Painting, Printing, and Reading

 

I wanted to post the redemption plein-air painting of my mother's sugar bowl from Tuesday evening following the bonsai tree scrap down. I love this little sugar bowl. The top was super-glue back together twice during my childhood, post me clumsily dropping it. Luckily I am a great gluer. I just think it is the sweetest little container ever, and I am so glad that I get to have it in my home.

Tonight is my opening at Fifth Avenue Gallery, and I am really excited to wear a newly altered dress. I always get more nervous than I expect to before social engagements and this week has been no different. While laying awake on Wednesday night, I had a strike of genius to draw on a dress that was unwearable due to a couple of stains. On my trip to buy the fabric marker, I decided to pick the stamp below and proceeded to stamp a pattern on the dress to hide the stains.

            



Finally, this morning I finished Patti Smith's book Just Kids, which was generously loaned to me. If anyone is thinking about reading it, I would highly encourage them to do so. It was a great book, and made me think deeply about Dave Hickey's The Invisible Dragon, which I am planning on rereading soon.


Today I had a friend over...

...to paint from life. Stephanie cranked out a great little painting from 11-1, while I wiped out my painting several times. Some days do not contain that special air of painting magic when everything falls into place, I guess I forgot my painting vitamin today! Here are a couple of shots from our session.

Stephanie's painting:



My second start:




The painting at 3:30:


then I decided to scrap off a little excess paint:


unfortunately, I kept going and ended up with a nice pile of dark green paint and an empty surface:




So I am planning on tackling a redemption painting later today.
 I am thinking about putting my mother's sugar bowl against that blue wall and trying again. Luckily, I did get a good croissant and some very nice painting conversation, thanks to Stephanie. 



In other updates, I did get to finish the pier painting and it was dry enough for the installation this weekend in Melbourne. 



I had a little trouble with the younger version of my mother walking in the painting, but resolved it without scrapping down the entire painting.



I also talked Marc into posing for me on Friday night. He watched the movie Kick-Ass and stayed really really really still, thanks Marc!




















New Starts: Pier Painting



This painting is 16" x 20" and will hopefully be finished and dry enough to head down to Melbourne next week for the Show at Fifth Ave Gallery! We will see, sometimes paintings are tough to wrangle into something that approximates ones expectations for them. 



Morning Patio Painting

This morning I set up shop outside on the back patio. My plan is to paint 19 more tiny-small paintings by the end of this week. The weather is really fantastic right now. NPR and Shelby are keeping me company outside. Updates of the completed paintings coming soon. 





YOU ARE INVITED!

If you can make it to Melbourne, FL on June 3rd from 5:30-8:30pm, please come to the opening reception of my recent paintings Leaving the Screen Door Open at Fifth Avenue Art Gallery! To get directions you can visit their website: www.fifthavenueartgallery.com. Hope to see you there!



Round Two: Summer Break= Full Time Painter

So yesterday, I lost my post because Blogger is having technical problems. So here is my studio update round two. A recap of what I completed during the final month of school. New posts, that hopefully remain up to follow soon.


red carpet living room, 16" x 20", oil on canvas, complete


neighborhood lake, 24" x 36", oil on canvas, beginning


neighborhood lake completed with the latest tiny-smalls sitting on top
see details of the tiny-smalls below







Carport, 24" x36", oil on canvas,
this painting has changed since this photo but I don't have a completed photograph


working beach source drawing, charcoal on paper


working beach start with source photos taped to my easel


working beach, 24"x 36", oil on canvas


a little color laid in




1 month later

So I know that blogs are the most exciting when the creator actually updates them more frequently than once a month. As a rule, I get bored if someone hasn't updated the blog in a week, so my apologies for the delayed update.  However, I do have some paintings to share, so without further ado here they are.

Surprisingly, I have continued to shift several of the paintings I deemed complete this summer:


the figure on the right, my mom, now has a ribcage


and once again, I changed the background of the wooden palette painting. As a sneak peek this photo contains one of the newer paintings I have started (possibly completed) and below is


the finished tiny sandbox painting

Here is the new stuff:


The ocean painting, from above, day 3 when I realized my mom was too high.


The start to a new living room painting, and last but not least, some source photos and a progress report on the living room. 








truly ongoing

I picked up my paintings from The Floridian (you should eat there if you still haven't) last week to have them all in house when Wynn Bone stops by this month to switch out paintings for his gallery, Wynn Bone Gallery located in Annapolis Maryland. If you can't make it to Annapolis visit the website here: http://www.wynnbonegallery.com/artists/spedigo. With that said, two paintings have already hit the proverbial chopping block and have been shifted. I think it is so funny how something can seem done until you see it in another context or in front of certain people. In the same vain, I was really lucky to have my friend and colleague Leslie (www.leslierobison.net) over yesterday and she gave me a really fast critique of the crowded living room painting. I subsequently made several changes based on her comments, that I think really improved the work. So with that said here are some current studio shots:

a new background and some other information

 a bigger headed brother, and some hand and foot alterations

the newest in the crowded living room

Last but not least, because I am making my painting 1 class read Inside the Painter's Studio by Joe Fig (which is really a fantastic read) I thought I would give a couple of studio shots:

the always adorable shelby, aka booskin roo

the palette after painting tonight, with 2 big blobs of red that won't get used

a less crowded living room


After painting for four hours this afternoon, my "crowded living room," 24" x 36", painting became less crowded. First the rocking chair went, and then one of the versions of my brother. With one Matt missing, there are still two left...he is still sitting on the couch and laying on the floor in a, now, yellow onesie. I am also contemplating changing the name to either, "waiting for Hee Haw" or "playing house". I will most likely keep "crowded living room," I wonder why I always feel the need to try to think of titles with more "meaning". In subsequent painting news, I started a new smallish painting, 4" x 12", based on 1 photo featuring my brother and his childhood friend Josh in a sandbox.

fresh starts

Below are two images of a larger indoor painting, which I started today. It is somewhat intimidating to try to synthesize information into a coherent architectural space, somewhat fictional landscapes seem a little more forgiving. The room is a hybrid of my Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's (my mother's parents) living room from Chester, South Carolina. I have replaced the wooden panel walls with painted ones. 







The painting is 24" x 36".

Painting but not Posting

My apologies for the delay in posts. I am playing catch up on recording the activity taking place in my studio. Here are several paintings in process or completed over the last month.

Paintings that I think are complete:
A previously posted painting with a couple of small changes to my mother's face.

garden hose, 12" x 16"


water ripples, 4" x 12"


featuring the one and only shelby, my faithful dog and studio companion

out back, 16" x 20"

tiny study disappearing self, 3.25" x 2"


in process: 
below is an image with several of the source photos and a full shot of the painting as it stands now



    
reading in the living room, 12" x 16"




looking back/looking forward

As many of you may feel, post the time change, days seem to take more out of me now that it is dark by the time I leave work. Of course Florida's 6pm is vastly different from the 4:30pm sunset enjoyed/loathed by most New Englanders these days. A feeling of angst and simultaneous apathy overtakes me. To-do lists seem never ending and the demands on my time overcrowd my brain and exhaust my person.

This is best expressed through my evening routine tonight: leave work, drive to pizza hut to get the tuesday lasagna special (we live off of fast food these days), come home, watch an old 30 Rock and eat greasy food, email colleagues, look up and debate supplies for next semester, make changes to several working files, try to relax by watching reality tv, feeling uneasy, reading....more specifically reading The Radicant by Nicolas Bourriaud and wondering if I would ever agree that "Paul Gauguin, Segalen's alter ego, did not exploit the cultural context in which he settled (my emphasis); he translated it." really? Then, feeling really, really anxious (screw reading), watch 15 more minutes of reality tv while flipping through books for assignment ideas, thinking about figure drawing and the skeleton, thinking I should go paint and screw everything else for now....... PAINTING!

It is an activity that exhausts and thrills me, most of all it makes me feel alive. Painting allows me to get outside of my head for a few fugitive moments, I move past this moment, I traverse the mundane, my intellect is allowed to move past the to-do list. THANK YOU PAINTING.

tonight:


tiny small self-portrait 2" x 3.25"



the last couple of nights:
the other painting, my mom is now in the shade and she is reaching for something/someone, light shifts drawing problems to be resolved at a later date. 


working on my night moves

So the title of this post is sort of cheesy, or awesome depending on your view of Bob Seger. Either way let's just roll with it. Lately, the only time I have had to paint is pretty late at night. Subsequently, I have been rocking out to music while doing so, mostly to wake up and also to dance a little. Keep in mind that this is solo-studio dancing, which is not cool but always a good time. With this new formula I am keeping up my bargain to paint through the semester. Here are the latest results.


garden hose, 16" x 12"


garden hose with photo references


a slightly varied version of the last painting I posted

NOVEMBER SHOWS: something to be thankful for!

EXHIBITION #1
This month, my work is the featured Solo Exhibition at Gallery Gray. Gallery Gray is dedicated to curating and presenting the work of emerging and established artists in an online context.  
The Exhibition is titled We Are Always Here, and features images from my recent paintings. 
So, if you have a moment, please check out the website and my paintings.




EXHIBITION #2
This month the paintings from above will be on physical display at THE FLORIDIAN in Saint Augustine, Florida. 
The work will be up for the First Friday Artwalk on November 5th from 5-till. Terri Gamble, local singer-song-writer and friend, will being playing lovely live music. If you are in town and want to see the work, hear the music, or just have an amazing meal, please stop by!



THE FLORIDIAN offers innovative Southern Food made with local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients.  THE FLORIDIAN is located at 39 Cordova St. REALLY, THE FOOD IS AMAZING!
EXHIBITION #3


This painting will be a part of Figuratively Speaking- A Group Exhibition, opening on November 6th at Village Gallery in Montgomery Alabama. The exhibition is curated by EYA: Emerging Young Artists. 
As a side note:
For those of you reading this for a second time, my apologies! I am trying to be better at getting the word out so I am blogging and emailing, which equals some overlap. However, if you are sad that you are just finding out about my exhibitions this way and would like to be added to my mailing list, please contact me. 
As a second side note: 
I would like to give the AWESOME MARC STONE a shout-out for being really supportive, patient, and generally fantastic. 

Cue Foundation Silent Auction

I wanted to post a quick and really exciting update. On November 10th, one of my paintings will be part of the Cue Foundation's Annual Silent Auction. I donated a piece last year as well. The Cue Foundation is an excellent organization, and I feel privileged to be an auction supporter.

Here is a blurb about the organization:
CUE Art Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit forum for contemporary art that provides extraordinary opportunities for under-recognized artists and compelling encounters for audiences. CUE gives artists, students, scholars and art professionals resources at many stages of their careers and creative lives. We also offer comprehensive arts education programs for artists and students, and interdisciplinary arts events for public audiences from our large storefront venue located in the heart of New York City’s Chelsea Arts District.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see my name next to some very important people on the invite, so I thought I would share it!



YEAH!!! If that isn't enough excitement, you can visit the link to see some of the silent auction pieces on their website. Or if you still want a little more, I will post a blurry photo of a new painting in progress.


If the image looks familiar, it because it is....here is the previous incarnation of this photo.



New Painting Update

This blog entry is dedicated to my amazing husband, Marc Stone, who agreed to go out of town two weekends ago without me to give me time to paint away towards some looming deadlines. This is a big deal and the painting time was greatly appreciated, something about being alone really allows me to get down to brass tacks and paint. The LOOMING which I referred to is AWESOME, and I will be posting soon about the deadlines...but I want to keep a sense of suspense. So in the meantime, checkout some of the new work that I have made during and since that weekend. I painted my brother with a gun in one, the painting is based on a photo of the same subject, but the decision surprised me after the fact. I think there is nothing like the act of creating that suspends judgement and produces surprising results. I am curious to hear what he thinks about it, as we are both not gun people these days.


16" x 12", oil on canvas



12" x 12", oil on panel



16" x 12", oil on linen



16" x 12", oil on linen

The Tiny Smalls 
(thank you Terri Gamble)
all paintings are 3.25" x 2" or 2" x 3.25" 






picnic table phenomenon

I have a back log of images to post, so I will start with the past and move forward.

Several weeks ago I had a startling realization that my day to day life was infiltrating my paintings. This came as somewhat of a surprise, due to the fact that my paintings are typically amalgamations of imagery from photographs that are at least 20 years old and can reach as far back as 60-75 years ago. However, when I was driving home from work, I noticed that the picnic tables at the end of my street were an exact copy of the picnic table I "made up" in the reflective driveway painting.




I am really excited about the idea that my brain is inserting my current life into these paintings. It actually syncs up with the idea that these paintings are giving past moments, captured in the photographs, new life in the present. I just had no idea that this newly "created present" would unintentionally contain my physical surroundings. 

In other news, I have been paintings some small little studies (2" x 3"), to play with color relationships.

        

Last, but not least I have shifted the two newer beach paintings, one more than the other. Two nights ago, I worked on both of these, and thought I had finished each of them. However, tonight I ended up erasing my mom out of the second beach painting. It seems so sad to me now, the remaining figure feels incredibly lonely, but I think the painting is stronger for it. I am not sure if I will leave her that way, but before anything else happens the current paint will need to dry a little bit. enjoy...

beach painting 1 ( the barely changed image, some signage in the middle and background)


beach painting 2 (the loneliest beach painting, before tonight's painting session and after)







what i love about painting



On this sunday night, with monday looming on the horizon, I decided to take a break from grading to paint. There are several reasons for this, the foremost is that I know I am a better teacher when I am actively solving the same problems I am asking my students to.  With the problem of what to make, I started a painting from a black and white photograph of my mother with her parents looking over the edge of a cliff. If I had to guess, I would place them in North Carolina. I think my brother and sister are making it into the composition on either side of my mother, although figures come and go once the painting progresses. This completes the image as a pseudo-self-portrait, my mother sharing the place I would be in if the painting was true to the time period of my siblings. It potentially also makes my brother my uncle if the time was only true to the original source photograph.

This point gets me to the reason why I love painting so much; its ability to transform reality and traverse time. Potentially I am missing the power of other mediums, but I cannot resist the thought that painting outweighs other media's ability to assimilate, accumulate, record, transcribe, and combine time into a believable reality.  As well as the way it exists in our brains or perhaps more specifically ours dreams (subconscious). I am so thankful for having painting as way to move through time to be around my mother in an active way again, as opposed to a passive viewer of photographs or old home movies. The only other way I have experienced her in a similar way is in my dreams. In that space, we have gone on car rides together and talked about mundane everyday activities. My dreams of my mother are never extraordinarily (outside of the impression of spending time with her). They are just the mass of moments that make up everyday life. Those moments, and that feeling of being near her again are the moments I want to reclaim in my conscious reality. That is why I paint. That and the thrilling experience of mixing and pairing colors in a way that recognizable imagery emerges.