March Winds, ode to Jackson Pollock via oil pastels. 14H x 11W inches oil pastels on paper with 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.

“… the painting has a life of its own. My mission is to bring forth this life”.        Jackson Pollock

Styles are an intuitive response to place, emotional memories, subject, media, etc. When March Winds was finished it reminded me of some of Jackson Pollock’s work, which I never really understood until this piece unfolded in a similar manner.

Showcased in Grand Prairie Arts Council (GPAC) Open Juried Art Show and Sale September/October, 2007. Grand Prairie Memorial Library 901 Conover Drive, Grand Prairie, Texas.

Dancing With Trees 01, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels on paper, 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.

Pinion at Sunset, Coppell, TX USA, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels on paper, has 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.

Linden Sunset, Springtime in Coppell, Texas. Photography available as 11H x 14W inches print, 16H x 20W white double mat

It wasn’t until reviewing all the photos I took this evening that I noticed a tiny surprise on one of the Linden flower buds. Right place, right time. Thank you Universe!
Post-dated note: Linden Sunset is accepted for the Artjury.com 2007 Fall/Winter Juried Online Exhibition.

$50.00          

Four Corners, 16H x 20W x 1 inches acrylics, Arizona sand, thick gel medium on canvas.
Inspired by the Four Corners area of western U.S., where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico meet. The rocks and soil vary rich shades of red, and turquoise has been treasured and used in everyday objects by Navaho and other tribes in the area for centuries.

          1. the tray  2. the beads  3. a picture of the original necklace.

The Pre-Columbian Jaguar Beads  are made of Polymer clay, a permanent material once baked, acrylic paints, varnish, tray re-purposed and paper-mached, painted and varnished for durability.

I was drawn immediately to this Pre-Columbian Mayan necklacewith jaguar beads upon seeing a photo of it, and would love to own it. Well, making one is the next best thing! The original necklace of gold jaguar head-shaped beads was made over 500 years ago, discovered in a tomb in Guatemala.

Like much of the pre-historic and tribal art that looks crude or seems like it should be easy to recreate, there is a lot more here than meets the eye. One of the things that’s so enjoyable about a project like this is experiencing the same design dilemmas that the original artist might have encountered.

There is a lot of good design in that simple-looking necklace! I think the goldsmith who created the original might have used a mold because each individual jaguar head-shaped bead needs to be identical, and so do the small round ones in order to string the beads together and obtain the exact uniform semi-circle shape. Mine were individually shaped, less than perfect, and did not fit together well unfortunately. I’ll need to make a mold from one of the more perfect beads in order to replicate this with consistancy.

The jaguar beads are glued onto a useful tray, a recycled film case that was paper mached then painted with acrylic, and it’s as if a moment in time is recaptured, a moment when the original artist had beads on a surface, ready to be strung together. The refurbished tray is varnished, durable and useful. Hand wash gently with damp soapy cloth, and the crevices with a wet paintbrush, dabbing the area softly to absorb excess moisture.

Have you ever painted the walls in your house and noticed how difficult it is to choose a simple shade of white, or come home with a can of paint based on a one-by-one inch splotch of color, only to find it’s totally different? Why don’t people have red living rooms, purple kitchens and bright green foyers?  I still have reservations about using pure color on my canvases. Color makes you feel a certain way. Colors or lack of them in our homes reflect the way we feel or want to feel. Likewise, in your artwork, color is the most difficult thing to master.

Scared of Color was drawn with my new computer pen, using the Paint Shop Pro program. It’s like learning to draw all over again.

First Snow, 36H x 24W inches acrylics and crackle medium on canvas, work in progress
First Snow has many layers and blobs of paint. A damp cloth dipped in white was wiped lightly across the textured surface to create the effect of snow powder. Crackle medium also works well to help with the impression of snowfall. The scene is of tall Spruce trees in Calgary, Alberta where, on September 1st, the day I was to return to Dallas I awoke to a gentle snowfall and powder on the trees.

Fossil Rim Wildlife Park near Glen Rose, Texas is an excellent way to spend a winter afternoon with the family. A drive through the park takes about three hours, and you may be greeted by this cutie!

Thanks for the telephoto lens and a desperately needed tripod, Alain!