Wood plaques 2019

I started carving, painting, stenciling my own plaques in 2013 with hipster sayings on them.

I decided to expand on those by adding images or some stenciling to make them more interesting. I sold several more this year than last. I also have about 50 still to decorate, so any suggestions are welcome.

LEDs add BLING!

I found online a string of bright LEDs that were battery operated. It started the gears turning in my head. It opens all sorts of potential for a making some art with bling. Here are a couple that I've made so far.

This is called Ursa Major. I did a whole series of wood cutout animals where I then over-imposed skeletons. Then I painted Dia de los Muertos designs on the bones. This one I took in a different direction and added the constellation over the skeleton.

This one I gave to my brother and I liked the bear so much, I used it as a template for the one above. Instead of the lights behind the whole piece, I created a second wood layer for the swirl. But I like how it turned out. I could make a dozen more bears and I'm sure I could change the lights around to make different stories.

Portraits in oil

I've been studying/practicing portrait in oil this last year. I really enjoy how oil blends and retains a beautiful texture. Acrylics can too, but because oil doesn't dry so fast, you can work it until you're happy with the results. 

This is my friend Priscilla. Painted from a photo taken at a gala when we were all dressed up. I probably should have worked it just a little longer to look most like her.  

These two are from old photos provided in the class I took at the Art Student's League. Again, they don't look exactly like the photos, so I need to keep working on that, but I really started to experiment with glazing and wet-on-wet techniques. 

Don't Underestimate Spraypaint

I did. Now I am a believer. Stenciling is such a great enhancer to backgrounds. It can set a mood. It can create a setting. It can break up negative space.
Here are some of the pieces I enhanced with spray paint.

Mardi Gras Owls - Triptych

I created a triptych of three Mardi Gras owls using 'Owl Moths' as masks. Each is 20"x20". I called them Krewe of Strix. A krewe (pronounced "crew") is a social organization that puts on a parade or ball for the Carnival season. Strix is Latin for screech owl. So, I see it as meaning "Parade of Screech Owls". As you see, the backgrounds are Mardi Gras colors. I sketched them out a year before I got around to painting them.

 

 

Painted stones - from 2014

As I was thinking about what I was going to show this year at CHAC, I came across a bucket of cut river rock that I had prepped a few years back. As owls are my new obsession, I thought that painted owl rocks would be new a different from what the artists would be showing with me. Here are some of the best ones I was able to photograph before selling.

After the first dozen sold, I started branching out into other creatures. Also, popular - especially the hedgehogs. They took a little extra time because of the carving, but they sold very well. I used the bottoms that I cut off the larger stones to make these hedgehogs. I can't seem to throw anything away that could potentially become a piece of art.

Heart donations for CHAC 2019

The CHAC gallery is doing heart shows again; their big fundraiser of the year. I am not a member any more but was asked to donate a heart. The hearts are made from Masonite board - all the same size. I believe that the gallery has been doing this fundraiser for 20 years.
Since I have been trying out acrylic paint pours this last month, I used some of the pre-mixed colors to make these hearts. I embellished and varnished them before donating them. I kept the Dior piece for myself since the Dior show at the Denver Museum of Art was so cool. (The jewelry is not Dior - ha!)

Painted Glass Pendants

I have been using Magic Paint on some of my pendants that didn't look quite finished. It adds so many new possibilities to the work that I've been doing. The color range available includes several hues and shades. Because it is a glaze, I found that you have to take the glass up to a full fuse in order for the glaze to melt into the base and cool with a shiny surface.I like the results and have been getting good feedback on them.

Waterfall on the road to Hana in Maui

I picked this waterfall piece to practice landscape painting. It represents the amazing day we drove "the road to Hana". Everything was fresh from the morning rain. Just so beautiful that it is hard to describe. Certainly hard to capture in a painting.

I enhanced it to remind me of the lush land of Maui. The water was also much more crystal clear than the photo represented. I like how it turned out.

I have a dozen other photos from Hawai'i that I want to paint this year. It is an amazing place with amazing people.

Acrylic Paint Pour

There are hundreds of videos on YouTube with people trying this technique. The process of adding silicon oil to thinned acrylics and pouring buckets of it on canvas has become very popular over the last couple of years. Many of those who have produced great results sell the abstracts for good money on the internet. I was looking to create more unique backgrounds to my NON-abstract pieces. So some friends came over and we covered hundreds of items with paint. These are some of the best ones I did.

I might leave the platter as is for now, but all the other paintings I plan on added something to the foreground. Any suggestions?

New for 2019!

I am grateful for a friend who sat semi-still while I painted him for about an hour. I took it home and worked on it another hour or so. Hopefully he isn't embarrassed, but this is how history is going to remember him. Ha. It is called "Steve After a Haircut".

He paints bright poppies, so I thought I would add that as the background instead of his kitchen wall. I'm taking a portrait oil class at Art Students League in February, so I'm practicing portraits as much as I can.  Here is one I did from a photo. Not someone I know, so there was less pressure to get it "right".

Regardless of skin color, you can use the same four colors for almost any portrait - Also known as the Zorn Palette (after Anders Zorn) It consists of yellow ochre, ivory black, vermilion and titanium white. I learned that in my previous oil class.

 

Quick! Paint on this...

I like the fact that my friends know I can be challenged to paint anything, anywhere, on any surface.

My good friend Jesse asked me to paint a "quick" painting on his doorbell cover. I few weeks later he got the piece below. But I have to say, I learned the limitations of some surfaces - such as this old plastic with a faux weave pattern in it. It took three layers of gesso, but the sides were still scratching off easily. After a combo of fixative, spray paint and varnish, I hope this piece stays intact for awhile.

Sebastian Finds a Bee  5x7"

Photoshop turning one piece into a dozen

I am a big fan of Photoshop. I have been using it for over 20 years and find new things to do with it all the time. I wish I had more time to play, with all of the brushes and other endless features.
Here are some pieces that I created with the help of this robust graphic tool.

This is the original (Copyright-free) image

 

"The King and Queen Reminisce" - Dia pieces 2014

For the 2014 CHAC Art Show, I put together a king and queen Dia de los Muertos college set. It was inspired by the 3D crowns, which ended up not being the focal point of the pieces. I started with gluing some images into the background. I painted over them with white, but the 'ghost' image still shows through. I carved the letters and hearts out of wood. They were fun to do. They measure about 3' x 4'.

Teaching kids to paint owls

I almost never hang out with children. They make me nervous. But somehow I was talked into teaching a painting class for 8 kids (ages 5-7). In retrospect, it went fine, but it is true that kids do the darnedest things. The youngest kept falling off his chair.Anyhow, I taught them that paintings have at least seven layers of paint. I was thankful to Michael and other parents who used blow-dryers to dry the painting between each layer. The final touch was to sign your piece to make it an official painting. 

I have fond memories of my first "real" painting. Hopefully this group holds onto their creations throughout their lives to keep inspiring them to be creative.

Other Acrylics from February

Here are some other pieces I've finished lately. I am starting to play with background and surroundings to that it isn't just an animal. But, sometimes the focus should just be on the animal. Really I am just painting what I am inspired to paint.

Pug at the Watch  8"x10" Acrylic

Long Journey (Fox with Owl) - 9"x12" Acrylic

Scrutinization - 12.5"x6" Acrylic