Spring Blooms

"Spring Blooms"

This acrylic monotype was created during a beautiful spring moment.  It could be viewed horizontally as well as vertically.  Soft warm beige, rustic reds, and bright yellow contrast with one another to suggest what spring blooms give us--a happy feeling with a softness that to me says "spring."

The surface is firm, plastic-like created by the strong bond of the Golden Fluid acrylics to the high quality printmaking paper.  Each of these paintings are one-of-a-kind that can't be copied.  The size of the image is 8" x 10".

The challenge for me, as the artist, is to imagine what will happen as I lay down paint then paint over it with more and more layers.  The first layer is what ends up on top as the acrylic painted is transferred to the paper.  It is all rather unpredictable yet exciting to make.

Acrylic Monotype--Salsa

Acrylic Monotype--"Salsa"

This image begins a new series of art.  Generated by some great instruction, I've started making these monotypes using Golden Fluid Acrylics.  Each is painted onto a thin plastic film, dried and then using another acrylic product called gel medium, it is transferred to paper.  

The results are not entirely predictable because the transfer puts the first layer of paint onto the top of the finished print.  But this is not what the artists sees.  Planning along with spontaneity are needed.

This painting is small--about 4" x 4" on a 8" square heavy weight paper.

Studying Abstract

I have been studying the work of Joan Mitchell and reading books about her, primarily one by Jane Livingston.  I learned a lot by trying to copy some of her work but in very small scale--1:10.  These are all done in 8" x 10" format whereas her work was quite large--many 10 times that in size.  My little endeavors are acrylic on paper and hers were, of course, oil on canvas.

Each time I did one I learned more about how to interpret her work.  It's really quite complex--not just blobs or scratches but rather shapes with line.

I began to see that she often had a light background with shapes on top but the background had many, many subtle shades of color and texture.  Then more definite shapes were painted on top of those.

Her paint dribbled down the canvas to create those interesting vertical lines.  My attempt was done with the edge of a piece of matbard to give an illusion of dribbles.

I am trying one on my own now but it is not finished and it might never be satisfactory but the exercise was worth it!



Prairie Biodiversity

“Prairie Biodiversity” is a whimsical suggestion of the plants that can spring up in a field left on its own. A stroll through a field of grass can help the observant to discover a variety of plants and flowers that are unexpected at first glance. Restoring land, whether it is a hillside like at Mt. St. John, or seashore where dunes are preserved, encourages growth of the oddly shaped or multi-colored plant.
Imagine the possibilities—just like this painting is full of imagination.