Precious vase : Laughter

Here are two vase paintings of laughter. I cut a stencil from a plastic bag. The first painting I started and then put a plastic stencil on top do do final definition of the vase. The second painting was started with a print from the first painting

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Planning paintings

I feel like I am doing exercises like in Basic Design 101. My random cut-outs are on display on my bulletin board where I make small changes in their contours.How many of the most precious values we have can be expressed in the gestural shapes of vases? How much space outside of them could be filled with arrangements? How much do little changes in curves and angles change my response to them? After thinking about them, I add labels of what they suggest to me. I rearrange them to compare similarities and contrasts. All of this is rather academic, but hopefully my paper cut outs will work out some feelings for my real paintings in the precious vase series.

Precious Vase - a new approach to the series

From construction paper I cut random vase forms. Then I studied them until I identified the most precious value that they exude. My earlier vases and paintings started in exactly the opposite way - taking a concept and then fashioning a form. click on the image to evaluate their labeling.

Winter inspiration - soup

The temperatures in the mid-Willamette Valley are below freezing. On Sunday we had a power outage. I would go out and paint in the barn but my acrylics and oils are not drying properly. I made Tye Spring Rolls and dipped them in hot spicy sweet and sour sauce. When there was just two left I dumped the rolls in the chicken soup. The tapioca covering desolved into an overall thickening. Delighful to sip by the wood stove fire. Maybe Iwill cut up some paper like I did the food and make a collage. And maybe not. It is a good time to curl up with a book or write holiday greetings. I wish all my visitors warmth and peace.

This is two pages of an accordion folded book painted as we walked along the Provo canyon trail.

Inspiration from trip to Utah

Provo Canyon walk

Jordan River between Provo Lake and the Great Salt Lake

Precious Vase - Second Wedding Vase

My first vase painting for weddings looked like two co-dependent necks walking on a cracked egg. This one has strong colors with both partners equal in their individual growth connected at their feet by a common reservoir- a heart. And as long as they may stretch in their individuality they are connected by a bridge. This vase is inspired by a vase in Rain's collection. She purchased it from a Navajo trader.

The painting is oil on a deep cradled board block.

Precious Vase - Respect

Here are two variations on the same theme - Respect: Self-Respect, the Expectation of Receiving Respect, Respect for Others, and Respect for the Earth.

These two are not the final painting on Respect.
I am keeping a sketchbook by our television so when I see on the news vases in the presence of high governmental officials of the world, I can sketch the shapes for analyzing their body language. Are they defensive and sealed off from others and put forth a message of being stable, and invincible? Or are they trusting and giving. Do they appear to expect to be respected? Do they need to be divided into shields of protection?
Do they need ornamentation or does their regard for themselves come from within? Do they give off an illuminating sense of goodwill?

Precious Vase - Dreams

This is one that was not dreamy enough until I worked on it some more.

"My DreamsVase Holds Waters as Big as all the Oceans" is oil on a deep cradled board.

Nature, art history, and the abstract

Working towards communicating feelings, I feel bound to realism in these two paintings. In these paintings I am gaining inspiration from Cezanne and a contemporary acrylic painting posted earlier. I look at color first and then try to draw the most basic forms. The second painting is still at the color stage. It may remain as is if it would just stay light when it dries. In abstracts from nature it is more difficult to say the painting is finished. Often it is not. It is best to do another and come back later to it.

The top painting is 28" x 22".

"November Storm Abstract" is abstract by nature of fog's veil that reveals and conceals. This one is 16" x 20".

Challenge of Cezanne-like perspective

Landscapes are a challenge when they create a path from the near ground transitioning up and up to a mountain like Mount Saint Victoria in the Cezanne painting. The previous post had some pictures of some studies in which I was not only relating to Cezanne but also a contemporary working with acrylics which darken as they dry. Even more challenging is to incorporate a sense of movement through an abstract that suggests landscape. With the beautiful bright colors of acrylic it is difficult to get the nuances of transition.

Coming Friday, November the 20th are some of my paintings that strive to capture the stormy atmosphere of Oregon's November.

Classic composition challenge

The small painting is the inspiring painting by Jan Browne. It is in "Rain's" collection. I am challenged by the many over lapping forms receding back with many color changes here and there and all over. Yet she employed just a few colors.

The big painting of mine is a study. It is the one that favors the cool colors especially in the top half of the painting. I carried it too far.

The painting below was how it stood before I worked on it today. It was a hoot to do a single point perspective in the foreground and a tipped in your face perspective of the distant mountains like Cezanne.

A question for the acrylic painting artists out there? How would you feel if another artist used the composition or colors in one of your paintings as a starting point for expanding their exploration of their own work? Or should we stick to dead artists who used only oil or watercolor?

Abstracting from Photograph

The link for the process of this painting is here.

Two abstracted from collaged photograph accordion folded paper

For students of last Saturday's workshop, here are the resulting paintings done from my accordion folded paintings on location. At our North Albany march I recorded nature's colors andlinear energy. I was looking at nature adjacent to both agricultural and housing developments. The paintings were made around photographs previously described in an early post.

These paintings are acrylic on untreated canvas painted before the canvas was stapled to stretcher bars. The first canvas is 28 by 22 inches. And the second is 20 x 16 inches. The canvas was moistened with a spray bottle. The paint was poured or whipped or pushed on directly from the tube. Also used acrylic medium and interference color as accent.

Simplified border of earlier acrylic painting update

First paintings from photo/painting collage

This abstract, "North Albany number 1" is suggestive of the landscape's vitality as I experience it. To show the energy, I am selective, keeping what is most expressive. The details of form are secondary and lost while the color is about my internal emotion accented with pulsating lines of contrasting color. The abstract is a visual poem. My process was to trick myself into developing a departure from what I have been painting. In the previous post, there is a photograph of this painting as it developed on the floor of my studio. Next to the painting was my reference material from the field. The collaged accordion book had photos -both mine taken of North Albany and some free photos by Martha Marshall.
This first painting went very well. The second and third are still incomplete after two days. At the end of the second day I started a new accordion book painting shapes from more photos of Martha Marshall. Her Tennessee landscape is somewhat like North Albany but just enough different to really get my senses sharpened to seeing my own backyard. My own living space had become so familiar that I was blinded by the everydayness of it.



Then I took photographs of my neighbors Angus.

Checking on Martha Marshall's blog with more inspirational free photos I noticed that I was always looking south from my house and studio. I was taken by the importance of walking all around to find shapes that will resonate with my feelings. I need to look at how lighting effects the rhythms of man made architecture, the animal, and the plants of my world.

Painting from Accordion Folded Photo, Watercolor Study

There are many ways to use accordion folded watercolor paper books. They make great greeting cards. They store well in a shoe box along with photos for keeping memories. Here I will talk about how in the studio they stand up like a card next to my paints and pallet as an inspiration. I walked to a North Albany field a half of a mile from my house. I was traveling light with a camera and paper and field painting supplies. The stubble grass and distant shapes were similar to the free images Martha Marshal shared on her blog, Artist's Journal. She offered images as a starting point for others to use as inspiration. With just my camera and my Koi Watercolors Pocket Field Sketch Box I worked around Martha's photos pasted to my accordion folded watercolor paper. The object was to compare the photos to what I was seeing. Then I worked at matching the colors and textures and linear qualities employing the Koi set of colors and a brush containing a reservoir of water. Later I added photos taken on location to the collage. Finally I painted lines around the parts of the study that appealed to me. I wanted to find emotional content for a painting in progress of dream clouds. I will in a few days publish the dream cloud painting.My experience with going lightly in the field and more will be the content of my hands on workshop. All supplies are furnished free. The watercolor workshop at the Fall Creek Festival is just a week away. There is still time to register leaving your choice of work shops and vegetarian preference for lunch at 541-487-5512 or e-mail oregonhatchery.researchcenter@state.or.us

November 7, 10:00 AM to 4 PM. This year the family friendly workshops also has special children's activities in addition to workshops in leather working, fish printing, card making, wire wrap Jewelry, and basket Making in addition to my watercolor exploration.

Tomorrow will be a real painting day

Making space for a winter oil painting studio

My husband is devoting several days to clearing the way for a 13' x 13' space in the corner of the shop. He hung a florescent light above. And made a trip to Habitat for Humanity, and the Salvation Army. Discarded stuff included corroded wire, a 40 year old propane stove, Jeep gas containers, a broken chain saw, and sheep medicine for sheep long gone in our past.
On the easel is a painting in progress. At first it was a Precious Vase of Self-worth. After talking about it with others and searching the meanings given to self-worth, I found the concept too ambiguous for what I mean. So I am making a grouping of vases expressing respect - self-respect, the expectation of receiving respect, respect for others and respect for the earth. Respect is not a value like a money value, it isn't something earned like a gold star you receive as a reward for something. It comes from within and is something that makes you want to be caring and do the right thing. Respect is most precious to me personally. I have asked others what is precious to them. My series of precious vases illustrate many wonderful answers. For me personally the most precious thing is respect.

Accordion folded watercolor painted on two boat trips one day apart

To see an enlargement please click on the image.

An example of an accordion folded watercolor

This was painted on a hike up on the Nature Conservancy Trail. It reminds me of all the wonderful inspirations on a day that was partly sunny between rain showers. To see an enlargement click on the image.

Accordion Folded Watercolor Journals about Hiking or Boating

Update of a post from November 1, 2007 also true for this years work shop, November 7, I will be teaching two workshops starting at 10:30 AM lasting an hour and a half each at the Oregon Hatchery Research Center. I will be presenting safety musts for artists and the environment. Participants will gain skills for painting memories while journeying through the wilderness either on foot or on a boat.

Backpacking and white water rafting in the wilderness was the nursery so to speak for my accordion journals. I wanted to keep my backpack less than 30 pounds. So I brought black lead just a stump of lead and no wood covering. The paper was simply an index card. On rivers at first I used index cards but later found I could just fold cotton rag watercolor paper and keep it in a zip lock bag. In recent years I have experimented with different folds. The equal sized pages folded as a box is suitable for wrap around views. Mostly the folded paper is for my own memory.

Full Sheets of watercolor paper 22" x 30" can be cut many ways to being 5" tall and then folded.

Sometimes the paintings are nice enough to give as a card. The box is a favorite of mine for gift cards. Sometimes I want to look at the paintings over a long period of time and I have put them under glass and framed them.





I use the accordion journals in numerous ways. They stand up rightwhile being used as reference for larger paintings. They are memories of places made stronger by focusing maybe on the criters or the color or the linear energy. In the workshop participants will think about the short comings of photographas and select what short hand notes they will place on their accordion journal. There is no reason to duplicate photogrphically nature while standing on at rail or moving along in a boat.

The accordion folded journals are easily and conveniently stored in a shoe box. They store neatly as compared to my sketch books of various sizes and thicknesses.

The Precious Vase : Marriage

Update ; October 21, my marriage vase was inspired by this Navajo wedding vase in Rain's collection. I made the painting when I did not have a photo available at the coast surrounded by cool colors. And I question why I didn't choose to depart from my surrounding cool colors. Also, I question the shape. Maybe I should straighten the necks and place a bridge across as this one has. On mine one neck was supportive and the other in a gesture of protection. This is an outmoded concept of marriage. More commendable is having both partners as equally strong. They have a bridge connecting them as they diverge from their heart roots. In this vase the liquid fluids within the vase are equally available no matter how it is tipped.

The body of the vase is like an egg and two necks are on top forming an intertwined relationship. The idea of the two necked vase is from a Navajo American ceramic piece that my blogger friend, Rain acquired from a trader. Rain's vase was made a few decades ago. The vase was spiritual for the Navajo with an ear of corn on one side symbolizing fertility.

I am having a conversation with this painting as I work on it and am listening to what it says about the marriage relationship. I hear that the body egg shape of the vase holds the liquid oil or water. Eggs are a fertility symbol and also are symbol of a fragile relationship. Like walking on egg shells. The way the necks are configured here, the liquid inside would be conserved when the vessel is tipped. I thought it would look like the necks are embracing unlike the Navajo one. This painting idea is on hold until I visit Rain and examine hers.

This painting is acrylic and the first of the season. The weather is getting colder and my oils are drying slowly. What took three to four days during the heat spell now takes weeks. When I am painting on location I do not want to use any more chemicals then neccessary and minimize clean up. I haven't had to clean a brush in three weeks. Painting in acrylic after being spoiled by oil is difficult.

Monday at sunrise, accordion folded watercolor journal

I painted in the boat on Monday but on Wednesday I made a few last touches.

CHANGE of goal for my blog

Photos: Gleneden Beach and Proposal Rock taken in September during our month stay at Coyote Rock RV Resort and Marina near Lincoln City, Oregon

I have taken photos on my painting vacation. And they are complete in themselves and I will not copy them into paintings but just add them into my experience and draw from how they make me feel helping me to symbolize the emotions I will be painting. This is my process and my blog that has been an outlet for expressing my process will Change.

And it is time for CHANGE. My new goal is to make slide shows of my work to be published here every few months. I will post announcements of events such as where I am exhibiting and teaching every Saturday evening

Detail showing lines made with Chinook Salmon fish bone

Above are my paint scraper combs. From our freshly caught Chinook, I kept the head bones for oil and watercolor painting tools. These tools could be seen as a gimmick but I like how they feel and look. Plus I am avoiding cleaning brushes and dumping noxious solvents in the wilderness. Can you find the mark of my natural fish bone tool in my paintings?

I found it very difficult to use only fish bones with watercolor. The interesting line quality worked on very small details added as a last touch. I used fish bones through out the building of an image in acrylic and oil paint more successfully.

Fish Bone painting tool and Wet into Wet Acrylics

Fish bone as a watercolor tool

This is one of two of the same subject - Precious Vase of a Hundred Leaves of a Full Good Life symbolizing what the High Lama of China Tibet wanted for himself and his monks. I met him in 2002 when our tour guide who was formerly a monk and the Lama's student took us for an unhurried talk with the Lama in his quarters. The other one was an oil.

This painting was started with the fish head bones but they didn't fit well into my pan watercolors and the marks were not always predictable. The bones that worked well for oil and acrylics became a labor. Needless labor. I can clean my brushes in a very small amount of water that then becomes a tint wash and is never dumped into the environment. The painting 16" x 20" is the largest surface that I have worked in my recent work with fish bones. Since it is so easy to work with brush with watercolors, and there is no big difference in final statement, I declare that in watercolors, the fish bones are a gimmick.

Playing with cold water sponges

I noticed some sponges washed up on the beach. They were firm to my touch but when I tried to paint with them these once live organisms showed that they were already decomposing. These sponges were just smelly and worthless as a tool.

These are some of my photos that might spark a painting.Walking through a fog dream may work for a pillow shaped vase of my dreams. On one side the beach and the other the night sky.

day of play that didn't meet all my expectations

Friday morning began with a walk at Gleneden Park near Depoe Bay, Oregon. I liked the textures and the softness of foliage and structures partly concealed by fog. Then in the afternoon I went on a boat ride up from Coyote Rock to Skunk Creek on the Siletz River. When we started the weather was sunny and warm but soon after we anchored up to fish and paint the weather did a number on our plans. A large cloud turned angry and black. The change of weather was something I could not adjust into my painting of a vase of a hundred, good, leaf years. I wondered if a small black cloud was appropriate to such an upbeat view of aging and decided a little challenge was OK. However no sooner than I put a little dark cloud into my painting, we decided we needed to race back home before the storm. I quickly started another less precise painting but it didn't turn out either. I was left wondering if I can pull off putting river landscapes in the back and foreground of my painting because they are so complex and compete with the vase. Maybe I need to think out how I can suggest a river of life in an economy of images.