Long Time No Post

I have not been posting very much on this blog because student teaching began in September right after I left Colorado in August. I had so much time to create this summer and now I'm so exhausted after my day that its hard to get going. I hope to set up a little corner table in an empty room at my parents house for now but I may have to put off oil painting until I can find a better ventilated space! To see what I have been up to for the past two months you should check out my "Experiments in Art Education" blog!

Felt Pillows Make Me Happy

I made this felt pillow today in hopes of creating a whimsical accent piece for my house. I really enjoyed the process and I hope to create a couple more of these before the summer is out here in Telluride, CO. Maybe more of a botanical inspired pillow with an emphasis on embroidery?

Botanical Painting From My Imagination

New Ceramic Work

I have been throwing and hand building a lot here and I decided to take some pictures for proof. Im really enjoying this floral motif, it has this whimsical quality that makes me want to make more! Please excuse the poor picture quality...

Snail Mail

Here is another plein air sketch i did that i decided to cut up into postcards to send my loverly roommates while we are all separated in different areas of the country this summer. Miss you guys!

Botanical Drawings From My Imagination

Plein Air Sketch

The Plein Air Festival recently took place in Telluride, CO a week ago. Through out the week there were artist lines up in main street, in ditches, and on trails all capturing the beauty of Telluride one painting at a time. I decided to take part by completing a little sketch along the San Miguel river trail.

Open Figure Drawing 7/12/10

Some New "Botanical-Like"Drawings

Open Figure Drawing 6/28/10

The AhHaa School for the Arts offers an open drawing studio on Monday nights this summer. I went for the first time yesterday and got some exciting results. I haven't drawn the figure from life in about a year and a half and it felt good to play with line quality and contour lines again. I love exploring other mediums, but it is drawing that really engages my mind and challenges my skills. Hopefully next week I will gain some equally exciting result. (zoom in to check out details)

Telluride, Colorado

I have arrived in Telluride, Colorado for an internship this summer and I'm trying to seek inspiration from a place that is in a different direction from my previous work. I've been doing some pen drawings of wild flowers just to get my hand on a drawing utensil but i hope to break out the watercolor soon. I will be taking a plein air adult class at the AhHaa School for the Arts this summer and Im excited to learn about different techniques and practices. Until then, enjoy the simplicity of pen.

Another addition to the series

Oil on Canvas

12"x9"

New painting

Oil on paper

12"x9"

Here is a new painting I finished recently. First I competed a watercolor paintings of the image and used it as a color template for my oil paint. I used the drips and lines created with the watercolor to make arbitrary color choices within the painting. The result is a somewhat surreal landscape that utilizes the figure as a focal point. The paint's translucency and seemingly hapahazzard application is intended to evoke a sense of memory.

New Paintings

Here are some new paintings i have been working on. i have been introducing more solvents (linseed oil) to my paint and I have been paying more attention to choosing colors. Many of my paintings previously where completed using very saturated colors and now I'm trying to become more selective and methodically. My source images are still coming from family photos but the setting my subject is in has changed. My figures previously where placed in interior or ambiguous spaces where as no they are being placed in an implied landscape.

The semester has started and it is in full swing. I have had little time to post due to my schedule but i though I would upload some photos of my studio space. This is the location I am not in class for at work. I try to make it there every day if only for a little bit. You never know when an inspiring idea is going to occur. The wall is current;y covered with a color study project that was assigned by my painting professor so we could start the semester out just getting paint to a surface. As long as you are doing something. To start a semester or another series of paintings can seem overwhelming at times and it is nice to just break it down to the basics and get paint to paper.

Allison Schulnik: Hobo Clown

Here is a video that was brought to my attention today by my printmaking instructor. Above are stills from the film. At first he was explaining to me how this particular artists utilizes impasto and uses it to build a three dimensional surface on her canvases. Then he mentioned this stop motion clay video that this artist made as an extension of her paintings. Here is a link to Allison Schulnik's film Hobo Clown (2008). Initially I was disturbed by the imagery but eventually found myself mesmerized by the movement of the clay. She made some interesting decisions as far as how she was choosing to manipulate and utilize the clays moldable qualities. I especially enjoyed the moments where she folded the clay onto itself during the open field scene and revealed the layers resting underneath. The melting was also a wicked cool part (boston accent).

Multiple Polaroid Scale Monotypes.

Here are a few images I recently created using the monotype process to help expand a concept I have been focusing on for a couple months now. It's based on memories that I do not own myself but rather the memories I interpret my immediate family to have. I use vintage polaroids as a reference point as I spontaneous conjure up seemingly fictitious moments in the past. I use my subject matter as a sort of meditative reference point as I formulate fictitious memories to help gain a sense of connection with those relatives I share a distant relationship. It is my hope that I will be able to gain a heightened sense of identity and unspoken intimate connection with those relatives I have not had the opportunity to experience with in a tangible and supportive relationship.

Alice Neel is My Homegirl!

Virgil Thomson

Oil on Canvas

1971

48"x37"

I have loved Alice Neel from the day I fell in love with painting. I have never emulated her work until now and I'm very excited to post some of the studies I have completed in my monotype class. Until I get photogarphs of my work I will tempt you with an Alice Neel original! To look at more of Alice Neel's paintings and learn more about her tumultuous life click here.

More Monotypes

"Opaline Study"

9"x12"

Monotype

"Unknown Relative"

9"x12"

Monotype

"Opaline Study"

9"x12"

Monotype

Monotypes

"Opaline"

9"x12"

Monotype

"Meatloaf Potluck"

9"x12"

Monotype

"First Home"

9"x12"

Monotype

"Grandfather Study"

9"x12"

Monotype

"September"

9"x12"

Monotype

I have been taking a win-term printmaking class that focuses on the Monotype printmaking process. The process is basically the application of paint/ink on a flat non-absorbent surface (plexi glass) using various application techniques, and then printing the image on a piece of paper that has been dampened to absorb the ink when put through a printing press. I wont go into the techniques here but I've posted various examples of my work thus far and if you are curious about how a print was achieve just shout out and I will explain.

Lets Tie-Dye the Snow

I came home today to find my roommates blue clothing dye all over the snow right by our front steps. Last time she put that stuff down the drain our plumbing system back up for a couple days... Lets just say i enjoy this version of discarding better, even though I question its effects on the environment.

Pinhole Camera images from fall 2009

These are the final three black and white images I took for my digital photography class fall 2009 final portfolio.