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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"

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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"

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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"

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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"

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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"

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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"

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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"

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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"

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"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"

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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"

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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"

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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"

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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.

Storm Scare

In the fall of 2002 two tropical storms came through the New Orleans area. I painted this in reaction to the local drama. Note the tape patterns in the painting. Residents tape up windows just like that before storms.

acrylic on canvas, 18" x 36"

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Riccobono's Peppermill Restaurant is a local restaurant that I frequented before Hurricane Katrina. Upon my return to the New Orleans area, I drove around with my list places. I marked off what was open. When I rode by the Peppermill, I noticed kitchen equipment outside in front. After some time the restaurant re-opened. The inside had been redone. Besides some dark greens and reds and browns, there were some murals on the walls across from the front entrance. They depicted columns and archways with Italian cypress along a hillside.




acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The murals and décor inspired this painting. The background is made up of colors from the curtains, chairs and walls. I then painted Italian cypress with a light blue background I saw in the mural. Originally I had an archway framing everything. However, it became problematic. So, I eliminated it. This is the last piece in this batch.

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Back in April I wrote about a friend who visited me and brought me a metal lizard with brightly colored dots on it. Well, the day she came, she wore a blouse that was a pastel derivation of red-orange – I guess that’s how I’d best describe the color. In the course of correspondence she had talked about a blanket she made her grandson. It had bubbles and rubber ducks
on it.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Thus you have the visual ingredients for this painting: the background color, bubbles and ducks. I figured combining these elements would be a fun way to remember her visit. Working on the composition took some thought. This was a fun piece to paint.

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As I stated in my last post I explored Blogger’s Top Ten List when I first started using Blogger. I quickly found a blog called Google Video of the Day (later GoogleTube Video of the Day). Each day at least one new video was posted. Readers were also encouraged to submit videos they found and site creator Michael Martine would credit videos suggested. Then in March of 2006 I was asked to participate as a team blogger on the site. This lasted until May when Michael decided to return to a solo act.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

This painting concerns the feel of the site during that period. I used the colors and a few of the Internet smiley graphics that appeared at the time. Later on the re-designed since that time. Unlike my other dot paintings this one is a lot more specific in appearance. But then again, someone out there might make an individual interpretation I don’t expect. It’s happened before.

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When I first started blogging back in October of 2005, I looked at a number of blogs including the ones on the Blogger’s Top Ten List. It was at that time I first encountered Google Video and became excited about the videos that were uploaded. Soon I was creating blogs to highlight videos I found. For these blogs I used a design called “Moto” which came in three versions: green, gray and pink. When I pruned back my number of blogs, I deleted them. They became more work than fun.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

This painting has to do with my enthusiasm for video online when I started blogging. While working with my own design, I combined the colors from the “Moto” designs. In making this painting I am highlighting a shift that occurred in my online experiences.

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One of the last days I spent in Chicago, I made a day trip to the Ukrainian Village. One of the places I visited was the Ukrainian National Museum. A woman took me on a tour of the museum and explained some of the history of the Ukrainians who settled in Chicago. At the conclusion of the tour, I bought some wooden Easter eggs that were decorated with roosters.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The stylized brush strokes used on the eggs provoked me to do an interpretation using dots. I simplified the plumage on my rooster image and came up with my own background color. This one ended up being one of my favorites of this group of dot paintings. Many people have told me how much they like this painting.