8 x 10 inches
nails, gouache and acrylic on matboard
blubbityblubbitybluh. I don’t have much to say today. The sketches I’m posting today are related to this one I posted a while back. For these photos, I placed something white behind the holes, but really, I don’t think white looks best behind them. Unlike my larger paintings where I always place something behind the openings, I sometimes like to leave the holes in these sketches open or empty. If I were to frame them, I’d probably float them on top of a darker matboard. One more after the jump. Read more »
Yeah. All freaking titled and everything. Here it is competed.
Alluvium
48 x 24 x 2 inches deep
acrylic on pine-cradled masonite panel with a big hole through the top and cellophane sandwiched between frosted plexiglass behind the hole
I’ll post a couple of detail photos after the jump.
You can click on the photo to see it bigger. If you’re interested in seeing process shots from along the way, I’ve been posting them as I worked here and here and here. Finishing this was a bit of a pain in the butt. I had an idea of what I wanted to happen behind the hole but my attempts kept falling short. In the last couple of days, I changed my mind a handful of times and there were a number of fruitless trips to drug stores and art supply shops. I can’t tell you how many times I assembled and reassembled various combinations of materials behind that hole. It was a little like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears–everything I tried was just too something or other. In the end, I went back to the original idea and my final trip was to the hardware store right around the corner where, of course, I found exactly what I needed. Yay!
Happy Endings to you all! What? I didn’t mean that, you bunch of perverts! I meant happy endings like I’m happy about how this piece has ended. But whatever you’re in the mood for I guess. Good luck finding it!
-StephG
p.s. detail photos Read more »
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48 x 24 x 2 inches
acrylic on pine cradled masonite panel
and that’s a big hole cut through the panel
Here are two process shots from this week. Both can be clicked for a larger view. The stage on the right is where it stands now. There’s not a big difference between the two but you know, sometimes things slow down toward the end. At present, I’m holding off on adding more paint because I think that part may actually be finished or very close to finished. Now I’m working on getting the backing ready for the hole. Once that’s ready, I’ll decide if the panel needs more work. For comparison, here are the photos of what it looked like last week, and here are some photos of things that sparked the idea for the painting plus a look at the panel before it was even primed.
-Steph
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Here’s how the work in progress is coming along. The photos will enlarge if you click them, and I think it’s worth it to get a better idea of what it really looks like. It’s not just flat illusion. There’s thick impasto and that’s a big hole through the panel. In the first picture you can see out my studio window through the hole which is a little confusing visually. I put a clean masonite panel behind it in the other photos which hopefully makes things easier to read. The images are in sequential order. The last one is the piece in it’s current state. It’s not finished yet. I expect there will be plenty more progress shots in future posts.
Alrighty then, I’m out like the vicar in a tutu. Big love to you all!
-Steph
acrylic on metal canvas aka hubcap
I just (finally) finished this piece for the Landfill Art Project. I’m pretty happy with it. It even ended up being related enough to my “Circular Obfuscation” series that I’ll probably post it on my website. I’ll include detail photos after the jump. All pics are enlargeable. Just click. Read more »
Miles to go but here are some more tight-cropped views of the same acrylic on metal piece I showed you last week. Now, who’ll be the first to tell me they liked it better before? There may be a prize involved! Line forms to the right. No pushing, no cutting!
Three more pics after the jump! Read more »
Today, I’m posting a few detail shots of something I’m working on now. This one is acrylic on metal. The whole piece is circular in format. It’s for a project being organized by someone else so I have an actual deadline for this one. That means there will definitely be a finished piece to post here soon. Really.
As you can see, I’m still practicing crafting exciting, attention-grabbing headlines. Maybe I’ll move on to writing exciting posts some time in the near future, too. Ya never know. For now, all I can offer are these detail photos because frankly, I’m uncomfortable showing you what the overall piece looks like in it’s present state. To see two more photos, follow the jump… Read more »
acrylic and graphite on panel
21 x 7.5 inches
DETAIL after the jump!
I’ve never shown you that one, have I? Nope. Then it’s new! Well, new to you anyway, old to me. It’s long-gone now. Has a new home. Sold!
So what else is new, really new–not just pretend new? Um well, I’m finally admitting (though it’s been painfully obvious to anyone who’s been paying the least bit of attention) I’m stuck, blocked, creatively constipated and fighting off a really intense fear that I will never really make art again… never make art that feels solid and personally significant and OK. Yeah, I’m sure it’s just a phase and what I really need to do is take a break, knock off the mental self-flagellation and just look around, breathe easily and wind myself back up to a point where art making is less intimidating to my brittle psyche.
And that’s pretty much what I am (and have been) doing. For the next however long it takes, I’m going to continue to fill my days with yoga, breathing, bike rides, hiking, sidewalk doodles, children, apple-picking, organic veggies, searching through bins at the hardware store, baking, photographing reference-ish material and the like. I’ll also continue to step into the studio for a little painting during the day, but at this point, the pressure is Officially Off.
Maybe sometime soon I’ll post some of the photos I’ve Read more »
I was planning on posting something I was working on yesterday but the project kept growing bigger into something that would definitely not be finished til next week. Instead here is a drawing I did last week. I was experimenting with colored pencils on top of an acrylic wash and ink. It turned out better than I expected, but I don’t think I will be using colored pencils for anything other than sketching for now on.
Unhealthy Relationship, acrylic, colored pencil, and ink, on watercolor paper 9″ x 6″, 2009
14 x 8.5 and 14 x 8″
acrylic on 3/4″ deep panels
if you click the image there’s an option to see it larger
I made this a while ago but I don’t think I’ve ever posted it anywhere so let’s do that thing where we pretend it’s new, alrighty? Good. I like it when you’re agreeable.
a few detail shots after the jump… Read more »
acrylic, red flocking and gold leaf on panel with three holes
holes are lined with red foam-backed velour
24 x 16 inches
It’s all about the circles lately. But why? I dunno. Maybe it means I’m travelling in circles, spinning my wheels, never really getting anywhere. Maybe it means I’m particularly centered and approaching wholeness and enlightenment. Maybe I just really really like the gesture required to draw a circle, the circle’s symmetry and simplicity, and the flexibility afforded by the shape.
At any rate, click read more to see more photos after the jump. Oh, and as usual, all pics will enlarge when clicked. Read more »
This piece is actually the canvas I laid on the ground to paint the component parts of Holes. As I was doing that, I used masking tape and stencils to get the patterns you see in this. I consider this to be another type of “Contingent art,” like the masking tape pieces. Both rely on the creation of other works for their own existence.
60″ x 35″ Acrylic on Canvas
Detail shot after the jump.
acrylic and oil on panel with frosted plexi behind pink-flocked holes
24 x 24 inches
“Five Minus One Is Still”
Here’s another one from a while back. I worked on this one at the same time as and finished it shortly after the one I posted last week, makes sense, huh? The color doesn’t translate the best in this photo, so I’m including a few detail photos to help convey a better idea of what it looks like in the flesh. The plexi that’s placed behind the holes has a very slight greenish cast but it’s much more subtle than it appears in the image of the whole piece. When I took the overall photo there was a warm light coming in the windows behind the painting. The light caused the plexiglass to look more intensely greenish-yellow.
detail pics after the jump and, as always, click for larger images Read more »
Shortly after creating the piece posted earlier, Christmas came and I needed some art to give out to family members. This was around the time that giving art at Christmas morphed from a cost saving strategy to being way harder than just buying something. So that december I pulled out all my extra scraps, from several pieces I had put together then decided weren’t good enough, and set about making a few pieces.
After separating out all the pieces, I took the earth tones and decided to hang them loosely off the top of the frame. I had done something similar once with leftover pieces of a regular woven piece (which is no longer extant and I have no photos of online…), but this took the concept further.
Unfortunately, at the time I gave it away I only had a cheap 2 megapixel digital camera to record it, so the photo is far from even my low standards. And I have no details.
I call this “Dean Cascades” (my uncle’s name is Dean). I believe it is 18-20″ wide. Acrylic and watercolor on canvas with safety-pins. Circa 2005.
I am attending a seminar on Green Building Practices at lunch, after which I’ll post something else. Maybe some background on where these were made or my process. We’ll see.
-JD
Good morning, fellow travelers. Or if you are part of the massive metropolitan sprawl known as the Easten Seaboard, happy noon.
I thought today I’d show a couple pieces that maybe don’t warrant their own weekly post, but are worth showing. So I’m going to post 3 or 4 things throughout the day.
The first piece, “Red, White and Dark” was one of the first pin weaves I did way back when. The intent here was to try to wrangle a composition into the mix. This ultimately proved a little unweildy, and led me to find other means of composition in later pieces. But I still have a fond place for this one.
16″ x 20″, Acrylic on canvas w/ safety pins
I’ll have the next post around my lunchtime- in 2-3 hours. Hope to see you then!
-JD
From the Surface series:
Five Minus One
acrylic on panel with blue flocking
24 x 24 inches
I tend to gravitate toward verticals when I work so I was a little unsure about how this piece would work out. I half expected it to end in frustration. Surprisingly, it was fun and involved pretty much no struggle!
detail photos and more talk after the jump Read more »
Nine Years And The End Of Summer
42 x 24 inches
acrylic and oil on 2 inch cradled panel with red velour beneath ripped canvas
Lately, it’s been sunny and beautiful and I’ve been painting outside. It’s nice to spend time outdoors, and paint dries a hell of alot faster outside on a hot day than inside a hot cramped studio. The painting above is from August, 2006. It spent most of it’s time as a WIP outside lying on the grass in 90 degree heat.
detail photo after the jump Read more »
I’m hoping I’ll have a new safety-pin piece to post next week, but until then, walk with me down memory lane.
The year is 2006, the world is marveling at the silly name and silky sounds of Gnarls Barkley’s first record, Superman Returns was moderately entertaining people in the theaters and Edmund Phelps was winning the Nobel Prize in Economics for his analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy. While I had leftovers from this thing.
I took those pieces and built this:
60″ x 12″, acrylic on canvas with safety-pins. There is a full sized detail after the jump.
This piece was started during the first really hot spell of the year here in Berkeley. By the time I finished it this week it was raining again. But I think the original impression stuck with me.
16″ x 16″ Acrylic on Masking Tape on Paper, then collaged (aka Mixed Media)
So I decided to call it Sunny for obvious reasons. But whenever I think of that word I think of this song:
Detail and another, related piece after the jump.
Agora Gallery - the proud sponsor of the Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, which offers contemporary artists the opportunity to show their original art at one the most acclaimed juried art shows in Chelsea, New York’s art galleries district.
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