Monday, April 20, 2015

Bicoastal Project, Week 10

 I confessed to Libby today that every week I can't wait to open the file from her with the five new images, and every week I say to myself, "You've got to be kidding!" when I see them. 

The photographs are always great images, but even though Libby is sending them to me knowing my painting style and sensibility, some seem to me to want to stay photographs.

Then usually one image will become apparent it's the one.

I consider this a spring image along with the last two, I guess they could just as easily be summer images if I didn't know Martha's Vineyard is still thawing.

Loved this composition and relished the thought of painting clothespins (thought it was going to be easy, ha!), but wondered about the color all being so similar. On this painting, I feel as if I took some liberty with the image, blurring the tree texture to make the pins stand out more. I think the shadows are really the painting.

The tie-in to the other images is the rope, of course.

Really looking forward to seeing these all mounted and up with the photographs.






Clothespins, Rope and Tree, Photograph by Libby Ellis






































Thought I would add the drawing today.

Often I really like the under drawing of a painting and am tempted to stop or use washes to preserve the pencil line, but when I do, I am never really satisfied.

So the paint goes on and I do my best to make it as good as the drawing. 
Most of the time it works, but not always.






Today it worked.

Clothespins, Rope, Painting by Kalen Meyer, acrylic on canvas, 10" x 10"

Bicoastal Project Week 9

Buoy on open water (no more ice)!

Loved this image Libby Ellis sent from Martha's Vineyard.

Felt as if I hit a new level for myself this week, this project is really stretching my painting muscles.




Buoy, painting by Kalen Meyer, acrylic on canvas, 10" x 10"






Buoy, photograph by Libby Ellis

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Bicoastal, week eight

I know those of us on the West Coast don't fully understand how it feels when you see the first flowers poking up from bare dirt after a long winter, since our plum trees bloom in January, but I can try to imagine it.

Of course, Libby sent images of flowers this week. 

In the past I've thought about doing a series of 36 flowers because they are SO HARD to make into interesting paintings.

So, here is the first!

Libby was a little disappointed in this one, I think. This is the first week I didn't choose the image she was secretly hoping I would. I felt this was the hardest image to work with so far—and that's good! 
I really enjoy pushing myself. I feel that has been the greatest reward of this project so far—I am painting images I never would choose on my own!







First Sign of Spring, painting by Kalen Meyer, acrylic on canvas, 10" x 10"









Flowers (you can tell I don't know what they are, crocuses? snow drops?)
Photograph by Libby Ellis



Bicoastal, week seven

Libby sent a couple of images by accident before the Wednesday deadline. I looked at them, of course, and LOVED this one. Since it was in an odd format, I didn't know what they were but was HOPING she was going to send this as part of the five. I got a text a few hours later saying to please not look at the images, she hadn't meant to send them. I didn't tell her I'd already looked at them. She ended up leaving the island for a break from the winter, and called from St. John's wondering if she should send photos from there for this week, since she hadn't taken any on Martha's Vineyard… I said, "Oh, but you did!" and confessed to looking at them. Turns out she had texted me right after she had sent them, but due to a texting delay, I got her message so much later. She couldn't remember what she had sent—I assured her they were good.

So that was a long note just to say I got to paint this this week, it was fun knowing Libby didn't know what it was going to be. 

Love the hint of spring in the image. 

After I sent this to her, she remarked that this was the longest view we had done so far and that she has been sending me close shots because she thought they would be easier to paint. 
I let her know absolutely that was not the case!






Ice Breaking with Buoy, painting by Kalen Meyer, acrylic on canvas, 10" x 10"








Ice Breaking with Buoy, photograph by Libby Ellis

Bicoastal, Week Six

We still have not come up with a good name for this project!

I noted on Instagram this week that I could most definitely see the Marine influence in all of these images (except the first and fifth), of course it is Martha's Vineyard!

Again, knew right away which of the five photographs I was going to paint, and Libby said she thought this was the one also. As usual, my first hit was this wasn't going to work as a painting, but I ended up really enjoying painting this one and liked the way it turned out. Abstract boat. 

I took it to a fellow artist's studio to talk about the images and the process, and she said as she was looking at this one, "Don't tell me what this is, I want to look closely at it first." I told her what she sees is all I see, I have no other information from Libby as to what these are photographs of.





Boat, painting by Kalen Meyer, acrylic on canvas, 10" x 10"








Boat, photography by Libby Ellis