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The Pond at Night

Journal excerpt 12/26/11

Image: Pond Study 18, pastel on paper, 7″ x 11″


The holidays have come and gone, but yet we wait for a significant snowfall. What dusting was received last week is now long gone. The pond has become bare and boring. I find myself waiting for something to happen- anything. The browns, grays, and dirty blues of this quiet winter are now mundane to me. A brilliant white snowfall would surely make the scene come alive again. So I have resorted to seeking out new visions.

 

The most obvious solution was to paint the park at night. I will confess upfront that I used a bit of photo trickery for this one. I took a nighttime picture, which as you would expect was pretty colorless. I took this picture a few weeks ago, and have already written about the quiet cold and silence of the evening. Now I will reflect on the art making process I undertook. Using Photoshop, I exaggerated the saturation and contrast a bit until the underlying blues and yellows of darkness revealed themselves. The streetlights made the sky glow softly yellow, and the silhouettes of trees become deep pthalos of blue and green. Sticking with this somewhat limited palette, I rendered the image twice. First in pastel and then in oil. I allowed myself a bit more color diversity in the pastel, pulling purples and reds out of the blackness. With the oil painting, as with most of them, the colors simplify. This is in part due to the size of the mark (a large painting knife edge) and to the process of mixing. I am aware of the ways in which medium contribute to the result and I find it informative to use both mediums in approaching an image. I have been exercising this processes for most of my works lately. The pastel drawings become a preliminary color study, though stand alone as works themselves. I wonder what if anything would change if I did the oil painting first and the pastel second? In any case, as I wait for snow I think I will attempt to capture more of the dramatic moments. I feel a little dirty about using Photoshop, but do not think I am sacrificing the intention. I want to make interesting paintings, and sometimes the truth of an image is boring. The artist’s job is to walk the line between adding interest while maintaining a connection to actual experience that is real enough for people to still care. I suppose novelists walk this same line in many ways.

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Continuing the Pond Project

This most resent piece is based on a photo of the Humboldt Park lily pond taken about a month ago.  This was actually the second time I painted from this photo.  This piece began as a demonstration piece for my intro to oil painting class.  The painting is larger (11″ x 14″).  Also, you will notice that the technique is slightly different.  I used a brush!  I have been using only painting knives in my other pieces, but since this was a painting demonstration I incorporated brushwork,  Going forward I would like to incorporate brushwork a little more into my Chromascape pieces.  While I would like to remain primarily a knife painter, I see no reason not to use a brush for contrast of mark, detail, or finishing touches.  I had a lot of fun with this painting and am happy with the way it turned out!

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The Yellow Line

This is a drawing, a chalk pastel, and an oil painting done over the last two weeks.  All reference the same photo    The original photo was taken a few months ago, obviously before fall was in full swing.    The image is titled The Yellow Line after the thick band of sunlight that breaks free of the treeline and runs at an angle across the picture plane.  To me the sunlight is the focal point of this image.  I have drawn and painted this image several times, here are just three examples.  As with the pond series, there is a benefit to focusing on one image or scene for an extended period of time.  This allows the painting process to become more sophisticated and refined with each attempt.  This is also of course why artist do studies to be more familiar with the subject.  However, I have never been comfortable with the word study and consider each of these to be individual works of art.

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Pond Study Excerpt

Today I did number 14 in  my Pond Study Series.  You can see the dulling of colors, which is a departure from my usual palette.  The lone willow tree just right of the center is holding onto its foliage, as is the adjacent pine.  The other side of the pond grows more and more bare.  Strangely, the sky seems perpetually grayer than usual.  I purposefully limited my palette in composing this painting.  I used only ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow, burnt umber, and titanium white.  I think this limitation forced me to stay within a certain range of tone throughout the piece.  I want to continue with this practice in having painting related goals for future pond studies.  I continue to learn not only about observation of a subject matter but also about paint manipulation.  I am allowed risks and experiments through the repetition.  I would suggest this kind of project for any artist.  This should be done periodically through any artists career as an opportunity for growth and discovery.  For future pond study pieces I will limit palette, mark making, and time of execution.  It is a strange feeling, that I am somehow becoming connected to this scene.  I am seeing my own personal transformations through the land’s seasonal phases.

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On Teaching

I had a great time on Saturday teaching a couple of creative ladies about watercolor.  We covered materials, application, and other little tips and tricks that can be used along the way.  Teaching can be challenging and fun.  You never quite know the specific interests and expectations that the student will have when they walk in the door, so I always try to get to know my students a little bit before diving in.  Through the act of teaching I am able to refresh myself on technique.  The students always teach me something too, whether through a question I had not considered before or a suggestion.  Teaching is an important part to being an artist.   It is a necessary process to foster creativity.  It forces the artist out of the bubble of their own practice and into a dynamic setting where ideas are exchanged.  I have more classes coming up soon in my studio, looking forward to it!

 

 

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Full Time Artist

Today begins my first day as a full-time painter.  I know, I know, what am I thinking trying to build an art career in this economy?  The thing is- it could take decades for the world to sort out its financial problems and I am here now living my life now.  I don’t really see how I can wait.  I know that people still have money and many of them are still buying art.  So here I go.  I will be doing classes and workshops, participating in fairs and festivals, and attending as many events as I can.  I  have a few awesome gallery group shows coming up.   This includes a miniatures show at the Nina Bliese Gallery in Minneapolis.  I will also be a part of a contemporary landscape painting show at the Artisan Gallery this spring.  Lots going on and I am very excited to be doing what I love!

 

Special thanks to my sweet husband, Ben Lloyd, for all his support!

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Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

I am currently reading Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.  It is an interesting choice for me.  Dillard describes seasons and experiences visiting a local creek.  She eloquently writes about birds, insects, plants, and the endless drama of wildlife.  Through this lens she writes a beautiful account of existence.  The work is poetic and artful in and of itself.  Through this lens of experience she tackles science, philosophy, and theology.  I certainly find myself disagreeing with her often, especially in matters of theology.  However, her investigation is worth the journey.  The attempt to analyze and question the universe through everyday experience is a noble one, and perhaps I feel it parallels my own journey.

In a particular passage, Dillard is asking why it is beautiful.  She writes, “Beauty is something objectively performed.   Beauty itself is a language to which we have no key.  It is the mute cipher.”

I could argue quiet the opposite that beauty it completely internal, something that psychologists and behaviorist- even human evolutionists- have the charge to solve.  I would argue that if there is a key it is in our brains.  None the less, it is an interesting discussion and Dillard’s work gives me the opportunity to enter the dialogue.  She asks the questions.

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Landscapes Across the Country

I have just returned from a road trip to the southwest and back. The round trip 30 hour drive was done in a week, which means we spent a lot of time in the car. From the road I saw great landscapes across many states. I am truly inspired and in awe of the diversity that can be found in such a short trip. I observed the flat plains of Iowa, the deserts of New Mexico, the steep cliffs of Arizona, and the mountains of Colorado. The contrast seen in a single day’s drive is astounding. Of course I took many photos and cannot wait to make them all paintings. More importantly, I think I have a greater appreciation for the subtleties in landscape. For example, after half a days spent driving through the Rocky Mountains, I was struck by the quiet elegance found in the yellow plains of Nebraska and Iowa against a sharp blue sky. There is certainly an opportunity for perspective here.