Some Pretty Paintings; a collection of flowers and figures in paintings and prints
I buy myself flowers because they make me happy. They are colorful and fragrant, and have no purpose other than my enjoyment. As temporal sculptures, flowers mark time by dropping petals, and are to be enjoyed without procrastination. No matter how busy I am, the time to appreciate a flower is gently now.
As flowers shift my attention towards the now, so do people. Collaborating with models is a creative joy. For this series we used blankets and kimono patterned with flowers. We set up in diffused morning light, and the models moved slowly as I captured images in my camera. Photographs allow me to take more time with my paintings, and layer images to carve one moment’s form with another. The figure is now an abstract of overlapping sensual shapes, now with an element of time. As each pose shifts, and we take advantage of the light, day to day, moment to moment, no person is exactly the same.
Drypoints were printed in collaboration with Nikki Barber, printmaking instructor at the Seattle Artist League. I scribed the plates and Barber printed them. Each image sparked a discussion of line, tone, and texture, and each print is a hand worked original. Since each print is hand inked with so much personalization to the wiping of the ink, no drypoint print is exactly the same. Each print is slightly different, and with each print the burrs that cause the velvet areas compress, and for this reason the marks that differentiate drypoints from etchings also mark the end of an edition. Once the burrs are compressed, the print is finished. Drypoints are known for producing editions of only about 10 and then they’re gone.
Some Pretty Paintings; a collection of flowers and figures in paintings and prints
Show opens January 5, 2019
Show up through January 27th
Artist Talk Saturday, January 5th (3:30-4:30pm)
Opening Reception to follow (5-7pm)
All of us leave a legacy. It’s the result of what we say, what we do, the art we make. We leave our fingerprints on this world, and there’s a bit of soul left in them. Today I’d like to share the work of one of our students, and delve a bit not just into …
In the past, if I had two words to describe watercolor, I might say “fresh” and “delicate.” I’d always thought of watercolor as a fairly fragile medium that shouldn’t be worked too hard. I thought of the white of the paper as the most valuable resource, and the greatest mistake would be to lose that …
What is Casein? Casein (kay’seen) is a quick-drying, water based medium with a milk-based binding agent. Casein has the wash capabilities of watercolor, the smooth opacity of tempera and gouache, and the richer textures of oils and acrylics. Brushes dipped incasein keep their finesse, producing clear, crisp lines. Unlike oils, casein is a clean, water-soluble medium requiring …
UNDERESTIMATING THE TRANSLATION. When I look at a painting made by observation I can’t help but assume that the artist painted what they saw in front of them, more or less. If their marks are colorful angled palette knife shapes as they are in Tina Kraft’s plein air painting above, I assume they pulled the …
Some Pretty Paintings: Figure “Z” and Artist’s Statement
Some Pretty Paintings; a collection of flowers and figures in paintings and prints
I buy myself flowers because they make me happy. They are colorful and fragrant, and have no purpose other than my enjoyment. As temporal sculptures, flowers mark time by dropping petals, and are to be enjoyed without procrastination. No matter how busy I am, the time to appreciate a flower is gently now.
As flowers shift my attention towards the now, so do people. Collaborating with models is a creative joy. For this series we used blankets and kimono patterned with flowers. We set up in diffused morning light, and the models moved slowly as I captured images in my camera. Photographs allow me to take more time with my paintings, and layer images to carve one moment’s form with another. The figure is now an abstract of overlapping sensual shapes, now with an element of time. As each pose shifts, and we take advantage of the light, day to day, moment to moment, no person is exactly the same.
Drypoints were printed in collaboration with Nikki Barber, printmaking instructor at the Seattle Artist League. I scribed the plates and Barber printed them. Each image sparked a discussion of line, tone, and texture, and each print is a hand worked original. Since each print is hand inked with so much personalization to the wiping of the ink, no drypoint print is exactly the same. Each print is slightly different, and with each print the burrs that cause the velvet areas compress, and for this reason the marks that differentiate drypoints from etchings also mark the end of an edition. Once the burrs are compressed, the print is finished. Drypoints are known for producing editions of only about 10 and then they’re gone.
Some Pretty Paintings; a collection of flowers and figures in paintings and prints
Show opens January 5, 2019
Show up through January 27th
Artist Talk Saturday, January 5th (3:30-4:30pm)
Opening Reception to follow (5-7pm)
Smith & Vallee Gallery
5742 Gilkey Ave, Edison
(360) 766-6230
Open Daily 11-5
www.smithandvalleegallery.com
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All of us leave a legacy. It’s the result of what we say, what we do, the art we make. We leave our fingerprints on this world, and there’s a bit of soul left in them. Today I’d like to share the work of one of our students, and delve a bit not just into …
Badass watercolors aren’t afraid of the dark
In the past, if I had two words to describe watercolor, I might say “fresh” and “delicate.” I’d always thought of watercolor as a fairly fragile medium that shouldn’t be worked too hard. I thought of the white of the paper as the most valuable resource, and the greatest mistake would be to lose that …
How NOT to Make Casein
What is Casein? Casein (kay’seen) is a quick-drying, water based medium with a milk-based binding agent. Casein has the wash capabilities of watercolor, the smooth opacity of tempera and gouache, and the richer textures of oils and acrylics. Brushes dipped incasein keep their finesse, producing clear, crisp lines. Unlike oils, casein is a clean, water-soluble medium requiring …
Tina Kraft: Secret Geometry in Painting
UNDERESTIMATING THE TRANSLATION. When I look at a painting made by observation I can’t help but assume that the artist painted what they saw in front of them, more or less. If their marks are colorful angled palette knife shapes as they are in Tina Kraft’s plein air painting above, I assume they pulled the …