Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I'm posting one of my more "mysterious" skull paintings which I love to paint. (This painting won Honorable Mention at a local abstract show a few years ago and like all my paintings that win awards, was safely "put to pasture" in my studio.)

I wanted to create an interesting background for the skulls so I painted several layers of acrylic and then added texture and lines by pressing the wet areas with plastic wrap. After letting it dry for a while, I peeled it up to reveal different patterns. At the end, for a bit of irony, I added the symbol for "Long Life."

Finally, I love to dress up for Halloween and one costume that I've always thought would be fun would be fun as an artist would be to dress like a famous painting, such as Vermeer's iconic Girl with the Pearl Earring or the Mona Lisa. I see I'm not the first though with that idea, as you can see from these young ladies creative art costumes.

For Georgia

I finally had a chance last night to watch the Georgia O'Keeffe movie (on Lifetime) I had Tivo-ed over the weekend. While I would have liked to have seen more of Miss O'Keeffe painting--I found it very inspirational and moving. How often do you get to see a movie about a female painter?

My favorite scene is where, after an arduous trip from NYC, she wakes up in magical sunlit Taos. You just know she's not leaving after that.

While wandering the mesmerizing landscape she holds a skull up to the sky. In honor of that, I thought I'd post one of my skull paintings--this one in watercolor. I love to paint skulls, and like Georgia says in the movie, unlike real cows they don't smell.

Georgia's Shadow

My classes are now posted on TeachStreet --It's a great online resource for local classes of all kinds. Welcome to my new visitors and students from there!

While Georgia O'Keeffe is well-known for her flower paintings, her skull paintings are my personal favorites.
As a result, just like Georgia, I have a collection of animal skulls in my studio as well.

Since skulls are usually white/off-white, I find they also make fantastic and dramatic watercolor subjects.
This watercolor was done on Arches cold press using many granular pigments such as cerulean which adds to the exposed, weathered feel.

Work in Progress: Skull & Hydrangeas

This week am working on oil painting makeover, of sorts.

I found this tattered oil painting at a tag sale a few years ago and honestly just bought it for a few dollars for the canvas to re-paint on. But the more I looked at it, I decided to give it a "makeover."

Not a true original painting, of course, but it's been an interesting creative challenge. First I decided to simplify the palette and brighten the colors, then I strengthened the composition, and now I'm working on toning down the busy knife texture. Finally, I'll make it my more my own by adding some signature painting touches like red accent lines.

When it's complete, it will live happily ever after, saved from the dumpster, in my studio.