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In the spring of 2007, I attended a Le Petit Art Guild meeting. Kitty Parakh was the artist who made a presentation. She talked about Abstract Expressionism. She showed samples of her work and talked about her process. The talk she gave was the inspiration for this piece.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The pattern I made was based on a watercolor painting she showed us. The colors I chose came from a grouping of her works that I have seen. Click on the link above to visit her site.

A Few More New Ones

This week I’m in a painting mood. So, here are the next three works in this series. There are a few more of these painting currently in progress. I will post them shortly. Once I make it to the end of this batch, I will switch to a different series.

Not long ago I managed to locate some more 6” x 6” canvases. Having sold 20 out of 24 in that size, I plan to create another grouping. The 24 paintings I refer to were the first small dot paintings I made. Most of them were driven by my love of patterns and colors, but not necessarily stories. Lately I’ve felt a little too hemmed in by having a story with a piece. These pieces will be a diversion from my current work while I revisit my earlier process.

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acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

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acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

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acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

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The same night I attended ArtSpeak, at the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, I viewed an exhibit called “The Eclectic Eye: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation.” It happens that the show includes a large eyeball sculpture. Well that’s the initial inspiration for this painting. Another reason I created the painting was the because of the eye surgeries I had: one in December 2006 and another one in January 2007. In the previous batch I painted green dots representing laser light for a piece. Also My Discover Magazine had articles on eyes: one about the complexity of eye color and another about the eye as the window of the soul.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

In making this piece I did an interpretation of the eyeball I saw. The dots always make me simplify my images. From people’s reactions I can tell the paintings commands attention.

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For a number of years now the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans has been hosting artist discussion panels called “ArtSpeak.” The three artists that make up a panel are each allowed 20 minutes to make a presentation. Some artists talk about a specific series while others talk about different groupings of work. A moderator introduces each artist and keeps the time. After the three artists have talked, the moderator initially poses discussion questions and then opens up the panel to questions from the audience.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

In the spring of 2007 I attended one panel in particular that inspired me to paint this work. One of the artists used dots plotted on charts in her art imagery. Another artist used bright colors in his art imagery. This painting is generated from what I saw that night: the dot plots and the bright colors.

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It’s Sudoku! Yes, I love working Sudoku puzzles. When I’m sitting in a waiting room or waiting in a line for a long time, I find them handy for passing the time. In creating this piece I had a chance to combine my dots with another way I like to work, grids. In fact I have a blog dedicated to grid artwork called got grid.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

To keep things interesting, I decided to play with levels of grey in this painting. It was certainly a challenge. So far the reaction has been “Where is the color?”

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A couple of years ago I had to undergo a test that involved drinking a liquid the night before. I had to mix powder with water in a half-gallon jug. This liquid was not pleasant to drink. The idea was that I had to finish it over specific period of time. I felt like I wanted to hurl each time I drank it. That’s about all I want to get into concerning this event. Not to worry, I did fine with the test.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

My painting, this time, begins with the color of the wall in the area of the hospital where I was tested. I then added dots to depict the powder going into the water of the liquid I had to consume. Even when mixed this concoction had a thick texture.

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A little over two years ago the Krewe of Zeus celebrated its 50th anniversary with a parade on Twelfth Night. A friend invited me to her parade party. In taking pictures I was intrigued by a pair of masks that adorned the mantle in her mom’s home. I was inspired to borrow details from both masks in making this painting.



First I started with background colors that divided the canvas surface into halves. I then added dots to depict facial features and decorative details. Currently I’m using the image as my avatar. The red sure makes it stand out.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

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To celebrate my aunt/godmother’s birthday, my family and I treated her to dinner at a restaurant called Chateau du Lac. At the time the restaurant was located on Williams Boulevard in Kenner, Louisiana. I was struck by the colors of the walls inside the restaurant. The lower part was a dark blue and the upper part was bright yellow. The water glasses had the same color blue as the blue portion of the wall. The colors, yellow and blue, were repeated in décor throughout restaurant.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The colors scheme made me curious. So, I asked our server about the significance of the colors. She explained that the colors were traditional French colors. I then remembered the blue banners that were used after Hurricane Katrina that sported a yellow fleur de lis and the yellow words “Recover Rebuild Rebirth.”

As long as I was going to create a piece that had to do with this French restaurant, I figured that a fleur de lis would be very appropriate. I decided to imitate the coloring of the walls in the restaurant using a similar proportion of blue versus yellow. This is the third fleur de lis amongst my dot paintings.

Circles Shaded

This week I've been experimenting in my sketchbook. I wanted to do something with overlapping circles. Once in a while I work this way: drawing, erasing and drawing again.


graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Numeros, the Next Three

A couple of months back, I talked about my six paintings titled with Spanish numbers. I have named this group of dot paintings, what else but, “Numeros.” Given that I have sold three of them, I thought I’d give you a peek at the next three canvases in this series. Each one of them has a coat of paint, thus far. I’ll add two more coats before finishing with dots. There will be a lot of changes before I’m through. Here are links to the first six works. Scroll down to view the three new ones in progress. Yes, I have a lot of work ahead this year.

Uno
Dos
Tres
Cuatro
Cinco
Seis


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

"e" Series Part Two is Coming Soon!

Here is the second half of the upcoming “e” Series. I still have to give eight canvases their first coat of paint. So, some designs are still be in flux. Not until the dots are added do I solidify what I’m doing. Again, I’m not sure what will be the overall name for this bunch beyond “e” Series. I try to use as much of the paint I mix as possible. So that’s it for my dot art previews. Stay tuned and have a Happy New Year!


26 - 5" x 5" s, acrylic and color pencil on canvas