Weekend Show

The Poydras Home Art Show was last Saturday and Sunday, November 2nd and 3rd, 2013. My three new paintings hung in inside. This year one placed in the front hall, while the remaining two hung, as a pair, in the solarium. Monday I picked them up.

Veinteuno

And to finish out my trio of dot paintings, I used a triad of colors including yellow, green and blue. Green, in particular, was a color mixing struggle. I chewed up more time on the variations of green than any other color. Next year I'll have to take this series in another direction. I've had my fill of these three.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Veinte

The second painting, of my new trio, turned out very red, which is a very eye-catching color. Hopefully red will ensure the sale of this one. And with Halloween occurring yesterday, red was an appropriate color.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Eighth Year!

Eight years ago I became a blogger. For months I’d heard the word bandied about in various media. My curiosity got the best of me when I noticed a top-ten-blog-list on AOL. Before I knew it, I was clicking a button to create a blog.

My excitement led me to create more blogs. I had blogs for my old art and blogs for my new art. The blogs were prompted by the destruction of my art in a flood following Hurricane Katrina. The art wasn’t high enough off the floor in the house where I was storing it. Only some of my work was destroyed.

Then I bought my own digital camera. Up until then I borrowed my sister’s camera. Now armed with my own camera, I had more ideas for blogs. I busily documented local happenings as the New Orleans area recovered.

Little did I realize my camera was capable of shooting video. After some experimentation, I began making videos and posting them on blogs, too. My preference was to stay behind the camera instead of in front of it. Vlogging never appealed to me. A few years later I experimented with dot imagery.

During the last eight years my interest in blogging has waned a bit. Other life events have gotten in the way. My creative momentum has slowed which has made blogging a more cumbersome experience. Thinking up new material is hard enough, but I’ve had to find innovative ways to continue this effort.

Don’t worry. I have more dot artwork in progress. For whatever reason, I find myself stuck in the year 2007 with themes. It was an important creative year for me apparently. In the meantime I keep regular notes, which hopefully will inspire new imagery. Periodically I whittle down the list. Yes, I do have plans to cover other years too.

Diecinueve

When I added the dots to my next three paintings, I simplified the concentric circle pattern. With the deadline falling on this Wednesday, I had to speed up production. For a week I limited my activities beyond just painting. My laptop was nearby allowing me to listen to playlists of vlogs. I needed to occupy my mind while I worked.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase II #3

The green colors proved to be the most difficult ones in this painting. But after a lot of mixing and remixing, I finally completed Phase II. OK, now, back to painting I go. I only have a week before all three paintings are due for submission. The show opens November 1st.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase II #2

Yes, there's a lot of red in this painting. Again, I was trying out some new colors. As usual I was working on my color mixing memory. Painting #2 took just as long as #1.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase II #1

The second phase always takes a little longer. Usually I try to make colors as opaque as possible. Invariably I have to remember which color are best for mixing. Recently I bought some colors I haven't used before. Well anyway, phase II is complete for this canvas.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

NOLA Potter, First Friday, October

On the first Friday of the month, NOLA Potter has a reception open to public. For the October reception several, among the 50 artists represented, had new works hanging.
I too brought new works. Below are some photos from that night.

Phase I #3

For my third painting, of this grouping, I chose to transition yellow to teal. Color mixing was difficult. I may have to pay the art supply store a visit to see what colors I do not have. Next I will add a second acrylic layer to these before adding dots.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase I, Second of Three

So now I've completed one more with a first coat of acrylic. Again, I'm still adjusting to color-mixing. Along the way I've wondered if there are any colors I ought to purchase. As I finished this one I started to worry what part of the color wheel I want to try on the third canvas. Well, anyway I've still have plenty more to do.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Phase I, First of Three

As October grows closer, it is time for me to have some art ready for a show. Thus I finished the first layer of paint on one of three canvases. I still have one more coat to add before the dots. The second coat will cover this up. Along the way I'll be making adjustments to my colors. I have to remember what colors I mix together. Yes, I haven't painted in a while.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Apha Series Music Video!

Four years ago I created patterned dot paintings that I call the "Alpha Series." Recently I decided to make a music video using still photos of the paintings. I used iMovie to assemble the images and add the "Cross Zoom" transition - which adds an animated effect. After uploading the video to YouTube, I added the music, "Swing on It (Instrumental) - Heavy Hitters" by Frederik Rubins, from the YouTube library.

In 2010 I started on a second group of paintings, but then got bogged down in the BP Oil Spill story. That tangent sort of put me in a funk and I abandoned that effort. I do plan to do a "Beta Series" that is closer to my "Alpha Series." Sketching new patterns has been a delaying factor.

Private Preview Party at NOLA Potter

Last night I attended a reception at a new gallery, NOLA Potter L.L.C., in Algiers Point - which is located across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA. My art hangs on a wall close to the front door. I am one of 35 or so artists in the gallery.

Eleven years ago I participated in a small group show at this same location. Back then the space was known as Lallybroch Gallery. Since the gallery exhibition area was small we were advised to paint small works. That is when I painted my first small do art paintings. Everyone I spoke to raved about the pieces and encouraged me to make more. So, showing in the same locale was very meaningful to me.

Below are some photos from the reception at the gallery. There was live music, food and drink. It didn’t take long for the gallery to become crowded.

Third Place Not Under Glass, Again!

Friday morning I entered art into an art show competition sponsored by the Metairie Art Guild. It was held at the Clearview Mall in Metairie. Participants designated three pieces to be part of the judging. Anyway, my acrylic painting, "Once," was awarded third place in the Not Under Glass Category. The judge was Tanya Dischler. This is the second time I've won third place for this painting.

 

I Has Canvases!

Today I traveled to the Bywater area to pick up my canvases from New Orleans Art Supply on Royal Street. These canvases are future dot paintings. The small boxes contain threes of 5" x 5" gallery wrap canvases. The box on the right contains three 20" x 20" canvases. I have plenty of work ahead of me.

et

For several years I've enjoyed viewing time lapse videos on a YouTube Channel called RinpaEshidan. The artists continuously paint over parts of collaborative murals and installations. Below is one of my favorite videos from the channel. The murals are simply painted in only black and white.



 The 5" x 5" format limited my painting detail, but I painted anyway. I stuck with simple shapes and representations of a fish and underwater plant life. In the end I decided to leave the background areas solid without dots.

 
acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

es

A few years ago there was a local restaurant called Semolina's Bistro Italia on Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans. My family enjoyed dining there for several special occasions. Each of us enjoyed specific dishes. Being the artist, of the group, I also appreciated the decor of the place.

Anyway, I felt that I needed to make a dot painting based on my visits to the restaurant. I started with a black background. Then I added metallic paint dots to the background using four different colors mimicking the arrangement of artworks I saw. Below is
the result.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Third Place Not Under Glass

This morning I entered art into an art show competition sponsored by the Jefferson Art Guild. It was held at the Clearview Mall in Metairie. Participants designated three pieces to be part of the judging. Anyway, my acrylic painting, "Once," was awarded third place in the Not Under Glass Category. The judge was Carol Scott.

Circle Madness

ink on paper, 8.5" x 11"