Vincent Van Gogh Inspired Pumpkins

I am having so much fun with Vincent Van Gogh and the fourth grade students. The students seem to really enjoy creating in his style.

Veterans Day Concert Art

From September through December, I am being a long term substitute teacher to approximately 440 third through fifth graders. I love coming up with projects and delighting in their creations. I have benefited so much from other teachers' projects that I have discovered on the internet. To give back, I wanted to share one of mine. I gave each student of a third grade class, a six inch square either white, blue or red. This assembly is large 6' x 9' once I glued the squares down on bulletin board paper. Most classes I gave a template of a head to trace onto construction paper to make into an American they are proud of. A lot of the students talked about family members that serve in the military. I also gave them some star templates to trace. Two classes I tried asking them to make an object that causes them to be proud of the U.S.A. My paper sample was ice cream because it reminded me of Fourth of July. So you see a lot of ice creams but I think it makes it look celebratory. Happy Veteran's Day!

Making a "Positive" Statement

"Billowing Up", acrylic on canvas, 9" x 12"

I created these paintings to apply for membership into the McGuffey Center for the Arts, as happy as I have ever been with a series and for the first time no plans for when or where they might be shown.

"At the Foot", acrylic on canvas, 24" x 12"

"Mountain Drive", acrylic on canvas, 12" x 16"

"Interwoven", acrylic on canvas, 40" x 30"

"In the Valley", acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

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My Statement

In a different context, I heard the phrase “positively filling negative spaces” and to me this represented my art in several ways. My process begins by quickly sketching in nature: seeing and experiencing my surroundings more than transcribing details. While being in nature I feel a love for it’s ever changing cycles and inspired by all of the beautiful visual variation. This experience positively fills my mind, crowding out negative thoughts.

Then I take these sketches back to the studio where a dialogue begins. I rework the sketches until the composition speaks to me telling me it’s main idea.  What is this view of nature showing?  Usually a verb is brought to mind such as growing, multiplying, expanding or comforting. Nature is always moving forward changing, evolving and making an active or positive mark.

Then the process of painting begins by choosing colors intuitively. I like using minimal black and white sketches as a reference because then during the painting process I am free to play with colors and add details. I love the results of the painting stages: seeing the layers and evidence of what came before and is partially covered. I enjoy the contrast of thick paint against thin washes and detail marks against areas of color. I imagine the air space in the painting being filled as if by soap bubbles, no real negative space. All filled positively.

Live Paint Demonstration at IX Park

A few weeks ago, I painted during a fund raiser called "Let's Revel" for IX Park in Charlottesville, VA. It was so much fun! I was painting away while so much was going on around me: live band performances, food and drink trucks, balloons flying around during an auction presentation, a drag act, people dressed in costumes and mural street artists painting away. To reflect the spirit of the night, I picked a friend of mine's former Halloween costumes. I combined two of her photos to get the image below with the blue face. I thought her head dress was creatively inspiring. People seemed to enjoy the quick evolution of the painting. And I loved performing this way.

Mural

I am working on the UV protection coats so I haven't taken down all of the plastic yet but almost there. I love being at the location, sad it is coming to an end.

Chicken Spot Illustration

I worked on making my latest painting into an illustration with Adobe Illustrator this morning. Would love to collaborate with my design and publishing friends this year.

Chicken in the Snow

"Chicken in the Snow", 18" x 18", acrylic on canvas.

One of my goals for 2014 is to be more direct with my painting. I want painting to be like drawing, feel immediate and expressive. One way to do this I feel is to paint more from life, so Tuesday I went out in the snow to paint. Well this was quite an experience with water based paint. By the end my water cup full of brushes turned to slushy. The wind was whipping, it sounded just like the cartoon version of "Rudolph" when the misfits run away. Once I got paint all over the canvas, I proceeded to drop it face down in the snow three times. So I took it into the studio to dry flat on the table so when the snow melted it didn't make the paint run. Well the end result with a little reworking is pretty cool. Maybe I will go throw another painting down in the snow today.

Mural Progress

I was doing a meditation and the facilitator asked what colors you were seeing for love and I saw magenta-purple and yellow-green. I wonder if they are my real colors of love or they are what I see when I close my eyes remembering the mural painting.