finale

In the end I decided to do a rough copy of Joan Miro's Catalan Peasant in the Moonlight. The first photo is mine. The second photo is the original. The green at the top of mine did not photograph well - it is much more saturated and grass-greeny. I have mixed feelings about copying someone else's work. I guess it stems from my feeling that it lacks imagination. But maybe I just admired the simple composition and the use of color so much I had to imitate it.

I know the composition is not exactly the same. If I had wanted it to be the same I would have projected the original onto the canvas. But I didn't. I wanted to get the same feeling using my own gestures and not looking at the original when I did mine. I'm not completely happy with the end product. I think it looks clumsy and forced. But then again the original has a certain amount of carelessness about it. I don't know. I enjoyed doing this, though. Maybe I'll make a striper for this one.

phase two

I have continued working on the Green Jello painting and am now in phase 2. Working in a composition similar to Joan Miro's Catalan Peasant in the Moonlight, I am focusing on color and texture. I am just so inspired by Joan Miro's use of color and simple lines. The yellow is like a shooting star at the top and the blue and red at the bottom bring your eye around the composition and back to the large red section. Everything you see in the light green will eventually be black - gesso or paint of some sort. That should add an element of drama and define positive and negative spaces in the whole piece.

green jello

I had a dream where I was watching a street performer dive into and swim through a huge cube of green jello. So that has inspired me to paint in GREEN! This is the background for my new painting. I am taking photos along the way to document the building of the piece. More to come.

the blue stripe

So I’m working on my latest painting. Not getting anywhere helpful. First I painted the background with golds and browns like in Joan Miro’s self-portrait. Then I added paint in gesture-like strokes – reds, yellows and black. Then I covered it with gesso applied with a palette knife. Then I thought it should be darker overall so I added two glazes – one umber and the other ochre. Then I stepped back and looked at it and decided it was too brown.

So then I added a bright blue stripe. Now I hate it. What do I do next? Pitch it? Add more stripes? Gesso?

I should have taken Francesca’s suggestion to photograph it along the way. Now I’m stuck with a bright blue stripe I'm not sure what to do next. Maybe I should just move on to something else. I'm sure it will come to me eventually...

up to speed

To bring you up to speed… In the summer of 2009 I worked on this painting:

Woven. Oil on canvas. 24x30.

And in December 2009, this one:

Pastels. Acrylic on canvas. 18x24.

Working in acrylics for the first time was a thrill. I found that I can use the same thick body of paint and achieve a similar blending of colors using the same techniques I used with oil paints – only I could work a lot faster. This has enabled me to turn out many paintings fairly quickly. In January 2010 I finished 8 paintings! I have been working on the Joan Miro striper series taken from color class. The first one I did in the fall of 2009:

Painting. Acrylic on canvas. 16x16.

The other four I did in January 2010:

Harlequin’s Carnival. Acrylic on canvas. 16x16.

Constellation. Acrylic on canvas. 16x16.

Rooster. Acrylic on canvas. 16x16.

Hand Holding a Bird. Acrylic on canvas. 16x16.

My next adventure was to explore texture through the use of gesso applied with a palette knife. Here are the three I did in that vein:

Painting of Painting by Joan Miro. Acrylic on canvas. 30x36.

Black Stripes. Acrylic on board. 16x20.

Blur. Acrylic on canvas. 16x16.

looking back

A little bit of background for you. I developed a passion for painting while studying graphic design at Louisiana State University from 1996-1998. I continued painting in my free time while working as a graphic designer in London and Montessori pre-school teacher in Nashville. Since moving to Houston in September 2007, I have focused on defining my vision as an artist, in part by enrolling at The Museum of Fine Arts’ Glassell School. During this period, I have concentrated primarily on abstract art. I view my art as having an emotional quality evoked through the use of color, texture, and repetition.

In addition to my background in graphic design, I have a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Art History from the University of Houston.

Most of my work involves the use of line and color in a controlled way with repetition. Here are some examples: 

Looking at the Skies through Flies’ Eyes. Oil on canvas. 48x36. 

Blue & Orange. Oil on canvas. 30x36. 

Red & Green. Oil on canvas. 30x36. 

I have a few figurative paintings including:  

Profiles. Oil on canvas. 40x30. 

Self-Portrait. Oil on paper. 22x30.

Killjoy. Oil on canvas. 24x24.

I hope this gives you an idea of my work from the past. The next posting will be about my current work.