The Last Forgotten Memory

"Train Ride" 30"x30"

It's the last day of 2012 and how appropriate is it that I finish the last "Forgotten Memories" painting today also? I started the series in January of 2009 and it has now been four good years of painting. I remember that first painting being such a break through for me. After years of struggling to find my voice, I had finally found something that was inspiring me to paint, while also challenging me artistically. It was a series that got me into many galleries and got my name out there in the art world. But, now it's time for some new challenges and inspiration.

I have a ton of ideas of what I want to do. I want to expand on the "Forgotten Memories" concept but whereas before I left the story up to the viewer, this time I want to create my own narrative. I'm not sure exactly how I will accomplish this, I have a bunch of ideas that I need to play with still, some of which I played with earlier this year.

I will admit that I am a bit scared of this new challenge. Change is scary. What if no one likes what I paint? What if my galleries no longer want to show my work? It's so easy to fall back on what's familiar and what has worked, but if I am to grow as an artist, I need to push myself. 2013 is the year of change and new inspiration for me. It's going to be a scary few months while I get my bearings on what I want to do and how to do it, I just hope I am up for the challenge. Wish me luck!

I found the reflection of this painting to be quite challenging.
The reflection wasn't exactly a mirror image and in some areas, I
had to guess at what I was painting. I am happy with the
results though.

"Yaaay!" Underpainting

I am currently working on two different paintings at the same time. "Yaaay!" is tentatively the name of the newest piece and when you see it, you'll understand the title. It's such a happy piece, which feels like such a contradiction to how I am feeling right now in wake of the Connecticut shootings today. It is such a sad day... Something needs to be done because the way things are now is obviously not working. As a teacher, some-day parent, and a human being, my heart breaks for those affected by this. That is all I will say on this because you really don't need to hear me rant. This is not the place for that.

Here are the two latest paintings in progress:

The panel is 30"x30"

And here's the painting I started earlier this week:

This is a small piece...16"x16"

Time Flies...Another Underpainting

I started this piece about two hours ago thinking that I would just work out the faces and call it a day. The faces were kind of complicated to figure out since they merge into each other. I got the faces figured out and then decided that I would just add the bottle and THEN call it a day. Well once I got done with the bottle, it didn't seem to hard to add in the body of the topless guy. Next thing I knew, most of this underpainting was done. Sometimes that's how it goes. I get so engrossed in a painting and next thing I know, most of it is complete. Now this one still needs some work on the underpainting, and frankly, had the paint around the blank spaces not been super wet, those areas would have been done too. I usually work from left to right, since I am right handed and if I don't, I end up with paint smeared all over me and my painting. This time since I was ONLY going to work on the face, and then added other elements, I kind of worked the piece from all different directions. I decided to leave it as is so that I wouldn't destroy what I did today by resting my hand on wet paint. This will have to be completed another day.

This is on a 16"x16" panel. I find the image to be very sweet.

Pigeons and Underpaintings

I just finished another underpainting and I am starting to feel like this stage is my favorite part of the painting process. I like starting with a rough sketch of a painting and making the image "appear". It's almost like magic sometimes....at least it feels like it to me. Sometimes I am amazed at what comes out and how fast it happens. This is the stage where I make all of my major decisions about composition, while in the later stages I am refining. It is the beginning of my "relationship" with a painting, and it's usually during this phase that I either fall in love with the piece, or decide that it's not worth the effort. Like I said, it's my favorite part and I sometimes have to fight the urge to just start a bunch of pieces, painting that first layer, and not going back to complete the piece. It's a good thing I am more disciplined than that, otherwise I would have a studio filled with half completed work!

This is my latest piece...once again, a person is feeding a pigeon. This is the second piece where someone is feeding a pigeon. I guess back then they weren't considered the filthy creatures that are thought of to be today. Happier times back then, I guess...

The underpainting (aka the fun part) is done!

The final piece is 24"x24".