oil on 2 panels
61 x 97cm
2006
04 November 2006
29 October 2006
Sunset City
oil on canvas106 x 153cm
2006
this is what it looks like now
(still unfinished)
I covered the entire thing with a really awful yellow because I still didn't like where it was going, after all...
The idea now is to get the lower, foreground bits into some darker blues & purples; keeping the yellows & adding some red glow in the middle bits; and fading into paler green-ish blues in the top sky distance.
A kind of push-and-pull of warm & cool colour.
Rain
oil on 3 canvasses
89 x 89cm each
2006
These 3 canvasses got to this point a few weeks ago & I was not sure where to go from here - then several people at different times saw them and liked them, not thinking them unfinished, as I had been.
So I guess I'll leave them as they are for the time being...
The edges of the canvasses are painted a dark purple similar to the colour I've used to frame them here.
One guy who saw them said this work reminded him of rainy weather in the city - thus the name.
11 August 2006
SUNSET CITY
Sunset City
approximately 110 x 150cm
This painting began several months ago. I wanted to take the sewing as far as I could - how large a canvas, how many seams, before stretching the thing becomes impossible?
This one was quite difficult to stretch. So much sewing, the canvas inevitably went a little crooked & wobbly with all the patching of small bits - I think there are at least 50 separate pieces of canvas sewn together here! It is not strethed very tightly; this makes it difficult to paint on without touching the supports behind the canvas, which leaves a mark in the brush-stroke.
I am painting very carefully!
First photo taken after 2 colour layers. Sunset colours, thus the name.
Some of my paintings have names.
Most of those names - titles is the proper term I suppose - are simple descriptions.
Not thought about, just arrived at: a way to distinguish one from another in conversation.
Many of them wind up with numbers instead of names.
Especially those done in series, like the work I did in June for 30dayartist.
This painting had been turned to the wall & ignored for a couple of months, because I didn't know where to go with it. It is the 9th sewn canvas I had made, and I was getting a bit stuck on the sewing lines, doing a paint-in-the-shapes kind of thing with them up until this point. Wanted to get outside those lines, but was afraid of mucking things up.
Ha! Afraid of "ruining" this canvas - badly stretched, difficult to paint on, in general a pain in the neck kind of experiment. Funny.
Then I did 30dayartist, and now I am finally beginning to use what I learned from that experience.
Making all those little paintings in June had been a worthwhile excercise in that I tried various approaches to painting on canvasses that already had a composition sewn into them.
Because those canvasses were small, I was able to experiment a little more: if one is ruined, it's not so big a loss!
Second photo, taken just a few days ago.
I hauled it out of hiding & stopped worrying about what might happen & just began painting.
It's not finished yet - maybe not by a long shot! - but I am liking the progression so far.
detail - just look at all those little bits of canvas pieced together!
Am I crazy or what?
approximately 110 x 150cm
This painting began several months ago. I wanted to take the sewing as far as I could - how large a canvas, how many seams, before stretching the thing becomes impossible?
This one was quite difficult to stretch. So much sewing, the canvas inevitably went a little crooked & wobbly with all the patching of small bits - I think there are at least 50 separate pieces of canvas sewn together here! It is not strethed very tightly; this makes it difficult to paint on without touching the supports behind the canvas, which leaves a mark in the brush-stroke.
I am painting very carefully!
First photo taken after 2 colour layers. Sunset colours, thus the name.
Some of my paintings have names.
Most of those names - titles is the proper term I suppose - are simple descriptions.
Not thought about, just arrived at: a way to distinguish one from another in conversation.
Many of them wind up with numbers instead of names.
Especially those done in series, like the work I did in June for 30dayartist.
This painting had been turned to the wall & ignored for a couple of months, because I didn't know where to go with it. It is the 9th sewn canvas I had made, and I was getting a bit stuck on the sewing lines, doing a paint-in-the-shapes kind of thing with them up until this point. Wanted to get outside those lines, but was afraid of mucking things up.
Ha! Afraid of "ruining" this canvas - badly stretched, difficult to paint on, in general a pain in the neck kind of experiment. Funny.
Then I did 30dayartist, and now I am finally beginning to use what I learned from that experience.
Making all those little paintings in June had been a worthwhile excercise in that I tried various approaches to painting on canvasses that already had a composition sewn into them.
Because those canvasses were small, I was able to experiment a little more: if one is ruined, it's not so big a loss!
Second photo, taken just a few days ago.
I hauled it out of hiding & stopped worrying about what might happen & just began painting.
It's not finished yet - maybe not by a long shot! - but I am liking the progression so far.
detail - just look at all those little bits of canvas pieced together!
Am I crazy or what?
04 July 2006
30dayartist - # 27: snow city
oil on canvas
left: 58.5 x 43cm - right: 33 x 43cm
2006
detail:
__________________________________________________________
# 30: tuxedo
...before
& after...
oil on canvas
56 x 35.5cm
2006
(sometimes I wonder why I don't just leave them alone once they've got to a certain point - but oh, no: I always think I can improve them! At least this one is not completely ruined.)
02 July 2006
25 for 30dayartist
These are the 25 little sewn canvasses which I made in June during my stint on 30dayartist. Each canvas measures 27 x 27cm. You can check out my process of making them if you go to the 30day link in the sidebar.
# 1-2 tracers
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 3-4-5
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 6-7-8 denim
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 9-10-11-12 ladders
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 13-14
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 15-16: tracks
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 17-18
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 19-20: city
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
Canvas #21 has not yet been finished. It is looking very awkward at the moment - when it's finished I will insert the image here...
#22-23 landscape
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 24-25: ruched
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
detail
# 1-2 tracers
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 3-4-5
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 6-7-8 denim
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 9-10-11-12 ladders
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 13-14
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 15-16: tracks
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 17-18
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 19-20: city
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
Canvas #21 has not yet been finished. It is looking very awkward at the moment - when it's finished I will insert the image here...
#22-23 landscape
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
# 24-25: ruched
oil on canvas
27 x 27cm each
June 2006
detail
29 May 2006
25 canvasses ready for my 30 days...
Each canvas measures 27 x 27cm.
You can see that 4 of them have been gesso'd already. I meant to photograph them before I began with the gesso, but in my eagerness I forgot.
Someone recently told me that they like the way my sewn canvasses look just the way they are, that I shouldn't paint them. And funnily enough I have been thinking the same thing.
However, these are slated for painting experiments on 30dayartist in June, and I mean to see that through.
Later perhaps I will make more & leave them raw...
15 May 2006
a possible composition
Just got back from stretching canvasses at the studio - kinda liking these 3 together... tomorrow evening after work I will apply the gel medium, and if it dries quickly enough I'll be able to apply the first coat of gesso too.
Each canvas is 27cm square.
monday, may 15 2006
I am going to be on 30dayartist for the month of June. These are some of the canvasses I have been preparing for the event. The little dark rectangle you see is a piece of ribbed corduroy fabric - it will give an interesting bit of texture when I begin painting.
After they are sewn, I will stretch them, apply a layer of gel medium to seal the seams, then apply 3 coats of gesso before ever I begin painting. It's a laborious process, but I like the results enough to make it worthwhile for me! (Hopefully also the viewers of my work on 30day will think so too.)
And this is my old and beloved sewing machine...
I love this machine because it is indestructable. It has moved from Ontario to BC & then to Alberta in the backs of U-Haul trucks, over hill and vale, prairies and mountains, through rain & snowstorms & sunny weather. Boxes have fallen on it. Some of the lovely fake 50's veneer has peeled off the cabinetry. Once long ago it fell down a flight of stairs - all the way down, from the very top step to the bottom - and it still works. Amazing, huh? I love this machine...
I've made much of my own clothing with it, and I've made clothing & done alterations for others. I made my mom a lovely black velvet handbag with beaded fringe, and my sister an embroidered denim handbag abounding with pockets obvious & hidden, with this machine.
Now I have begun to sew canvas. It's an interesting melding of passions for me - sewing & painting. It's fun.
14 May 2006
portrait of a sculptor
oil on canvas
approx. 60 x 40cm
2000
she was sculpting me while I was painting her
it was a nice dynamic
08 May 2006
16 April 2006
15 March 2006
04 March 2006
#8: opaline city
oil on sewn canvas
2006
actually this painting is not finished - I usually take a couple of photos during the making
this photo is a bit out-of-focus, but...
the colour is very nice at this point & I'm afraid I may ruin it by adding more glazes, so for now it's "on hold"
-- 'til inspiration strikes again!
01 March 2006
textured experiments: first 5
#1 violet
106.5 x 63.5cm
oil on canvas
2005
________________________________________
#2 yellow
68.5 x 68.5cm
oil on canvas
2005
________________________________________
#3 red
155 x 40cm
oil on canvas
2006
detail #3
________________________________________
#4 indigo
56 x 79cm
oil on canvas
2005
detail #4
________________________________________
#5 green
99.5 x 129.5cm
oil on canvas
2005
detail #5
106.5 x 63.5cm
oil on canvas
2005
________________________________________
#2 yellow
68.5 x 68.5cm
oil on canvas
2005
________________________________________
#3 red
155 x 40cm
oil on canvas
2006
detail #3
________________________________________
#4 indigo
56 x 79cm
oil on canvas
2005
detail #4
________________________________________
#5 green
99.5 x 129.5cm
oil on canvas
2005
detail #5
25 February 2006
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