The Next Phase of the Green Painting

Stage II The Green Painting

 

Welcome back

So, I made some changes. Actually, several sets of changes. Previously, I had red swirls in the top left of the painting. Unhappy with that, I painted them copper and gold. And I didn’t like that either. So I had to sit and think about why they were there. And I realized that there was no good reason to keep them.

So, I took them out.

I also added a compass. It has meaning to my life, since I have been a traveller all my life, and have lived in a bunch of different places. But as a symbol it also can have spiritual connotations, as well as nautical references, and all sorts of interesting things come up if you google it. I’ll leave it to you, to select the meaning you like best.

I have more story to tell, and more space to fill in, but I haven’t decided what to do next.

Back to the thinking stage….

Symbols and Stories

 

The Green Painting

Hi..

Welcome back!

I still haven’t titled this painting, for now I’ve been referring to it as “the green painting”. But I thought today, I would tell you some of it’s secrets.

Are you curious?

I think paintings with symbolism are fascinating,… the memento mori, and the stories that symbols tell.

Today, no secretive links, I actually have a photo to post here

So, what are the symbols here?  Arches, doorways… places visited, the past, a journey. If you go down one corridor, you can’t go down the others. The fact that they are Moroccan-inspired, shows my love for the exotic. And I can’t help thinking about Scheherazade and her 1001 Tales that she used to prove her value and save her own life. Stories and storytelling have been a big part of my life as an artist and an English major.

What stories inform your life?

The orchids are another symbol in my life and in the painting. Lovely, unusual, exotic…. they fascinate me. They have also proved to me that they can flourish in situations where there is no love, no care, abandonment… All my orchids have had long dormant periods. Time where the leaves get thicker and greener, where the plant sends runners. Time when it seems nothing is happening at all. Time where I wonder if I should give up and get a new plant. Will they ever have new blossoms?

The dreaming figure, she is a muse of mine. And the heart she holds is missing a piece. Was it broken, taken away, or given to someone who has never returned? Well, I can’t tell you everything, now can I?

Let’s see what changes over the weekend. I’ll meet you here Monday. In the mean time, think about symbols in your life.

What To Do When Your Husband Tells You No

The Green Painting: Stage 1

Sorry for the link, instead of a photo, but my photos of this project are all over the place, and it is either link or no blog post, in all reality. Besides, you’re the curious type aren’t you?

As in – “no more 100/100 type projects”.

At this stage of life, with little kids who need corralling, feeding, boo-boos kissed etc and a husband who needs corralling, feeding, boo-boos kissed and all the other important things involved in the care and feeding of husbands… life is busy. And he’s not all crazy – my plans and projects list is long enough for two lifetimes – at least it feels like it some days.

So what’s an artist to do when my to-do list and reality live on different planets?

What indeed.

I’ve switched projects, naturally.

Instead of daily short projects I ripped the plastic off of a 4×4 foot canvas I have in the studio and started to work. Large can be intimidating – what if I screw up this big, expensive canvas? But I’ve realized that gesso covers a multitude of sins if it comes right down to it!  With the commissions that have been coming in, I don’t always get much time to do my own work. So this project is a nice one for me.

How do you put a painting together? I didn’t have plans for a 4×4 canvas in my sketchbook.

Sometimes I have a plan, but in this case, this painting is a collection of ideas and much more autobiographical than usual. It is kind of scary actually, putting so much of myself in the art. I’m honestly not sure how much I will explain about them… I guess we will find out.

In truth – this isn’t exactly Stage 1, stage 1 was where I puddled and dripped and ran watercolor paint all over the surface of this canvas. I laid it flat to see how it would dry. The beginning was an experiment, and so far it seems to have worked. The watercolor lifts if I work it with a brush, but on the flip side of that- I now have the background colour in any new colour I introduce which lends harmony to the composition.

I’ll see you Friday for what happens next in this painting. Since we are in progress I won’t be blogging about this painting everyday. I have to have some time to think of what needs to come next… Ciao!

Day 100: Trista

Day 100 Trista

Hey! We made it! Thanks for coming along for the ride!

It took much longer than 100 days, but we are finally here at 100 and it is so nice to go out on a strong note.  Trista is a little bit of legend, a little bit Mucha inspired, and a little bit something else.

She has the heaviest, most dramatic lines, the most detail. And there is an emotion… a something else.

And this is what I want to carry forward into my work. Moving forward I want to move into emotion not just beauty. It’s tricky, because on some level, in order to paint more complex emotion I have to let myself feel it and put something real, of myself on the canvas.

Day 99: Elena

Day 99 Elena

Elena, exotically simple. She’s the wild one. She is full of wild music.

I like her very much and I have a story in mind for her but she defies being tied down to just one story, so I’ll keep mum so that she can tell you herself.

Day 98: Violette

Day 98 VIolette

Violette, the most zipped up of the girls. She’s elegant and cool and Gatsby before Gatsby was Gatsby.

When I was in highschool I visited Casa Loma in Toronto, Ontario Canada. I was totally taken with it, but especially the solarium. At that moment in my life I put it into my imaginary dream home.  It was the best of a beautiful green house and sitting room. A place surrounded with greenery year round, lush and beautiful, but not overgrown and claustrophobic. The center of the room was open to the sun coming in and the sky and I imagined an easel in the center. Perfect.

Well, Violette inhabits that solarium in my mind.  I hope you enjoy her.

Day 97: Elizabeth

Day 97 Elizabeth

Back to working small – travel again!  This time I’ve made the backgrounds on the illustration board with washi tape. So much fun! After I put the tape down, I gave it an aged look with a wash of Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold.

Travel forces me to work with whatever I can get my hands on. Good thing I leave a few artists markers in my purse, my travel bag, my parent’s place…. you get the picture. (Confession: I shed art supplies! ) I also have a few watercolour pencils I keep in a travel case, along with a brush that will fit in my purse.

Elizabeth and her sisters that follow are from the turn of the century. I think about them as different decades. Elizabeth is the most Victorian of the bunch. Maybe it was inspired by the yellowed “pages” and text behind her?  What do you think?

Day 96: Lyric Sky

Day 96: Lyric Sky

Still playing with the Chroma Atelier paints. They can give some different affects, but I still don’t like the sticky feel of the paint.

I’ve gone back to some things that fascinate me – vintage sewing patterns, for example!  I love the lines and wrinkles and the direction that they can give a painting.

In this painting, the old, crinkled tissue gives this piece a modern, futuristic, almost space-y vibe. Funny how that works sometimes!

Day 95: Astral

Day 95: Astral

The first thing I think of when I think of Astral is that it was hard to photograph! The pink… wow. It works in real life, but when it is photographed…. hmm. The colour can go wrong so many ways. I’m still not convinced it is the right pink.  I’m also experimenting with Chroma Atelier Interactive Acrylics - they are acrylic paints that you can reactivate after they dry, if you do it within a certain period of time.  I have a super pared down palette – red, blue, yellow and white. So I’m experimenting. So far, they are ok – but I don’t think I will switch from Golden. The Chroma paints are sticky and that’s an adjustment. And since I don’t usually have trouble with the drying time being quick (being the patient person that I am! ) I don’t see a huge advantage in changing.

But I do love the idea of the mythic woman, stepping out of the mist. Serene. A little bit Aeowyn… a little bit unreal. It is an idea that I have played with before and one that I will always play with, I think. But maybe not in so much pink. Maybe green or blue or violet or grey. All good options. I like grey right off the top of my head.

 

Day 94: A Walk in the Park

Day 94: A Walk in the Park

So this is irony. I got hung up on this painting – A Walk in the Park.

Twice.

First, while I was painting it. The second time, here on my blog. I’m sorry I’ve been silent for a few days. Between some last minute travel and celebrating my daughter’s second birthday getting here fell through the cracks.  Personally, I blame the painting!

It probably shows, and I’m ok with that. If I have learned anything from this project, it is that there is a good portion of my work that I won’t love. Some that I will do battle with. Some battles that I will loose, and some will be a draw. A few I may even win. But I learn something from each of them.

This painting was inspired by a photo I snapped by my house. There was something about the light, about the way the girls were standing. I didn’t get it here.