Aftermath or...Rorschash?

So...when I paint, I get messy.  And I use a lot of paint... lots of paint.  And, of course, I leave squishes of paint on my palette for use the next time.  Sometimes, the squishes are still good.  Sometimes....well, not so good. It just seems a shame to scrape off all this excess paint and throw it away, so I have started a new series: "Aftermath".  These are all of my colors - scraped off my palette and scraped onto a canvas.  Not only are they fun abstracts but they give a purpose to all that leftover paint.  And you can see a few glimpses into my color palette along the way.  Mind you, it's skewed by the fact that some colors, like white, dry more quickly than other colors.  So, the squishes of white on my palette don't last long and they get transferred to the Aftermath canvas more often than, say, alizarin crimson.  It ends up looking like I use more white than is actually the case.  But you get the point.

You can see them in person at the upcoming bunkhouse show

And, here is the aftermath:

Wee ones

 More creation from the studio.  These are all 6x6 Ampersand Panels.  They are a fun way to create in a loose, figurative manner.  I hope that you like them.

 This is Amy.  I love the interaction of the reds/oranges with the green variations of the background

This is "Brookside".  It was originally intended as an underpainting for some unknown subject.  However, I fell in love with the movement of the composition and added a minimal number of strokes to keep that lightness quality.

"Button" is just fun.  The background really adds character to this painting.

"Fragile Spring" is just so lovely and fresh.  It feels like my grandmothers' garden come to life.

"Happy Valentine's Day" just makes me laugh.  I know that it is past Valentines Day, but this little guy sure looks like he is ready to present you with his Valentine offering.

"Desert Rose" is a juxtaposition of the fresh and soft against the hard and rough. This painting started as an abstract background with a lovely white flower as the focal point.  But, as it evolved, the flower petals became softer and softer and the background became edgier and edgier. The background bleeds through in areas, highlighting the translucence of the flower petals.

Latest from the lab

This beauty is 12x12 gallery wrapped canvas.  I was experimenting with yellow greens and violets and she came to life.  I call her "Weathering the Storm" because it looks so stormy in the background.  

This is "Dissolving Like Spun Sugar", another 12x12 gallery wrapped canvas.  She is an experiment with the use of walnut oil as a medium.  As you can see, I used the oil quite heavily.  It was interesting that the oil kept spreading and running over a period of hours.  The mediums that I normally use stay in place.  I think it is a very unique piece.

"Gossamer Wings", 16x20 gallery wrapped canvas is another in ongoing  experimentation with transparency.  I love the way that the background color comes through the petals of the flower.

"Moonlight at the Garden Center" is a gallery wrapped 24x36.  My husband has been experiencing some medical issues (nothing serious, just attention-getting) and I was not able to paint for a week or so.  When I finally got back into the studio, I just wanted to fling paint around.  And I "ran home to mama", so to speak, with a return to Phthalo blue, one of my favorite colors.  The vast majority of this painting was done with a 2 inch wide, ratty, disposable brush - like the kind you would use to paint bits of door trim.  I had intended to use the brush only to lay in the general shapes, but I just kept going and going.  The painting just poured out me. 

This is "Standoff".  She is roughly 20 x 30 gallery wrapped canvas.  I call her Standoff because she is just so thorny.  She obviously needs some room and, perhaps, doesn't play so well with others.

Colors and environment

Something a little new for me.  I had the pleasure of spending a good deal of time in Ireland and was inspired by the softness of the colors there.  Without our bright Texas sun, everything takes on new hues.  Because canvases there are in the metric system, I taped off a section of each canvas to bring it into line with our inch/foot system.  In addition, I switched my subject matter to flowers - something that I never thought I'd paint. I painted the first flower, pulled the tape off and was just gobsmacked (that's an Irish term - I am sure that you get the gist) by the effect of the white border on the painting.  I was so inspired that I painted flower after flower.  They flowed so easily out of me that it was like a dance with brush and color.  I am sharing them with you here.  I hope that you enjoy them.

Then, I returned home to Texas and just

Then I returned to Texas and just look what happened:

Explosions of color! You just gotta love playing with color and shape - it's so much fun.

Latest from the easel

This is "Pink".  She was a surprise to me and perhaps to you also.  A bit outside my normal work.

This is "Caring".  Caring is quite large - 24x36. I was very pleased with the facial expressions on this piece.

Bunkhouse show coming up!

    Hope you can join us at the 22nd annual Bunkhouse show and sale.  It is held two weekends, March 29/30 and April 5/6.  We have an artists reception Saturday, March 29 from 2-6PM.

C'mon out!

Horrors!

Horrors because I had not realized how much time I let slip by without posting some of my latest work.  I promise to be more timely in the future.  Here are two of my latest succulents and I am pleased to show my first portraits.  It has been long overdue to venture into new subjects and I am delighted and enthused with my new subject matter.

This is "Keeping Baby Safe". I think the title says it all.  I just thought it was very touching.

This is "Elizabeth".  She was supposed to be one of my traditional succulents, but after laying her in on that stunning red background, nothing would do but that she remain displayed in those vivid colors.

This is "Salome".  She is 14 x 11 and my initial venture into the world of painting portraits and figures. Her photograph, as well as those following, is not professionally done -haven't made it to the photographer yet - so, please forgive the quality of it.

This is "Relaxing During the Game".  He is 10x8 and was more of a challenge that would seem apparent.

This is "Turban".  He is a combination of my new ventures into the world of portraiture as well as an experiment in background styles.  He is 24 x 12 and is gallery wrapped.