Back to making more...

Evening Light, 3/28/2011, acrylic wash, monotype, rice paper on canvas, 18 x 6 inches

detail of middle/bottom

Detail of top

Evening Light started off as a blue painting and turned into gold instead...I'm so in love with this little painting! She really sparkles, I don't think the photos really do her justice at all (in most of the pics I took she looks too green, so I had to fiddle a bit to get it right.) I love her simplicity, when I placed the blue horizon bands I knew that was all she needed...I didn't want to do another thing to that surface. I took her to Moonlighting and hung her up to replace one of the paintings that I packed up for Szozoda Gallery, to swap out paintings that have been there since fall. (My Fred and I will be showing there mid-July, the dates yet to be announced.)

The writing and production of our little art book Elemental took up so much of my time that I hardly painted a thing for nearly a month! I'm so glad the book is done, it's published, and out there to be browsed through... it's a real beauty (please click the BookBuzzr widget and enjoy!) It's a fabulous collection of artwork, it barely scratches the surface of what we've accomplished (that's the crazy part of it!) We're in the planning stages for a book of our drawings...so stayed tuned. I've gathered up a bunch of scans and have started the selection process...so much to choose from!

Tomorrow my Fred and I will be on television promoting the CNY Art Showcase, (WSYR Ch. 9, "Bridge Street, 10-11 AM) We're bringing our paints and canvases to work on something new, we'll see what happens with that...I'm trying not to dwell on it too much (if you know what I mean, too much of the 'unknown' and 'what if' imagined disasters sort of stuff that can drive a person to distraction.) I just need to pack up my stuff, pick something comfortable to wear, pack my little apron, and go with the flow...what will be, will be. The auction will be on Friday, we'll go and enjoy the show.

Now it's done... I signed it this time.

 Gotta love it...I said it was done, but then one more thing begged for my attention, and I pondered it for another week and then two...and this weekend I started to play with it...it was that bottom part, it just looked not quite right...so I went at it with more blue...then amber...then turquoise...a circle and then another...and then a delicate touch of white...

I'm pretty happy with it now...but who knows, tomorrow I might look at it again and decide NOPE...well, you know, that's just part of the fun!

It's such a strong blue, it's hard to photograph and have it look true (true blue) but these are pretty close, I had to take the photos outside on the porch to have them look right...the indoor shots were too yellow/green.

Lots of lady bugs out there today, it's warm out, a little rainy and gray...but I don't mind, any warm days are welcome at this point...and of course, lady bugs...this little one stood still long enough for a portrait...the others were busy, trundling along on their little buggy missions...

We're holding another reception at Moonlighting this week, Friday, October 29th, starting around 6PM to whenever, lovely art, good company, fun will be had by all...Halloween costumes are welcome, but not required!

Summer time...

August Night, is a bitty, 9 x9 inch painting...a work in progress nearly finished... still 'living' with it... there might be some things added, but I'm not expecting to add anything too big... I can hear the crickets singing...


Midnight Blue, 8/1/2010, acrylic wash, monotype, sumi-paper on canvas 20 x 20 inches

I finally finished this one to my satisfaction... I was afraid that I had worked it to death, but when I went at it with the slightly off center dark stripe about two weeks ago I knew I was near to the end of the ordeal...
Mid-Summer Night (Green), August 1, 2010, acrylic wash, monotype, sumi-paper on canvas, 30 x 12 inches

I fiddled with this a little more, the lower right corner was bugging me, and now I like this better...

I just had a new exhibition of photos, drawings and paintings installed by Suzanne Master's at Gentile's Restaurant in downtown Syracuse, and we're gearing up for our second opening at The Gallery at Healing Art Passages on August 27th... these three little paintings will most definitely be there...

I did a book signing yesterday at The Gallery, it was well attended, and I did do a reading from Chapter 1, it was a good deal...my Fred video taped it, we'll see if it's good enough for a Youtube post...it felt good to be there and talk to people about what I do...

I think it's been a good thing, combining our efforts to have our little gallery space, it feels right... and we're already talking about what we're going to do during the holidays... that will be a special time for the four of us.

Heffalumps and Woozels...and a little painting...

Remember when you were little and lying on your back, looking up at the clouds and finding faces and critters in the sky? For some reason, I wasn't that good at it (you'd think I would be, right? No, I really sucked at it.) The problem is (it's not really a problem) I was looking at other things in the sky, not trying to identify with something familiar... I was finding the things that I had no words for. If I saw the pirate or the bunny up there, that'd be all right, but more often than not, I'd say, "Oh, yeah, I see it too..." just because I wanted to fit in with the kids who were with me at the time. I'd point out the things that I saw "Do you see how that cloud has that bright curly wisp and the deep shadow?" The others would say, " Yeah, that's cool, but look over there, I see an old man..." It was frustrating to me when I didn't see what they saw, and they didn't see what I saw... it was just the way things were...

I never intend to "find the faces" in things... draw them or photograph them... but these three photos were 'looking at me' in that special way while I looked through the batch that I took last weekend, and I set them aside calling them the Heffalumps and Woozels...

Pooh and Piglet would certainly run screaming out of the Hundred Acre Wood if they ran up against these guys... (poor Pooh and Piglet!)

They're mostly harmless... just unnerving because of their steady stare...

May Twilight, 5/9/2010
acrylic wash, monotype on BFK Rives
6 x 4 inches

I started and finished this little guy last weekend on my birthday...I started a bunch of things that day...problem with doing so much all at once like that, I felt like I accomplished nothing! But I really did...

What have I been doing...

This is a little monotype from my sketchbook...I have a roll of BFK Rives on order so I'll have a supply of the good stuff soon (maybe by next weekend!)

I've been doing lots of things, and this and that, gardening, writing, making art...I've been off from work since Thursday, so I've gotten to the point where I don't know what day it is...but I guess it's Monday, and it feels like Sunday...so I'm late posting...but I've been busy making lots of art...so I thought I'd poke out a few...some of the pictures didn't turn out so well, so...another time...

This tall skinny piece has evolved over an extended period of time...I bought the canvas last summer, and had all kinds of ideas for it, but none of them "worked out"...so I painted over it all and started over...this is what I have so far...
I've been wanting to work on a "White Series", well, this looks mighty blue/green, but that's just part of the illusion that I'm working on...I want the color to show through below the white wash...I sat on the porch yesterday working it out...I'm more satisfied with this than I have been with the others...it's acrylic with some pencil...some monotype and stencil...I'm just having some fun...