Some are easy, some are hard.

Here is a large (30"x40") painting that I have done THREE versions of and I am still struggling with it.

I love the original image, but it is complicated, especially in the areas of color, light and space. (What else is there in a painting, you may ask?) I decided to "make it easier" and used a small, child's overhead projector to create a loose outline, instead of doing it all by hand like I usually do. Unfortunately, I have found that crime (in this case the crime is the use of a aid, such as a projector) does not always pay. The painting immediately became bogged down with the immense amount of detail. A painting that is merely a collection of details is not usually a great painting. 
This is the finished image of the "Glimmer Rhythm I"

    

This looks pretty good, but not great, in my view. But the problems presented by this image has got its hooks into me by this time, and so I started a second version. This time I used a white background ( I usually paint on bare wood) thinking that perhaps the bright color of the horses' bridals would be more luminous. Once again, I tried to "make it easier" this time by using a transfer from the original painting. And once again, my artistic sin came back to haunt me.

The color is definitely  brighter, but the confusing space and detail still plagues me.

Here is a finished, or nearly finished version on white, "Glimmer Rhythm II"

I became frustrated and so I went back to the basics and tried to start again with a small, black and white thumbnail sketch. This is something I ought to do with every painting, its something my professors back in college taught me to do. The fact that I rarely do sketches may be attributed to my natural perverse, self-defeating nature, or "I'm only good when I have to be".

 

So here I go, starting with version #3, and as is the case with many of my paintings, the beginning drawing is always the funnest part. This time I do it all completely freehand. Through the drawing process, I am able to chose which details are included or dropped, and how they are expressed. And its not even all that hard.

 

 I laid down the color as soon as I could, trying to create large areas of value and color.

 I slowly build up the image organically. 

Here is the latest version of this painting, and I am wondering how much more energy to exert on it.

With every painting, there is a point to it, almost like a plot in a story. This image has a plot that is conflicting and doesn't seem to be gelling for me. Its about bright color and black. Its about a gathering of elements on a shallow plane, sort of like a tapestry. Its about a web of vertical and horizontal elements. Its about childhood innocence, but also childhood fears, like the scary horse face and the sulking child in white.
They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I hope that if this painting doesn't kill me, it will at least make me a better artist!

POST UPDATE!!!

A few of my fabulous fans commented on my struggles.My friend and fellow artist Bridget Benton suggested this:
"What if this was happening at night? Somehow the black horse might look more . . . suited if that band of blue sky were black . . ."

So I tried it and it seems to be coming together more...

A cool group show I was in at Gallery 114 - Happy New Year!

Gallery 114 Pozzi Room Exhibit

I am proud to say that I was accepted as a part of an art gallery cooperative last August. It is called Gallery 114, which has been in exhistance for almost 20 years. This month, December 2010, I have a show in the Pozzi Room, which is a little ante-chamber in the back of the gallery. When preparing for the show, I became inspired with a new idea, (like ususal!) I decided to make all of the paintings out of a single 11.25 inch wide pine wood plank, cut into pieces. This means that all of the paintings are the same hieght, but different widths. The wood grain in a pine wood plank is much more distinctive than birch wood paneling, which is what I usually use, and I took advantage of that and exposed the wood as much as I could.
Then I became inspired about the subject matter. In playing around with my collection of photographs, I decided to depict paintings of 6 men and 6 women. The men are all depicted with a vehicle; a motorcycle, car, or jeep. All of images of the women had one thing in common; they were alone. I felt that there was something about the combination of the vintage images and the juxtaposition of the genders engaging in separate activities that created an atmosphere of disengagement and longing.

Based on a vintage photograph from the 1960's, a beautiful woman of a certain age gazes with dignity out at the viewer. It is minimally painted, with lots of the wood grain and original drawing still showing.

I love the way the wood grain resembles clouds during a sunset, and the way the huge Coca-Cola sign resembles a setting sun. I also am intrigued by the round rear-view mirror silhouetted against his chest where his heart is, and how that circle echoes the circle of the sign.

"Look Into My Heart" 9"x11". Acrylic on pinewood panel.
I adore this crazy dress, and her quintessential eagar teenage expression. The huge polka dots on the dress form a perfect hexagon. The design registers as being perfectly flat instead of an organic, three dimentional dress on the body of a living girl.

An original acrylic painting on pine wood panel, 9"x11". Based on a vintage photograph from the 1940's, a pensive woman sits in a park, holding a pine cone in her hand. It is minimally painted, with lots of the wood grain and original drawing still showing. I found this lovely photograph in Reminisce Magazine. In the original, the woman is wearing an emerald green blouse. Something about it made me want to change it to red. I love the angle of her arm- it is so dynamic in contrast to the pensive tranquility of her pose. It implies an undercurrent of drama amidst the tranquil scene. Perhaps she and her companion (the one taking the photograph) are having an emotional discussion?

More Blueprints and collage

While exploring the River Mill Dam with the other artists during the Art Jam, I spied a group of tall cabinets with their doors where partially ajar, because each cabinet was stuffed to overflowing with rolls of paper which turned out to be blueprints. Some these were very special because they were actual cyanotypes from 1911, when the powerhouse was built. With permission I came home with a few of these treasures to make art on them. Then, while perusing the internet, I came across an early picture of a group of men from Estacada, who may have been Dam crew workers. I have drawn some of these men on top of the blueprints, in attempts to bring to life the extraordinary accomplishment of this dam and the brave workers who helped build and run it.

Doing artwork over such an extraordinary back ground with its brilliant, cyan blue and delicate white lines was a joyous challange. I had to keep the images very pared down and simple. In fact, I drew only with dry media, meaning pastel, conte' chalk and charcoal. No paint.

Integration of collage!

If you recall my adventure at the Bull Run Art Jam last spring, I came across some old blueprints in the control room of the Bull Run powerhouse and became very inspired. With the help of historians at PGE I was able to procure a few blueprints of the powerhouse and painted a picture on top of it. This has set off a new direction in my art. I am starting to integrate collage elements in my work.

This painting is "Celilo Canal and Mt. Hood" based on a 1940 photograph from the Oregon State Archives.
Here is the same image, only over a blueprint. This piece was purchased by a professional land surveyor, with an enthusiasm for blueprints.


This is a piece named "Develop". The blueprint is from the archives of my father's engineering practice, Peterson Structural Engineers . It is from a long time ago, and he has no recollection of the specific job. The photograph I found at an antique store.


"Squares Make a Building" is on a floor plan I found in the trash. The photograph I found in an antique store. I like the way the squares emerge faintly from the scene.


This is a special painting that I suspect will be the first in a series of sorts. The newspaper (The Oregon Journal) was saved by my paternal grandfather. The boy in the photograph is my own father. The date of the newspaper is also the title of the painting: "September 27th, 1939" I suspect that is also about the time the photograph was taken. Dad says he thinks this was taken on a ferry to Port Orchard (near Bremerton and the Puget Sound Navy Shipyards are located) where his father was from.

The matching up of collage piece to photograph is an intuitive process that leads to meanings that are more rich, obscure and personal.

Unusual subject matter

The great and chock-fulla-heart gallery and studio The 100th Monkey Studio put out a call to artists with the subject of maps. I became very inspired and created three small works just for the show. I am happy to say they were accepted, and there is an opening Friday July 9th (Which unfortunately I will not be able to attend!) and will be up through the month of July.

The subject of the three paintings quickly evolved as I started to play with images and maps. I did not intend at first to have a distinct narrative to them. Below is the statement I submitted to the gallery, explaining the meaning of the art and how it relates to the show theme:

"With these three images, I use maps as a way to depict history changing events in U.S. history. They span a hundred years and the breadth of the continental states. The first, “Promise of the Future”, depicts a victim of the dustbowl in the early 1930’s, traveling with her baby to California in hopes of finding work. “After the Shot” is based on a photograph taken minutes after Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis Tennessee, April 4th, 1968. “Before the Crash” is based on a video still of an airplane, just before it hit a World Trade Center building in New York City, in 2001. I am telling a story of the United States, using maps as the medium."

"Promise of the Future"
"After the Shot"
"Before the Crash"

Attempting to develop

My desire is to free myself up as an artist and become more creative in my interpretations of photographs and other source material. Sometimes I get a bit frustrated with myself because I tend to stick so close to the literal appearance of the photograph. So in November I took a very inspiring workshop from the super duper Portland artist William Park called "The Spirit of Drawing". I have to say that the change in my art has been visible, though not dramatic. I move very slowly, but I am persistant!

BTW! If you are intersted in seeing William's work or taking what may be his last workshop for a while, visit www.williampark.net


This is a piece I like very much called "We Came for Work". It is from a very early photo, probably 1900-1920.


This piece is also from an early photo, probably from 1910-1920, called "Love and Adventure". I enjoy doing snow scenes quite a bit. I usually I use acrylic medium when I want to thin my paint and make it translucent. In this one I use water as a thinner, which has a different quality in its results, more matte and soft.



This one is called "I Knew You'd Come" It was featured in a previous post "An Artistic Conundrum" This is the results of struggling with that conundrum. I may never be sure how successful it was.


This piece is called "Humbug Mountain State Park; The Park Ranger's Family" It is of my mother's family. If you look very closely, you can see a small white bundle being held by the man on the far right; that bundle is my newborn mother. This painting also uses water a lot as a thinner, and I let the energenic charcoal drawing of the bushes remain exposed.



Tune in next post to follow the exciting saga of Leslie's art.