IdeaJones

Tag: painting

  • Working Dark

    Working Dark

    Working with old photos is an art in itself.
    Working with old photos is an art in itself.

    I don’t usually create dark, moody artwork. Perhaps there are elements of “Simran: Altar of Memory” which are bittersweet, even sad (it’s about dementia, after all), but it’s not spooky. Recently, however, I decided to work with old tintypes and photos my grandmother gave me, and one in particular just seemed to pick up on the fact that it’ll be Halloween soon.

    This started with a scan of that old tintype. I work with old photos from time to time, healing scratches, brightening faded images. Working with this photo, I tried to heal some of the damage of time while only brightening it enough to reveal details. Once I did, I discovered details I wanted to emphasize, like the skull in the lower left. This might not have been a skull at the time the photo was taken, but when the image emerged in working with it, that became the theme of the picture, so I repeated it.

    That led to other repetitions. Ordinarily, I would smooth out the background, eliminating visual “stutter.” In this case, I cause the stutter. Patterns repeat in the background, in the setting, giving the photo a cluttered, neurotic feeling.

    When it felt like I’d reached that point, I turned it into a digital watercolor and continued painting, sometimes pixel by pixel. As I worked, I gave him a backstory. A brave boy, the son of parents who hunt the things that go bump in the night, he is comfortable in the graveyard, knowing his parents have banished evil and confident that one day, he will take his place beside them.

    His image is available in our IdeaJones Redbubble shop.

  • Reception Tonight — Time To Get Dragged Out From Under The Sofa

    Tonight’s the opening reception for one of the shows I’m in. If you can make it to Lincoln, CA, it should be a fun show. This is my second in this gallery and it’s a nice little gallery with welcoming people who really want things to be good for visitors.

    Writer Carol Terracina Hartman gave the show a mention in her Examiner.com column: http://www.examiner.com/article/nature-and-animals-art-show-opens-saturday-lincoln

    I’m a real introvert. I like people. It’s just that while extroverts gather energy from being around other people, introverts spend energy to be with others. I’m also shy, which isn’t the same thing. So I tend to either not say much or babble. Weirdly the fix for that seems to be accepting it and not caring much. People will like you or they won’t and there’s no predicting which way it will go, so you might as well relax.

    For past receptions, I’ve always been keyed up and tense. This time I’m just looking forward to it. The weather is beautiful (my gosh, it’s in the 80s in June in Sacramento. Usually it’s “how have we sinned, Lord?” hot. I’m couldn’t be more pleased and surprised if Oprah Winfrey showed up on our doorstep and yelled, “You get a car!”).

    So a short drive (it’s about thirty minutes away) with Mark on a beautiful day through the country to see what else is in the show (I’ve only seen a few of the other pieces). I don’t drink (well, I had a sip of Communion wine yesterday but I’m such a lightweight that almost put me on my butt), so finger foods, ice water and art. Should be a good evening. If you can make it introduce yourself — I promise not to hide under the furniture.

    On exhibit June 11 - July 1 at the Art League of Lincoln in Lincoln, CA.
    On exhibit June 11 – July 1 at the Art League of Lincoln in Lincoln, CA.

  • Birth of a (Painted) Owl

    Process is interesting to me — how someone makes a thing. I’m a sucker for factory tours (Jelly Belly in Fairfield, CA and the Budweiser plant nearby have fun tours), or watching someone create.

    The latest animal painting, “The Night Watch,” is the first in a planned trio of paintings featuring owls. I’d painted an owl before, in a hurry, for a charity fundraiser, and on a 9-foot market umbrella at that (first time for that, too):

    Detail from the beginning of a 9-foot painting of owls and their prey.
    Detail from the beginning of a 9-foot painting of owls and their prey.

    This is an early sketch for the finished painting, which featured owls and their prey catching sight of each other. At the time, I hadn’t planned to paint another owl, but then an idea started rolling around in my brain, an owl dancing.

    A painting and poem from our Redbubble.com shop.
    A painting and poem from our Redbubble.com shop.

    When i finished the painting, the poem came into my head while I was looking at it. I think most of us feel we have a secret self, and that self has the potential to do things very different from the things others expect.

    So that led to an image of that same owl, about to take flight.

    The moment just before takeoff. Ready to fly, but not yet in the air.
    The moment just before takeoff. Ready to fly, but not yet in the air.

    In the end, I liked the idea enough to create the full painting in color, that moment just before vaulting into the sky, one last look back before launching.

    The first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls, here an owl pauses before taking flight.
    The first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls, here an owl pauses before taking flight.

    Each owl informed the next. Now The Night Watch is set to be in a show, and over the summer I’ll complete the series. It’ll be interesting to see where my owls are by the time I complete the last one.

  • On Exhibit June 11 – July 9, 2016

    On Exhibit June 11 – July 9, 2016

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    Two of our paintings, Cross River Gorilla Blue and The Night Watch, are on exhibit at The Art League of Lincoln in Lincoln, CA (580 Sixth Street, Lincoln, CA).

    There’s a reception (free and open to the public) on Saturday, June 11, from 5-6:30 pm, and the show runs through July 9. If you get a chance, check it out — it’s a show of animal-themed art and promises to have some beautiful work. Beyond the reception, the gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm, and admission is free.

    It’s a high when a work gets accepted into a show, and when more than one is accepted, it’s an amazing feeling. We’ve shown two other works in this space (a digital animated video and a digital painting) and it’s a lovely little gallery, tucked into the historic district in Lincoln.

    The first painting, Cross River Gorilla Blue, is part of the Meet The Neighbors series highlighting endangered species. The Cross-River Gorilla is highly endangered. All of the paintings in this series are confrontational. It’s a member of the species looking the viewer in the eye, making him acknowledge who and what is going to be lost, not a vague thing, “some sort of gorilla,” but this individual gorilla.

    The Night Watch is the first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls. I love the symbolism of the owl, guardian, guide, keeper of wisdom and secrets. I also love the look of owls, wide-eyed, solid, both soft (those special feathers, designed for quiet flying) and sharp (beak, talons). Symbolically, they’re a reminder that knowledge and wisdom have opposing sides, dark and light, soft and sharp. Sometimes you learn things you’d rather not know, and the knowing, even if good for you, can be painful. Some information is beautiful, some is not. The duality of knowing is embodied in the owl.

    More information on the show is available at www.all4art.net.

    The first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls, here an owl pauses before taking flight.
    The first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls, here an owl pauses before taking flight.