tying up loose ends

Still a lot of unfinished city paintings in the studio. I rarely seem to have the energy to work on them these days, but gradually they are being finished.

Stories
o/sc
68wx34h


So Much Can Be Replaced
o/sc
70w x 33h

tag

In July 2010 I made a post titled "in stitches" That was the first stage of these paintings. Now they've got to here. There is something interesting going on, but they feel still incomplete. Maybe my colours need to be more refined for this colour field idea to really work...





The colours are built up with several glaze layers, the subtleties of which are not evident on a computer screen.
And there is a spot on my camera lens.

time is the key

Yesterday I went to the studio again after a few weeks off. First thing I did was photograph a few paintings that were finished some time ago, plus this one which I did very recently:

The Untitled Art Society is having a show called "Re-gifted" in which participants are asked to make an art piece out of something that has been given to them. This is mine - a framed print that was really not to our taste, painted over with acrylics and re-inserted into its frame. It looks a bit more interesting now.


Cathedral
oil on stitched canvas
29w x 57h approx.


Deluge
oil on stitched canvas
34w x 62h



Untitled
oil on stitched canvas
40w x 42h
I've posted some pics of this one in progress - now here it is completed. Photo is really too dark, but you get the idea.

plein air

Went out to a friend's cabin last weekend. The surrounding countryside looks mainly like this:





I brought along a sketching kit to try some plein air painting.... as you can see my colours do not do the landscape justice. But I sure had fun!

mmmmm?

Just working away

maybe this one is finished


before & after: added a bit of violet, it's quite subtle


on my way home one night

a little 10x10 landscape, seemingly out of nowhere

Rush & Settle opening night

Melanie, gallery staff and artist.

Rob, the gallery owner, with Ira Hoffecker and I. Ira's work on the right, mine on the left.






The gang from the store where I work part time.





My husband and his parents.

it'll be OK in the end...

...and if it's not OK, it's not the end.

yup.

the work's in the gallery - I haven't seen the show yet, but Rob tells me it looks fantastic.
yay!!

the opening's tonight and I am relaxing today, sitting in the sun having breakfast outdoors, maybe go for a little bike ride later...

:)

trickster

So, between getting all the details in place for my upcoming show, I have been painting a bit too:

Cathedral
(I'm thinking finished)



In the freight elevator at the studio, taking my larger paintings downstairs to be photographed. This is only some of the work! There was another load of about 40 small pieces.


Among the larger pieces photographed was this one.
Then I varnished it.....


...and look what happened. The top shiny part is good. The strange matte shapes at the bottom are not good.
Same varnish, same technique as with a number of other works I varnished that day, only this one went weird. No idea why.


Close-up of nice varnish looking how it's supposed to look.


Close-up of the weirdness.
Can I convey to you the extent of my consternation and disappointment?

I was in tears. Varnishing a week before the work goes out is cutting it a little close, but the gallery is here in town, so no long shipping of wrapped works. A week to cure is OK in this case.

But now here is - of course! - the largest work in the exhibition looking like some strange goo was spilled haphazardly on it.
So.
I removed the portions of varnish that went weird, following manufacturer's instructions. It went well enough, but a little paint did come off so I've had to re-paint some small bits. Now the work cannot be shown until it's dry, several weeks' time at least, and (shudder of apprehension) re-varnished.

Looks like this one will not be in my exhibition after all.
*sigh*

up to here

First, I want to say that I'm having a show next month at AXIS gallery here in Calgary. Check out the "october 2010 exhibition" at the top of the sidebar for details.

Now on to the recent studio work.
One finished:

Every Small Thing
oil on stitched canvas
35w x 37h

And a whole whack of stuff in progress:




Cathedral


All We Need


Forget Time And Death



And here is a piece that has been reworked many, many, many times! I think this is it, now. No more reworking. It is what it is:

Heaven And Earth
oil on stitched canvas
3 @ 24w x 30h each

More goes on every minute

what I did in the studio today:

before

after
photo is too purple but

not bad in a frame
these are 12x16 each
not sure if they're finished, maybe a few tweaks?


and what I saw on my way home:

once and for all

That's it, they're finished. No more dickering about!

before:

after:
Inhabit
oil on stitched canvas
47w x 28h



before:

after:
Drifting In
oil on stitched canvas
72w x 42h

Artists For Life

and there I am with the t-shirt I painted. They raised over $5000.oo to support people living with Aids, and I'm glad to have helped!

...o...

Back to the black & white ink paintings. Added white ink and some drawing with black pen to these.











While I was working on those, I painted a t-shirt for a fundraiser for AIDS:







it's a really big t-shirt!



And with the leftover ink I started a few new ink paintings on rice paper. I'd like to have 10 or 15 of them finished for my October show.