ee

On one occasion an online friend found a video to recognize my birthday. As you might have guessed already, the video involved dots. It had a variety of colors and was animated. To remember that event I went back to the video.




acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

First I chose colors from the video to include in my painting. I then went about playing with the juxtaposition of colors as I rendered backgrounds and dots to create larger dots. The result of my experimentation is this painting.

ed

Back in 2007 I went to a free screening of the film “Grindhouse.” In the middle of the film there were faux previews. Separating them from the two films were “Intermission” and “Feature Presentation” title animations. They were the same ones used back in the early 70s when there were still drive-ins in New Orleans. I remember the titles many times when I went with my family to drive-in movies.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

For this painting I used the bright colors that I saw in the titles. I fragmented their revolving shapes into pieces inside four squares. In each square I mixed a bit of the bright color with a neutral color to make my dots.

ec

Many years ago I went to a screening of John Waters’ film “Hairspray.” When the new version came out, I saw that too. In the new version a 50’s star symbol was used on the set of the television dance show. The poster for the new film had a lot of bright colors. Anyway I wanted to use a star symbol with bright colors.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

First I separated the canvas into four squares of color. I then created a star shape over them with various pastel colors. Lastly I filled in the rest with pastel versions of the background colors. I’m a sucker for bright colors.

eb

Four years ago, while The Ogden Museum of Southern Art I noticed a large abstract painting by Kendall Shaw. His use of squares in patterns intrigued me. Before leaving, I bought a catalog of his work.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Recently I saw the painting again, at the Ogden. Also, I looked at his other paintings in the catalog I bought. Finally, I settled on some colors from his palette and started painting dots. As much as I liked his uniform squares, I let my dots vary in size.

ea

In the fall of 2007 I saw the film “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” at the New Orleans Film Festival. It followed the story of real-life Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who had a stroke rendering him only able to move one eye. He narrates the drama while interjecting flippant remarks.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The opening credits began with floating circle shapes in front of a blue-green background. Lighting and focus fluxed as words and names appeared on screen. Once the introduction concluded there was a blurry transition to faces speaking above his seeing eye. His running commentary started there.

Needless to say, I was moved by the creativity of the film’s animated title sequence. I used the colors I saw in the movie to create a new dot painting. All the paintings in this bunch will be divided into four squares – some by their backgrounds and others by their foregrounds. So, I’ve now completed the first one.

"e" Series Reaction

Before going forward, I thought I should explain the paintings I call "e" Series Reaction. That way readers know what came before the new batch I plan to call "e" Series Action. The irony is that I'm having trouble moving forward on this one. I've been feeling tired a lot this week. If this keeps up I may have to change "Action" to "Inaction."

"e" Series Action

The photos below are not new. They are photos of my 5” x 5” canvases with a first coat of paint. Some were completed in the group I call “e” Series Reaction. The rest are waiting to become “e” Series Action. It seemed only natural that I keep pairing two titles that go together, somehow.

Whereas the first half has a diamond design, the second half is quartered – divided into four parts. Well, at least that’s my plan. Who knows what will happen in my process. At this point I'm ready to dive in and see where this batch takes me.

The themes in these future paintings still involve events from 2007. Apparently that year was more visually stimulating to me than others. Sure, I keep adding themes to my theme list, but my 2007 list is still longer. Enough already, I need to resume painting.

My Paintings in the Poydras Home Art Show and Sale

Here are the three paintings “Diez,” “Once” and “Doce,” hanging at the Poydras Home Art Show and Sale, November 6th and 7th. The show included a large group of artists from the New Orleans area.

Doce

The last of the trio, of dot paintings, had a lot more blue and green dots in it. I was exhausted by the time I finished it. Fortunately I finished all three paintings days before the actual deadline for a group show.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Once

As I finished one, I started in on another one. I kept the same colors, but I varied the scope of the spectrum. The dots took a lot of time to apply. Along the way I mixed quite a bit of paint. This one had a lot more red in it.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Diez

This fall I completed three more 20” x 20” paintings in my “Numeros” series. Each time I change up the design. This year I was inspired by one my “5 x 5” paintings that I painted earlier in the year. Below is the first one of the
new three.


acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20"

Here is the painting, "te," that inspired my three new paintings. I used it as a launching point and then followed my intuition from there. As in my previous “Numeros” paintings, I used a pastel palette.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

zo

The last painting in this batch has to do with an annual festival that takes place in old Memphis during the month of September. It is known as the Cooper-Young Festival. Along both sides of two intersecting narrow roads, artists and charitable organizations and individuals set up their tents and tables. The Saturday I went, the streets were very crowded. Anyway, the 2005 festival poster lead me to this stained glass sun design. The painting didn’t go according to plan, but it captured the event for me.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

yo

On my first day in Memphis, August 28, 2005, I visited the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. That happened to be the last day of a show called, “Patrick Kelly: A Retrospective.” The 80s clothes, he designed, were known for their use of colorful decorative buttons. Kelly was an African American who was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. In 1979, he moved to New York to study at Parsons School of Design. In 1985 he showed his first collection. He died in 1990 of complications from AIDS at the age of thirty-five. The bright colors of the buttons I saw in the show lead me to create this painting.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

xo

Perkin’s Restaurant and Barkery is a chain of restaurants I discovered during my stay in Memphis. I ate breakfast at one of the restaurant locations most mornings. You pay as you leave the restaurant. While standing in line for the register, I would browse an assortment of bakery items in a display case. This painting is representative of a display of muffins.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"