Articles on Art for this Week

And he can sing.

HOW HE PAINTS HIS MASTERPIECE
by Charlie Finch


Art Review Richard Pousette-Dart
A Little Abstract, a Little Eccentric, and More

I went to school today and blew up two paintings... these

No Evil

This is number one of Deep down in my soul the moon is full.

I order a lot of canvas stretchers. I nixed the Masonite and will be very busy gluing frames in two days.(UPS)

Friday, August 24, 2007

I have been trying all week to get ready to go up to school to get a few new painting started by getting them blown up on the canvas. I need to print my files out and I am still priming the canvas with gesso. I got the last of the canvas I have stretched and ready to gesso.

I need to order. I get my stretches from AWS online. I buy canvas at Joann’s fabric I try to get a 50% off coupon online. I buy gesso by the gallon at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon. I need new brushed too. I try to get everything with a coupon from Michaels. That means I will go every week.

Paintings in my “body of work” so far:

Emily
Or in the Name of the Lord. Almost done. No changes. It represents where I left off after the class I have with John.

Cassie

Cassie's photo

Cassie Photoshopped

In progress

In progress. I talked to Sean and Cassie tonight about the background. The original photo has a plant in it. In Photoshop it got lost in the composition. I was going to bring some definition into it, but I decided I wanted to do something else. I want to put something in the background that would express Cassie’s identity. I wanted to do it in a wallpaper. Sean suggested a Welsh Corgi motif. Cassie has a Welsh Corgi named Ginger that they both adore. So will be repeating a Welsh Corgi silhouette in a wallpaper behind Cassie in the painting. Also the text Ginger will appear somewhere in the work although just a suggestion of it. This use of text I hope to relate to how I will execute the poem in the “Moon Motive” work.

I plan to work on Cassie tomorrow.

Lion of Judah
This is really an illustration. Since I am going in the use of text I want to rethink the painting and may add text. I am not sure.

Red
Red is the four self portraits. I need to purchase supplies for one more canvas, I have three. I do not want to start this until I have all four. I am going to change the color of my shirt in each painting but I haven’t decided on the colors. One will be red. Since I am adding text and as I cleaned my brushes tonight the moon was out and it was lovely and there was a breeze and my heart said...
Deep down
in my soul
the moon
is full
So that is the text.

I want to do two large canvases. I have one near ready and one to purchase yet.

Hear No Evil See No Evil Speak No Evil
This is a fun portrait I took of my best friend forever and her daughter when they visited last November. As I look back over my year it is my favorite. And fun. I will use the text Hear No Evil See No Evil Speak No Evil in it.

Scott as Jonah
I was going to enter an art show at a church in Arkansas put on by the same man who did the show at Park Cities Presbyterian this year. I didn’t have time to do the art, but I heard the show was really good and a lot of artwork sold. Anyway I had Scott pose a Jonah for me sitting in front of a vine that grows in our back yard. We did the angry Jonah who was upset the people of Nineveh repented. The very funny thing was later that week our land lord was here and he does not like the vine. Before I could say anything he ripped it out and the vine was lying in the grass. Fortunately the vine came back, because like Jonah I am rather fond of that vine! Scott and I got a kick out of that illustration.

Sky Watcher Series
Moon Motives and Sky
Now for the works in masonite. These will be on a grid. They are the first of what I am calling sky watcher pieces. I got this idea over the summer as I was riding my bike. I am a sky watcher. I wanted to start photographing the sunsets and do them in a painting with each grid piece a different day and piece of the sky at sunset. Then when I wrote the moon poem I decided to do one of the moon. Years ago I did one of the moon and haiku. It was a watercolor and was accepted into a show at the Brevard Art Center in Melbourne FLA for the juried exhibit they have each year. It was a big deal. I got in, but my friend Kathy didn’t and neither did my watercolor instructor. The judge was looking for different. That was me.

It is late... more picture in the a.m.

Why do I need a new blog?

Why do I need a new blog? I have many, too many to count and I never blog on my live journal account. But that is not the point. I am creating this blog for my advanced painting class at UTD, to let John and the rest of you know what I am doing to get an A. This is my intention. My instructor John Pomara graciously let me do independent study. So here we are in "art class" via the Internet super highway.

Here is the assignment for the semester.

Since it is the advanced painting class I am not giving assignments but expect everyone to work in their own direction and develop their vision. I am giving the theme of developing "Personal Identity" I am giving only one assignment which is the first one and only one.

1. Imagine you are invited to be in an Exhibition with the title and subject is "Re Framing Painting". It can be interpreted any way you see or think as an artist to make a painting in a new way or perhaps a more conceptual way or just straight ahead traditional painting So I am asking the whole class to start with that theme with a personal connection that speaks or addresses their own identity in some way. This is the only assignment other
then.

1. developing a body of work
2. keeping a sketch book or image book of related ideas to your work and process.
3. read the art magazines

This blog is my online sketch book or image book of ideas. Since my art is so digital in process this makes more sense than a regular book. I do plan however to place it in a Word document and print it out to hand in at the end of the semester.

I told John I have managed to paint a bit since I took his class. I have a group of works going that I want to finish up too along with the assignments. Since my work is very much about personal identity I am grateful to be on the same wave length as the assignments and will not have a adjust my direction much.

I have been mulling over the first assignment this week and have two “paintings” in mind. I will begin blogging about them tomorrow along with the work I have in progress and the new work I plan to do.

This week I have been stretching canvas and priming it with gesso. While I was in my back yard cleaning brushes I wrote a poem. It is the darnedest thing. If I paint I have to write these poems down that just seem to come out. So this one is going into the first assignment.





Motives
The moon
marks out time
it mocks me
measuring
my hearts response
it waxes
and it wanes
it never stays the same
never lies
always wise
and it shines
it's light
on me
surrounded in
mystery
knows my hopes
my fears
my relief
it enters in
my peace
explores
my motives
lays my
heart bare
then
it waxes and wanes
it never stays the same
it never lies
always kind
opens my mind
to see
this mystery
called love…

I also took these pictures that day too and they are going to be four canvases. But not the work with the poem in it. That will be a grid of masonite squares with images of the moon and the poem. I will have my ever present self portrait in a large square in the corner. I will have the masonite cut tomorrow at the Home Depot. I have another work in mind for masonite so I will get that cut too. I have canvas stretchers to order also and some canvas to purchase. ..

I need a list.