Encaustic Journey

Red and Black 1

6x6 Encaustic

Always eager to experiment with new art mediums, encaustic painting is a method with which I had no experience until recently. The ethereal sense that the process produces has long intrigued me, so I finally did some research, bought some supplies, and jumped in. Encaustic is a classic form of art that uses bee's wax and heat to produce a design.  Above is one of my first paintings using the process. I am delighted to report that it was fun and not nearly as difficult as I imagined. I'm sure I will continue to play with the process. Below are two more compositions from my exploration. I hope you like them.

Red and Black 2

6x6 Encaustic

Red and Black 3

6x6 Encaustic

Paint and Paper

Golden Marks No. 2

6x6 Mixed Media on Paper
Original For Sale

This past week I've been playing with some mixed media, acrylic paint, ink, and pencils. My surface is usually canvas, but I worked on paper this time, namely a 246 lb. archival acrylic paper. The focus was on making different kinds of marks, layering texture, and composition. You can view the entire series here.

After I was finished, it was fun to play with adding different types of matting and framing. My vision is a wall of these little abstract designs. Now, I just need a big blank wall. 

 Golden Marks No. 5

6x6 Mixed Media on Paper

Golden Marks No. 01

6x6 Mixed Media on Paper

Wild Grass

Last week I returned from a road trip along the West Coast from Washington State to Southern California and back again. It was a beautiful time to travel by car. Springtime was showing its face everywhere. The paintings above were inspired by the beautiful grasses that emerged on the landscape in Northern California and Southern Oregon. From the window of my car, the wild grasses provided color and abstraction that entertained me for miles. As soon as I got home I began working on this series based on those beautiful patches of wild grass. The paintings are abstract in both color and design, but I feel like they effectively capture the atmosphere provided by those lovely wild grasses. You can see more of this series here.

Jazz on First Avenue

Creating this painting was nothing but fun. I had the radio turned to jazz and the design seemed to create itself. Layers of acrylic paint brushed, splashed, and dribbled in hues of magenta, cyan, and yellow melded themselves into purples and greens. I haven't yet decided where the original painting will be displayed, but reproduction prints on canvas, paper, and other surfaces are available from my print shop. Shipping is free worldwide on CyberMonday. The original painting was created on an 18x24 inch stretched canvas. The sides are painted black and it is ready to hang.

A Glowing Summer of Art

The summer has passed quickly and by the look of my postings, it seems I have not been working very hard. This is only an illusion. I've worked hard and played hard. This 18x24 inch abstract mixed-media painting is one of a pair in a series I call my Glow Series that was created this summer. I call it glow because there is a reflective sheen in the design. Photography doesn't show it off well, but a layer of foil creates a surface that bounces light in a delightful manner. Reproductions of this work are available here. Please contact me at smallimpressions@hotmail.com if you are interested in purchasing the original or check out my "available" tab at the top of the page. I will post more of the work I have developed this summer, so please stay tuned.

Rust in the Ocean

Thinking about the sea, ships, and the nature of the two prompted the color scheme of this abstract painting. The orange and red of rusty metal peeks through a tropical sea of turquoise and blue. The combination of warm and cool provides balance. The original painting was created with acrylic paints on a 20x24 inch stretched canvas. The 1.75 inch sides are painted black so it can be hung with or without a frame. Visit this link for purchase information. Reproduction fine art prints are also available here.

Paint Addiction

The past six weeks I have been travelled from the Pacific Coast in Washington State to Central Oregon and back again. It was a lovely trip, but I missed my daily stints in the studio. My oils were with me, but I longed for the freedom of expression that acrylic paint provides for me. One afternoon, when I couldn't stand it any longer, I found my way to an art store and bought a tube of black paint, a couple of large brushes, and some mixed media paper.  I spent the afternoon playing. I used the new brushes, some found objects, and my imagination. When the entire pad of paper was almost gone, I felt better.  This painting is one of my favorite of the group. I like the boldness of the black and white and the freedom of large brush strokes. Reproductions of this work and some of my other black and white experiments are available in the painted abstract gallery of my website. I hope you will visit.

Green Light -- Keep on Going

Earlier in the month I wrote a post about avoiding the trap of overworking a composition, a trap that frequently takes hold of me. I advocated stopping early in your work before mucking it up. However, I'm going to eat my words and advocate the opposite today. This painting is one that I mucked up early on in its creation. It began with a layer of red paint that I let dry, adding a layer of white, and then scratching back some of the white to reveal the red paint underneath. It looked horrible. There was no clear design to my scratching and the red poked out as pink. It was an ugly mess. I let it sit for several days, hating to toss it only because I didn't want to waste the acrylic paper on which it was created. Eventually I went back to it and pushed on. There was nothing to lose. I pulled out every green tube of paint, every green pen, every green pencil and paint marker and began working the four corners of the paper. I left a white band to divide the surface. I scribbled and layered, and kept turning those four corners. Then, all of a sudden I began to like the results. Finally, I stopped, splattered on a few finishing touches and decided maybe it was premature to advocate stopping early. Maybe that mucky mess just means it is time to press on and get over it.The painting is available for purchase as a fine art reproduction print in a variety of sizes and formats from my website. Hope you can stop by.

Stop Early: Don't Overwork

Stop early and don't overwork your art. I need to keep telling myself that because I tend toward overworking. The process feels so good that I want to keep on adding colors and lines and textures and layers and more layers until I have a mess. Then I paint over everything and begin again. It is a terrible waste of time and materials. Luckily, I stopped early on this one. Some handmade papers, found papers, and a little bit of paint is how this design began. I let it sit for a few days and then declared it finished, no overworking, no paint over. I liked the colors, the lines and the balance. It felt good.  Reproduction fine art prints on paper, canvas, and metal are available for purchase from my portfolio. The image makes a pretty cool pillow, too! See the pillow here.

Old and New

Combining some contemporary techniques with a traditional still life is what today's posting is all about. I began this acrylic painting with layers of paint and pattern, using stencils, stamps, and a paintbrush, I created a textured underpainting. Working intuitively the design took on a life of its own. When I reached the point where it felt like it was finished, I created the silhouette of a simple pear still life over the underlying design.  It turned out to be a fun combination of old and new, abstract and representational, and my love of both was satisfied by the completion of the painting. The original was created on a 12x12 inch sheet of watercolor paper with acrylic paints. Giclee reproductions are available from my website here. The square format painting can be ordered in a variety of square format sizes, on paper, or on stretched canvas, one of my favorites when 1.5 inch stretcher bars are used. Very cool for the kitchen.

Converging Ideas

Playing with texture and color was the order of today's effort.  I used acrylic mediums, foil, and paint as my playground. It was a fun experiment that achieved a design worth keeping. The original work was created on 11x14 inch paper. Reproductions are available in a variety of sizes from my website. Click here for details about this work.

Spotted Fever

Back home with my paper, paint, and ink, inspiration arose from a sheet of paper I found on a clearance rack at the local craft shop.  The bold polka dots spoke to me and encouraged a series of abstract collages with the spots as a focus.  Torn paper, acrylic paints, pigment ink, and jazz radio in the background helped the design come to life.  I have completed a second in this series and a third is still on my work table.  When the lovely spotted paper is all gone, I will have to look elsewhere for inspiration or go on a hunt for more spots.  You can view the first two in the series in the abstract gallery of my website.  The third will appear as soon as it feels finished.  Fine art prints and posters are available for purchase.  Click on this link or choose the prints or abstract tabs at the top of the page.  To see the entire collection of my abstract work, visit here.

Lines and Colors

Creating handmade papers and using them in collage resulted in this abstract work.  Layering paper, ink, and paint was part of the process.  Lines of color, both warm and cool, helped me choose the title for the piece.  I've been experimenting with paper supports hoping to find a surface that works well. This design was created on an 9x9 inch 90 lb. watercolor paper.  The biggest challenge has been finding a paper that will lay flat.  At first this support curled just like the rest, but about half way through the creation process, I coated the back with acrylic matte medium.  It helped.  The paper tried to curl back upon itself, and in the process, is almost flat.  Framed, behind a piece of glass, it is beautiful. Reproduction prints are available at this link to my website or you can click on the prints tab at the top of the page to view more of my work.

Magenta Splash Paper Collage

Second in my recent series is this collage composed of paper, paint, pencil, and ink.  I used a variety of media in this experimental work.  The original was created on 140 lb Strathmore paper.  It is the best I have tried so far with minimal curling occurring in spite of a liberal use of wet paint, ink, and matte medium.  I used Decocolor Acrylic Markers, Golden Fluid Acrylics, and some home made alcohol ink.  That bright blue shape was created with a Caran d'Arche Neocolor Artist Crayon and a liberal passage of water and there are some scribbles done with Prismacolor Watercolor pencils.  As you can see, it was a little of this, a little of that, and a whole lot of fun.  Reproduction prints of this work can be purchased here, on my website.  If you would like to see more of my abstract works, please visit the Abstract Gallery at my website or click on the prints tab at the top of the page.

Collage Exploration

Recently my art has moved away from traditional subjects to the abstract.  This is my usual cycle.  I love to paint representationally, especially with oil paints, but inevitably, I need a break.  This is when I move to the abstract.  I like to explore new techniques and work with old media in new ways. This image is a mixed media collage that I recently finished.  It incorporates paper, ink, pencils, and paint. Arranging paper shapes, embellishing with other media, and piling layer upon layer eventually results in a composition that I find pleasing.  This image is one of a current series I am working on. I am exploring different grounds and have made some great discoveries.

This image was created on an 11x14 inch mixed media paper by Strathmore.  It is 140 lbs with a vellum surface and works better than most of the others I have tried so far.

Reproductions of this image are available from my website, here, or by clicking on the prints tab at the top of the page where you can select abstract work from my galleries.

Rotation Distraction Abstraction

The first rainstorm of the fall season hit hard today.  Pouring rain, fog, and a dismal sky have coerced my thought patterns away from landscape paintings to the confines of my studio.  As I tried to get myself moving, I found this colorful abstract I created a few weeks ago.  The bright colors, the movement and the textures are motivating me into a expressive world of abstraction.  The original mixed media painting was created on a 12x12 inch square format canvas.  It can be purchased by contacting me from my website or as a reproduction up to size 36x36.  Now I'm back to the studio to create some more abstract circles paintings.

Autumn Abstract Landscape

The autumn season has arrived.  Sunshine and cool temperatures make September one of my favorite months.  Strolling along a country road, noticing the changing colors of the vegetation, and feeling good was the inspiration for this square format landscape painting.  It was created with oil paints on a square canvas.  Although the original was a 12x12 inch canvas, reproductions up to 36x36 are available from my website.  I hope you will stop by for a visit.

Large Cruciform Abstract Painting

One of my favorite designs is the cruciform.  In this abstract composition, I played with paper, paint, ink, and charcoal on a canvas surface.  The original work was created on a 9x12 stretched canvas, but with the capabilities of modern digital photography,  small collages can be reproduced as very large abstract paintings.  If you would like to purchase the original, please contact me at smallimpressions@hotmail.com.  Reproductions are available from my website here.  I hope you enjoyed looking and will stop by for a visit.

Circles

On the road for the past month, my travels have created a big challenge for keeping my followers updated on my work, but I'm finally home and it feels good to get back to my usual routine.  I created this original 16x20 inch abstract before my travels began.  I was inspired by of Jane Davies and the abstracts she creates.  We have a lot of similarities in our work and a lot of differences.  It seems we are both intuitive in our creations and work with organic shapes, colors, and designs.  However, from my research, it seems she works on paper most of the time.  My work tends to be on canvas.  If you explore our work, I think you'll see some of the similarities and differences that I discovered are apparent. Reproduction prints of this painting are available from my gallery at Fine Art America.  I'm working on some companion pieces in this series which I will be posting soon.

Intersections

Entitled Intersections, this painting is all about things connecting.  It is the intersection of dark and light, of black and white, of pattern, of color, of shape, and of media.  Acrylic paint, acrylic ink, charcoal, and chalk are all a part of this little intersection.  Reproduction prints are for sale from my web site.   There are many options for reproduction.  I hope you will stop by and visit.