Random Wood

From the end of 2003 to the winter of 2005, I continued to have sales of the Greek Code paintings. But as far as producing new dot art, I did not. I kept experimenting and trying new directions. The artist who organized the Sofa Art Show continued to organize more art shows. It wasn't long before she again invited me to participate. Some of those shows had an impact on the new art I created. In 2005 she asked a group of us to create works that did not involve drawing or painting. She and I had attended a number of artist panel discussions that featured artists who were much more conceptual in their art making. She figured we ought to have a go at being more conceptual.

Nail Order, nails and wood, 4" x 6.625"

I had created a number of grid works over a seven-year-period, so I started with one for the first few of these pieces. First I scrounged for hardware and wood scraps in my attic and garage. I had turned 40 the previous year and my house was built the same year I was born. So it seemed natural for me to work with found objects. These were extra items just lying around. I even went to my family’s home to see if there were unused wood scraps or hardware that might make interesting artwork.

Silver Circles, tacks on wood, 7.125" x 18.875"

The first piece was a bit boring. I simply nailed nails in a grid. The second piece is where I happened upon the idea of keeping the pattern more random. The environment at school made me embrace working in a random fashion. Working randomlly was more exciting. To my surprise the creation of these works went super fast.

Vance Kirkland

Sometimes I happen upon artists whose works relate to what I’m doing in my art. In the spring of 2004, I attended an art educator convention in Denver, Colorado. After an all day bus tour, I spent the following days exploring the city on my own. I attempted to go to The Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, but it was not open. The museum was one the art museums listed in an art lover's guide to art museums.

So, then I continued down the street to a state museum. When I was browsing at the gift shop, I ran across several books written about Vance Kirkland’s work. His earlier work resembles the various styles that were popular at the beginning of the last century. Later on his interest turned to images from space and he began to use dots as stars. There’s also an Op (optical illusion) Art feel to these later paintings. Well, I just had to buy the books on his work. They made my luggage come very close to the weight limit on my flight back.

Yayoi Kusama

In 1998 I pursued earning my teaching credentials. This meant taking thirty hours of education courses. When I completed the coursework, by the end of 1999, I began to obsess about trends in current art. What was happening that would define 21st century art. My course from 1985 needed some updating. In browsing the art books at Barnes and Noble, I found came across a series of books published by Phaidon. It is called “Contemporary Artists.”

The first book I just happened to discover had artwork that fascinated me. This was before I began working on the first eight code paintings. The artist is Yayoi Kusama and her work (some of her work is visually sexual) happens to include dots. She creates installations that are a combination of feminism, surrealism, pop and minimalism. As I’ve continued to paint the dot paintings, I’ve referred back to her work to spur me forward.

Dancing Lights

acrylic on canvas, 30' x 30'

Flashing back to the spring of ’03, I was invited to be in a show called “The Sofa Art Show”. The artist organizing the show instructed all participants that works could not be smaller than 30’ x 30’. Well, normally I avoid making artwork that size because working space and storage space is limited at home. Even in the classroom, where I was teaching at the time, space was limited there too. Well, all I had to do was create the one piece and show up for the hanging.

So what did I want to do for imagery? Well, by this point I was wearing glasses for night driving. The glasses helped with making far away signs much clearer. About this time I also started to become more interested in the little blinking dots in the background of movies – that is, when a person was in focus in the foreground while the background was out of focus. Because of what was happening with my eyes, I was now more conscious of the effect. So, that led to the subject of my painting, circles of light at night.

Only recently did I run across terms for the dot display of lights. Both involve photography. The first word I noticed was circles of confusion. Wikipedia’s explanation is a bit complicated, but the general gist is what interests me. Then I noticed a word at the bottom of the page under See also. The word is bokeh. It comes from the Japanese word “boke” meaning “blur”. Anyway, I don’t want to get too bogged down with this other than to state that it is newer facet of my dot art process.

When this piece hung in the show, I received a lot of positive feedback. Since then I’ve posted this on a website and even on this blog. Several people have been moved enough to write to me a bout it. I did create this at the end of an exhausting school year; so, the painting was created in that environment.

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"

Psi

Finally I come to the last of the four paintings I still own. This design idea was derived from the movie comedy, “American Wedding.” I just thought using a pie image was a natural for my dots. There is nothing specific in the imagery from the film or any of the other ones from the group. At the time I tracked down some photos of pies for the accuracy of my colors. I’m not as satisfied with the results for this one, but there you have the story.


acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

Chi

As I continued to paint this series, generating new ideas for patterns became more difficult. My inspiration for this painting came from “Jeepers Creepers 2.” Once I saw the brown colors in the film, I wanted to use them. I placed the dots in an arc path. Although this one is still in my possession, I was pleased with how this one turned out.

acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

Eta

This second painting of the four paintings I have left in this series. It reminds me how difficult it is to paint on top of yellow. The pattern is a repeat from the bigger paintings.

acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

Delta

Of the 24 "The Greek Code" paintings, I only have four left. Here is the first of the remaining four. It is also one of the first four 6" x 6"'s I painted.

acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

A Shift in Patterns

So, does this pattern remind you of any particular film? Maybe if I gave you a choice of the red pill or the blue pill? Does that ring any bells?

Sigma, acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"


Hopefully by now you’ve guessed, “The Matrix”. By the way it sold not too long after I painted it. When I did this piece I started to imitate the way a string of lights implies motion. In films about Las Vegas casinos there are often flashing signs implying motion. Anyway, this particular painting marked a turning point for the patterns I picked. I had run out of geometric patterns to try; so, I started to look for other shapes.

I do love going to see films, both blockbusters and art-house. During the summer I came up with designs to complete the set of twenty-four. I found them when I watched films during the summer of 2003.

Unfortunately I neglected to take pictures of the remaining works from this series. I didn’t count on them selling the way they did, nor did I figure that I would continue painting in this direction. Before Hurricane Katrina I had seven of them left. Now I only have four left - three sold since I am back. One is from the original four. Another one is from before the one above. And two more were painted after this one.

The Greek Code

Here are some more of my small dot paintings with Greek names. The picture was taken at Anglade-Barthelemy Gallery, a co-op gallery on Royal Street. I exhibited art there 1997 through 2004 when it closed for good. By the time this picture was taken I had already sold a few from the series.

 After using a number of predictable patterns, I became frustrated. What pattern was I going to use next? At this point I was stumped. It was the summer of 2003 when the answer came to me . . .

Alpha, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Theta, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Omicron, Pi, Rho acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6" each

Going to Small

So, how did I end up painting such small paintings? Well, it all started with a gallery located in Algiers Point called Lallybroch Gallery. The artist organization ARTinA (Art in Algiers), which I belong to, was invited to have a show at the gallery. Because the gallery was small, the artists were asked to bring small artwork for the show.

When I went to the art supply store, I zeroed in on canvases that were 6” x 6” in size. Similar to the eight pieces I created, I painted dots over a triangle pattern. The paintings below are the first four I painted. In May of 2002 I saw the film “Enigma” which concerns a group of British young people who cracked the Nazi code during World War II. Seeing the film inspired me further in the direction begun with the first eight paintings. I was simply intrigued with patterns as a visual expression, not as a hidden message. Then I had to find titles for these paintings. I settled on the names of the letters from the Greek Alphabet. They often turn up in our pop culture and I thought they would be appropriate for my new paintings. Thus I named the four: Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

The reception was in early July of 2002. In New Orleans that is a hot and humid time of year. Unfortunately for everyone who attended the opening, the gallery was hot. As I wandered around, my fellow artists and my family were excited about these small pieces. They told me I should do more of them.

When the show came down, none of the works had sold. That didn’t discourage me from painting more canvases that size. Besides the ARTinA Festival was coming up in October and I figured small pieces would be an ideal item to sell . . .

Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, 6" x 6"'s, acrylic on canvas

Code Pink

Pink was my color choice for my last painting of this batch. I chose pink over magenta. Too many folks would not recognize the name.

 This painting proved a lot more fun when I played with colors on top of pink. It gave me the opportunity to vary dot sizes in rendering an "X" pattern. There's no message. "X" was just a design device.

 When "Code Pink" won a first place ribbon, I was definitely "tickled pink." Many people have told me they liked this painting. So, this concludes the story of the eight paintings.

acrylic on canvas, 22" x 28"

Code Lime

After using the three primary colors and three secondary colors, I had to decide on what color to use next. I wanted colors with single names and not hyphenated names involving the first six colors. That lead me to choose "lime." Some might argue "Lime Green" would be the full name. I figured "lime" was enough information in naming a color.

Having used a double spiral in another painting, I figured I'd use a single spiral in this painting. Passersby have often stopped to gaze at it and then talk to me about it. I guess that's better than having my piece ignored.

 Again, like the two paintings just before this one, I had trouble with putting colors on top of my background colors. I had to mix colors even more for this painting. The result was a more muted painting.

acrylic on canvas, 22" x 28"