Art at Stone Lake

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.

 

 

 

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:

 

 

Sketchbook Project

I've recommitted to do a LOT more visual journaling.  This is one of the projects I've taken on to keep me limber!   I signed up for the Arthouse Coop Sketchbook project a couple of months ago.  My theme is "The View From Up Here'.  I have to say that I almost backed out because the themes didn't initially call to me.  However, I decided that the challenge was to STRETCH my Imagination, so I jumped into it. 

Link to the site:  Sketchbook Project

The finished sketchbooks will be housed at the Brooklyn Library in New York City, and will travel to other venues.  Quite exciting!

I started out in this sketchbook by turning to my dictionary and playing with each word in the theme.  I collaged in copies of dictionary pages, wrote comments about the theme and even wrote a short poem.

On the left, you can see a piece of fabric that I just liked...nothing to do with the theme.  I just needed to start out with some texture.

This next spread includes shots from a moving train.  On the right hand page, I have a comment that reads: "From the train window, the horizon is clear, sharp.  It's only the near distance that passes in a blur."
 

 

Next spread--I collaged in a monoprint --acrylic paint on glass and then monoprinted onto watercolor paper.  One of the prints looked like mountains and forests from an airplane (left hand page). I made a note that this is an 'interior landscape'--one visible only in my/your imagination.   I love this type of monoprinting. The right hand page is also a monoprint, but the paper was crinkled quite a bit.  More texture.

 

 

I'll post more in a couple of weeks. 

 

 

My MiniStudio is Launched!

Well, I had an epiphany on Sunday.  Although we are in small, temporary quarters, I realized that I COULD make art!  I would simply have to focus on certain types of materials and techniques that would be easy to clean up, compact to store, etc.

I decided that using watercolors, pencils,  and the like would be safe enough in the apartment.  So, off I went to buy a few supplies, and a work table.  A couple of hours later, I was up and running.  I decided to focus on making collages using watercolor, found and purchased papers, other materials and my digital art.

Here's one of the first pieces:

Title of this one is simply #101.  I painted tissue and watercolor papers, collaged them and added snippets from an old book of Japanese poetry.

Here's another experiment that went rather well:

TRANSFORMATIONS: 102 AND 103

These two pieces are siblings.  I created 2 collages on watercolor paper.  Then placed one on top of the other, cut them into 4 pieces and reassembled them by using 2 parts from one with 2 parts of the other.  You can't see the cuts in this photo.  I like them both and plan to continue to transform them.

I am building my stash of painted papers and this weekend, I'll start working on photos that I will print on various papers to be used in collages.  I also plan to scan some of the painted papers to use in digital collages.  Wonderful!!!

Sometimes a limitation can lead to greater freedom.

Stay tuned as I continue on this Journey. 

Long Time, No See!

Hello Everyone,I should explain the very, very long silence on this blog (in case you're wondering...).  In the past 6 months, I have been in a long process of selling my house.  That's all done now, but we're living in temporary quarters and I am without an art studio space.  The withdrawal has been difficult....and I may not be back in my art space until this fall. 

In the meantime, I am reading, thinking and dreaming about all the wonderful times to come in my new studio space.  And, I plan to jump back into taking photographs.  I'm shopping for a good, new lightweight digital camera.  I also plan to upgrade to the new Adobe Creative Suite.  It can do magical things and tinkering with software is fun! 

All the best to everyone out there,

Regards,

Carole

Artomatic Washington DC -- New Work on Exhibit in May 29 to July 5, 2009

Hi,

This summer, I will exhibit artquilts at Artomatic.  Click here to go to the Artomatic Site  for all the details about this wonderful monthlong event. Artomatic is run by volunteer artists, and there are several hundred artists on display, along with bands performing and workshops all month long.  Best of all, you can directly get to the building by using Washington DC's Metro system becasue we are right over the Navy Yard station--Note that there is very, very limted parking in the area so Metro is definitely the way to go!!  DATES: May 29 through July 5.

In the meantime, here are some sneak peeks at in progress photos.  I'll post finshed photos here and on my website when Artomatic opens.

Artquilt made with Batik fabrics.

What do you see?  A seascape? landscape?  moutains and villages?

   A detail view of another Batik artquilt.This is a wild variation on the traditional 9 patch...smile....

When you look very closely at the completed piece, you can see the 9 patches--all of which are the same size. From a bit of distance, the 9 patch grid is almost invisible, but it does give subconscious structure to the piece.  And, I am quite proud of the way the intersections of the 9 patches actually line up...I know that my early quilting teachers would be sooooo proud....

A very early stage of another Batik artquilt.  This one is an abstract based on the central image of a doorway. At this stage, I am working from a base drawing of my own, cutting the shapes indicated by the drawing, and then playing, and playing with shapes, values and color. The final piece may or may not be close to my original drawing.

I love doorways....I photograph interesting ones that I see on my travels. 

Clarify

A few days ago, I started using a new filter in Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 to sharpen my photos.  The filter is called CLARIFY and it sharpens the focus of the image--it's a wonderful little one step tool.

Clarify-- to me, it means to clear up or clean up, to put things in sharper focus.  For me, it's a metaphor.  The clarify filter takes all that data called pixels and transforms them just enough to make the data more understandable to the eye.

 Lately, I've been thinking that CLARIFY is a great filter to use in other areas of my life.  So, here are some things that I plan to CLARIFY in the next few weeks:

MY STUDIO:  I need to clarify what tools, materials and stuff I really do plan to use now in this stage of my work.  Actually, I started clarifying by giving the studio a thorough vacuuming with my NEW wonderful cheap lightweight and effective vacuum cleaner. Presto, the floor was clarified. And, in the process, I did some dusting around the shelves, tossed out some junk and organized my paints and some other tools.  Final step--I will sell or give away some fabric that I just know I won't use.  CLARIFYing my studio helps me work more efficiently because I'm not fumbling around looking for the supplies I need for a project.

MY PHOTO FILES:  I have a fairly good organization scheme but occasionally, I go looking for a set of photos (like my doorway series) and can't remember which folder they are in.  I'll go through and do some moving and tweaking and make the folder labeling on my PC super CLARIFIED.   

ART GOALS FOR 2009:  All the other clarifying I'm doing is to make space for the most important clarifications.  How do I want to spend my time this year?  Which medium calls to me?  what type of shows to enter?  How do I activate my business   plan?   

 

Yes, the economy is bad, but what better time to start building gallery and museum relationships!?!  Maybe we will start looking for that combined gallery and studio space we keep talking about?  Goals need to be CLARIFIED, then activated with daily/weekly steps. 

  HOW ABOUT YOU??? What will you use the CLARIFY filter on today, tomorrow or next week? 

Baltimore Show October 4 and 5, 2008

Hello Everyone,

 

Forgive the LOOOONNNNNGGGG silence but I've been traveling overseas (more about that in a future posting) and getting ready for my Baltimore group show.  Here's the details. And, following the show, I promise to be more regular with my postings.

"Voices in the Cloth" was our successful 2008 Quilt & Fiber Art Show and Sale by the African American Quilters of Baltimore. Thanks to our many friends and supporters who visited the show! 

Regards,

Carole

Abaca Tissue

In response to Michelle's comment,  Abaca is a wonderful paper.  It is very easily cut and tears easily.  However, it isn't fragile like some other art tissue paper.  Think of the paper that most tea bags are made of and you'll get the feel for it.  It  has a smooth surface so there's no texture to it. You can double it and sandwich materials like dried leaves or flower petals in it(use a bit of glue or acrylic medium to hold them down) and then paint that. If you double it, you get an even stronger paper, but you may have to make sure the paint or glue is on both pieces--acrylic doesn't seep through very much unless you use a lot of it.  Anyway--experiment with it and see what works for you.

By the way, I also do photo transfers on it by taping it to a piece of card stock or regular white paper and running it through my printer.  It works really well in a printer with a straight through feed path such as the HP 9180 but not well in a printer that curls the paper around. 

When I want more texture in a paper, I go to my stash of purchased handmade, Japanese, Indian, Thai  and other exotic papers.

Manhole covers

OK...I have no idea why the manhole covers in my neighborhood have captured my attention!  When I walk, I try to remember to take my camera.  So far, I've captured several of the covers in different types of weather.... I love the textures in this one.  The contrast of earth, rust and metal with the barely legible writing.  Maybe it's the circular shape that grabs me first.  Or the fact that these covers are doorways into an underground world that most of us never see.