in the studio

I have very little to show for this week. The postcard swap was due, and while I started a drawing which I reworked, and did two #art365 landscape paintings for it, I wasn't sold on any of them. Every day over the last two weeks, there has been an artist posting something awesome. Ack! The pressure! Finally I settled on this watercolor pencil piece.

My abstract work is all figuratively based, that is, I use the human form as an underlying architecture, or structure for the piece. How much is left of the figure when I'm done, is sometimes recognizable and sometimes not. I tend to flow back and forth between the two. This is a little more recognizable, to me, anyway. I realize that other people don't necessarily see what I see and I don't always see what they see, and all of that is fine. So while the postcard piece I settled on may seem a bit unusual stylistically, it meshes in with my last painting, consideration. 

This was the piece I began at the end of last week (which I mentioned in last week's in the studio update, but didn't show you) and I zipped right through it. It was fast. And I feel like it is a really significant piece within my own artistic evolution. I want to hang this in my living room, and if I had a 7.5' wall, it would already be up. But I don't. The three canvases aren't attached, so it may work its way into a corner yet.

consideration, acrylic and ink, 40" x 90"
I am tired of considering every single thing.

I began a larger #art365 landscape, but I painted over it. And then I painted over that. Sometimes, that's how it goes. And sometimes it goes like this: I agreed to donate a piece to Habitat for Humanity (thistle, from last week, if you're wondering) for their Silent Auction fundraiser. Later that day, I was offered a dozen canvases from another artist. Good karma, baby! Good karma is something I take very seriously. And I think being grateful is a big part of encouraging good karma. Here's my pay it forward, thanks for the good karma plan: I started working on these two canvas panels. They are each 24" x 36". The photo below shows some initial ink drawings based on the joy and pride of my son learning to ride his bike (finally). When they are finished, I will offer them up, as a silent auction, with no minimum bid. I will leave it open for 1 week. This should result in one or two of you getting some new work for your walls at a pretty significant discount.