A Few Things...

After one week out of school for the summer and I can already check the playhouse off the list. I had been wanting to build one for some time now. Finally planned one out and started building. It is actually smaller than it started out to be. The floor plan is 7 feet wide by 9 feet deep with 3 feet of that being the porch. It sits about 56 inches off the ground. I actually made it so that most of the house is outside the fence in our yard. Only three feet of it is actually inside the fence. But you can only access the playhouse from inside the fence. Pretty sweet if I do say so myself. Painting, windows and door will come later. If my girls only knew how many hours of detention supervision it took to make this happen.

On another note, here are a few shots of a painting that I have been working on for a while now. Almost complete. It is actually two panels.

I will be having a show in mid August too! I will keep you posted.

Happy Summer! Cheers.

Progress Update

Here is round two of my current painting. Soon there will be the addition of a load more balloons and some light blue over some of the white and orange in the lower portion of the painting. Getting time to paint has been quite tough lately. So I chip away at it a little at a time. Sometimes, like right now, over my lunch break.
I am working on putting together a show of these types of works in the future. No dates as of yet, but hopefully sooner than later. On a side note, I have come across a large amount of scrap, cabinet grade plywood pieces. Of course I am going to paint on them. You had to ask?

A little help

Trying to paint with two little girls sitting in front of your work is rather distracting at times. On the plus side, they are always ready to help me pick colors whenever necessary. This is a new one that I started last weekend. Two pieces. A bit different, yet a bit the same. Still exploring clouds and balloons.

The previous painting is now complete and I will try and have some photos up this weekend.

Can't get enough of this stuff...

Funny thing ya know...

how things can change and evolve. This painting is a perfect example. This is the one that I started over with a few weeks ago. Honeslty, I am not sure it is finished yet.I am finding myself attracted-fascinated-interested-obsessed with things that I never thought I would be. Bright color. Yes. Big brush strokes. Yes. Poofy, fluffy clouds. Yes. Balloons. Oh Yes. Color field painters like Rothko and Marden. That is a big honkin' Yes. I must be going through some sort of artist-evolutionary process.

Funny thing is I love it all. I love the big color, the big marks. The simple image of a floating balloon. During a Sunday school class this morning I was talking with a couple of other artists (Mike and Dags) about how I have started creating art that I am happy to create. Art that is created because I want to do it. Even if it is a struggle or a challenge. I made the choice for me. I'm not worried about selling it. I am not necessarily even trying to market it. I've been there and done that. I guess I finally got tired of trying to make art that would satisfy others and my wallet. I know Mike, balance, there is always a balance. I will save that discussion for another day.

So for now its big, bright, fluffy cloud and balloon filled. Why? Because I love it. I am loving the challenge of giving the balloon a chance to float and drift. Just like me.

Here it is

the completed 18"x24" screen print for Hope Chapel in Austin, TX. Pretty happy with how it turned out. When the paper was ordered I thought it had a bit more punch. The blue is a little lighter than I would like but it still looks sweet with the metallic gold and chocolate brown. The metallic red hearts were all individually stenciled on using a brayer. Really like the texture the brayer creates.Hopefully it will be well received. Shipped them out this morning. If all goes as it should, they will be there by Friday afternoon. As always leave me some comments if you like.
Cheers.

Funny how things...

don't go as planned. The large bridge painting I started a couple of weeks ago is a perfect example. After posting the first images of the work in progress I realized I was not really diggin' it. So I slapped on some fresh cream colored flat house paint and tried it from a slightly different angle. Worked on it for several hours and realized once again...I ain't diggin' this thing.

So this past Saturday I pulled the cardboard off, flipped it over and reattached it to the supports. I moved in a completely different direction. I painted for about 6 hours and after looking at it again yesterday I can say it is a keeper. I will try and have a few photos up by the weekend. Plenty of work still to do, but you will get a feel for the overall composition.

With this painting I did not prime the cardboard, just put the brush to the surface and went at it. Plus I am using these new fancy mat acrylics (actually they are the cheapest I could find...perfect). Quite a change from my ol' tempera paints (which will forever be my favorite), but a necessary change I needed to make. Tempera, well it looks fantastic, but it remains water soluble. So if the painting gets wet the colors will run. The new paints are mat, but not as mat as tempera. They have a slight sheen to them due to the acrylic/latex/polymer that they are made of. As Christy tells me, I just need to get over it and make them work. Love that girl, tells it to me straight...most of the time.

Ordered my paper for my prints since I have to have them in by April 5! Wow, that snuck up on me. Christy placed an order for some flashy blue French cover. Can't wait for it to arrive. Decided to print two colors, gold and brown. On blue this should look pretty sweet.

Until we meet again,
the Student