An Unlikely Compliment

IMG_1548.jpgSeveral years ago, when I found myself unemployed, I decided to pick up my paintbrushes and start painting again after about 20 years, and my friend Dennie proved a worthy subject.  Getting back into the groove was frustrating, finding that I had to grease some gears that hadn’t been turned in so long.  It’s a fairly crude painting, brushstrokes thrown on without any precision, and lacking the details that separate her as an individual. But I plodded on, knowing that it was just practice to get myself back into the waters and… whatever.

I was exhibiting my work during Somerville Open Studios a few years ago, and because most of my work is commissioned and hanging in other people’s homes, I pulled out pretty much everything I had to display.  I love Open Studios weekend because it’s an opportunity to talk with lots of diverse visitors, see their reactions, and hear their feedback.

In the afternoon, a guy came through with his young daughter, perusing the paintings and pointing at the dogs.  Finally, he pointed to Dennie and said to me “I think I know her.”  With a raised eyebrow, I thought Mmm hmm.  White guy comes through and sees a woman of color with dreadlocks, and he knows her. 
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah.  God, what was her name…  I worked on the Governor’s Council with her…”

Wait.  Dennie was appointed by Gov. Patrick to sit on one of his councils. Can this guy really recognize her from that painting??
“Dennie,” I replied
“Dennie!  Yes!” and he continued talking about her.  I laughed, saying that the painting wasn’t that detailed and how impressed I was that he could see her in it.  He responded that she has a certain essence which was captured.

It’s ironic that, to this day, one of the greatest compliments I’ve received on my work was on a painting that is most certainly not my best.  My thanks to that stranger.  Interactions and comments such as this linger forever in an artist’s mind, and remind us that we are merely the conduit for a rendering far more complex than our limited human brains can comprehend.

Self Portrait

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The contents of this site are constantly changing – Artist’s Statement needs revising (always!), new paintings need to be added to the done, things like that.  Today, I was focusing on the description of commissions.  Not the process, really, as much as trying to steer the concept of the painting.  Some see my work and contact me to do a commission, saying “I like your unique eye,” or “Your composition is interesting,” then they send me pictures that are straight-up head & shoulders serious images, and balk when I crop it or suggest a goofier expression. I’m a sucker for trying to please everyone, but a lot of time can be saved by being more clear in what I will and will not accept.

Anyway, while I was in there, I also edited it to remove most references to dogs.  I know, I know – everyone wants a painting of their dog; but, I love painting people, too.

This painting is from 2012, but it was never posted here.  It’s a bit flat, but I do wish more people commissioned paintings of themselves with their dog.

Hint, hint.

Rupert, done

When a dog tucks a front paw under his/her chest, it indicates comfort; but crossing the front paws is pure contentment. Not all dogs cross their paws when they’re happy, but I’m fortunate to have one that does.image

I have a gajillion pictures of Rupert, but knew that this (taken about a year ago) would be the one I’d paint, so I was relieved of that agonizing process of choosing an image (I’m not so good with decisions, as it is!).  This was taken one night after being in the studio for hours. We were about to head home and then I started taking pictures of him because I love the crossed-paws look. He hates having his picture taken and was really just ready to go home and eat; but he obliged, in that male Swissy complacency sort of way.

Rupert is 11 now. His hikes have become trail walks and, though he still enjoys them with the other dogs,  he’s starting to slow down. I figured I should squeeze in his portrait now, while he’s among the living, because doing so after he’s left this world may just be too painful.

Rupert, in process

img_0070I’ve painted about eight Swissies, and I think a lot of people assume that they are all my own dog, Rupert.  I had been meaning to paint him, but I just never knew which image of him to paint — until I took this picture.  It’s nothing special, really.  Just a dog laying on the studio floor, rolling his eyes at me for taking pictures of him when he really just wants to go home and have supper.  This one is 24 x 48″

Osa begun

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Osa in Sheets  (40 x 30″) will differ from my usual process in a couple of ways: first, because the dog is covered in sheets, she must be painted first; and second, I am going to try to morph some of these folds into an unfinished dry-brush technique as I work out toward the edges.

Osa actually worked up pretty quickly.  She’s about 75% done, but needs to dry a bit before I finish the red of her carpal and add the white hair of her muzzle.  It’s somewhat odd to be working on a dog painting but not be working on the dog, but I was enjoying getting into the intricate lines and shadows of the folds of the sheets.  I was just rubbing a small brush, kind of smashing it into the shadows, and will start applying paint next week.

Lots going on!

IMG_8027Well, I’ve managed to neglect my updates for the past several months, but there has actually been a lot going on.  First, I moved into a larger studio space, which has had the unexpected (though not surprising) effect of increasing my productivity.  I liked my old space, but as I produced more paintings, was finding myself getting more and more constrained in the physical space.  So, when a studio mate decided to move out, I moved into her larger space.  Once I spread out physically, I found myself starting to spread out mentally and creatively.  Funny how that works.

I started working on a couple of commissions for friends – each one a gift that they requested for others, with special significance.  While I love each of the photos that were requested, they were departures from my normal aim.

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Leif and Darwin presented a certain challenge because… well, to be honest, I don’t have an affinity with cats and was concerned how that would translate on the canvas.  Their stripes were a great technical focal point for me, and I enjoyed getting lost in the therapeutic brushstrokes involved in blending them!

 

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Blanquita was from a photo that a friend of a friend had taken on a flight home to NYC from Puerto Rico, where he was vacationing and met this sato.  He had filtered the image a little, and a friend forwarded it to me to paint as a gift for him.  This image of her almost as if anticipating a new life of love & comfort was compelling, to me.

I was also offered the walls of a salon in Boston’s South End to exhibit my work.  At first, I balked.  ‘I want a solo show in a gallery, not a hair salon,’ said my entitled artist self.  When I went to meet with them, I realized that IMG_6559the folks at Kent Newton Salon on Washington Street know what they’re doing.  They select only four artists per year, each leaving the work up for a few months.  One of the aspects that I love about this venue is that all of the mirrors provide a really great visual effect, creating faces everywhere you look.  The opening was held on the First Friday of August (SoWa has a lively First Friday scene!), and I so appreciate my friends and fans who came out to enjoy some bubbly and hors d’oevres.  My work is up until November 27 (and I will be rotating pieces a bit as work is sold and/or new work is completed).  Kent Newton is at 1315 Washington Street.  Super people, too!  Go visit.

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One of our local businesses, Float Boston, offered a program for local artists in order to show how flotation tanks can increase creativity.  From my floats, I was inspired to paint portraits of plants — but on a grid of smaller canvas panels.  Each on its own is an abstract image, but collectively portray the plant image. I call it Gestalt painting (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts). This one is a Vinca.  This is just the underpainting, and I’ll blog its progress separately.  Lots to say in this one!

 

OK, off to do some more work so that I can post an update later in the week…  I promise that I will.

 

The Interlude of Sketches

imageI was thrilled to have my work selected for the  Sketchbook Show at the Nave Gallery Annex in Davis Square earlier this year, and was then excited to learn that it attracted more visitors than any other show at that gallery.  I am inspired by every show at the Nave, and that show was no exception –  there’s some really creative stuff in my fellow artists’ sketchbooks!

imageI love drawing faces – whether they’re human or canine or equine. I also like the messiness of sketchbooks- the mental notes scribbled in the margins, the shopping list added at the bottom. The addition of text, of handwriting added in the process of the sketch, adds a thoughtful dimension to a casual impression.

And so it happened that as I roamed from room to room browsing the varied collection of sketches hanging by little binder clips, I was inspired to start sketching more. I should step away from faces, I thought. I should just allow myself to play in some other subject matter…  but faces intrigue me, and I thought of how old sepia photos draw me in… historical faces… and perhaps I would include a quote by the subject.

I’ve not been very good at keeping up with my commitment, but will try to post them here on a regular basis.

Obi (detail)

  I’ve been working on Obi for a while. There have been times when things did not go as planned and I felt like I would never finish. Things I have painted well many times in the past suddenly just would not come out right. But onward we plod and work through it. 

And sometimes things out in the rest of the world just don’t go as planned. When that happens, art becomes therapy. To go into the studio and lift a tiny #1 brush to a 36 x 36 canvas and just paint one single hair at a time allows the niggly demands of other responsibilities and failures to wash away, and I emerged from the studio ready to take them on, again. 

Obi, started

 I am always happy to start another Swissy, and Obi is one who always seems to be wearing a cheeky grin. What a fun face to paint!

In starting the underpainting, I was planning to just throw on a light wash of paint to map out the lines and colors, but I ended up spending hours and really having fun with it. This is not the traditional underpainting; but, as I’ve said before, each painting seems to have its own unique process. I’m just here to apply the paint.