Week Two

One Chair, Two Tables, acrylic on board, 8" x 10"

I have to confess, painting is starting very slowly this year. 

When I actually sit down and paint, it's all there, but getting there has been a struggle.

 With this painting I was noticing how attached I get once a line I like is down,

 even if it stops working with the rest of the piece.

More Horses!

I thought about making these creatures some day with some class and since I don't have access to a kiln at the second school I teach in, it was time to do these as horses, in honor of the Year of the Horse. Once they were made, they reminded me of Alexander Calder sculptures, 

I hadn't thought about the similarities of the forms until I saw the show in LA last weekend. 

Which was fabulous, by the way, if you're in Los Angeles, go see it!

Reworked Painting, 2/16/14

This painting of Gram was never right. It looks much more like him now and I am pleased with the looseness of the paint. I left the eyes alone and now they are a little too tight, but that's okay.

The question, why paint and not just photograph? comes up a lot for me, especially since I usually paint from photographs. I have decided it comes down to the quality of the paint on the surface, if done right, it adds so much depth, it becomes something more than just the image. 

The paint on the surface is what I am continually working on. 

It takes a certain amount of caring and not caring at the same time.