Spring
« Previous Entries Next Entries »The Shavingbrush Tree
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
The Shavingbrush Tree in front of a flowering Jacaranda tree seen in Chapala, Mexico, 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, work in progress. Thumbnail, left: started March 31st
The last painting helped me more aware of how powerful contrasts of light and dark can be. Here, areas of primer will be purposely be left unpainted. I was going to just carefully avoid the white areas and paint around them, but during the second phase I dripped some of the masking fluid to block out a few details in the main flowers. Already it is a very different painting process-wise; right from the start it has felt like a complicated puzzle; that stage doesn’t usually appear until near finishing. The first stages of painting are usually the most liberating but since I never pencil in an outline before painting, I fought a lazy brain right from the start that did not want to map out the placement… which doesn’t make sense because I really really want to paint this one! These are not typically the colors I use either, so there are a few intimidating factors. I hope to maintain fresh, bright Easter colors — partly because this is when they bloom in Mexico. Painting is much like a runner hitting “the wall” but persevering and breaking through it…however in painting there are many walls to conquer.
Oxide Gallery
There are a few pieces hanging at Oxide Gallery, Denton, TX for the next three months: Rocky Mountain Vista, Zen Garden #6, and all four recent encaustic works.
End of Tulip Season
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Finished today: added some life to End of Tulip Season, 14H x 11W oil pastels on paper.
Images of progress
Except for the fact that paper has a limit to how much it can be reworked before it starts stretching, I could keep revising these drawings in the Paper Places series continually! Some of them are finished in a day, and truly finished. Some drawings seem OK when they are finished, but have areas that are not quite there yet, so they are left for a month or a year or two then taken out and reworked. It’s great exercise playing with color and composition. Some are taken too far, but with regard to learning, effort is never wasted. Change characterizes this series too; change of place, change of time, change of styles, changing what’s already been changed.
Magnolia blossom
Monday, May 19th, 2008
Magnolia trees require so much energy to bloom, when they do the older leaves die and drop to the ground, temporarily leaving a rather shabby-looking tree and leaves on everyone else’s yard too. Above: a honey bee checks out the other side of a flower, and next: a flower in transition.
Plans for Sun Shower 04
Saturday, May 17th, 2008
I inadvertently leaned the large painting of Maple Leaves near the framed photo of Sun Shower 03 that hasn’t made its way to storage yet after a show.
Ever since I took that photo, left, last summer I have wanted to use the idea of dramatic light rays in a painting, but not until this morning did I think to use it in Maple Leaves. One idea leads to another; I’m also going to use some tricks I learned during the painting of Sun Shower 01 (2007) where Watercolor masking medium was dotted on the canvas with a toothpick in areas where I wanted water droplets to remain white or lighter in color.
The thumbnails here are details of that work. It worked great but I removed it too soon before finishing and the results weren’t as obvious as I had hoped, so this is another chance to try again. This time it will be creating small streaks, left it on much longer so the vibrancy of all the colors will show through when the medium is pulled off.
The painting could be left as ‘Maple Leaves’ which is how it started out, but it has that bright glare acrylics are notorious for and I see a lot of potential in trying something fantastic with this painting. It’s one of those huge decisions made at key moments in the life of a painting – to risk or not? The 84 x 45 x 3 inch Maple Leaves title is now changed to Sun Shower 04.
Today’s Nik-Pics
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Reflections – Sun poking through between storms. Sunflower-heads, red variety – the plant is large already, and very healthy with plenty of flower heads appearing. I’m taking photos in sequence and will post those together when the plant is in full bloom. Green Anole eating insects off of a spider web, window reflection.
Armadillo
Sunday, May 4th, 2008
…a close look at the skin and overall design of an Armadillo who met misfortune near the Texas Motor Speedway.
Little green feet
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
I see more little green feet in our future…
Single eggs, .25 inches small, are laid every two weeks between March through October and abandoned, hatching after 5-7 weeks.
In the garden
Saturday, April 19th, 2008
It is Green Anole mating season. A male sits on the warm barbecue and sports his attractive dewlap. My hopes are that the Anoles will expand their family here, and that they eat fire ants!
Portulaca: low-maintenance, sun-thriving, cheerful colors.
Homemade garden sculpture of a heron, which I replenish regularly throughout the year with branches, vines and grasses. This morning a sparrow borrowed some material for its nest.
Storm clouds
Friday, April 18th, 2008
Here are some beautiful but ominous clouds in front of a major storm that just hit Mineral Wells, west of Fort Worth, with baseball-sized hail.
Green Anoles are back
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
The little Anoles come out on the warmest days now, sporting their finest green skins! I watched this male do courtship ritual posturing, and hoped to capture him fanning out the red flap of skin under its’ chin (dewlap), but I guess I wasn’t pretty enough for him!
« Previous Entries Next Entries »