Autumn

I’m SO happy. Yeah… a lot of energy today for tasks around the ranch and also for the studio.  I wish I still had this energy like I used to all the time. The good part is, I really appreciate it more now than I did when I had it all the time.

In the studio today I had already prepped a 36 x 48″ canvas earlier………..toned it and could really get into laying that paint down.

It ‘feels’ good to me today at the end of the day……..And I hope it won’t need anything more tomorrow, unless it is just a little touch of a gem or two of paint in just the right spot.

For some reason, I have already titled it in my mind………… Autumn, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.

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New encaustic paintings

I’ve been out of the studio the past two weeks almost. Eight days on the road with artist friends making the galleries and a few museums in Dallas/Fort Worth. No pictures I think since we posted off and on through FaceBook pages.

But, when I got home I so wanted into the studio to get back to my WIP of the two encaustic pieces. Today, was finally THE day.

I have been doing quite a bit of experimentation with graphite powder, oil paint, oil sticks and lots of wax. I think I finally have these two 20 x 20 x 2″ panels finished except for a little refining, scraping and fusing.

They do still remind me of that day in Todi in 2006 when a big storm blew in. Up so high in the city, looking down, you got such a view of the dark stormy sky with the landscape almost like an aerial photograph. Not a true depiction of the scene, this is my lasting impression of it.

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Plan or Flow…???

Sometimes you go with the flow and not the plan or intent. I guess you might say I do this most of the time. It is my process.

Today, I decided to do a little work to get started in my ‘pretence’ to be at Colony. I’m sorry not to be there this fall…….I always get so much out of it.

I had started making collage papers with encaustic on the Hot Box. I continued until I figured I should just get to painting.

I had one 20 x 20 x 2″ cradled board out already but decided to work on two at the same time. I applied the last of one jar of  Evans Holy Grail and took a nap while it dried. Well…yeah, it only takes 30 minutes to dry but I only took a 30 minute nap. it’s good to have a sofa in the studio.

SO, I started making marks with Conte crayon figuring maybe something would happen to spark something. Before I knew it I was applying encaustic paint and lots more medium, scraping with that nifty scraper I bought from Miles Conrad ( I LOVE that scraper)….and applying more medium.

I took a couple of pictures of the progress and went down to prepare dinner. When I came over to the computer I suddenly realized my inspiration was my screen-saver photo from Italy made in 2008. It was a stormy day overlooking Todi, Italy according to the title of the photo. IF the paintings finish up still looking like the inspiration, I’ll let you know. The photo does not do justice to the sky that day though.

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A book to enjoy!

I’m really enjoying a new book or two lately. Right now……I can read chapters at a time or just one of , Inside the Painter’s Studio, by Joe Fig. I had put this book in my Amazon wish list some time back and just now got around to ordering it.

Fabulous……..love reading about the artists, their day in the studio and what inspires and influences their work. I’m on the chapter right now about Mary Heilmann. SO funny…she has fields outside her studio window in Long Island……….says she is painting a lot of green (like me) due to that influence.

Now time for me to get to the grocery store and back to the studio this afternoon.

Have a wonderful autumn day wherever you are.

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Green Day, Johnson Creek

It’s finished… hauled it out on the studio porch to take a picture. Yes, no, yes,no…do other people find fault with “is it finished?”… when they take them out to take a photo.

After getting out into the bright light I begin to see places that might need a little finessing…but without ruining the freshness and the look that it just flowed with no going back.

I declare this one finished…. 60 x 48″ acrylic on canvas, Green Day, Johnson Creek.

ps…if I do anything else I will not tell.

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Green, Green, Green,

SO…. green, green, green. Everywhere is green out on a farm or ranch…at least around here in north east TX if we aren’t in a drought. SO, I painted the tone…chromium oxide green, touch of white and a lot of acrylic medium thrown in. Then I got out some black. I rarely use black paint so, why not? Any way I made all kinds of marks and shapes and laid on a few rolls of white, too, for good measure and called it a day.

Well…..as usual, I tossed and turned all night thinking what in the heck am I going to do with that canvas?? What is the next step? Maybe go buy some more rollers and add other colors. I did this…bought some more rollers. However, that will have to wait for another painting as I ended up coming back yesterday and just started in with a brush. I figured the best way to go (to start with) with this experiment was to use some analogous paint mixtures…so blue and other greens and purple violet came out. ( I don’t know what happened to my picture of the under-painting.).

Yesterday I left with that whole painting just about complete. I took a picture as that is a great way for me to distance myself from the work and look to see how it’s working….especially for large paintings. I decided upon looking at this picture that it needed some more darks in the right side, a little more of the purple and green…….very little. I signed it today but I didn’t get a picture.I’ll get on up over the next few days when the light is better.

When I came down from the studio. Curry offered to take me for a ride around the place as he wanted to look at some things. I took a few pictures with the I-phone camera. You can see why I paint green so much from looking at these. I can see parts of this from the south facing door of my studio.

The painting will be titled, Green Day, Johnson Creek.

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A Walk Into Abstracts

I received my DVD, A Walk Into Abstracts,  from Sue St. John recently. I was so flattered to be asked to be a part of her compilation. So I sent her work images and information about my process when she asked.

I believe there are about 58 artists who work abstractly featured in the DVD………. It takes a long time to go through really looking at the work and the artist’s processes. I haven’t finished yet myself.

If you want to see a lot of abstract art and learn more about what is behind the process, check out this video at A Walk Into Abstracts. to learn more about ‘how did they do that?’

Thanks, Sue, for including me in this great DVD of abstract art.

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Busy busy

It’s been a busy couple of days with two trips over to Longview. One involved taking work to a new gallery opening up there……yaaay! I’ll get you the URL when it all gets set up. In the meantime, the address is 712 Glencrest..upstairs. The grand opening is slated for Oct 2….6-8. I’ll be sure and remind you. Paula Davis is the owner…of P’s Gallery. I got to know Paula as the events coordinator at the Longview Museum of Fine Art where she worked for many years.

Tomorrow….back to the studio. And it is a little cooler…slated to only be low 90’s after all those 100’s in a row. Maybe some wax will be heated along with prepping some canvas for acrylic.

The other thing I need to investigate is……..where in the heck did all my ‘blogs of interest’ go from my blog when I changed the template? I just noted that today so I need to try to figure out how to get them back or I will just have to start a new list. AND, why do I have to have all labels showing in a long list like that?  I need a search box I think if there is such a thing for blog posts. I’m not looking to re-invent the wheel here, so if anyone knows these things and can shorten the process for me, I’ll be much obliged.

I used to enjoy all this techie stuff more than I have the past couple of years. I guess I just don’t have the patience for it now…or I used to take more time and it seems like when I need the techie stuff done I’m in a hurry. These two do not mix for me.

I’m also about to come down with that old affliction….travelitis. I need some of that travelitis. Rome, Paris, New York….or maybe I’ll just go to Dallas. I’ve been down on the farm too long lately.

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Flow

Some days flow. After all the days of struggling with a painting…..the next one just flows. I think that is deserved payback for all the struggle on some of them. Such was the day the day after I finished the Searching painting.

To backtrack…. My studio is getting a little crowded in the storage department so I went looking for another old canvas that had been there waaay too long. I found one from my early Little Pieces of Land series……….40 x 30 and no varnish on it so I just painted over the whole thing. It went from a horizontal to a vertical this time around.

This picture was just made quickly with my new I-phone camera so I will have to make another later with my SLR. 

All I can think to title it at the moment is …….Blue Skies. If you have any good ideas for titles, let me know.

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Searching

Searching, acrylic on canvas……72 x 48 x 1.5″
This painting is done……..

I hope so, unless there are tiny little adjustments upon more viewing. It sure came a long way from a gestural, wild, red under-painting. It seems that some work just demands a lot of searching with the paint, layering, scraping and trusting in your own mode of expression to come out. That’s really always the key…trusting and no fear.

Another thing I noted that sure was a continual problem working on this whole painting is the way the paint would dry up on my palettes before I could get very far. AND, if you know me, or have observed me at work, that takes some fast drying.

Due to the ‘search’, I am really considering the title to be “Searching”….at least it will hold some meaning to me if not to anyone else viewing it.

As you might notice…. I changed my blog template playing around with the new stuff with blogger…not sure about this…what do you think??

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Struggle

Struggle Struggle Struggle……….Some days and weeks are like that and this is one of them. I had high hopes when I started this 36 x 72 canvas and toned it all with red. Only thing is, it suddenly just went south on me and became tired looking all over the center area. So I turned it in a horizontal and proceeded after thinking on it for a long time……just painted all of it out with more red. And we’re talking a lot of cadmium here folks.

SO, today, back to the studio to make marks or just DO something with this thing. I made marks, I added paint…it started looking like I am surrounded by forest or something plant like.. I don’t want to know what this is. I am not wanting to paint SOMETHING, I want to paint a good painting without a known subject.

I think it might look better here in my I-phone pictures than it does when I see it in the studio. So happy I added in all that violet. This is waaay too busy for my taste. NOW….where am I going to paint out and what color and value, that is the question.???  Sometimes looking at process pictures gives you some thoughts on what you have done right or wrong, or will tell you that you don’t need any more or that you need a lot more. Sooner or later it will come to me but right now it’s hot and I’m tired.

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Working with the Hot-Box

I finally got to spend a little time with the Hot-Box I bought from Paula Roland. I really don’t now what I’m doing here, but it should be fun to experiment around. I have a lot of paper in the studio from other projects. That was another reason for wanting to try this technique of encaustic monotype.

I heated up the box to the approximate 160 or so degrees for working. I decided to use some of the new Evans Encaustic colors I bought at the conference…in the wonderfully subtle colors of Hylla’s hen’s eggs. I did add a few other colors ..that beautiful Cobalt Aqua from Encaustikos is the stronger color…and a green from R & F Encaustic.

Anyway…. I had some printmaking paper torn up into small sections, so I used it. I took a couple of pictures of the three pieces I think might work out into a piece I can mount on a panel possibly. These are just straight monotypes. I haven’t done anything to enhance them other than brushing some plain clear medium on top to make a good surface.

I’ll just lay them aside for now…and consider how I might work back into them. They make me think of sand and sea.


This is a picture that takes in one (first one) and a little of the bottom of the second one.   Strange but it makes it look like a lovely little land/seascape arranged in this manner.

The second picture denotes the third monotype with a section of the middle one below it. It also has another feel to it with this arrangement.

The last is a picture of all three monotypes stacked up…If used in this manner, they will need some more work to unify all three into one design.

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