Chromatic Atlas: Progression of a painting

Chromatic Atlas, 48" x 60", acrylic, graphite, charcoal. oil stick on canvas

My painting process starts with intuitive mark making using black paint, graphite, oil pencil, markers. I lay in acrylic washes over parts of the canvas. I used oil sticks to make more marks. Thicker, opaque passages of acrylic paint were added with spatula and brushes. I then go in and out of the paint, making more marks and obliterating others, creating layers of paint, marks, texture. I stop when I feel intuitively satisfied. I tend to have several paintings going on simultaneously so as not to make one particular painting too 'precious'.
 

Fourteen Brushes and Two Paintings

This morning in the studio I used fourteen brushes, a spatula, and a shaper to create two paintings on paper. I find that my metal cart (actually a catering cart!) can only contain so many supplies. As you can see, I have paint jars and brushes and paper plates on the floor!

On the easel

The Spaces Between Us, 50" x 38", acrylic, graphite, charcoal on paper

I am preparing for my solo exhibition "The Map and the Territory" at the Marjorie Evans Gallery at the Sunset Center in Carmel, CA January 2015. The opening reception will be January 8, 2015 5-7pm. 

I am loving working on large pieces of paper. The surface effects are exciting: textural, rough, dry, thick versus thin paint, and so forth. I am considering mounting my paper pieces on board and placing them in a floater frame or a frame flush with the board. An artist colleague of mine on the east coast, Beau Wild, is presenting her work in this way for galleries and museums and it makes for a very contemporary look.

Playing with Water, 18"x 18", acrylic, graphite on canvas

This painting SOLD to a wonderful collector in Valdosta, Georgia! I was thinking of water and how children are mesmerized by its' properties and how they play with it for hours. I had a water table for my daughter when she was a toddler. She loved to sit in there and splash and pour water into and out of cups. I am reminded of the ephemeral nature of youth and in particular of a line from Rilke that haunted me the first time I saw it and haunts me still: 'Oh hours of childhood......'. Those hours are fleeting!

My Studio

I love my studio. It is filled with both natural and LED light. My partner, Bruce Sawhill, created a wonderful LED track lighting system (from the same guy, Suju Nakamura, who won the Physics Nobel Prize this year!) and I can paint any time of the day or night and not worry about needing more light! The large plywood holding my 50"x38" painting is a 60"x48" piece supported on a German easel. In the lower picture are two easels Bruce mounted to the wall. I have another wall wherein I can lean another plywood board with paper or canvas mounted on it as well. I am preparing for my solo exhibition entitled: 'The Map and the Territory" at the Marjorie Evans Gallery at the Sunset Center in Carmel, CA January 2015. The opening is January 8, 2015 5-7 pm. Come see me there!