by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
Yesterday I was brave.
I didn’t want to be. Because I was stuck. So I spent way too much time online. On facebook. Avoiding the studio until I couldn’t avoid it any longer. Then I went down and picked up the big canvas, the 3’X4′ canvas with lots of layers. Some interesting marks. And some not so interesting.
And I was still stuck.
I was NOT fond of this canvas. Too much energy. Had a frantic feel. So I took a couple of brushes and wrote on it. That’s right, wrote. As in words. Love. Joy. Happy. Peace. Over and over because it needed some better mojo. Then I sprayed it with water and watched half the words melt away, leaving behind some interesting remains.
But I still couldn’t get a handle on it. Still couldn’t see the painting within the painting. I turned it every which way but the only part I even remotely liked was the edge that runs up the left side of the photo above. So I went there first. I popped it out with some blue and black paint. Then I turned it every which way again. Gave it the squint test. Tried to see what it wanted to be.
Sometimes you just gotta step away. So I went back on facebook. Fed the horses. When I came back I saw another part I liked and then…a horse appeared. And then another and another and….
Crap.
I like horses. I really do. I’m barn slave to three of ’em. Well, two and a half, depending on what you call the donkey. But I like ’em, you know. And there is a market for horse paintings. So what’s the big deal?
I just did one, that’s the big deal. Am I getting myself into a horse series?
Umm…probably yes.
Today I put in over eight hours. Standing on my feet. Painting. Dancing. I’m so close to being finished but I had to stop. It was dark and the studio lights are all wrong for painting. Something that will be corrected in the new studio.
So where’s the photo? Sorry my sweetums, you’ll have to wait. Probably tomorrow, depending how much painting time I can squeeze in while helping Mr. Spouse do construction things. I will tell you the almost finished painting looks nothing like the ones above. I’m really liking it.
But if you want to see a photo of something deliciously wonderful that I did finish tonight…
…this was dinner. Fresh spinach. Raviolis. Oil, parmesan cheese, garlic and tiny tomatoes.
It was wonderful.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art
I’m sitting on the sofa, feet up on the coffee table. Big exhale…I’m tired, a good tired. Been a good day, spent a lot of hours in the studio. I stocked up on canvases last year. They were on sale locally, 70% off if you bought a case. SEVENTY PERCENT. So I bought them by the case. All different sizes, from 3X4 feet to 5X7 inches. Big fat gallery wrapped canvases. CASES of ‘EM.
Ahhh…
And then I spent the summer and fall painting on wood. That’s just a little bit of it, up above. Plaster and wax (both hot and cold) need a solid substrate. Something that won’t flex and crack. So I built cradled panels, so many I can’t even tell you. I almost sorta forgot about all that canvas. The elephant in the room.
Not any more. The studio is chaos right now. So many works in progress. They’re all in acrylic. Not my favorite medium, not after the juicy lusciousness of oil or the richness of beeswax. And plaster is just plain old fun. But then acrylics mixed into glaze medium and layered and layered and layered and then turned into something magical…ah, I can handle that.
So I spent the day painting backgrounds. Just backgrounds. Random strokes, random colors. Filling the canvas. It’s fun, really. No ego involved, just me and the music. And with all the canvases I have, I could be doing this for the next month. Eventually the paintings will come to me. And when they do, I’ll be ready to go.
For a look at how a painting evolves, check out my recent post ‘Making Peace’.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
I loves me my layers. Layers and layers and layers of random paint. It’s a good thing, you know, something to do in between muse strikes. Something to do with left over paint.
Eventually I get around to finishing them. Today I did another for the ‘Feather’ series. I seem to like feathers these days.
Here’s the original 12X12 canvas. Got a couple of layers going, don’t know how many. And yes, the workspace is a mess. It’s embarrassing. But as long as there’s room to work and I can find things it’s okay.
Decided to make some marks.
More marks. More color.
More glazes to tone down the marks. Then I block in a feather. But not in the obvious place, not over the quazi feather that’s still visible under the glaze.
I really don’t know where this is going but I’m following the curves indicated by the breaks along the upper edge of the feather. Which gives me two orbs. Two globes.
Needs some contrast. I fill in the back ground so the orbs pop. Throw in some gold accents. More glazes.
The final result…’Peace’.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
Today I’d like to share more art with you, pieces created at the same time as the two previous ones featured in Flying. These two are what would’ve been the dip in the diptych of those others had I not let nature take its course and…distract me.
The palettes are similar because I tend to mix too much paint, especially when using the cold wax. And since I can’t see wasting it…TaTa! A series is born!
And now, without further ado….
Free Flight, oil and cold wax. 12″x24″
This one is special for me. I look at it and see a soul breaking free from its earthly ties. I see Mama just drifting away. Floating.
Grounded. Oil, cold wax and plaster. 12″x24″
This is the opposite. Weighty. Solid. Like a rock, or the earth. The plaster underneath adds to the texture.
I really enjoy working this way. With brayers and squeegies and bare hands steeped in the buttery oils stiffened with wax. Pushing and pulling the paint along in layers upon layers. Scraping it back. Scribbling with pencil. With pigment sticks. Losing myself in the process until the muse whispers…it’s done.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art
Studio time today. YAY!!! Got to paint. Got to make ART!!!
Pause here for backflips. Handsprings. For jumping up and down and waving arms wildly.
I MADE ART TODAY! In between lumber yard runs for the new studio. In between other stuff that had to be done. I found the time. Squeezed it in. And it was lovely….
And it was different. Today I used acrylics, just because… I’m not sure what the ‘because’ was other than I wanted to play with layers and the drying time is faster than oils. And I can always add oils to acrylics later on, but not the other way around.
I worked on three pieces today. Two 10×10 clean, ripe, ready for my attention virgin canvases. The third one was 12×24 and been around the block with some charcoal. That’s the one I’m going to show you today. It’s the closest to being done of the three. Not finished yet, maybe tomorrow, but I want to show you the process.
Because it was so much fun. So liberating. Not a doodle but similar in the layers and layers of surface treatment. And relying on the random happenings of the surface to trigger the final design.
Now I’m going to let the pictures do the talking.
First I had to say goodbye to to da pony. I grabbed some acrylics and squeezed directly onto the canvas. I wasn’t concerned about color this early in the game. I just wanted coverage.
Which I got.
Many layers. More colors. Textures with stencils. I used the brayer, my fingers, water crayons. The trick here is to wait between layers for things to dry, otherwise you get mud. I still didn’t have a clue where this was heading.
I added more paint. Sprayed with water. Let it drip. This wasn’t the first spray of the day. When this dried I saw some images. So I painted around them. It’s still not finished but this is where it’s at now.
And no, those are not blue afros. Or maybe they are. Come back tomorrow and maybe we’ll both know.
