10/12/24 collage, 17x23 cm. mixed media & collage on arches paper
i made a new collage today. rather than searcing for new titles, i decided to simply go with the dat. so this one is 10/12/24 collage.
euphoria, 36x36” oil & collage on linen, in her completed state today
1:53 PM: after a few more tweaks, euphoria, 36x36” is now completed. she is definiely an indicator of a new direction in my work, and we’ll soon see how that plays out in new work.
euphoria, 36x36” oil & collage on linen, as she looked moments ago
2:27 PM: today i began working into the white-over i created yesterday. for now, the 36x36” surface is divided into loosely drawn cubes. since the white oil paint i applied was pretty thick, whatever i did today the brush picked up some white. the two fragments of previous collages i added yesterday now make more sense and are integrating into the new composition.
euphoria, 36x36” oil & collage on linen, as she looked moments ago following my whiteover & collaging
2:32 PM: i was in an odd mood yesterday, resulting in what i believed to be a very good painting.
of course, it was crap, but presented me the opportunity to do one of my favorite things: whiting over a painting. so i screwed one of my flar brushes to the end of a34” stretcher bar and got to it. the reds were still a bit wet from yesterday, so there are areas that are pinkish. and then i lost no time working into it, for starters with collaged elements in some deliberately uneven squares i drew with a charcoal pencil on a pole.
euphoria after a few last minute changes, at 3pm.
euphoria, 36x36” oil & oil pastel on linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today.
1:57 PM: today the previously untitled 36x36” painting i started yesterday took on a title: euphoria. blacks, red and yellows have been added to the greens and light blues, as well as a green leaved plant. i may stop here for the day; i have to search my storage space for one of the paintings a collector wants to purchase. so i’ll pick up where i left off tomorrow.
mikela and i will take our afternoon walk in a few hours, going up the steep stupa trail as far as we can.
4:42 PM: today is day 1 on an as yet untitled 36x36” new painting.
untitled, 36x36" day 1
pulsations, 8.5x10.5” mixed media & collage on arches paper mounted on board, as she looked moments ago
12:49 PM: i brought pulsations over to the house yesterday afternoon, since that’s where i can always evaluate best what’s working and what’s not. i flipped it 360, which helped, and then modified the dark red bit on the left, which was taking your eye away from the composition as a whole, now it’s under glass. i love it!
pulsations, 8 1/2 x 10 1/2” mixed media & collage on arches ppaer
i made a little collage today, titled pulsations.
ABOVE: celebration 26, 36x36” before and after lightening the blue in the upper left quadrant
10:57 am: the blue on the upper left of celebration 26 seemed too dark and was dominatng the composition, so yesterday afternoon i lightened it considerably. i knew that if i waited till this morning, the oil colors would have dried, which is why i did it yesterday. it worked, and now your eye is no longer attracted to that deep blue in the upper right.
celebration 26, 36x36” as she looked following today’s modifications
BELOW: BEFORE AND AFTER TODAY’S MODIFICATIONS
2:31 PM: last time i worked on celebration 26 was about 10 days ago, on september 27. since then it’s been hanging on my studio wall. i liked what happened when i whited over it, but the more i gazed at it, while working on other paijntings, the more i knew it needed some color, especially after the blue and the red horizontal i introduced to vyd zverkhou just 2 days ago.
interestingly and unexpectedly, the same early klee watercolors that inspired pulse, yesterdays small work on paper, guided me in the work i did today. the figures, all taken from photos i captured of the 2024 paris olympics, pop more and raise our curiosity as to what they’re up to and how they relate to each other.
i think i’ll let it sit until tomorrow and see how i feel. but now that i used a few more colors: the orangy pink surrounding the acrobat below and the thalo/red rose to the right of the baskeball player, i’m considering doing something similar with vyd zverkhou.
some movement is happening in sales of my work. over the past week i’ve sold one of my paintings at space gallery in denver and the buyer is interested in acquiring a second complimentry piece, and had a request for 2-3 paintings from an old friend living in montana.
PULSE, 6x9” mixed media and collage on paper mounted on board
2:36 PM: i had other plans for today, but this little piece, titled pulse, which is just 6x9”, took over. the inspiration came from my morning reading, over breakfast, of paul klee; life and work, by hatje kantz. specifically, i was studying a very early work which he made in kairouan, in north africa.
at first glance, the composition might appear rather crowded. but after looking at her for a while, she draws you in . the surface is broken into cubes and dominated by the arch of a church dome. that’s all i’ll say for now. see what you think and, more importantly, how she makes you feel.
vyd zverkhou II, 24x26" oil & collage on linen, following todays work
pulse 6x9" mixed media on paper
1:23 PM: after starting work on another small piece this morning, i’ preparing a second whiteover of celebration 26.
fall, 7x5.5” watercolor & collage on arches paper, as she looked moments ago
3:07 PM: making the studies on paper for hoo over the past few days put me in the mood to make more small works on paper. i spent the entire day on this little guy, but i feel it was well worth my time.
she has a clear, melodic voice filled with optimism and hope. kamala, you might wonder? the more obvious passages were collaged over. we watched a new tv series last night, which reminded me how deadly the obvious can be. it actually gave me nightmares!
