I have been meaning to get to Dick Blick but a fantastic trip has interrupted that intention. I loved spending the Holidays with Jo, my cousins, aunt and uncle out in D.C. (actually Virginia) and now I'm back with renewed interest in getting started.
We visited the National Galleries in Washington D.C. and the modern art wing gave me tons of ideas. It was like my brain had these tiny little explosions and visions of what I could do next.
I just printed out a 40% off coupon that I intend to use before the end of the year. ONE DAY! I have to get my tushy over to the store and buy the coolest paint EVER! It is a textured water-based paint that when wet, looks like oatmeal but when it dries, looks like pyrite - stunning gold color. It's, again, AWESOME!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Further musings on Inspiration
Autumn Series: When my artist grandmother died back in 2002, my Mom urged me to take some of her art supplies. When looking through her paints, I came across a box marked “oils.”
I had been working with acrylics but I thought that I would eventually work in oils again. I set the box aside. A few years later I opened it and saw that the tubes of paints were not oils but acrylics!
This was extraordinary because my grandmother rarely used acrylics as her medium of choice. Even more extraordinary was that she had picked out an Autumn color palate. Grandma died in September, the month when all the leaves start to turn the luscious colors she had chosen. In creating the paintings, I have used only the paints that I found in her box. I dedicate this Autumn Series to my Grandma C.C.’s memory.
Bamboo Series: When I was studying at the Suburban Fine Arts Center as a youngster, a Chinese artist who specialized in Chinese ink paintings gave a session on how to create bamboos using the ink stick, water, stone and special Chinese brush. I’ve always loved the Chinese bamboo black ink drawings and began to wonder what it would look like if I used bright colors as a backdrop because of the contrast with the black of the bamboo. I chose yellow because I felt it had the best contrast and would make the black of the bamboo jump out. The writing in Chinese is actually my first name written in Chinese characters. The top symbol or “Shuh” means a light rain. The middle symbol “Li” means beautiful and “Sha” has the connotation of a grassy beach. After showing my first bamboo painting to my Chinese friend, she said it was a lucky painting and asked me why I had chosen yellow as a backdrop. I told her. “That’s interesting,” she replied, “because yellow was the royal color in China. Only the dynastic families were allowed to wear that color.”
General Inspiration: For most of my other paintings, I base my color combinations on the color wheel contrasts. I play with complementary colors. Red and green, orange and blue, purple and yellow, are all complementary pairs because they are opposites on the color wheel. You’ll notice that complementary colors are one primary color (red) vs. the other two primary colors combined (blue+yellow=green). When juxtaposed on a canvas, they tend to shimmer and have a vibrancy and life all their own. I want to express beauty, happiness and joy through my artwork. If you have any specific questions about the inspiration for a particular painting that you see know or in the future, I would be happy to share my stories with you.
I had been working with acrylics but I thought that I would eventually work in oils again. I set the box aside. A few years later I opened it and saw that the tubes of paints were not oils but acrylics!
This was extraordinary because my grandmother rarely used acrylics as her medium of choice. Even more extraordinary was that she had picked out an Autumn color palate. Grandma died in September, the month when all the leaves start to turn the luscious colors she had chosen. In creating the paintings, I have used only the paints that I found in her box. I dedicate this Autumn Series to my Grandma C.C.’s memory.
Bamboo Series: When I was studying at the Suburban Fine Arts Center as a youngster, a Chinese artist who specialized in Chinese ink paintings gave a session on how to create bamboos using the ink stick, water, stone and special Chinese brush. I’ve always loved the Chinese bamboo black ink drawings and began to wonder what it would look like if I used bright colors as a backdrop because of the contrast with the black of the bamboo. I chose yellow because I felt it had the best contrast and would make the black of the bamboo jump out. The writing in Chinese is actually my first name written in Chinese characters. The top symbol or “Shuh” means a light rain. The middle symbol “Li” means beautiful and “Sha” has the connotation of a grassy beach. After showing my first bamboo painting to my Chinese friend, she said it was a lucky painting and asked me why I had chosen yellow as a backdrop. I told her. “That’s interesting,” she replied, “because yellow was the royal color in China. Only the dynastic families were allowed to wear that color.”
General Inspiration: For most of my other paintings, I base my color combinations on the color wheel contrasts. I play with complementary colors. Red and green, orange and blue, purple and yellow, are all complementary pairs because they are opposites on the color wheel. You’ll notice that complementary colors are one primary color (red) vs. the other two primary colors combined (blue+yellow=green). When juxtaposed on a canvas, they tend to shimmer and have a vibrancy and life all their own. I want to express beauty, happiness and joy through my artwork. If you have any specific questions about the inspiration for a particular painting that you see know or in the future, I would be happy to share my stories with you.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thank You!
I wanted to thank all of you who came out on what has so far been the coldest night of the year for my art opening at the Northbrook Public Library. It was great seeing all of you and a pleasure talking with each and every one of you. Thank you for your support, your presence, your input and your smiles. It meant so much to me that you were all there!
I hope that you all had a lot of fun as I know that I did! It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and one I'll remember with great happiness for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed seeing the artwork - both vintage and newly minted! Please tell your friends as the show will remain up until the end of December.
Again, thank you all and love to all!
I hope that you all had a lot of fun as I know that I did! It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and one I'll remember with great happiness for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed seeing the artwork - both vintage and newly minted! Please tell your friends as the show will remain up until the end of December.
Again, thank you all and love to all!
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