Newest News!

 I am so happy to say that I am now represented by Jen Tough Gallery.  She just formed this extraordinary online gallery.  The pieces she will sponsor are listed on my website.

My other exciting news is my alliance with Sylvia White -www.buyrealArt.com and she currently is exhibiting 5 of my pieces in her gallery in Agoura Hills.  I am so happy to get some actual physical representation in addition to my relationship with Pamela Skinner in Sacramento, who is also showing several of my smaller works ( they are designated on my website. Here is a snap from the exhibit at Sylvia White's gallery.  My piece is the black & White that Clayton Frameworks framed so beautifully.

Living Lines #3

Serendipity 2019 

one wall of gallery with wonderful art around mine

2 framed pieces

 I just wanted to share this news - and now I have to get ready for the second day of my workshop.

An Extraordinary work day in the studio

 Some kind of new rhythm within me.  I have been working in the studio almost daily , mostly the mornings, but today it has been most of the day.  Upping my game, prepping cradled panels with shellac, applying cold wax medium to a couple of finished, mounted watercolors.  And I do not know what to call these works:

 

Flip & Flop, 20"x10"
 

The diptych watercolor was done on a panel previously mounted with blank watercolor paper.  The painting has now received 1 coat of cold wax, back and sides have been coated with shellac. When the wax dries I will buff and apply a second coat. 

#1 Experiment June 6

This 10"x10" watercolor/ collage was done on a piece of watercolor paper about 12"x12", with the idea that I would mount it after it dried. Well, I also used some soft pastel, so after drying, I fixed it with my fixative, mounted it securely on to a cradled panel that had been previously gessoed- with sides and back having already received shellac.  I then coated it with a coat of cold wax.  When it dries I will buff and wax again.

#2Experiment June 6
This watercolor collage is 10"x24" and I don't know what I am going to do with it. I may have to get a custom panel, as I really do not want to frame it behind plexi.

I wonder what's next- I have 6 12"x12" panels mounted with watercolor paper and my original intention was to make this into one large multi-paneled  piece. Who knows?

Behind the scenes...

 I am sending 3 6ft paintings south  for a 2 month exhibit.  It is rare that I have the opportunity to show big pieces. I found a transporter who will take them for me and that freed me to go ahead and get them ready.  For 3 days they lived on my painting wall ( they are not leaving right away), but now I want to work and so I had to move them to my hall;

Wrapped in plastic with cardboard and towel spacers

Feeling so betwixt and between, very much in transition, I decided to organize my flat files and ended up ripping up for the shredder ( dumpster) about 50 older figure studies- after so many years of just laying around in a drawer- It felt good, cleansing in fact, to make room for new work.

Of course, in my space, 3 6 ft pieces lived on the walls, and taking them down required that I put new work up- or work that I hadn't seen for some time.  I so love those big pieces, but I love even more having breathing space around work.  These replaced the big pieces:

Waterways, mixed media 22"x30"

 

Afloat, Acrylic , Collage 30"x40"

Visitation, Acrylic, collage 48"x60"(not so small

So, enough cleaning and moving art around- back to work!

It's a WORK DAY!

 Hi there,

Today has been devoted to preparing very large canvases to travel- painting sides, hanging wire, etc.  This is the first time I have had an opportunity to send 3 of my biggies to an exhibition.  After the first blush of interest, I realized I needed to hire a transport person, make sure the work would be insured in transit and also in the exhibition.

Lots of new risks for me, as I do not have insurance on my work and am now investigating  and probably getting it soon.  This adventure will cost me $, but I see no way to avoid spending the carefully hoarded funds.  I found a policy that will serve me well, not just for the upcoming exhibition , but for all my work.  Here are the paintings I am contemplating sending:

Just Travelin' 41"x72"

An Untitled Place of Peace 41"x72"

Pulling Rainbow, 48"x60"
I will keep you posted on the progress!

Duality

      Yesterday, as I was driving ,I listened to an interview on KPFA involving the horrendous conflict between Israel and Palestine, this perpetual  and unequal tug of war.  I couldn't help but be reminded of an ancient and very brutal time in European history between the Danes and the Saxons... and in this stream of consciousness state I thought about a handout I give my own students in almost every class:  it is a list of OPPOSITES to employ in one's paintings/ drawings, that make the artwork more exciting.

     This list of opposites began in my head about 30 years back, when I realized I was reciting little mantras as I was working ( light /dark, bright/ dull, sharp/diffused,  etc. ) These opposites seemed very necessary to bring a painting into completion.  The tension created between these different elements made the magic happen.  Here are a couple of examples:

Boat Rides Through Millenia
watercolor

Hovering, mixed media

And so I began compiling a list of ever expanding opposites and distributed them to my students. 

PAINTING WITH OPPOSITES

Open form/ Closed Form

Sharp Edge/ Soft Edge

Cut Edge/ Ripped Edge

Area of Complexity/ Area of Simplicity

Saturated Color/ Muted Color

Additive/ Subtractive

Pattern/ Solid

And so the list goes on

Which brings me to the understanding that duality  rules our Universe. We live within it as we perpetually continue  to strive to reach beyond it to a state of harmony.

 In our paintings and in our lives.   My thoughts for today.

Today.s meanderings

 Just thought I would make a plug for my upcoming workshop- the first in person workshop in sooooo long! here it is

I love working with multiple media and the almost infinite possibilities it was for both discovery and its great capacity for enriching both surface texture and depth. I just posted a short video on this subject and

if it cannnot be accessed here, please find it on my instagram and facebook posts.

All the works in this little video are pieces that incorporate a variety of mixed media, oil paint, collage and some pigment stick , soft pastels and graphite marks.  Enjoy!

New Beginnings

Greetings , it is May 10 and I am beginning a new cycle  of communication with my viewers/ readers.  I really want to reserve this space for sharing information- of all sorts-.  Topical right now is my frustration at being rejected from so many exhibitions, compounded with the fact that I have reserved this month to become more saavy with all of my electronic devices- My new ipad sat unopened for 8 months and my iphone--- all of these are apple and supposedly in sync- has been a source of perpetual confusion for a long time.  

I am currently involved with Artist Alliance run by Jen Tough and am working with an Instagram challenge  and also a month long seminar on Art Fairs.  jen is a gold mine of information , compassionate and friendly, and I find this a valuable source. 

I have recently realized that I rarely share anything about my life independent of my artwork, and that has been a sobering fact;  I really haven't wanted to announce to the world my daily doings, but that is changing as I am increasingly recognizing my growing need to connect-- what an isolating year it has been!.  So here is my newest post- My favorite spot in my studio that is not my art:

The photos in this little altar are of my spiritual guide, Murshida Carol Connor, Murshid James Mackie( in the hat) and my favorite quote of Leonardo Da Vinci--" I wish to create miracles".