It is a different style that is directly related to me and my personal feeling about the journey from start to finish.

"Setting Up", 12x12 soft pastels on wallis paper

Chemers Gallery
17300 Seventeenth Street, Suite G, Tustin, CA 92780
714.731.5432     info@chemersgallery.com

A BIT OF CITRUS

8x8, oil, $100.00

Yesterday was a fun painting day.  I love setting up still lifes.  So on most Fridays I have the opportunity to set up a few still lifes for a wonderful group of painters and then I get to paint.  The hardest thing is deciding which one to do.  On a very good day I have done three of varying degrees of my abilities.  This meaning that I hope to have one that feels complete.  That does not always happen, but I learn lots about my focus.  It is so important to ask myself questions and to stay on task.  Art is a discipline.  As an artist I study all the time.   I read and look at lots of work.  Each painting I do reflects something I am working toward.  This one reflects brushwork, color, form and shape.   Now there are things in this painting that disturb me, but for the most part I am happy enough to post it here for all to see.  And for the disturbing things, I know what I need to work on. 

"THREE PART HARMONY"

6x6, raymar panel, sold

Here is another of the paintings completed on the Dewberry/Cooper Paint A Thon day.  I was so happy to push my colors beyond my comfort.  Love days like this.

"LOV'IN COLOR"

6x6, oil on raymar panel, $75.00

This was a great day of painting and chatting.  Dana Cooper came to paint with me for the day.  It was a little crazy as my house had lots of activities going on and in the middle of everything easels and still life set ups.  Having another painter to bounce ideas off of and simply have a fresh eye is wonderful.

"WALL FLOWER"

6X6, oil on canvas panel, $70.00

This little flower was pushed to the wall which was a box that kept moving.  I was sort of taken with the light on the glass reflecting in the water.

"BRIGHTEN THE DAY"

6x6 oil on canvas panel, $70.00

These little flowers grow beautifully in a friends front yard.  She brought me a bouquet and i thought I would paint them.  I had such trouble with the perfect symmetry of the flower and how the petals go straight out like a helicopter propeller.  They just don't look real.  After playing with them for a while I just thought I would go with it and paint them that way.  

"ALWAYS CUT THE STEMS"

8x6, oil on canvas panel, sold

I bought these sunflowers to paint and they immediately started drooping as I meantioned in my last posting of "Cut Flowers". I realized that I brought them home through them in water to paint and did not cut the stems. So this time I cut the stems quite a bit to see if I could bring them back and sure enough it did.

 

Bursts of Color 7x5 acyrlic

Played some more. Lost my values more than I would like, but didn't realize till the end. This is an issue for me. I pulled out my red filter and could see that I abandoned the full range of values. So much to work on and put to practice. Good thing I love the process!!!

From the Bluff at Back Bay 24x12 oil

Finally got to do a painting. I decided to work from a photo on my computer. I can't tell you how many photos I have taken and sit there on my hard drive. I am sure many of you can relate. I wanted to work bigger than usual and start using up canvas' that I have collected. They take up lots of space when just sitting there blank. Best to commit to there fate and move them along.

This came from a photo of a much larger view. The thing with the Back Bay is that it is a subject that gets a lot of attention. I wanted a different view and format then typical. My friend Cindy lives close and we went out painting on her bluff. I painted the other side of this with a house structure and tree with a path, "Breezy View Point". I was quite taken with the bougainvillea and wanted to work it into a shot of the bluff. It is tricky when having such a predominate and recognizable subject in the background of a busy color area like bougainvillea. I am still studying it to see what else needs to be done or not. Any in put would be appreciated.

Hydrangea In Pink 10x8 oil

Here is another in the hydrangea series.  I have not taken as much care setting up lately.  I tend to cut a flower out of the yard and plop it in the window.  This makes for confusing light.  I have the light in the room and the light coming through the window.  It kinda kills any drama.  I just want to paint right now.  Not a lot of concern for the details.  Just practicing moving paint around and mixing.  

This painting now belongs to Kate!