Slop Painting 3

I am beginning to realize that the titles I have given these paintings are a bit off. They are not slop as in pig food, but well yea I guess in this case I did kind of just slop the painting on... The depth of color is still quite a joy for me to paint and this one is no exception. The layers of paint and the variations of mark came out at a crazy frenzied pace and I cannot wait to mix up more paint soon and express through more color, texture and basic shapes in images. Size 10 x 30. Oil Paint.

Orange Oak Studio

I worked very hard the last few weeks to create a Web Site, Company Name and Logo. Here is a Sneak Peek at the logo. It felt really weird to go back to Graphic Design work on the computer - my artistic energies have been mostly messy in the past few years - paint, chalk, charcoal, ink and such. My wrists hurt from mousing my way around the screen.

Hope you all can see that it is an acorn sprouting it's oak tree - symbolism: I am growing and creating more and more work these days. Oak trees: are sturdy, strong and have a long longevity. Oak wood is used for wine barrels and Japanese drums; my favorite drink and instument. Colored dots symbolism: if you guessed a paint palette you would be right.  Orange: energetic, warmth, sociable, lively, sunshine and promotes conversation. There is no such thing as an Orange Oak - there are Blue Oak trees - however, I am a creative that thinks outside the box.

What does Orange Oak Studio do? Fine Art Paintings for Home and Business and Art for Fun Workshops. Contact me for more information: 707-738-5886.

City Bugs

This one was created about a year ago, but I never posted it. Someone special in my life admired it and so I will send it to her, but first it gets a little on-line time.

I enjoy working in this process. I added a very thick layer of acrylic, then a thin layer of gesso and a painting layer in oil. I let the first oil layer dry completely. Then I came back in and layered thick knifed on paint with Cold Wax Medium by Gamblin mixed in. When the surface was covered in thick paint I began to scratch out here and there, no reason, much like termites would eat away at wet wood creating their own design. 24 x 18 inches.

Slop Painting 2

So, lets see. A Slop Painting from August - September 2010. I painted Woman on the Beach, In the Garden, a study of oil mediums for my teacher Eric Shearer, and a Black, White and Gray Layer painting. This one is not as complex as the previous one but I liked it so I decided that it is finished!
14 x 11 inches.

Slop Painting

Why in the world would an artist call a painting that was created with care a Slop Painting? I would because that is exactly what it is. When a painter sets out on a painting session a palette of paints is created by squeezing out the quantities of paint one might think they are going to use. These blobs of oil paints are then mixed and cajoled into an assortment of colors as the painting session continues. Often quantities of other paints are squeezed out and added to the palette as the painting calls for different colors than anticipated at the beginning of the painting session. After anywhere from 3 - 7 hours or more of painting an artist ends up with a palette of meticulously mixed and created colors with added mediums on the palette.

At a certain point in time the painting session comes to an end, maybe there is hunger or maybe there are other life necessities pressing in for time, maybe the muse has gone or the paintings are loaded with wet paint with nowhere else to go at the time. The reasons for ending a painting session are many. What to do with the wet paint still on the palette?

Some artists will come back to it in a few hours or even the next day - oil paint does take a while before it completely dries. Some artists scoop up all the left over paint and toss it into the garbage. Some artists may just leave the mess of beautifully created colors to be dealt with at a later time. Personally, I cannot put paint into the garbage - landfill, bad for the environment all that. However, paint I must because it is the way in which I express myself. Some people give lectures, some play music, some talk - the list goes on people like to express themselves. I paint regularly and as often as I can and I use my "left-over" paint in what I call Slop Paintings. The beauty of this is that the complexity of color in these paintings comes from a minimum of 15 painting sessions from a minimum of 5 other paintings. I hope you enjoy the Slop Paining presented here. Size 36 x 48.

Angle Lady

Angle Lady is an Oil Painting of tall proportions. She is painted on a 24 x 48 inch canvas. Originally I was going to make her in Black and White and Gray only - but that was not who she wanted to be. You could read all sorts of things into this one - that she wants to be chiseled, modeled, or that she's on fire or icy. Who knows. I did create her curves in angles on purpose, but what purpose I am not sure myself.

Woman at Beach Edge

So here is an almost abstract image of my mother looking at my children swimming in the ocean in Florida. I left the children out. I was sitting behind her drawing. The moment happened almost a year ago - the painting was made recently. I began with a layer of orange and red and painted the whites and blues on top adding only a little red and orange back in as I went along.

This painting is 24 x 24.

I am feeling like I will be painting more women alone on a canvas as I go forth the next few months or so...check back in. Thanks.

Woman With A Mandolin

I painted for 7 hours straight with a live Costumed Model in a workshop taught by Karen Lynn Ingalls recently. Karen’s blog is: http://karenlynningalls.blogspot.com. This workshop was my first ever chance to paint with a live model. 

I loved hearing the other people scrapping paint or chatting quietly. I enjoyed the workout of trying to get everything down that I could see and feel in a pre-determined time frame. I knew I had to capture the energy and the calmness of the pose during the class because it would all go away when class ended. Woman with a Mandolin represents 3 solid hours of the workshop, painting non-stop capturing everything I could, including adding some of what wasn't even there. I suppose this is a bit how plein air painters feel as well – capture it or else, you don’t. I started by representing colors the way they were but then, I didn’t. The model didn't seem to mind her blue hair when she saw herself. The canvas size is 24 x 48.  

Our model was Lindalou, she and her husband, Michael Ryge, are singer/songwriters - playing folk/Americana music. They've got a website, where you can also listen to downloads of their music, at http://www.lindalouandmichael.net/ They often play around Calistoga, CA and are definitely local favorites.

Eat - Sleep - Fly Fish

A copy of a card I made for my Dad.

Fish

Finally, the dinner one might eat after a day on the water in a boat with a sombrero on after a nap under a palm tree, or not it is just a picture of a fish to hang on your wall.

Palm Tree

This is the tree one might choose to take a nap under after a day on the boat or in the water.

Sombrero

The hat one might need to be outside on a boat all day.

Boat

Finished a long time ago and yet I am still drawn to the innocence and joy of being on the water behind this piece. I will show the other 4 of this series today. I am considering putting these up for sale at the co-op gallery soon.

Wading Along

Another step in successful fly fishing is to move either up stream or down stream between casts. It's called "covering the pool." On occasion, one might also move forward of backward from the bank of the river - I had to do this often due to my casts not being long enough to reach the other bank. Obviously, a fisherman is not going to stand in one place for several hours at a time - funny how this little detail was not obvious to me at all until I actually saw how much water I would be fishing in Iceland. So, the waders are called waders because one wades along the river to fish and hopefully experience the joy of a "tight line."

Man Fishing

Well, having tried to capture the line in the air and failing, I moved on to catching the man standing in water with a stick - sorry, rod. This is the part were typically in fly fishing the fisherman strips the line. Yes, there are stripping jokes out on the water, but I digress. Stripping the line means that the line is being pulled in one tug at a time at a predetermined speed and a chosen amount of line at a time. The speed and line length to strip-in is dependent on the water speed, wind speed and direction, and size of the fly as far as I can tell.

Left side back cast

When it gets really windy a fly fisherman will cast from their opposite side (usually left). A great deal more effort goes into this cast. The reason for the change is to avoid a "collapsed" line or worse a hook in the back of your head. Actually a true fisherman would say the collapsed line is worse than the hook in the head. Either way, watching a strong cast from the non-dominant side is remarkably beautiful.

Guide

When fishing the HOFSA in Iceland it is common to have a guide climb steep banks over pools of water and search the water for salmon. They have a trained eye and can spot the fish underwater. It was not until my 7th day on the river that I could sight an underwater fish. Then, the fisherman actually casts to the sighted fish. Cheating? No, not in a place were one fishes almost 4 miles of big water for 11 hours in one day. The best fishermen catch 4 - 7 fish a day. Like my father says: "It's called fishing, not catching!"

Casting

Well, try as I will - and I tried many times. I could not fully capture fly casting on a 9 x 6 inch sketch pad. The rods are 9 feet long the line in the air is anywhere from 30 feet to 65 feet, sometimes longer. Clearly a man 6 feet tall or less would be a lot tinier than what I captured. In addition, the line speed is such that one can really only see a tiny portion of the path at a time and the fisherman is constantly moving. A beautiful sport to watch if you have countless numbers of hours ahead of you.

Wildflowers

I had seen pictures of Iceland Wildflowers before my trip. What amazed me is how tiny the flowers actually are. I was literally laying on the ground to draw them. Wonderfully at this level I could also see the bumble bees hard at work.

Iceland First Impression

I was in Iceland a short 5 hours and I was already suited up in waders and fly fishing with my father. Fortunately, we had a full-time guide that first evening so I was able to take out my sketch pad for a brief moment - remember the focus was fishing not drawing! This house that I captured was bigger than most homes in Napa California but, the vast land of Iceland made it appear to be a doll house. This sketch was done for the banks of Beat 7, Hofsa.

Dad on a cold Afternoon in Iceland

My Dad is on the left Jon is on the right. The water in Iceland is much bigger my focus was on capturing the men concentrating on catching a Salmon. I chose black paper because the evening was overcast, cold and windy.

The Yellow Road

As many of you know, I have been painting canvases for a very long time. How long, well 29 years ago I picked up my first canvas, brush and acrylic paint. My inspiration was the work of Georgia O'Keeffe - she was even still alive back then! Her close-up abstract work of nature absolutely mesmerized me - still does. My first painting ever was of a sea shell I picked up in Nantucket and then rendered it close-up in red, orange and yellow. The painting no longer exists, but my passion has held strong.

After the Sea Shell painting I started doing a series of paintings that were directly related to the fact that I was learning to drive. I did The Yellow Road then and another piece that was the view of a road in a rear-view mirror. This month at The Artist of the Valley Gallery I have chosen to show my "older work" the 7 pieces I have on display were all completed over 5 years ago.

New Studio

I have worked very hard over the past month and I am now enjoying a new studio space. Bigger, more natural light and finally, after many hours of work, much more organized than ever. Posted here is a glimpse of the new work I will be completing soon.

Heart Painting

Sold a  HEART painting over the weekend, muted lavender, white, pink and gold - forgot to photograph it first. Oops. Anyway it is out there and someone is enjoying it, thank you buyer.

Wine Glass

Wine country is a bit soggy this year. Raining with a chance of flooding.

Woman in an Empty Room

Raining outside. Feeling a little blue. Painted this in 2008, must have been feeling a little blue back then too. Marching along will keep painting and loving my family.

The sketch(s) for this painting were actually created on a Sunday afternoon in a busy public library.

Tension Wire

Barbed Wire vs. nature.

Man in Thought

Well, Derek is sometimes my only available model - but he doesn't exactly look this way....

He Sold in December 2009.

Too Much Noise

Well, he sold. My house feels like this to me sometimes.

Life's Layers

Many layers, many houses, organization amongst confusion. Attempt at using no white paint, but I did use a little.

Weed Abstract

Wet oil applied on 24 x 24 canvas. Stiff brush used to break in the image. Wet on wet - first try.

Coffee Cup

January 2010 - A new decade.

Studio Habits of Mind - the goal.
What are they?
Understand the Art World.
Community Collaboration and Demonstration.
Develop My Craft.
Engage and Persist.
Envision.
Express.
Observe.
Reflect.
Stretch and Explore.

Hoped for result: That my Paintings tell a story.