Back from the Pacific Northwest

I just had a fantastic experience teaching Abstract Painting at the Pacific Northwest Art School on Whidbey Island in Washington. Here are a few video clips of the event:

And a few pictures:

A walk before the workshop

The workshop in Progress

Watching a Demo

We will be doing some of the same activities in Expressive Collage at Omega in September.  I will also be returning to Pacific Northwest Art School in May (4 - 10), teaching Abstract Painting (a different version), as well as a two-day workshop on Monoprint Collage using the gel plate.

Music in the video is by Podington Bear (I think I misspelled it in the credit - sorry, Podington with one d).

Pictures from the Exhibition

I want to share with you some images of the show, "Journey Into Process", of which I am a part.  It is on view at Vermont Institute of Contemporary Art (VTica) through September 8.  You can see my portion of the exhibition on my web site though I did not post the 4"x4" pieces individually.

Part of my wall, before the opening

VTica serves REALLY good hors d'oeuvres at openings!

Part of my 4"x4" exhibition, in the hallway

"Edge Location" series

One of two groupings of my Shape Series

Enjoy!  I've recently updated my Workshop Calendar, so take a peek and see what's coming up this fall and in 2014.

Blue Canvas

Here is the sequel to the last post, a video of me working on this blue painting. What I love about video is that it makes the process look so straightforward, as if there is no hesitation, no uncertainty about What To Do Next.  This painting was challenging and, at times, frustrating.  You will see a big difference between the finished piece and the version in the video.  At one point I just had to turn off the camera and work it out without being "watched". 

Blue

I've been fascinated by more-or-less-monochrome paintings, and started a Pinterest board to collect images.  How do you make a painting interesting when you are using predominantly one color?  I thought I'd investigate this issue by making a series of paintings, or collage-paintings, dominated by a single color.  This one is 12"x12" on canvas.  I did shoot some video of the process, but will edit and post at a later date.

This was meant to be predominantly blue, but I can see I got very green in some places.  The collage pieces, using the paper demonstrated below, are on the middle left, and lower left just below the orange.  They get sucked right into the painting.

In the meantime, I made a video of a painting technique I use to make collage papers:
This is one of the many techniques I'll be sharing in Expressive Collage and Painting at Omega in September, as well as Scribble Paint and Unbinding the Visual Journal at Art and Soul in Portland in October.

Back to the Postcards!

Some of you have asked if I ever sleep, implying that I am doing a lot of work lately.  I have had some productive studio time, for sure, and am gearing up for summer and fall workshops.  I do sleep.  What I haven't been doing is scanning and posting all the fabulously creative postcards I've received for The Postcard Project!  I read every single one, and LOVE them all, but the volume has been overwhelming, and other obligations have taken priority.  I am keeping them safe while I figure out how and where to display them...

Here are a few recent ones; it was hard to choose just enough for a blog post, so I decided to highlight the fabric pieces:

All postcards that reach our post office in 2013 COUNT towards keeping it open in 2014.  Rather than scanning and posting every single one on the online galleries, I think at this point it will be more realistic for me to do an occasional post on the blog with select images.  We are well over the 2000 mark now!  THANKS SO MUCH to all of you who have sent and are sending cards. 

Expressive Collage and Painting at Omega

As you may know, I am teaching at the Omega Institute this fall, September 22 - 27.  The workshop is called Expressive Collage, and you can find the description here.  This will be like an extended version of Scribble Collage, the topic of my DVD:  we'll start by creating our own collage papers, then use those to make compositions in collage and paint.  I emphasize focusing on process, and working in series, as well as developing personal approaches to art making.

This is my first attempt at a video with voice-over (rather than talking as I shoot, as I do in my demo videos), but I hope it gets the point across.

Omega is in the Hudson Valley, in Upstate New York, and has a beautiful campus, with a lake and hiking trails. There are yoga classes open to all, and serene places to meditate or have some quiet time.  This will be a true retreat!

New Pieces - Edge Location

I am working on a video, which I hope will be ready to post tomorrow, but in the meantime I thought I'd give you a quick look at some new work.  I delivered what felt like a truckload of art to VTica on Tuesday for the upcoming show, Journey Into Process (scroll to bottom of the page for info).  The show opens on Friday, July 1, and I will have it up in a gallery on my web site as well.

Here are two new pieces that are in the show:

Edge Location #3, acrylic, graphite on wood panel, 12"x12", $375
 Buy a print here.

Edge Location #4, acrylic, ink, graphite on wood panel, 12"x12", $375
 Buy a print here.

 I am calling the series "Edge Location", though you have seen #1 and #2 as "Fresh Paint" pieces.  The series began as an exploration of atmosphere and depth against hard straight edges.  So for a title, I brainstormed the word edge, and came up in a Google search, with the term "edge location".  I love the sound of those words together, but still can't quite understand what the term means.  In the context of digital imaging, it has something to do with "sub-pixel values"; in the context of web services it appears to mean the location of data centers, where all that cyber material is located.  If anyone can shed light on the term "edge location", please comment!

What appeals to me about this mysterious or ambiguous meaning is how I think of edges in terms of tides and horizons: the edge of the ocean - both at the land and the sky -  is ambiguous, unfixed, in constant flux, and elusive.  On a map, a continent simply ends somewhere - but On Location, at the edge of the ocean, the shore line and the horizon are constantly changing.  I just LOVE that.  It is not a profound idea, but the term "edge location", whatever it means in the digital and cyber worlds,  got me thinking about the elusive nature of edges.

More 4"x4"'s

I've been working on some large canvases the last couple of weeks, but also going back to my 4"x4"'s because I have to deliver sixty of them to VTica next week (see previous post about the show). I will show you the canvases when they are done, which may be a while.  SO different working large on canvas than either working small or working on paper.

Here is a sampling of the new 4"x4" pieces:

See the 4"x4"x400 Flickr Group.  Join it if you like!

4"x4"

I am still working on my 4"x4"x400 project, and it may take me all year to get to the projected 400.  In the upcoming show at VTICA, called "Journey into Process" (see invite, below), I will be displaying 60 of the 4"x4"'s, mounted on wood panel, in two grids, three high and ten wide. 

Here are a few of the latest 4"x4"'s:

To participate in the 4"x4"x400 project, go here.  Or view the Flickr page.  If you are making 4"x4" art, please join the Flickr group and post your work!