To Catch a Falling Dream

"Dream Big" Mixed Media on Canvas 24x24

Typically, one would not expect to get a lot of art inspiration at the podiatrist. (Unless of you course you like to paint feet.)  But I was in a waiting room a few weeks ago that happened to have a large colorful Native American poster. The elaborate feathered headdress reminded me that I’d been planning to paint a dream catcher.

And then I saw Core New Art Space (a contemporary co-op gallery in Denver) was having an upcoming dream themed show. So that gave me the final push to paint a dream catcher this week. FYI, the extra texture on the painting incorporates both acrylic gel skins and "recycled" dried paint peeled off plastic palettes.  Something new in the studio that I used that also helped me with this painting was an Ott full spectrum rechargeable light. The battery feature is great because it's cordless and that's always helpful in a studio.

I read that some cultures believe dream catchers help sort the good dreams from the bad. As someone with an active imagination prone to crazy dreams, vivid nightmares, and a restless night brain this is quite appealing. They say the good dreams flow down the feathers to the peaceful sleeper. (I have real dream catcher I bought in Taos but my cat kept attacking the dangling feathers. So this painting might be a more suitable replacement.)

Lone Tree Art Exhibit: November 12-December 31, 2011
I’m pleased that I had a small oil painting juried into the Lone Tree Art Show. If you’re in the area be sure to stop by the opening cocktail reception on Sat. November 12. This event usually features some beautiful regional art at great prices. P.S. There's still time to enter my contest to win a FREE print of my art (see details in previous post).

High Chroma Canyon

Acrylic and Pastel on canvas-20x30

Today’s Painting:
I posted this mixed media painting (inspired by the colors and textures of the southwest landscape) a while ago in progress, but recently we completed painting. This was a collaboration with a student and while it took us a while (lots of glazing layers) we had a fantastic time. And learned a lot in the process as well. We particularly enjoyed working with the oil pastel under and over the acrylic glazes.  

So the next time you’re looking for a painting project (particularly on a larger surface) consider working on a collaboration painting with fellow artist. Most likely you each have different creative strengths you can bring to the canvas. 

Speaking of you next painting project, if you prefer smaller scale paintings, I’m continuing from my previous post regarding tips about how to get started on your daily painting. In this case, the oil still life.

Step 2: Tone it Down
The sooner we make our mark on the canvas the better. Toning your support also makes judging your values so much easier. Before I sketch onto my canvas, I usually tone my canvas with warm wash of acrylic paint for quick drying.

Color wise, I prefer golds, oranges, corals, pinks, or sienna. For the onions, I used Transparent Red Oxide. For a ease and speed, I use a rag, paper towel, or a big old house painting brush. If it’s acrylic, it should be dry within a few minutes.

There are times you may want tone your canvas boldly with red, violet, magenta, yellow, or even black as daily painter Karen Jurick so skillfully does. Note that if you tone with a dark color, you can use a light colored pencil for your sketch.) In the next post I’ll chat in detail about what do after you’ve toned your support.

The Trip to Bountiful

Usually, I tell my students that you can't go too wrong if you keep things simple while painting. And normally, I try to adhere to my own advice but once in a while I don't get that message. This multi-layered oil painting on panel took me a few weeks from start to finish. It contains a kitchen sink of techniques--some new and some tried and true.

Just a few include painting the first layer with Golden Acrylics an old gift card (Victoria Secret BTW for those of you who like details) and scraping the paint over the gessoed Masonite board (18 x 18). (This idea came from an online demo I saw a while ago of an artist creating an entire painting with plastic cards as brushes.)

I also built up additional texture with a thick gesso using a variety of tools such as palette knife, stamping, and some stencils. Lately, I've been really drawn to waxy encaustic paintings and so I glazed some of the shapes back with milky opaque colors. This piece started out as a purely abstract color study demo for one of my abstract students with reds and golds. When a figure and face began to emerge I decided to work with that imagery. I added the dream catcher at the bottom just for "good luck" and because I love circles.

Quick thanks to all my students who continue to work hard and paint during the summer--I know it's a season with many other temptations. I love seeing each week what you are working on from dogs to pheasants, from florals to seascapes to aspens. Speaking of aspens, this weekend I'm off to Aspen and can't wait to take some photos up there. Have a great weekend everyone!

Kokopelli Dreams

In anticipation of my upcoming trip to Arizona, I'm posting one of my favorite Southwestern inspired abstracted landscapes in oil.

More specifically, I was thinking about the enigmatic prehistoric canyon rock art found in the region.

This 20 x 24 oil painting was SOLD, but I'm planning to do another in this style (much larger) in the upcoming weeks. I added the gold foil stamping at the end (when the oil was dry) to add even more texture and sparkle to the jewel tones.