Studio Antics

Today I further pushed the Sweet Gum image.  I worked into the details more and then did some background integration.  The colors I am using for this painting are in the purple and orange palette.  Purple and orange when mixed make a nice burnt sienna.  If you add white to it you can generally come up with most of the brown shades needed in nature.

Sweet Gum Tree Pod

Taxonomy of American Sweetgum Trees:

Plant taxonomy classifies American sweetgum trees (also spelled "sweet gum") as Liquidambar styraciflua. The sweetgum tree I recommend is Liquidambar styraciflua 'Rotundiloba,' a sterile, non-fruiting culitivar.

Plant Type: Sweet Gum Tree

American sweetgum trees are deciduous trees, indigenous to the southeastern U.S.

Characteristics of American Sweetgum Trees:

American sweetgum trees bear leaves shaped like stars. The leaves provide excellent fall foliage color: in some cases, at the peak of the fall foliage season, some leaves may be red, others purple, others yellow, others orange -- all on the same sweetgum tree! On some trees, the branches are "winged," as on winged euonymus (burning bush), displaying corky flanges. Most people consider their seed pods (or "fruits," "balls," "gumballs," "capsules") to be messy, so I recommend the fruitless 'Rotundiloba.' Rotundiloba grows 60'-70' tall with a spread not even half that, which helps give it a narrowly pyramidal form.

Plant Taxonomy

Where has this artist been?  Such a beautiful rainy day and I ponder ponder ponder about:

Definition: Plant taxonomy is a system of classification for plants. We use the plant taxonomy developed by Linnaeus (1707-1778).

My research has taken me from the studio of late.  However,  I found myself right back where I started today...the STUDIO...and the painting is fine.

I have been working on a Sweet Gum tree pod painting and am in the middle stages of the painting.  I found my object walking my son home from the bus stop.  I then photographed it and made it studio ready.

Studio ready is another term for lets get to the essence of this thing I am painting.  This requires blowing it up and them making it small. Painting it and smearing it away.  Carving it out and rubbing it back into the ground and then revealing its nature again and again until the figure becomes the ground and the ground becomes the figure. 

Ambiguity

So what about structural ambiguity.  Should not there be a spatial differentiation between the figure and the ground.  I say there should be a questioning process in which both are equally important and both exist at the same time without discretion of the two.  The figure and the ground becomes one.  Is this possible?  I ponder these thoughts as I paint---always.

 

There truly is simplicity amongst the chaos.  Without the opposite in each situation the other would not exist.  I guess the law of the universe require this.  Opposites in nature attract and then repel.  How does one combine such opposites?  

This Week in the Studio...

Conifers, Cones and all the Objects of the Earth

I am researching the Earth Objects that I paint.  One of the fun names I came across in my research is Conifers.  The members of the pine family (pines, spruces, firs, cedars, larches, etc.) have cones that are imbricate with scales overlapping each other like fish scales. These are the "archetypal" cones. The scales are spirally arranged in fibonacci number ratios.
The female cone has two types of scale: the bract scales, derived from a modified leaf, and the seed scales (or ovuliferous scales), one subtending each bract scale, derived from a highly modified branchlet. On the upper-side base of each seed scale are two ovules that develop into seeds after fertilisation by pollen grains. The bract scales develop first, and are conspicuous at the time of pollination; the seed scales develop later to enclose and protect the seeds, with the bract scales often not growing further. The scales open temporarily to receive pollen, then close during fertilisation and maturation, and then re-open again at maturity to allow the seed to escape. Maturation takes 6-8 months from pollination in most Pinaceae genera, but 12 months in cedars and 18-24 months (rarely more) in most pines. The cones open either by the seed scales flexing back when they dry out, or (in firs, cedars and golden larch) by the cones disintegrating with the seed scales falling off. The cones are conic, cylindrical or ovoid (egg-shaped), and small to very large, from 2-60 cm long and 1-20 cm broad.

This Week in the Studio, April 3

It has been a busy week. I am working tirelessly on two very large canvases in the studio. One is a 12 foot canvas. There isn't a lot to report but a lot to see in terms of painting progression. Enjoy!

Difficult Run, Vienna Virginia

Childhood Memories of the Creek Bed

Difficult Run is a stream bed that runs through my life like a thread through a quilt. As a child I played in it with my older brother Nick and as an adult I ramble along its banks in awe of its natural design. I have written a new artist statement. This statement is more in harmony with my work and my life.

I feel I am getting closer and closer to the core of my work and where it comes from. And this past week has been spent researching and filling up the image bank for more images to come this spring.

This past week, I had the privelege of meeting the education specialist at Meadow Lark Gardens. I was on a quest for information about my "Earth Objects". My new friend is a scienctist who happens to be as passionate about these tiny objects as am I. She will be helping me identify the genus and species of the plants, pods and seeds that I paint.

My work is focused on native plants in the Difficult Run Watershed of Northern Virginia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difficult_Run. My new friend is a kindred spirit. She seeks to preserve the natural forests of the areas in the Gardens and I seek to immortalize them.

STAY THE COURSE, 4 feet x 12 feet, acrylic on canvas...

Today's canvas was started on Saturday. After I rolled out the huge 8 x 12 foot canvas, (which is actually a drop cloth) I noticed a seam about 1/3 of the way down the cloth. Instead cutting into the cloth with the intention of stretching onto canvas bars later, I decided to cut along the finished seam and keep the finished edge. I then had a 4 x 12 foot canvas with a completely finished edge all the way around.

Presentation is a huge issue when I am hanging a show or canvas. Usually I stretch my images around stretcher bars and use the stretcher bars as my frame. I have been doing this for many years. But these new images don't need stretching because the frame is the raw gesso that is tinted on the rim of the canvas. The good news is that I can roll these up and they are portable. I can take them anywhere. This is great since now the size of my vehicle is not an issue. I used to have to design my paintings around how I could transport them. Now all I have to do is roll them up.

"Stay the Course"seems to be my life's theme presently. A few weeks ago my cousin Marissa showed me a cool site on Facebook that matches your birthday with the #1 billboard song on that day. Guess what mine was for October 6, 1960. Larry Verne "Please Mr. Custer". http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=60926121015&h=9vNT3&u=7-1gV&ref=mf
what does this have to do with art and me. I thought it was funny to have such a silly song for my #1 song at the time of my birth. But the weird thing is, I have been using the theme of "stay the course" in my daily meditations recently. The U-tube video has a sub title on it Custer "stayed the course" and that is precisely what I am trying to do in my own life. I have endeavored to be more disciplined in all areas of my life.

Yes I know I am talking about virtues, because I believe that being an artist requires strong virtues. Artists need to be strong and disciplined and quite simply, "stay the course". We don't have a paycheck to motivate us everyday to go into the studio. Going into the studio every day without pay requires discipline, money and support. How do we do this? Well most of us work two or three part time jobs in order to carve out creative time. I am no exception. I currently work on web page jobs and teach part time. I don't have the luxury to paint at my leisure. And that brings me to the "why I paint". I paint because I have an internal drive to do so. My drive propels me to "stay the course" but sometimes it is sheer determination and tenacity that keeps me going back into that studio day in and day out. When I finish a really physical painting session I feel relieved. I also feel as if I have done battle with the canvas. Isn't it ironic that my song is...."Please Mr. Custer"...and yes I am paying attention to the "guide-posts along the way. Especially the ones that are sometimes given to us by our wonderful cousins on Facebook. Thanks Marissa!

Studio Photos from 3/21-3/23...Enjoy

Acorn Homage, revisited and final coat

I worked back into this image yesterday to tone down the highlights and bring back some of the sepia tones.

It was good that I took earlier stage photos of this image because I was able to see that it read better when toned down. The final highlights are now flickering through the coat of warm orange brown than was added to tone them down. I am satisfied with this image and ready to show it to the world.

Yesterdays Studio Session

I am working the background into this image. The object seems to be taking on a life of its own. After placing a heavy coat of green mixed with purple I then wiped away with a sponge to reveal the light layer of green underneath. My sponge wipes were in the same direction of the pine pod and seemed to be going in an upward direction. The pod has an aura surrounding it and is taking on a life of its own.

Acorn Homage, 65 x 48,. acrylic, 2008

I finished Acorn Homage today. It was a great deal of fun as I was brushing the many layers of translucent pigment over the acorns. Each layer added new depth to the markings that surrounded the acorn.

Before the final coats.

New Image started today. Pine Person. Huge painting carved out today with many markings that seem natural in the process of documenting this image.