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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

aq

When I make my lists of ideas I don’t always anticipate that a piece will document something that changes. The painting below was inspired by five designs offered by AOL’s AIM Profile pages. They were ones I used for my profile pages. But then AOL bought Bebo last May. In February AIM Profiles were forced to become Bebo Profiles.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The designs had masthead-like tops. So, I decided this piece should be made up of horizontal stripes. I then simplified the imagery for my painting. Of course the designs became dots too. The colors were a challenge to mimic. Although I wouldn’t normally group these five color combinations together, I’m happy with the result. The combined patterns are eclectic.

Friday, March 27, 2009

ap

While listening to an introductory video on the Vatican Mosaic Exhibition, I noticed a mural in the chapel where we were sitting at the Old Ursuline Convent. It inspired me to make the painting below. I had not toured the convent before and I thought it was a worthy subject for a dot painting.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Creating imagery in my dot art is always difficult. Usually I simplify it. So, in creating this painting, I decided to focus on the image of the white dove and the light that beaming from it. I decided against including the three female figures below the dove, in the mural. I simplified the number of colors used in my palette.

Monday, March 23, 2009

ao

A couple of years ago a show of mosaics visited here on loan from The Vatican. The Old Ursuline Convent, in the French Quarter, hosted the show. Given that the mosaics were similar to what I’ve been doing with my dots, I figured I ought to make a piece to remind me of the show. The mosaics were all based on famous works. It was a way of preserving the imagery in case something happened to the original paintings.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

For this piece I took a small area of a mosaic of an angel and imitated the pattern. I used the colors I saw in the piece. Of course I stuck to making dots even though the mosaics are made up of squares. Following the same pattern proved a bit tricky for me.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Latest Three

After recovering from Mardi Gras week, I managed to complete these three paintings. That leaves me with just four more in the series. Yes, at this point I’m ready to be done with this group. It has dragged on a lot longer than I had anticipated. Soon I’ll be shifting to the 6” x 6” size for another go at the “Alpha Series.” Anyway, I need to go paint.

aq

At some point I confused my order of titles. But with this post I'm correcting the error.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

au


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

av


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Sunday, March 15, 2009

an

The New Orleans Saints made the playoffs a couple of years ago, which boosted everyone’s spirits down this way. So, I felt compelled to record the event via one of my dot paintings. Besides it was an excuse to paint another fleur de lis. The question was how to do it and not infringe on the official New Orleans Saints logo fleur de lis.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The saints use the colors gold, black and white. Well, I started with their colors. I decided a halo on top of a fleur de lis would help convey my purpose. Sure it carries more meaning to the fans of the team. Well, anyway there’s the story. Unfortunately the demand for fleur de lys is less at this time. However, I believe this one will eventually find a home

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

am

A little over two years ago, I went to see the Krewe of Caesar parade in Metairie, LA. I was busily taking pictures when Caesar’s float placed Caesar too close to some oak tree branches. The float had to be stopped so that people could help Caesar get out from under the branches. As a precaution, the police re-routed the parade so that it turned at our intersection instead of turning a block down from us. Later on when the double dragon float came near us, it had a hard time turning at our intersection. One of the dragonheads came close to running into a yield sign. It finally did make the turn.





So, I decided to place the two connected stories together in this piece. One side is representative of Caesar’s plumes and the other side is representative of the dragonhead. This one proved a bit difficult to render. Anyway, there’s those are the two stories.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Friday, March 06, 2009

al

An older couple, that my parents knew, had a brunch a couple of springs ago around St. Patrick’s Day. It was a way of extending hospitality to a large group of friends all at once. Prior to eating the group enjoyed cocktails at an open bar. Then The group moved to an adjoining room to go through the buffet line. Round tables were scattered around the large room and one smaller room.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

For this painting I chose green and white because of St. Pat’s. I then added the peach color from table cloths used at the brunch. To simplify matters I painted concentric circles to make a plate using the three colors. I liked how this one turned out.

Monday, March 02, 2009

ak

The private school I attended, K-12, underwent major renovations following Hurricane Katrina. One change made was the addition of an art gallery, adjacent to the school auditorium. This area had been used to display art before, but now it was enlarged and modified for that specific use. My first visit to the gallery was to view a retrospective exhibit of Abstract Expressionist artist Fritz Bultman. He is an alumnus from ’33.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

His work inspired me to make a painting. When I finally got around to fleshing out my idea, I turned to the Internet for images. I mulled over the various examples I found. In the end I took the spirit of one composition and used colors I remember seeing in some of the pieces from the exhibit. The result is what you see here.