Wink

"Wink". Acrylic on Panel, 12x9"

A last self-portrait to end the (very short) week.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Making Faces

"Making Faces", Acrylic on Panel, 12x9"

Here's another casual portrait  - this one with my daughter. :)

Also, you may notice that I've taken the plunge and taken the 'daily' designation off my blog.  I may very well get back to doing small daily paintings, but I don't want the pressure.  I'd rather be working on my larger pieces.

Artist in Owl Hat

"Artist in Owl Hat", Acrylic on Panel, 12x9"

Here is a small portrait for today.  I was inspired to do this for many reasons:

1. My mom asked me for a self-portrait for xmas (not sure if she's getting this one…)
2. I heard an NPR story this week about "selfless" and art portraits.
3. I saw Jennifer Balken's studio on this year's East tour and was inspired by her work.
4. I bought my daughter this owl hat and it fits me too. :)

Mosaic

"Mosaic", Stained Glass Mosaic, 13x10"

Lest you think I've been slacking off, here's my latest (play) project.  I thought it would be interesting to see if I could translate my work to mosaic.  I was hoping to develop a technique that might be suited to large-scale public projects.  This one took ~1 day and taught me a lot.  I used my painting, Shelter, as inspiration and wasn't deliberate about the glass choice, just grabbed things that appealed to me out of the scrap glass pile at Bluemoon.

Here's what I discovered:

• It's easy and fun to do and not terribly expensive.
• I can't get nearly the detail that I want - at least at this size and with medium sized glass shards.
• Subtle color differences don't read well - at least when using black grout.  

I may try another with a simpler subject and higher contrast glass.

Note: I had a lot of trouble getting a decent photo of the work, which is another thing I'd have to address if I end up doing more of these.

Confetti

"Confetti", Acrylic on Board, 25x36"

Here's the latest tree painting.  As you can see, I was drawn to extra vibrant colors for this one - not totally sure I like the effect, but maybe it will grow on me.

I'm toying with the idea of doing more daily paintings.  There's a new idea I want to develop.  Stay tuned.

Streamers

"Streamers", Acrylic on Board, 20x16"

Here is another largish painting.  I needed to do one more for the holiday show at Norwood Flynn, so I chose a tree/landscape (my old stand-by). I played around w/a bit more abstraction and thicker paint lines in the ground plane.  I find myself torn between going more real (w/figures) and more abstract with the landscape elements.

I've just about made up my mind to take a break from the daily paintings.  I'm beginning to feel like they are a distraction from the rest of my work - rather than a useful outlet for experimentation.

Touch

"Touch", Acrylic on Panel 24x30"

Things got really busy this week with a commission as well as finishing this piece in my figurative series.  I'm very pleased with this painting.  I love the ambiguity of expression and gesture - it cries out for the viewer to fill in the narrative.

I'll try to get back to the dailies on Monday…though I have to admit, I'm losing steam…

Saturday Dolls

"Saturday Dolls", Acrylic on Panel, 5x7"

Click here for purchase information.

I'll start off the week with the last painting in the dolls series.  These are Victorian era dolls that mimic the style of the time, plucking the hair to create an extra large expanse of forehead.

Tomorrow I'm moving on to the different subject…I just need to figure out what!

Friday Dolls

"Friday Dolls", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"

Click here for purchase information.

I forgot to upload this one yesterday.  I'm not as captured by the gentleman dolls.