Playing Favorites

I'm featured in The Pulse as part of the "Playing Favorites" series. Seth Apter of the Altered Page started a project way back in June 2011 asking artists to submit answers to questions, today's featured question is:  “share a picture of a favorite piece of art that you have created and explain its meaning to you.”  For my submission, the title seems to sum it up perfectly..."I want more out of life..." which for me means the world...I feel that it is necessary for me to be doing something worthwhile, creatively, my hands are rarely idle and my mind is difficult to turn off...this drawing became one of those special ones for me, I could never part with it...every time I look at it, it surprises me.

I Want More Out of Life..., 2008

There are many drawings that I love...so it was hard to chose from them for Seth's question...
My drawings are created through a stream of consciousness activity starting with random marks on the paper and from there I go with the flow and follow now formal plan or idea...they are intuitive and natural happenings. I use a variety of pencils, hardness and softness...on occasion I will "cheat" and use a ruler if a straight line is required...and goodness knows, I can't draw a straight line to save my life...or I'll use the round cardboard inner ring of a roll of packing tape to make a circle should I think one is needed, but most of my line work comes into being freehand...

A little bit softer now...2005

Lumina #1, 2006

Lumina #2, 2007

 Like children, each one is different, but they are certainly "family"...

Samhain, 2009

Pensive Storm, 2012

Winter Nights, 2011

 Music very often gives direction to my mark making...Beethoven has been a long time influence...but I have very eclectic taste...classical, alternative rock, folk music, blue grass, electronica...old stuff, new stuff...

Joy, 2006

The heart of everything that is..., 2007

For cello, 2007

June Wind, 2007

 Very often the seasonal shifts and weather events inspire the flow, summer storms, murky spring nights after a heavy rain...

Spring Night Haze, 2006

 Some of these feel like paintings...

Evening Song, 2006

Rite of Spring, 2006

Twister, 2007

I probably have hundreds of these by now, I very often work on more than one at the same time, so there are various sketchbooks that I've got lying about with work in progress in various stages of unfinished...some are better than others, but what is important to me is the act of making them...they're a meditation... a "reset button" for me to get away from color for a little while and to make something that requires no planning. I've always loved working in pencil...it's a beautiful, versatile medium, and perfect to learn mark making and experimentation...and learning about  control...learning about freedom.

Altered Environments, the pictures from the gallery

A blue trio.

Yup, there I am...

 It was a nice evening in Syracuse on Friday night...and especially at the Szozda Gallery...looking at the art hanging on the walls I started to joke "I'm in my 'Blue Period'!"

Not only was the art in the spot light...so were these awesome shoes that I bought for the opening! (Using funds from the last painting I sold too, so they're extra special!)

Caroline and I comparing shoes...

 

From Left to Right, Caroline's intern and my son, Nathan Wellner (I'm always proud to say I made that one too), me, fellow exhibitor and photographer, Willson Cummer, fellow artist, Steve Nyland, and my Fred (fellow artist and of course, Nathan's dad.)

Looking to the right...

Looking to the left...

Trio of paintings at the end...

Duo of paintings at the other end....

Four drawings...

There were some visitors who were mesmerized by the drawings, one couple stood  in front of the four pieces for so long, I thought maybe Caroline had them nailed to the floor...we chatted for quite a long while about physics and chaos...philosophy, meditation, and "going with the flow"...one of the things I love about my drawings are their random nature, I have no plan, no intention to do anything specific, each one evolves slowly...many of them take months to do...it made me feel good to see people enjoy them so much!

Three drawings...

I'm exhausted. It feels good to sit and do nothing today...the sun came out and I've been sitting outside soaking it up...these warm sunny days are going to be few and far between from now on, so I'll take 'em while I can!

Altered Environments

A River of Falling Stars, 10/7/2012, acrylic and monotype on Arches watercolor paper, 30 x 22

Seriously, I finished painting this one yesterday afternoon. As soon as the paint dried I had to frame it...this painting was one of those that I had started once upon a time, and then gave up on it, tucking it away thinking one day maybe...well, two weeks ago when I was invited to be in a new exhibition as Szozda I pulled it out and slathered it with my favorite near black blue, Payne's gray...the only thing left of the original painting is the moon. Everything else evolved since then...building layers on layers on layers...OMG it's sooooooo gorgeous, and floated in a frame it's stunning!

We delivered the paintings and drawings to the Szozda Gallery today, and saw the preliminary layout...it's always a different experience to see the work in the gallery than at home...

The postcard!

I came down with a cold on Thursday morning, and have finally shook off the worst of it, naturally, in time to go back to work, but of course, I had to push through to get the paintings wired and the drawings framed...in between napping and taking hot baths to feel better. I managed to finish three new paintings to include with the work in progress paintings that I already had finished before...

Where water meets sky...#2, 10/6/2012, acrylic wash, monotype, rice paper on canvas, 24 x 24 inches

Ripple, 10/7/2012, acrylic wash, monotype, rice paper on canvas, 20 x 20 inches

This was the very last painting of the day...yes, this one is named after the Grateful Dead song Ripple...you know, it's whatever is going through my head at the time...it's been a productive and fun time...I always say, if I didn't love what I do, I wouldn't be doing it. I love what I do and I feel very fortunate...

Looking forward to seeing the show up on the walls and looking forward to the reception on Friday night!

Altered Environments, 10/11-11/4/2012 Szozda Gallery, Syracuse NY

Crescent Moon, 9/23/2012, acrylic wash, monotype and rice paper on canvas, 5 x 5 inches

I've been invited to be in another exhibition at Szozda Gallery and have been finishing up my work in progress...last weekend was perhaps my most productive in quite awhile...and it felt good to splash around a bit...resolving a few things that have been lingering on my work table or propped in various propping places...these two little moon paintings have been a study of patience...they've been chronic "do overs" for over a year...you'd never think something so small would be so complicated! I've painted over them, I've peeled rice paper off, I've glued mat board to them, and then ripped that off...applied more rice paper, painted and painted and painted over that and then more rice paper...then a wash and then suddenly I have a pair of paintings that I'm very much in love with hanging on the wall side by side...

Full Moon, 9/21/2012, acrylic wash, monotype and rice paper on canvas, 5 x 5 inches

Where water meets sky...9/23/2012, acrylic wash, monotype and rice paper on canvas, 30 x 12 inches

 Sometimes a painting happens with little effort...Where water meets sky... came into being with less fuss...it's so delicate and lovely, the children's moon floating in the sky pulled perfectly the first time without more than a dab or two with my pinky finger to touch up where it needed a little help...

Blue Moon, 8/31/2012, acrylic wash, monotype and rice paper on canvas, 39 x 12 inches

 This Blue Moon was one that I had a bit of a time with...a wash of Prussian blue made it glow...

Late Summer Dawn, 8/21/2012, acrylic wash, monotype and rice paper on canvas, 18 x 6 inches

This little one was pale green once...but hung around looking unfinished...it has a nice distressed look to it that I was going for...and that red-gold wash made everything so stunning in the end...

Midnight, 9/21/2012, acrylic wash, monotype and rice paper on canvas, 12 x 12 inches

I should never try to repeat a painting that I've sold...it never works out...I fussed around and fussed around with layers and layer...I nearly scraped the whole thing down while I scratched away at the layers I had built up, thinking I'd go black with it, but not really wanting to use black...then I did a wash of Prussian blue...this made it as near black as I wanted to get with it...

An Autumn Morning, 9/21/2012, acrylic wash, monotype and rice paper on canvas, 12 x 12 inches

This last one was a problem child from way back...some of the gold is showing through from previous layers...I had a pale blue over a dark blue scumble layer over it that wasn't quite behaving itself...so I went after it last Friday on my day off...and made it misty like that morning...pulling random marks with cut-out shapes and edges...

In the midst of all of this industrious creativity, I have been nursing two of my elder cats, Tiggy-Pooh got biffed in the eye by one of his buddies while playing and had to be run off to the vet for that, so I'm juggling his attitude about being medicated...and our oldest kitty, Fatty Woo Hobbes, the one and only button-eyed schmoo, slipped away in his sleep on Wednesday night (9/26).

Fatty Woo Hobbes 1997-2012, soaking up the sunshine 9/16/2012

It's been a trying few days...needless to say, I'm feeling a little frazzled and sad...on top of it all, I also have the usual FMS flare-up symptoms making life interesting (I won't go into the gory details of those, the timing is as always "fantastic.") So this weekend I'm going to be good to myself...if I paint, I paint, if I don't, I don't...that's okay. The sun is shining...I'm going to head out to the porch and soak it up while I can (just like my little old kitty did, he had such a good day that day.)

Opening Night at Szozda Gallery 8/10/2012

 

A corner of my own...

 A good night, the rain cleared off and it wasn't as hot outside...the show was hung and looks great, Caroline always does a good job making our art look good!

the Blue Square Window on one side and Solar on the other side...

The First People...

Eclipse hanging on the wall looking sooo beautiful!

SOLD! (not me, the painting.) I really don't like having my picture taken, I always make faces. The person who bought the painting made the beautiful copper necklace with the turquoise stones that I'm wearing.

Good times...great conversations, more exhibitions at other venues in the planning stages...it's been a long day. I'm tired. Time to go to bed.

Addendum...8/11/2012:

I knew this one little painting would sell...that color turquoise seems to grab everyone's attention these days. I'm very happy that my painting is going to a good home...and I'm very glad to be exhibiting at Caroline's lovely gallery with a unique group of local talent, photographer Ray Trudell, mixed media by Linda Esterley and paintings by Phil Parsons, and Emily Elizabeth...I don't think the local artists get enough credit for what we do, many of us work day jobs and squeeze in time alone in some corner of our homes to make art...(and for goodness sakes, write books), some of us are fortunate to make a little pocket money now and then...we are "the other New York." We are the reality of a lot of dreams. Someone long ago, back in the '80's said that "Painting is dead." And every now an then, I hear this so-called death-knell still being batted about in conversation...seriously? For something that's supposedly dead or dying for 30 years or more, it looks mighty alive to me on the walls of Caroline's gallery...and other galleries too...and online, there's tons of artists out there making art, beautiful art. We make art because we love it...it's our joy in life...and I know I appreciate it everyday. I also appreciate Caroline Szozda for inviting me to drop off my little paintings and being part of this exhibition.

Featured on The Altered Page

Solar, 7/23/2012, acrylic wash and rice paper on canvas, 8 x 8 inches

This is a small painting that will be on its way to the gallery, my Fred and I will be in a group exhibition in August at Szozda Gallery, I'll post links as soon as I have photos!

  Visit The Altered Page to see the collection of Still Life images

I'm always collecting things, making little arrangements and putting them around the house to enjoy or setting them up and taking them down after photographing them...this is one that I submitted to Seth's The Altered Page some time ago...

Evening Song, 1/11/2006, pencil drawing on paper, from a sketchbook

I picked them because I love how their natural scrolling loops and curves echo many of my drawings...

Rite of Spring, 5/26/2006, pencil drawing on paper, from a sketchbook

Here are a few more photos I took that day, specific to Seth's project...

I still have the little coils cluttered together in a box...now dried out and too fragile...I have a few other collections of this and that, odds n' ends...wonderful stuff found and pieced together...