Decapitating Shadows

More uses for Thrift Store Pillowcases

June 28, 2009

I seem to have an odd penchant for collecting interesting old pillowcases from thrift stores. I've used some on pillows, made pillowcase dresses for Lily, and finally found a use for my latest find. It perfectly fit the cork board I have in my home office space, so I used a staple gun to secure it around the edges of the cork, and then folded it over and stapled again on the back. Now I have a pretty cork board that coordinates with the walls on which to tack up interesting and inspirational images.

Posted at 07:42 PM | Comments (0) | Posted to knitting/crafting

Extraordinary Creatures

June 17, 2009

Spent a little time in the studio today. I'm really getting in a panic to move these along, because they're all I've got to submit to fall juried shows now that everything is tied up in my other show! I guess that's good motivation.

I also find that blogging progress shots has been good for two reasons. First, just keeping me motivated, and second, looking at a photo of the work often helps me look at the pieces more objectively than staring at them in real life for some reason. I can focus on them as compositions and get a better sense of the overall piece, as opposed to zeroing in on little details like I tend to when staring at them in the studio.

I will be trying really hard not to have these read as portraits, or as at all sentimental. I have a number of them in mind, so hopefully as a group they will work against that.

Posted at 01:59 PM | Comments (0) | Posted to Arts and Culture

Finally

June 14, 2009

I finally spent a decent amount of time in the studio this weekend, after not doing so for weeks (or what felt like weeks, at any rate). I got a little work done on my second piece for next year's Michigan City show. I think it's coming along, but I HATE painting cars and I'm struggling with not having it look too "cartoony." I am happy with the texture and collage layers I have going on in the wall (which is what attracted me to this particular scene in the first place) though I need to watch the perspective lines, especially on the windows. A little more work on the greens/foliage in the foreground and some more work on the car and I think it will just about be there.

And I started sketching out my next pair of paintings for the series I'm tentatively calling "Extraordinary Creatures." They all use the Bug as a model, but I'm more interested in this idea of this princess/child as archetype. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the background is color layered with iridescent gold/bronze acrylic. I want to try to get a lot of depth to the background with the layers, and haven't really decided how/if I'll be using collage in these. I'm pretty excited about working on them though...

Posted at 09:20 PM | Comments (0) | Posted to Arts and Culture

Figure Drawing June 10

June 10, 2009

So it's been quite a while since I have made it to figure drawing, but since my after school teaching duties are done for now, I finally made it tonight. As usual, my quick sketches felt better than the longer poses, but I think I did some good work.

But before I show you the drawings, I want to give everyone a quick reminder that my art exhibition, Too Good to Last, opens at Substation No. 9 in Hammond next Friday, June 19. The reception will be Friday, June 26 from 5-7 pm. And if you just can't get enough of me (believe me, I've had enough of me), there will be a bit in the NWI Times about the show this coming Sunday and a chat with the director of South Shore Arts on Lakeshore Public TV's Eye on the Arts on June 25, right before the 9:00 pm news. It's all very exciting and I am so thankful for all the encouragement and support I've had from everyone, from my friends and family to my "art buddies" and critique group.

With this one I was especially pleased with both the line quality and the placement of the shadows. I blocked in some darker tones with vine charcoal before starting, and it really added some depth.

On this one I was very pleased with the top, but got too heavy handed too quickly on the legs and feet. I was using conte and then going in with a wet brush to soften lines and spread darker tones. I was pretty happy with the drapery, but then that wasn't quite the point.

I finally feel like my hands are coming along; I've been working really hard on them in all my drawing, mainly by trying to concentrate on the shapes I see and trying to forget that they're hands. Now I need to give the same attention to feet. I remember one of my drawing professors showing slides of some of Matisse's figure work, and saying that he was a wonderful draughstman, but look at those "flipper feet" - he never mastered realistic hands and feet in his drawings. And the last thing I want is some art historian some day showing impressionable young students my work and saying "alas, the flipper feet..."

Posted at 10:20 PM | Comments (0) | Posted to Arts and Culture

Art, Art, and More Art

May 30, 2009

I haven't been blogging much lately because I've been so busy driving all over Northwest Indiana, preparing for the summer classes I'm teaching, painting, going to art things, and framing the last few things for my show. Today we spent the morning in lovely downtown Hammond, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary with art stuff at Paul Henry's Art, Substation No. 9, the Towle Theater, and a few other downtown businesses.

After returning home, it was time to test our our craft paints on some rocks for the garden:

And I finally varnished my (finished?) painting:

There are some things about this painting I really love, including the scale (it's the largest I've done in a while), but a couple of areas I still feel maybe aren't working as well as they could. But, I'm already moving on mentally, and want to get started on some sketches for my next series. I'm also doing something I don't often do; making some test swatches to figure out how I want to layer paint. I know what kind of a look I want, a dingy/irridescent layering of turquoise and brown/bronze, but wasn't sure whether to do brown on a turquoise bakcground or turquoise on a brown background. I'm playing with some spare canvas to see how the different combinations work. I was very fortunate to have an artist acquaintance *give* me a ton of stretcher bars yesterday that she had planned to throw out, as she's moved on to much larger work. So I've got a couple small canvases stretched for the Bug and two 24 x 30" ones for myself. I'll try to post progress shots as soon as I can!

Posted at 05:56 PM | Comments (1) | Posted to Arts and Culture

Indiana Etsy

Home/Join | List | Next | Previous | Random

alt-webring.com

Comments

Mom | The Series Evolves | 05:17 PM Jun 05

Lisanne | Art, Art, and More Art | 11:50 AM Jun 05

Victoria Webb | Studio Stuff 3/30/09 | 11:23 AM Apr 10

Leah Rieger | The Baby Boom | 01:54 PM Mar 30

Baby Sling Wearer | Glad Those Days Are Over | 11:51 AM Feb 25

Blog Roll

License

This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

About Me

At different times in my adult life, I've been a museum administrator, production designer, and a bookstore clerk. I am currently focusing on my fine art work, and the occasional freelance job, under the banner of Studio Virgo. I'm also mommy to Lilybug, the coolest toddler on the planet, and am addicted to coffee, knitting, and yoga.