I came to a realization this week - I'm getting into full-blown Christmas mode. I'm finally done with Thanksgiving and all that goes with it; from all the gratitude to the leftovers neither my husband nor I could handle anymore. It's officially December; our Christmas tree is up and half the house is decorated. In a sense, my studio is sacred ground. All art, all the time. It keeps me focused. The painting I completed this week was started early Monday morning and was finished the next day. Since other holiday festivities and commitments fill my schedule, it was the only painting I did all week.
By Saturday, I started going through art withdrawals. To compensate for this, my husband, my only granddaughter, and I went to the monthly Art Lab at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art where we live in Rockland. We all became involved in a sculptural project, where the instructions were to create any part of the large museum and fill it with "art of your own making". We all started with two black "walls" and a "floor" that all made a kitty corner area that was made from thin foam board. The recreation objects included everything from paper, cardboard shapes, puff balls, baubles, trinkets, (everything from buttons to wire to safety pins), toothpicks, dowels, and plastic whimsies too numerous to mention.
My husband Dave made a very nice piece with geometric shapes using an assortment of objects ranging from wooden objects to tongue depressors. He did a colored pencil sketch and glued it to one of his "walls". He even cut some electrical wire that had connectors on the end and made "wall lights". He finished off his space with a statue in the corner. In the end, it was very symmetrical; but that's the way he is - he's used to balance as well as the "balance of three's" being a photographer. Our granddaughter actually recreated a garden scene complete with an elaborate water fountain. Very intricate but artistic for a 9-year old. She's kind of a combination of Dave and I.
Mine of course, was a little more of a rough journey. Sculpture is my weakest art form and I hardly dabble in it. This project however, was good for me because not only did it get me out of my head, but it got me out of my comfort zone. For me, it's good to get uncomfortable with art - that's how I learn and learn to grow. I began in the corner with a toothpick and a corrugated cardboard shape to act as a free floating sculpture. I used other toothpicks with flower-like beads for other standing sculptures. I crinkled paper for a 3rd sculpture, glued some puff balls and other trinkets on my "walls" and added some resemblance of human interaction by adding a wooden object that was in the shape of a bench. To be honest, I wasn't really happy with it... until I turned it completely upside down. Now everything was on the ceiling as well as the walls. The instructor raved - "...an inverted art gallery or space! That would be awesome!" I liked it; the instructor totally dug it; others just stared on in confusion. Mission accomplished!
Getting back to my painting; my non-artistic friends are starting to get a little leary of coming over to visit me while I'm in my studio. I keep asking them what they think of my latest abstract oil spill inspired works. This week I finished a 20x30 oil painting entitled "Catastrophe". It's almost like a sculpture within that space that has to be considered. In a space close to me or in an area that will be "pushed back", what colors do I use to portray distance?
Red hots allude to being up close where as pastel lavender recedes into the background creating the illusion of more than one plane or surface. That way, the painting doesn't come off as flat. The variety of colors draws the viewers eyes to roam the surface while their mind identifies with something it likes or is drawn to. The goal of the series is to have an eclectic experience of art. Art in its purest form. My expression of inner emotions - nothing more, nothing less. No story here; just unabashed, raw feelings filling in the spaces.
Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill
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