Abstract Painting For Textile Artists

I taught this four-day workshop at Helen Day Art Center last week, geared towards textile artists with not much experience using acrylic paints. Most of the participants fit that description, but there were a few more experienced painters who were not textile artists.  I often get textile artists and recovering quilters in my classes, so this seemed like a natural fit. 

Here are a few pictures from the workshop. These are all Student Work, except for the photo of me fooling around at my table.

Thanks for visiting.  Check out Helen Day Art Center's other workshop offerings.  Among the people who teach there are Galen Cheney, Suzanne Siegel, Claire Desjardins, and others that I admire. 

Playing with Orange and Blue

Here is a short series of demo pieces I did in Green Valley, AZ, the other week.  We were using paint, collage, and mark-making to explore complementary colors.  These are all 10"x10".

Green Valley Demo #1:  In this piece I have almost equal percentages of blue and orange. I find that the most challenging ratio. 

Green Valley Demo #2:  Here I was playing around more with a range of value and saturation in the orange.  I love the pinks, corals, and salmon colors you can get in this range.

Green Valley Demo #3:  This is probably about 75 - 80% orange.  I am tempted to cover over the whole bottom left section with orange....

Green Valley Demo #3 Alternate:  OK, I just did that in Photoshop to see what it would look like. What do you think? 

Green Valley Demo #4:  Here I let the orange get really washed out.  More desert-like.  I love the contrast of the very light neutralized orange with the brighter colors in the center, and just teeny bits of blue. 

DO try this at home.  Choose one pair of complementary colors:  blue and orange, red and green, or purple and yellow.  Use as many versions of each color as you like, mixing them to vary the hue slightly (orange, red-orange, yellow-orange, but not red and not yellow), and mixing with white and very light gray to vary the values.  Paint, collage, use crayons, scratch into the surface with a razor.  The techniques are up to you.  The key is to do a SERIES of them exploring various proportions of the two colors.  Have fun!

Deborah Moss's Blog Post

Deborah Moss featured me in a recent blog post in which she discusses coming up with titles for your work.  She was one of the people who responded to my Titles post, asking for ideas.  I sent her a small piece of art, all the way to New Zealand!

This piece is titled "Paving the Way", thanks to Debora's suggestion:

18"x24", acrylic and collage on canvas, $800

E-mail me if you are interested in purchasing the original.  Prints are available on Fine Art America.

Workshop Openings

I am offering 100 Drawings on Cheap Paper again this fall, beginning on October 4.  This is a ten-week online workshop that focuses on working in quantity.  It is not about working quickly, but about investigating an idea over the course of ten small paintings or studies each week.  I am limiting the enrollment to a smaller class size than previously.

100 Drawings on Cheap Paper Online

One feature of this class is that you are asked to make observations about the work that you post, to really look at it as it stands on its own.  This is surprisingly challenging, because when viewing our own work, our default seems to be to describe how we made it.  You will develop a vocabulary for identifying visual content, apart from technical process.

My workshop at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops this spring has a few openings available.  "Visual Improvisation" is about taking a more inventive and playful approach to composition.  The web site describes the dates as May 7 - 13; that is is if you arrive on the Sunday prior to the workshop and depart the Saturday afterwards.  The workshop days are May 8 - 12, a Monday through Friday, full days.

Visual Improvisation in the Hudson Valley

For other 2017 workshop see my full Workshops Schedule here.

Pink Slip Postcards

This is something that I found on Facebook this morning:  a project that entails sending a "pink slip" to President (for now) Trump.  If you are a Trump supporter, please just enjoy the video for my demonstration on making monochromatic postcards.  For those of you would would like to fire Trump, send him a Pink Slip Postcard on March 15.

See the description of the project here.

I created two 'postcard sheets', each 8"x12", each of which I then cut into four 4"x6" postcards.  I encourage you to make your own if you are so inclined, but if you don't have time, use mine!  Here is a link where you can download all eight of the postcards.  Just glue them to card stock, and send to:

President (for now) Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Wonky Grids Workshop

My Wonky Grids workshop at AVA Gallery is now open for registration.  It's a light hearted, playful approach to abstract composition with paint and collage.  Register here.

Supply List

• 90 lb or 140 lb watercolor paper 22”x30”, hot press, or smooth printmaking paper of comparable weight: 4 sheets, 22”x30”.  I use Stonehenge paper.  Cut your paper to 8.25”x8.25” BEFORE class.  You should get six pieces from each sheet.
• Acrylic Matte Medium or Soft Gel: one pint. (I use Utrecht Matte Medium)
• Acrylic glazing medium/liquid: one small bottle
• Acrylic paint: artist-quality paints such as Golden, Holbein, Utrecht, Tri-Art, Windsor-Newton, Blick Artist Arcylics, etc. You may supplement these with student-grade paints. 
• Disposable palette: pad of paper style, 9”x12”
• Drawing materials: pencils, various pens and markers, graphite sticks, watercolor pencils and crayons, charcoal, (any of these that you care to use)
• Brushes: bring a variety, some watercolor brushes, smaller flat ones, glue brushes
• Brayer: soft rubber, 2” or 3”
• Spray bottle for water
• Big roll of absorbent paper towels
• Stamps and stencils of your choice (optional)
• Stash of collage papers : think pattern and color, not image or texture.

$5 Materials fee includes:

• Loads of cheap drawing paper for making collage papers
• Drawing materials to share
• Pearls of wisdom
• Chocolate, if you're good.

I highly recommend that you order your supplies online well before the workshop.  The local art supply store does not carry many of the items on this list.

See my Favorite Materials page for links to supplies. 

Here is the link for registration.

Series of Texture Studies

I've been looking at visual texture, which is to say "implied" texture, or very shallow physical texture that is enhanced by paint.  Here is a series of studies that explore texture against flat color and line work.  The translucent paints, like the Quinacridone Gold I've used here, are great for getting texture.  Opaque colors like the white an bits of turquoise (not sure how I mixed that) are good for flat areas.  These are all 10"x10" (20x20cm), acrylic on paper.

Texture Study #1

Texture Study #2

Texture Study #4

Texture Study #6

Texture Study #7

Detail of Texture Study #7 above.  You can see that just the brush strokes of the previous layer offer a great opportunity for texture.  This is simply black paint applied to the surface, then wiped away.

Working in series like this is a great way to explore different options within a focused area.  I am teaching Series As Process, in which we take this approach, at Madeline Island School of the Arts in July.  Take a look here, and register soon, as there are only a few spaces available.

New Work At Edgewater Gallery

Thanks for all your suggestions on titles.  I am still waiting to hear from Kandis Horton, who supplied the title for this first piece.  These pieces are now available at Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury, VT. Works in the gallery are also available online.

Now Is The Time, 19"x25", acrylic on paper

Alternative Facts,
19"x25", acrylic on paper

Going Around in Circles,
19"x25", acrylic on paper

It Could Be Anywhere,
19"x25", acrylic on paper

Here are a couple of photos taken at Edgewater Gallery:

Art With Kayak

More Art With Kayak, Alligators, and Ceramic Vases

Art in the Corner

Thanks for visiting!

Downloadable Coloring Page

I put this piece on my Facebook page, but it appears that people are having trouble getting the link to work.  I converted this image to a kind of line-work, but with some of the texture.  Download the coloring page here, print it out, and play with the colors using colored pencils or paint.

This is "Random Act #1", which is 19x25 on paper.

"Random Act #1" as a coloring page

On a scale of entertainment value, this might not be in your top ten, but a few people expressed interest, so here it is.  It is interesting to take a look at your own work using different Photoshop filters (I know, nobody used Photoshop anymore), just to get a different perspective.

Titles

 This was really FUN, to hear (or read) all your fabulous ideas.  It's kind of a window into what YOU see in my work.  I also appreciated those of you who suggested ways of coming up with titles - the free writing, and web sites and poems.  Great suggestions, and I will do that as well.  I chose titles for the four works on paper, as I am bringing them to Edgewater Gallery later this week, framed (took me all afternoon, but they look great). 

Here are the titles I chose. 

Alternative Facts

"Going Around in Circles" (from Cynthia Mc)

"It Could Be Anywhere" (I can't find the source, but I think SOMEONE suggested it)

"Now's The Time" (from Kandis Horton)

So... could Cynthia Mc and Kandis Horton please e-mail me with your shipping address so I can send you a small piece of art work?  Thanks again for all of your participation!!

Titles: a Small Giveaway

Assigning titles to my work is always an adventure.  Occasionally titles just show up, and for these pieces I have some ideas, but I would be interested to hear your suggestions.  These are each 19.5"x25.5" acrylic on paper.  Please comment!  I will assign them numbers for reference:

1

2

3

4

Here is one more that could use a title.  It is 18"x24" on canvas:

5

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.  If I end up using your title suggestion, I will send you a small piece of original art!

Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont

Edgewater Gallery is now carrying my work.  I am PSYCHED!  As I have had this gallery in mind as a potential venue for offering my work for sale.  They represent some awesome artists, in quite a range of styles. 

Recognize the work?  This is a section of "Stripes and Drips #2".

My work is at their Mill Street location; they have another location on Merchant's Row in Middlebury, and another in Bozeman, Montana. 

A few larger works on paper will be added to the collection; they are at the photographer's now.  Stay tuned, as I will be doing demonstrations, and possible short workshops here. If you are in Middlebury, drop by.  If not, check out the web site!