It is 2020, as we should all know by now! It has been a while since I have posted a blog, but I am ready to post something now!

I just completed a new piece of work. Actually, it is 3 pieces, a tryptic. I call it New Home Birches. They will be shipped to their home shortly. I am very pleased with the results of this work. Although the subject matter is not new, doing 3 paintings as one was a challenge.

Each panel is 12 inches x 60 inches which made the process a bit difficult because I constantly had to step back, (even more than usual) to make sure things were on the same plane and they looked cohesive. I was working from memory and/or imagination, so I didn’t have to refer to a photo. That is good in my world.
With the paintings being so narrow but so long, it was difficult to make the perspective stay correct. I started placing branches where I thought they should be, but when I stepped back and tried to join branches from the next painting, lines and perspective got out of whack. One looked too distant, another too close.

Another challenge I had, was with not having enough fabric I wanted to use. Don’t get me wrong, I have enough fabric for 5 more lifetimes, but I found a beautiful satin scarf in one of my piles, and it was not very big. I had to methodically parcel out what I had between the 3 paintings, and use it ever so sparingly.
It worked, of course, but it did make me nervous!

I also wanted to create the slightest reflection on the trees from the sun going down. It is ever so slight, but I am pleased with the results. I used yellow tulle on the right side of the trees. Take a look at the close-ups I include. Then look at the completed piece. It’s fun to see it from different views.

I am trying to limit my workshops this year because I will spend more time in the studio. I have no inventory and the only way to improve that is by actually working!

Right now, I am only scheduled to lead a workshop 3/14 at White Bear Lake Center for the Arts, and then again on 4/4. Check out their website for more details, please, if you are interested. https://whitebeararts.org/

I will also be speaking at the Textile Center on May 18th at 6:30pm. I will be sharing my world of fabric painting with the Minnesota Contemporary Quilters Guild. I am very honored to have this opportunity!

Until next time,
Go make art
Thanks for reading!

It won’t be difficult!  I mean how hard could it be?  I’ve been making art for 20 plus years!  I bet it will come easily for me.  Relax!  Don’t think about it too much, just go do it!

That’s the conversation I was having with myself these past few weeks.  What I was getting myself to do, was, start a fabric painting of an octogenarian woman.  No woman, in particular, just an older woman.  I wouldn’t use a reference, just think of an older woman’s face, physical appearance and so on.

SIDE NOTE:

I have had a plan to paint a series of older women. The world ignores older people, especially women. Their physical beauty has faded.  The beauty on the inside though is remarkable!  I plan to call the series, Wrinkled Beauty. I do not want to do portraits, but more character studies.  I want to show their personalities, more than their likeness.  This project has been on my mind for some time now.

I am very capable, most times when drawing people. I have always enjoyed using charcoal for this topic. Using fabric can’t be that difficult!  I knew thinking time was over!  I know what wrinkles look like!  I look at myself every day.  I googled images of Octogenarian women.  I studied their wrinkles and creases.  I stared at each image and tried to picture how they would look done in fabric.  The more I researched, the more confident I became.

I stood before my empty canvas and contemplated the colors I would use.  With this being my first attempt, I would keep things simple and realistic.  I would use natural flesh tones.  I sorted through my beige, tan, pink, peach, and light blue fabrics.  I chose a lot of sheers thinking that layering them would give the details of wrinkles and creases.  I lightly sketched in a head shape, neck and shoulders.  Then I began!

I laid in some light-colored beiges and pinks.  It was looking good!  I was getting excited.  As I built the forehead and eye sockets, things started going south.  With each layer I glued down, the preceding layer did not blend. There was a problem with the cut edge.  It showed as a sharp line.  I was bothered by that.  I mentally fought the idea of wanting it to look perfect.  I kept telling myself that it didn’t have to be so, but every time I tried to adjust the layers and colors, it just got worse.  As I worked, I remembered the feeling of inadequacy when I was in figure drawing class, oh so many years ago!  I still have that drawing to refer to where I started from. It is horrible!

I continued to work a few more days and it got no better.  I finally got so frustrated, that I tore the face off the canvas and threw it away.  I started again.  This time I would create a complete figure.  The reference I used, was an old watercolor of a woman without a face. (I know it sounds strange, but it’s not)  My approach would be different this time.  I would not focus on the face right away, but get the body in and save the face for later.

Well, the dress, coat, and hat went ok, but the proportions were off.  The woman’s face is a side view, so I thought it would be somewhat easier.  Although I had the face outlined I struggled to make the face look natural.  At one point, she looked like she was in a wind tunnel and all her skin was being blown away from her bones.  It was pretty funny!  But then it wasn’t.

I stopped working on her.  A dear friend came over to see what I was doing.  She encouraged me to keep at it.  I am stumped at how to proceed.

I know that all worthwhile endeavors take time and hard work.  I have not challenged myself in a while regarding my art.  I am forcing myself to learn something new.  I know too, that it may be a while before I master this.  I will need to keep telling myself, “Relax, just keep at it. Not everything will be a masterpiece.  Try not to be so hard on yourself.  Each step is a learning opportunity!”  It always sounds so good when I am telling my students that, but saying it to myself is harder to accept.  We, (especially women) are so hard on ourselves.

Will we ever learn?  I sure hope so, because I want to paint octogenarian women before I am one!

“Oh, the foolishness of us humans!”

I am hanging my attempts out there for you to see. Remember, they are my first attempts.  I pulled the “head only”, out of the garbage to keep as a reference.  The image is pretty creepy.   The side view is no better!  Oh well…

Go Make Art!

I want you to paint a scene that includes trees, water, clouds, and flowers. Which colors will you choose?  Local or subjective?

Local color is the color of whatever you are looking at.  A tree is brown, black, or maybe grey.  Leaves are usually green.  Local color is used when you are wanting to reproduce the exact same image of what you see or remember.   It is accurate and clear cut, but it isn’t always exciting.

Subjective color is using your own color choices in creating an image.  For example, if I painted a tree trunk purple or red, it would still be a tree, but the viewer might be disturbed by my use of those colors, instead of the local/real color.  I didn’t learn about local and subjective colors while in college.  If it was discussed, I might have been sick that day!  After hearing about it in a workshop many years ago, I was not willing to consider that subjective colors might make my work more exciting and expressive. I mean, why would you do that?!  (Side note: I am a slow learner sometimes.) One day, though, I did do a painting in subjective colors, and it turned out to be one of the more expressive and satisfying pieces I had done to that point.  And though it seemed strange at first, I continued using subjective colors which helped make my work more expressive and more satisfying. Using subjective colors, I share my feelings about the topic, rather than replicate a photograph or scene.   By choosing colors that I am attracted to, the colors themselves help describe my reaction to the subject.

Over the Edge

I just completed another painting. It is called Over the Edge. This is a fabric painting and I hope you will see how the rocks, cliffs, and stones are almost all subjective colors and patterns.  I had drawn this scene many times during bible study, (sorry Robin) and I’ve also painted it in local colors using watercolor paint. This was fine but I wanted it to be more.

When I began the painting in fabric, I kept wavering between local and subjective colors, thinking: “Will it be too difficult to use subjective colors?” I mean, how could I paint rocks and cliffs, using pink prints, teal silk, and some strange knit fabric?  It would look crazy!

Working with local colors is definitely a safe way to go. There would be less chance for a goof up. I really fought with myself with which way to go.  Searching through browns, blacks, greys, I just wasn’t “feeling it.”  I found plenty of interesting textures and shades in real colors, but I just wasn’t convinced.  It all seemed so boring and mundane.  I walked away from it for a day or two and then decided to look at some unusual colors and patterns.  The first piece I chose was a fabulous silk from my niece’s clothing line.  It is pink, and purple, with touches of teal, grey and brown.  I had previously used this fabric in the painting “Integrated Neighborhood.”  

Integrated Neighborhood

When I pinned it to the canvas on “Over the Edge” I knew immediately it was a go!  It has such great movement, is very pliable, takes to glue well, and can be manipulated into sharp edges.

Then I searched for an odd piece of knit that I had also used in previous work called How I See It. In that painting, the pattern is laid horizontally, which made the fabric look like land or water.  It has several colors in it.  Pink, brown, black, grey, teal, and olive green.  It is a very strange looking print, but it is so interestingly different!

I started to lay down the patterns and mixed them with some solids and netting.  Hanging the multi-colored knit fabric vertically, I could stretch the design to look exaggerated and distorted.  That made rock shapes appear!  I was really enjoying this process.

The top of the painting needed to be recessed some, to give the illusion that the cliffs and waterfall were high and large.  I found a caftan I bought at a garage sale and examined both sides of the fabric.  Both sides would work! One side was used for the sky and the other side was used for trees. I was finally hitting my stride! Having the process go smoothly is always encouraging!

As you look at the painting, Integrated Neighborhoods, you can see the pink print fabric in the tree trunks. If you can enlarge the image and look at the patterns in detail, it will help in the explanation.

Then look at the painting, Over the Edge, and you see the same fabric in the cliffs.  I find that amazing!

Same thing with the pattern in How I See It. The fabric behind the blue rock wall, sort of looks like hundreds of moving rocks, or water. It even makes you unsure if the painting is crooked, which I kind of like.

How I See It

Now look at the same fabric in Over the Edge, and see how different it looks as cliffs?

You might be saying, “Yes, but the water is real color!”  You would be right, however, the use of patterns in the water, along with the netting, changes it all up.  You know it is water, because of the color, but the patterns and textures make it subjective.  I would say that Over the Edge is a subtle subjective painting. It is not as bold as How I See It, but it definitely is not Local colors!

Most new artists start out using realistic or local color. It’s easier and safer, especially when you’re trying to just learn the skill or technique. Adding in subjective colors can be a big step, and it takes time to develop one’s own style and preferences. Using subjective color is more risky, definitely more time consuming, and thoughtful; but oh what a way to go.

The way I paint today is much different than when I began, how many years ago.  That is how it is supposed to happen.  We learn, we grow, we learn, we grow…

I encourage you to look at artwork and decide what the artist used – local or subjective?  And which do you like more? There is no absolute right or wrong here.

If you have questions or want to comment, please email me at:

[email protected].

Now Go Make Art!