Last weekend's Meet in the Street was a wet affair. Thank you to those who came out and supported the local businesses!
I enjoyed seeing both loyal and new patrons. Making art can be a lonely affair and these art markets are a nice boost.
Both of these paintings were sold.
Sometimes, I sneak away. It isn't often, but there are times.
Some days I just need to get out of my life to get out of my head....to find out what I really think.
On days like that, I escape to a place like this, simply to quiet the noise so the important voices can be heard.
Thought you might enjoy the story behind the creation of a piece.
I was driving east through North Carolina on a smaller highway. I glanced over at one point and saw this stunning wave of yellow wildflowers leading from the roadside back to an old tree, also in bloom, and a pond. It was just breathtaking. And there it was, just lying by the side of the road.
That experience led me to create "Casual Beauty", which you see above. I have to say, I wrestled with this piece. I started off with the tree...I really got into the shapes of the trunk and branches. Then I added the water and really had fun deciding on the edges and their rhythm. So as I started adding in the yellow flowers, the original eye-catcher, I just didn't have room. I couldn't make the shapes hold together like they were in my mind.
In the end, I shrunk the tree and water and tried out several ideas for the yellow flowers to get them to carry the eye in an interesting way.
Some times, the piece just spills out of my fingers...other times, we have to go to the dentist and pull teeth.
Fun fact...see that texture in the mountains and sky? The faint lines? Can you guess what that texture is?
It's from a pattern brush called “cement”. When I saw it, I just had to try it out. A fun little reminder that there is beauty everywhere, even in a concrete jungle.
Here's hoping you have a chance to spot some beauty and soak it in today.
There are days when there are not words. Days to draw in and gather strength. Days to feel what cannot be seen. This piece is about those days.
It's a rainy, cold day here in NC, just the sort of day that cries out for a little sunshine and fun!
This piece comes from memories of walking near my home, up a little stretch of unpaved road. The "road" is surrounded by very tall trees - homes tucked back behind the trees. Often you can see birds sailing from branch to branch or down to the ground for a hidden gem. The trees are old and very tall. It's a short stretch of road, but it feels like a bit of pocket magic to walk under those trees.
"Easy Breezy Afternoon" is available as a giclee print on archival matte paper. It's part of my "Walking" series.
As is true for so many, life has new rhythms and I am re-calibrating to find my steps. The music changed and a new dance has begun.
In my new dance, I have spent more time in old pleasures...spending hours looking at Japanese woodblock prints...finding inspiration in a vanished world.
I have also spent time with new tools...learning how to use digital art tools. In challenging myself with new ways to paint, I've returned to old subject matter.
Above you see a pair of chipping sparrows, common birds in my part of the world. They survey a lake on a peaceful day from their pine tree perches. I hope you hear their song and feel the gentle breeze.
I hope to continue investigating a woodblock style with digital tools in a series on birds. Any requests for specific birds?
As I was preparing the images for this blog post, I realized from my numbering that I am just about to my 400th recorded painting. That is, I haven't photographed every painting I've ever done and I only started numbering in 2008, but I have done at least 400 paintings.
At the top of the post, you can see my latest painting. Below you can see the first, done in colored pencil in 2008.
Like with a sequel movie script, let's evaluate what's the same, what's different and what's new altogether.
Same: they are both landscapes...that's surprising, I had forgotten that I had done any landscapes before the last few years. I painted mostly portraits, florals and wildlife before that.
Different: the newer painting has much less detail, but says more and has a greater sense of space and place.
New altogether: most of my mark making was not controlled - I used saran wrap to lay down the paint. I have grown in my trust of the pigment I am using and it's ability to create magic.
It's interesting to realize that in 12 years I've learned to say more with less. I'll take that as a sign of success!
Just had to begin with that old language joke...perhaps the social isolation is getting to me. :-)
We've talked about color and value. I thought I'd cap this little series with a post about line. By "lines in art", I mean anything close to a line. It doesn't have to be straight, it just has to lead the eye and not devolve into a shape too quickly.
And right there you have the importance of line, it leads the eye. There are other ways of leading the eye, but lines, with their graphical nature, tend to be the strongest in this category.
Personally I find line entrancing, I love the graphic in art and how it plays with our eyes and minds. Line can tell the eye, move up in a swirly fashion...
In the above picture, the lines pull the eye upward in that "swirly fashion" (technical term) and in so doing tell the mind..."it's windy" or "there is a pathway to follow here" or even "those things at the top are farther away".
It starts so simple, just a line, but then it builds and the drama brings an image before us. In the example below, lines bring the eye up and then gently lead it back down (but your eye might just read that as sun rays cascading down):
Art is magical. Thanks for sharing the journey with me. If you enjoy these posts, please consider telling your friends, the more the merrier!
Last time I hinted that color is not the most powerful element in art.
That is a surprising statement to most people. But, honestly, it is true.
Value is the most powerful element. What is “value”? Simply put, value is the light and the dark.
This is one of those tricks of the eye...your eye is drawn to the contrast in light and dark and it does that without reference to the color. A pleasing pattern of light and dark makes a picture engaging. Without that pattern, the eye is not so drawn to the image.
Here is a section of a recent piece before I adjusted the values:
Here is that same section after I introduced darker values:
That contrast of value makes it a more engaging image.
This concept has lead to a study among artists into what is called “notan”. Many artists will do a “notan” study before beginning a piece...they do a small black and white study to make sure they have a pleasing value pattern.
Other artists will take a photo of a work in progress and turn it black and white...if all of their values have become the same it is instantly revealed. Usually, if they change that, the work improves.
In my own work, being able to focus on the value statement has helped me maintain control of a piece and not lose my intention partway through painting.
At the top is a recent study I did, from some time in Pisgah National Forest. It is available in my Medium Works on Paper series.
Next time, we’ll look at another element in art, line.
