Newest work

I have figured out a new compositional system to allow me to place the image in the center, holding a singular focus.  Using color aide cards as a way to challenge my palette has been a discovered pleasure.
All these paintings are 24"x24" acrylic and flashe on panel.
They are lots of fun and there are a few more in the pipeline.

Large rock- Joshua Tree, beads and connect, 24"x 24"

French mirrors and backyard installation

Arch, pine bark bits and needles, pool and backyard installation

My scarf and backyard installation

September through March

I have been working to integrate my new ideas, with the goal of figuring out how to have the one central image within the picture plane.

My reference material is limited to collections of photographs I took about 20 years ago. I have a wonderful collection of images and surfaces that I shot to use in my sculptures, so all the images evoke clear memories of time and place.  That makes these images strangely meaningful and uniquely complex for me. Making them is almost like wandering in a dream, where the images make sense in that context, and are the ephemera my diverse daily life experiences. The landscape format and reference alludes to reality.

I have tried to have these paintings be a technical mix of simple and direct painting with areas of complex development. They have been fun to make as they are planned up to a certain point and then to bring to finish, I have had the challenge of making formal and/or intuitive decisions.

As is my usual way the most recent have become increasingly complex.

Why do I paint them instead of making collages (which of course I enjoy) - I love to paint. And I think painting is the way I own, and integrate the images on to the surfaces.

Here is the order most recent at the top of the stack scroll.

(they are 24"x24" on wood panel)

Cairn, 24"x 24" acrylic on plywood

Bird Market and John Day Hills, 24"x 24" acrylic on plywood

Screen, Home and Painted Hills, 24"x 24" acrylic on plywood

 

Colorado Window, 24"x 24" acrylic on plywood

Rose Trellis, 24"x 24" acrylic on plywood

 

Timberline Window, 24"x 24" acrylic on plywood

Red Cypress, 24"x 24" acrylic on plywood

Water tower with 2 pipes, 24"x 24" acrylic on plywood

These are 12" x12" mixed media studies on wood panels, they are fun as idea generators.

It has been a busy time of year, with the start of a school year and my father's passing.
But - I have gotten back in the studio in the past few weeks and and think I have figured out the compositional system I was looking for all summer.

Actually I even painted over the summer work, which feels oddly okay, as I knew they were stepping stones to something new I was trying to figure out. And I think I have figured "it" out.

:)

Here are the 3-D collages.
The idea was to make something easy to store, so I made a portfolio, so they can neatly fold up.
The inspiration or starting point was Shaker furniture, which has an aesthetic of simplicity, function and intentional lack of adornment.
There is a historic Shaker colony in Kentucky, I have visited several times, and my father, as a furniture maker has made me a few Shaker inspired pieces. Furniture of this sort, are images and icons I do feel I can claim and use in my personal work.
Working mono chromatically was a goal; keeping it all very simple was my other challenge as I can get pretty fancy.
They work as a set or individually.

 

Here is the newest one based on an image/collage I made last summer.
The perspective is a little wonky, but this piece is funny to me and makes me smile.

One of the things I am working on at OCAC is a 3-D collage. It will be collapsible and housed in a portfolio. The motivation for using this structure is that storing 3-D work is a pain/difficult; this way I can just fold it up and put it on a shelf.  Clean and tidy. I am using a simple pop-up technique and Rachel in the bookarts department gave me a refresher on making the portfolio.

Here are some pics of the 5 pieces of art for the series. Portfolio making is next week.
My goal was to keep everything very quiet and simple. The inspiration is Shaker furniture, images from my father's resources. He was a furniture maker for 20+ years after his career as a surgeon. He is still making art, even at the age of 100.
So FYI:

Today
almost done: