"We made it!!!"
The Washington Fine Arts Festival was this past weekend (August 15 and 16). It was alot of work, but it was nothing short of wonderful!!! Saturday was hot, busy, and a big whirlwind. Sunday was... well Sunday was windy and ended with a downpour. All in all though, I thought it was success and have no complaints. (And the fact that none of my paintings were damaged in the rain makes me happy, too.)
For the past few weeks I've been promising photos of some of the new pieces I've been working on. I had started work on about 12 paintings in hopes to have them all done by the Festival (I had to have a goal.) Only 5 made it to the "done" point and actually went to the Festival though. The others will have to wait a little longer for the next show. For those familiar with some of my past work, I think you'll see that this year's is a bit different. And if you can't tell already, I'm very excited about it all.
Here are shots I took at the Festival, along with some background on the work. I'll be posting better quality pics on the website gallery soon. Enjoy!
This painting is the first one I started in my mixed media group. As I mentioned before, I have really felt the need to "feel" when I paint. I like the tactile quality that comes out when I use other items along with the paint. This time it was burlap and twine. Titled "Dead of Winter", I got the idea for it a short time after my Celiac Disease diagnosis. I was feeling a bit on the cold and desolate side, if you can't tell. Its an interesting contrast for me looking back, because I usually have painting visions of colorful blossom trees or vibrant colors on a hillside. At the time all I felt had no color. I'll make a point to add some close-ups and side shots of this later. It actually comes an inch or two off of the canvas. Makes you want to touch it!
Ignorance and Bliss - Mixed Media on Canvas - 30" x 40" This was an interesting piece for me to do. It is made up of coffee bean bags from South America, hence the bits of text you see on the bags. I cut several bags into pieces and painted each separately before I secured them to the support. I could see the finished work in my head and it took a long time to create it. And despite the time it took for the size of the piece, I found the whole process to be very therapeutic and healing for me. I was able to just work and let my mind wander. The name came from the the bits of burlap representing a floating blissful state... a kind of portal you could almost swim into. The black bands are for me representing ingnorance. In a way barring you from reaching the into the window of bliss. The saying is usually said "ignorance is bliss". For me it is quite the opposite. I kept thinking to myself 'now that I know what the problem is (Celiac Disease), I can get myself better'. And I also thought of how bad I would feel and how my symptoms would grow worse if I didn't know what was wrong. So you see for me, ignorance is not bliss.
The Inside - Mixed Media on Canvas - 30" x 40"This was an exciting piece to work on. I combined several kinds of paint and medium. Plus I also used paper layers and mica (metal) powder. I was trying to put into one visual image how I felt. So there are several different ways to read this, and I think its interesting to hear people's responses. (By the way, that is what I LOVE, LOVE about abstract art... it can mean so many things to different people. Like a universal language without words. Isn't art amazing!!!) For me I felt a nashing, clenching feeling. Frustration and tension mixed with waves of anger and disappointment. The "why me" factor all rolled into one. If you could see the painting up close, you would see the layers of paper and where they have been scraped and scratched away with steel brushes and paint knives. At some points I just used my fingernails. I think the viewer would have had a pretty good idea of how I was feeling if they had watched me creating this piece. What a release of emotion! I highly recommend it to anyone needing to deal with their emotions creatively. So the name of this work comes from how I feel or felt on "The Inside". I think this has become one of my personal favorites.
Longing - Mixed Media on Canvas - Triptych, (3) 24" x 48" panels, total 72" x 48"
This piece is unique in that changed names throughout its creation as well as changing its meaning a bit. That's kind of strange for me, because I usually hold on to a concept or feeling long enough to paint it out. As I started feeling better with my disease and had learned to change the way I live (gluten-free life is still hard, don't get me wrong, but I am handling it better) , I guess I just felt less and less resentful. It became more of a statement of feeling and less of a raw emotion. I actually started feeling fortunate that it wasn't something worse and that I only had to change my diet to control my health. No drugs, just food. And I have a load of cool options... but I digress. And while I still have viable and yummy food choices. There are days when I just CRAVE a crusty baguette. Or a true french pastry. And I am well aware that my dream of traveling the world, free to eat whatever I want is no longer possible. So yes, I long for those days. That's where the title of this comes from. I long for golden fields and golden "dreams" that I can't have. So the metallic gold paints (and some with metal powder which adds a cool effect) represent that ideal and those golden days. The black "bars" between me (or the viewer) and the gold are pretty self explanitory I think. The organic shapes are representing the feeling like a heart throbbing and yearning. You put it all together and you get "Longing". Longing for the gold you can't reach. But the beauty of abstract art is that it can mean anything you want it to. And like several people have already told me... they just like the way the burlap, the twine, and the gold paint look. "Wow, that looks really cool!" And that's fine with me, too.
Ode to Zee - Mixed Media on Canvas - 30" x 40"And now, with this piece, we get a bit closer to what you'll begin to see more of (and back to brighter colors too maybe). I guess it didn't take too long to move on from the "Diagnosis Reaction" period. Remind me to use that in my auto-biography. Anyway, this painting has been in my sketchbook for a few years actually and it was going to be all in textured paint... but when I saw the burlap pieces, it just came together. Let me explain the title "Ode to Zee". Zee refers to the photographer, Allan Bruce Zee, I had the pleasure of meeting and working with in Portland, Oregon. I was doing interior design work and had the difficult job of having to choose from all of his wonderful art, which ones we would show in the stores. I had my own favorites and he has a series he calls "Rustscapes". He takes incredible close-ups of common everyday items that are rusted... and the results are just fantastic. He also shows with each work, the object it was taken from. Very cool! It was after seeing this and talking with him about it I became facinated with this type of abstract. I looked around me and so many things and pictures began to jump out. But for me it was a painting, I just can't seem to get good photos. I would stop on a set of metal stairs to stare at the rust accumulating in the corner. And I am getting to where I prefer the look of peeling layers of paint to a smooth finish. One of Allan's photos that has stuck with me for these past years is called "NASA's Deception" and while my painting doesn't look like it, it has something of the same colors. Check out his website and you'll see where it came from, the red with the teal blue. Go to: www.allanbrucezee.com and look at the abstracts and rustscapes. I just love it.
So, that should bring everyone up to speed. I'm taking a little break from painting to see my family in Arkanses, but I have to admit, I can't wait to get back to work on my paintings again. It seems like talking about art and getting excited about art, just makes me want to do more art!!!
Blessings to you all!
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