Spots on Rocks

graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Tangled Coins

graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Poydras Home Art Show

The Poydras Home Art Show was Saturday and Sunday, November 3rd and 4th, 2012. I completed the last three paintings for that show. The three paintings were hung together in the front hall. The three canvases hanging together made me think of a face.

Dieciocho

On my third canvas, in this bunch, I added random dots in the center. Then I went back to the dot pattern I used in my earlier two paintings to finish. The brillance of color makes this my favorite one.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Diecisiete

Below is my second dot painting from this grouping. Again I painted dots in concentric circles. I varied my colors a lot more in this one.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Dieciséis

Tonight I finished my latest painting from the "Numeros" series. Each time I paint with dots, I learn more about the interaction of colors. Anyway, when I finished, I was excited about the illusion depth in my image.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Seventh Year!

Seven years ago I created this blog about my dot art. In that time I have discussed the evolution of my paintings, my process for creating each new piece and my influences along the way. This blog has become part of my process as I write about these works and as I respond to comments and questions.

Although Hurricane Katrina was seven years ago, I’ve been reminded of the dangers of such storms several times since then. Four years ago, Hurricane Gustav precipitated my forced evacuation. One year ago Tropical Storm Lee hovered over the area for too long. Then this past August, Hurricane Isaac made an indecisive and dragged out path through this area.

Hurricane Issac was very frustrating because forecasters couldn’t predict accurately
its landfall nor its strength. After the storm, it was a while before homes and businesses had power restored. Fortunately, I never lost power. I only had to replace some ceramic roof tiles.

Too bad I wasn’t inspired to paint while cooped up inside during the Isaac drama. My efforts would have been a waste of paint. Not until the end of September did I start in on the paintings for the annual art show at Poydras Home. Each year I have submitted three new works for the show.

Stacks of small canvases await coats of paint and dots as I write this. Seven years have passed and I’m still creating more of these. People still want them. Last spring marked the tenth year I’ve been painting this way and last summer marked the shift to painting smaller canvases. Anyway, I need to paint . . .

Phase II, Third of Three

acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase II, Second of Three

acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase II, First of Three

Phase II marks a second coat of acrylic paint. Here is the first of three. Phase III will involve "the dots." Stay tuned for more.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase I, Third of Three

And finally this is the third painting of three. I decided to use cool colors on it. So far I'm not sure of the color of the dots.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase I, Second of Three

This is the second painting of these three. I used warmer colors in it. At this point, I'm not sure what color the dots will be.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase I, First of Three

So now I have begun work on the next three paintings in the "Numeros Series." I've painted the first coat and sealed it with gloss acrylic. It may change with the next coat. The dots are applied last.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Hurricane Isaac

Hurricane Isaac hit the new Orleans area on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The storm wasn't officially recognized as a "hurricane" until the 10 p.m. report. Official reports are given at 10 a.m. & p.m. and 4 a.m. & p.m. The storm took forever to become organized. It also took forever to pass through this area. Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana around the same time in 2008.

Evacuation, for Isaac, was voluntary in my immediate area. Lower lying areas had mandatory evacuations. Since Isaac was not expected to be as strong a storm as some previous ones, I decided to stay put. But I knew from past experiences that a tropical storm could still mean high winds and/or flooding.

When Isaac's winds had finally died down enough, I looked outside to see if I had any roof damage. One of my ceramic roof ridge tiles had fallen on my driveway and shattered. Some of the other tiles were simply displaced. So, this storm fell somewhere between Katrina (most) and Gustav (least). Other people in the region had much more damage.

This storm had me too agitated to paint. However I did render some sketches that I will post on my blog art at random. Look for them in the near future.

Dot Density

Previously I made a graphite drawing in which I varied the darkness of my dots. I called it Shades of Gray. For this sketch I used a Sharpie Fine Point to create dots of different sizes. I varied the distance between the dots.

er

The same "Art for Art's Sake" night I also saw works by Mark Bradford. The large pieces looked like overhead images of cities. Some of them had collage elements in them. So, I decided I wanted to go on my own visual tangent.

 First I settled on some colors for a palette beginning with red, white and black for my background areas. Then I repeated the colors, adding yellow, in the form of dots as I created shapes. Along the way I ended up with something more digital looking. Well, anyway, that's how my process went.

  

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

eq

A few paintings back, I mentioned attending "Art for Art's Sake." That same night, I saw the work of Gretchen Weller Howard. Well, the painting below is what resulted from seeing her work. Of course I went off on my own tangent.

Yes, my dot painting turned out bright and cheerful. Figuring out what I wanted to do over the pastel colored background took a couple of months. Anyway, I finished it. Enjoy.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Originally I set out to make the letters spelling "dotartdude" into a graffiti image. Along the way I broke up the letters into a grid; plus I added some large dots.

graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Striped Circles 2

graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

ep

The same night I went to Art for Art's Sake I photographed some close ups of a desk that was decorated with pieces of glass. A light behind them dramatized the colors and details of the glass pieces. Below are three photos I took that night.

First I painted my canvas using a neutral color. Then I marked off the spaces with lighter areas of dots. To finish I took colors from the three different photos to make my own image.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

eo

In an earlier work I depicted a group art show of fiber artists. In picking out imagery for this batch of dot paintings I also decided to do one on the gallery where the show took place. Dutch Alley Artist's Co-Op is located in Dutch Alley which is accessible from Decatur Street in the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA.

After mulling over some photos I took of the gallery, I settled on the French windows and doors for a design. My background colors came from the exterior colors (orange and teal) and the logo colors (blue and white).

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

en

Many times I have gone to free screenings for films ahead of theatrical release dates. The story about this one is more memorable. I knew “Spider-Man 3” would draw a large crowd, since it was one of the hyped summer movies. So I made a point of going early and planning to be in line by 5 p.m. In fact I was 20 minutes earlier than I had scheduled.

Some people get in line and save places for others who arrive later. Well, for this free screening the organizers had a plan to combat that practice. They issued wristbands with numbers on them. People who were holding places could not continue to hold places once the wristbands were given out. If they still wanted to wait for those who hadn’t arrived, then they had to go to the back of the line.



When I received my wristband, I was surprised that my number was 110. I was concerned about my choice of seating inside the theater. It wasn’t until I made it inside that I learned that there were two theaters showing the film and that eight radio stations had given out passes. A lot of people had camped out for a place in line earlier in the day.

That brings me to my design and color choices. I realize this film became the butt of jokes, but I still liked the whole dark version of “Spider-Man” - or “emo” as some have dubbed him. Anyway, I went with a spider web pattern using the traditional “Spider-Man” colors and then a black and gray for the dark side. 'No clearing away any cobwebs for this memory.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

em

At a movie screening for a Disney film, the coordinators wore mouse ears that had flashing lights. The lights lit up in a circle creating a visual effect of spinning light. Anyway, I had to make a dot painting based on what I saw.

 Naturally I started with a dark neutral background. I mixed white with a little purple to imitate the light I saw. Then I started with a circle and varied the brightness of my dots. From there, I painted outward and inward from the circle. Of course I put my own artistic spin on my image.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

el

"Day Watch" is the sequel to film "Night Watch." Like the original film, it was a visually exciting movie for me. And like the first film I felt compelled to make a dot art painting. After a lot of thought, I narrowed down ideas to the scene with a female vampire driving her red Mazda along the side of a large building. I loved the use of red and black in

the footage.

As the car rides up the side of the building white stars, that hang from the roof of the car, no longer hang straight down.  The moment of the shift and the sense of flying were both visually riveting to me. I hope the third installment is made eventually.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

ek

Almost five years ago I attended a meeting that led to formation of an organization called New Orleans Fiber Artists (NOFA). Fiber art includes an array of cloth materials, paper materials and mixed media. I was unfamiliar with the fiber art category. My collage art qualified as fiber art. In August of 2007, the Dutch Alley Artist's Co-Op, located in the French Quarter, invited NOFA artists to exhibit for a couple of weeks. The gallery set aside space for the show. A reception was held on Dirty Linen Night, the second Saturday of August. A band played live music as people visited the gallery and
Dutch Alley.

Naturally I wanted to capture that night in a dot art painting. I looked for representative icons and colors from the show to make my design. To see more photos from that night, visit my blog, pic journal.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

ej

Several times I have attended free screenings of films, before they open, at Clearview Mall in Metairie, LA. Prior to standing in line, I have dined at Seranno's which is known for it's Latin cuisine. Not only have enjoyed eating various menu items, I have also enjoyed viewing murals and decorative art.

For a while now I've pondered how to capture my experience at the restaurant with dots. I ended up with a radial design mimicking some images I saw inside. The biggest hurdle was simplifying my design. The result is an explosion of bright colors!

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

ei

In October and November of 2007, I did hands on workshops with some artists that are members of ARTinA, a local artist organization. The artists had a lot of fun painting with dots. Each of them went on individual painting tangents.

So, I decided I wanted to represent the experience with a dot painting. David Wargo's painting provoked my design. The curvy lines of the painting gave me inspiration. The colors used by the other artists influenced my palette. As I progressed I remembered I meant to include yellow. Well, that meant an odd ending on the right side of my canvas. I thought it mades the piece more interesting.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

eh

The first Saturday night of the month is usually known as The ArtWalk in New Orleans. Art galleries have coordinated opening receptions. October's first Saturday is called "Art for Art's Sake." It is the "kick-off" for the season. In 2007 I went gallery hopping on Julia Street. While I was walking along Julia Street, I noticed a "chalk-drawn" mandala on the street. I had to take a photo.

When I made my list of items for possible paintings, I placed the mandala on my list. After many edits to my list I decided to go ahead and make a painting inspired by the chalk drawing. I worked with the pastel chalk colors involved, and attempted to capture the spirit of the drawing.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

eg

For a year I set my small dot paintings aside. I did some preparatory work for some future ones, but mostly I spent time away from them. Well, now I’m ready to resume this group of paintings I call “e” Series Action. The last one I posted was ef.

Over four years ago my sister’s silver poodle, Frannie, had a litter of puppies. One was a black male. The other two were females, one black and one apricot. I chronicled the development of the puppies with videos I uploaded to YouTube. In fact one video became very popular. It remains popular still.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

On a sad note, Frannie passed away in June of 2011. She consumed a parasite that poked holes in her lungs. She had trouble breathing on her own. The four squares of my painting depict Frannie and her three pups. Frannie is gray. Ginger Rose is burnt orange. Sweet Pea and Dugy are the both black.

Poydras Home Art Show

The Poydras Home Art Show was Saturday and Sunday, November 5th and 6th, 2011. I completed the last three paintings for that show. The three paintings were hung together near a window. They sure looked good with the light on them.

Quince

Around Halloween I finished this last painting of the three. It is also the last painting I completed in this series. I use the same warm palette in this one too. This coming fall I will create three new ones. I've been thinking about the next variation.

acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"