Painting Raffle

 I have decided to offer one painting per month as a raffle item to raise money for the Rupert Village Trust, an organization dedicated to village revitalization in Rupert, Vermont, my home town. This month, the painting is "Nowhere to Hide, #2", one of a series of what I'm  calling my scribble paintings. It is 18"x24" on mixed media paper.

Nowhere to Hide #2, 18"x24", acrylic on paper

All of the money collected in the raffle goes directly into Rupert Village Trust's account to help us reach our goal of a community center and café in the Village Center. Our main focus is to upgrade the historic Sheldon General Store building to safety and accessibility standards, and build the infrastructure necessary for a café. We will lease the main floor to a café owner/operator, while Rupert Village Trust uses the upstairs space for continuing community activities. Read more about it here.

Big Fat Lines

This has been SO FUN! I'm making big fat lines on big fat paper. 18x24" cheap drawing paper, as well as full sheets of Chinese newspaper sent by a friend. On the newspaper, I am first painting it with slightly watered down white and off-white acrylic using a cheap hardware store bristle brush. LOVE the texture that makes! For the lines I am mostly using a mop brush and high-flow paint.

This is the view from my office/yoga space, in the loft of my studio.

See that spiral piece lower center? That is on deli paper, painted first with the white.

Here are a couple of collage-paintings I've made from big fat line work. These are both on 19"x24" bristol. The Blick Bristol is super smooth and durable, perfect for this kind of thing.

This one includes some cut-up Big Fat Art

The pink and green on the lower left are house paint scribbles.

30-Minute Mark Making

30-Minute Mark-Making is an exercise I do when I'm not feeling particularly focused, or if I need a jumpstart in the studio. It's pretty simple, but not easy. Basically, you just paint/collage/draw for thirty minutes, in a continuous manner.

1. Choose your format, i.e. size and material of substrate. In the videos I am working on three 19"x24" sheets of Bristol, which are pinned to the wall.
2. Get out your materials. I'm using a paint, a bit of collage (and matte medium for adhesive), graphite, and Caran d'Ache NeoColor II crayons.
3. Start the timer and get to work. Stop (optional) when the thirty minutes are up.

The point is to practice NOT hesitating, judging, trying to plan the next steps. So as soon as you DO hesitate (which is inevitable), catch yourself and make a mark. You'll see this in the second video, I do hesitate and then notice that and keep going.

The first video is the first round of the 30-minute exercise in time-lapse. The second video shows actual time and I chat a bit about what's going on in my head.

This is where the first 30-minutes ended up.

This is where the second video ends up. These are all still works in progress, but they are looser and more surprising, or at least different, than if I had not imposed the 30-Minute rule.

The hardest thing about this exercise is to remember that CONTINUOUS work for 30-minutes is the ONLY rule. You don't have to cover the page or the multiple substrates, you certainly don't have to finish anything; you don't have to make anything you like; you don't have to work fast.

I would love to hear of your experience if you try this. You can change the time frame if you like - twenty minutes, or an hour, or five minutes - as long as you stick to the continuous rule. Let me know how it goes!

Art On A Roll

One of the projects I wanted to try in 2019 is Art on a Roll. You can see my thoughts on what this year might bring on my Happy New Year blog post. I began it in early February, on a roll of Strathmore Bristol, which is 42" wide and ten yards long. As you can see in the photos below, I expose only a few feet of the roll at a time, and just work on that section. Then I roll up most of what I've done, unroll some blank paper, gesso it, and continue.

This process has helped me stay in the present moment, stay with what is going on in front of me. I have had lots of questions about what my plans are for the whole thing when it is "finished", but the truth is that I don't have any. It is the experience that I want to explore.

This is a few layers into the first section.

Close up of second section

Another close-up

Second section again

Beginning of third section

Etc.

Many layers into section 4

More of Section 4

This is where it begins to turn into a landscape

And I put this little Scottish Village on it. Could also be in Newfoundland, but a friend is visiting Scotland and posting gorgeous photos, so that was on my mind.

Close up of the village

There might be another village across the water...

I am on another section now, and I did put some buildings on this patch of earth. I have an idea to do a workshop on this process, where we all work on our own Art on a Roll, and also do a communal one. I'm considering logistics and venue. Let me know if this interests you, or if you have ideas on how it would work for you.

Elements of Visual Language is AVAILABLE!!

Finally, the book I have been working on all winter and spring (having made notes on it for the preceding year or so), is now available from Amazon.  You can download an excerpt here.

Abstract Painting: The Elements of Visual Language emphasizes the practice of observing your work as it develops, without judgment or self-criticism.  My hope is that it allows you to be more personally expressive and authentic in your artistic explorations.

Hope you enjoy it!  There are more in the pipeline.  And a video coming out later this summer.

Click here to purchase.

Small Works at True North Gallery

I have a few pieces in a Small Works Show at True North Gallery in South Hamilton, MA.  The Small Works phenomenon seems to be very popular around the holidays.  I guess it suggests that you could buy a small work of original art as a gift, or treat yourself in this time of giving.

Check it out if you are in the area.  It is an opportunity to see a LOT of diverse art, all on a relatively small scale.  Enjoy!

Student Work from Abstract Painting in Vermont

Which was last week.  GREAT group, as usual.  And this workshop is small - twelve students - so we really get to know each other and spend social time as well as studio time. Next year's workshop will take place in Manchester, Vermont, as the new community library has a fantastic event space, filled with light (and air conditioning, I hope). 

Please do not re-post these images; they are student work, posted here anonymously.  If you post them elsewhere, they will appear to be my work, and as much as I'd like to take credit, it would be misleading.

This one I can say is a communal piece. We started by making marks, then passing the paper to the next person, who would make a very different mark.  It was fun, but not sure how productive.

This series was based on inspiration from the artist Claire B. Cotts.

This is part of a series based on inspiration from Lee Kaloidis, whose work I drool over.

Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of everybody's work, and some that I did take did not come out well.  So the above does not include work from all students.  Enjoy the eye candy!

Student Work from Pacific Northwest Art School

Just checking in from Whidbey Island, where I've been teaching "Abstract Painting: Series as Process" at Pacific Northwest Art School.  This is just a little eye candy:

Next year at Pacific Northwest Art School on Whidbey, I am teaching "100 Drawings(/Paintings) LIVE", May 16 - 20.  An intensive five day workshop!

Please do no re-post these images anywhere. It is student work, posted here anonymously.