Art at Stone Lake

Abstract Explosion

I've had a wonderful couple of months taking painting workshops at the Art Center in Sarasota. Art Center Sarasota classes & workshops.  Thanks to my two wonderful teachers:  Fernando Madridejos and Gale Fulton Ross. They provided guidance but allowed me to explore and deepen my understanding of my unique style and artistic vision.  Most of these are 18 x 24 inches or smaller.   I've learned so much this year --now I want to paint even BIGGER canvases!!

Check these out.  Some will be for sale -- please check my gallery site in early Arpil!  Gallery Website

 

 

Paint, Paint and More Paint!

I spent the past few days watching blog videos and studying abstract painting.  The more I paint, the more I realize how much I love it!  I'm learning a lot and I've created a few very nice abstract paintings and collages as the lessons are starting to come together in my mind.   Mostly, I approach each session in my studio as a chance to learn, experiment and play.  If something successful happens, so much the better!

Anyway, I'm posting some of the recent ones here.

This is a detail of a study in blue, magenta, red and white.  The image is actually better than the original painting.  What I've learned from this is the importance of light/brights in a piece.  In the original, the whites are not nearly as bright.  I may go back and tinker with it at some point...or not!

 

 

Detail of a study in grey, white, magenta and red.  I love this section of this study.  First time EVER that I used grey extensively in a painting.  Love it!!

 

Collage--papers that I monoprinted, tore up and collaged onto canvas.

 

I will post others later this week.

 

 

 

Sketchbook OnLine

I've been contributing sketchbooks to the ArtHouse Coop Project. My latest sketchbook, "Remember",  is now online. Here's a link to view my sketchbooks and all the hundreds of others.  Warning:  You can spend HOURS looking at all the wonderful work that's available here. 

Go to the Digital Library Page, type in my name "Carole Lyles Shaw" and have fun!!

Sketchbook Digital Library

 

The Sketchbook Project 2012 World Tour

The Sketchbook Project is a constantly evolving library of artists sketchbooks from across the globe.  This year thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at art spaces in 14 cities. After the tour, they will join the collection of the Brooklyn Art Library and be made available to the public seven days a week.  Here's the link to their main site:

ArtHouse Coop

And, here are some images from this sketchbook:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Work--2012 Launches!

I completed a new small collage--continuing to wrk the Secrets and alphabets theme.  Here it is.  collaged found papers.  acrylic paint.  oil pastels.

 

30 Americans: A Groundbreaking Exhibit

 I want to congratulate the Corcoran for mounting an inspiring and important exhibit of works by contemporary African American artists.  I visited the show and saw work by both familiar and new (to me) artists working in a wide range of media.  I won't describe any of the work--suffice it to say that this is a show not to be missed.  It isn't scheduled to travel very much as of this writing, but you can buy the catalog from the Corcoran if traveling to the Washington DC area isn't feasible. (And, definitely buy the book from the Corcoran because Amazon is selling it at an outrageously high price.)

30 Americans Website

And, one other fact that is extraordinary:  This show is mounted from a PRIVATE collection.  Read more about the owners here:

About the Rubells

Rubell Foundation Website

 

 

Completed a Commitment

I just wanted to post to the world that I FINISHED both of my Sketchbooks and sent them off today to the Sketchbook Project!!

I liked this project because it pushed me to do tiny experiments with different techniques.  The paper wasn't the best for wet media but I made do....

No photos--I didn't want to pause --I just needed to get them into the mail today to make sure I actually completed them in this calendar year. 

They have new projects coming up for 2012.  Here's the link to find out more!  You can also go to this site and see the digitized version of my journals when they are posted.

ArtHouse Coop Sketchbook Project

 

Happy New Year to Everyone.  Peace, Love and Blessings.

Carole

 

 

Working in Series: Scale

For the next assignment, we were challenged to work wth variations in scale.  I chose to dramatically increase the size of the letters in the first pieces. 

First, here are the two Journal exercises--I am so pleased that I slowed down enough to make 2!  Both are done using spray paints--one of my favorite mediums.  I used a limited palette that echoed some of the colors from the foundation piece.  The large letter stencils were created by me using Word and cut out by hand.

Here's number 1:

I only used a tiny bit of fancy stenciling in the upper right corner.

Then, here's number 2:

 I played wth Large scale letters (R, X), and then used the commercial stencil in the background to create smale scale letters and symbols. 

 

Finally, I made an artquilt working with scale and color.  Big letters--I find that I am intrigued by the effect.  I also painted some of the letters in colors as well as in black.  Acrylic paints and Spray paints.

TWO CLOSEUPS:

 

 

Working in Series: Color and Value

During this workshop, I decided to do studies each week in my journal. This is a sharp contrast to the way I usually work, which is to think a bit, maybe sketch out a general idea and then go straight to the design wall or the paint palette.

In this Assignment, I am exploring color.  I realized that in my Letters series, I usually default to creating the letters in black paint.  In my sketchbook, I used watercolors and experimented wth differnt pairings.  I deliberately chose not to pull out the color wheel.  I wanted to see what my eye would find through experiment.

I also played with the fact that letters create words by creating 3 new English words.  I don't thnk they exist...smile....

 

 

COLOR AND VARIATION:  Also, I did a Journaling page. First I floated watercolors and allowed them to blend by spraying the paper. (Wet on wet technique).  Then I wrote some thoughts about words and created stencil letters by hand.  Usually in my earlier work, I used commercial stencils.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Documentary: Why Quilts Matter

YAHOO!!!!

PBS has issued a new documentary titled: Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics.  It is a 9 part series that will air this fall.  However, you don’t have to wait.  The series is available for immediate purchase. I’m very excited about this series because it spans the centuries, with a clear balance that honors  traditional quiltmaking while featuring contemporary quilt artists as well. 

 In addition, unlike many other  documentaries about the textile arts, this one includes African American quilt artists and scholars!!  

 Here’s the link if you want to find out more and purchase it:

 http://www.whyquiltsmatter.org/welcome/about/the-series/

New Mixed Media

Although I have been silent for a few months, I have managed to do some work.  Here is one of the 12 x 12 inch canvases that I created in April.  I used spray paint and stencils, along with some text from poetry by my nephew.

 

 

   More to come later!