"Untitled Figure 2"

I decided to do a gestural figure painting today. It ended up looking sort of like a robot with glowing eyes, which was not what I intended, and, consequently, I am not all that pleased with the results. I think the problem was too wet paint that expanded and left me with a rather blob-ish distorted form.

"Fade Away"

I painted this face into a light wash that was still rather wet. As a result this piece has a really nice, soft effect. This seems to be particularly effective with the blues, which give the piece a rather ethereal quality.

"Abstract 6"

This is just a random little abstract piece on watercolor paper. I have been feeling rather uninspired lately. I think it is because I am so busy with and stressed about other school work right now, that I cannot just relax and be creative and enjoy painting.

"Hooded Face"

I decided to play with a warm/cool contrast in this painting. It is watercolor on watercolor paper, yet again.

"Green Face"

I am not quite sure why, but I tend to stay away from green when I paint--or at least lately. So I thought I would deviate a bit and paint another simplified face, but in green this time. It is watercolor on watercolor paper again.

People

I am fascinated by people. People are all different, unique. I know I am lucky if I can understand myself most days, let alone others, but that is precisely what intrigues me. It is that incomprehensible aspect that I try to comprehend in my art. I love to paint people and give the viewer, and perhaps myself, a small glimpse into the workings of the mind. In addition, on those occasions when I do a portrait--one where I am strictly painting the person rather that just painting a person who is no one in particular, but perhaps embodies everyone--I paint what I know of that individual or how I see them.

All the talk about creativity and dance, got me thinking of my favorite dancer ever, Mikhail Baryshnikov. He is absoluty phenomenal. Here is a link to a video of him dancing freely, uninhibitedly. Check it out if you have time. (He doesn't actually start dancing until about two and a half mintutes in, so fast foward a bit).

"Art is not made for anybody and is, at the same time, for everybody."
Piet Mondrian

This quote struck me. Art is so personal, so individual, and yet so universal. It is a strange tension, but I find it to be completely and utterly true. When I try to paint, worrying too much about what others will think or what others will want, I rarely create something good. I have to put myself in the the painting, and then be concerned with others. It is in the creation of art, that art is essentially individual. It is in the viewing and appreciation of art that it becomes more universal.

"Untitled 2"

This is just watercolor on watercolor paper. I am not sure how I feel about this image right now. Maybe my reflections will be clearer in the morning.

Emotions

"The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make Heaven of Hell, and a Hell of Heaven"
-John Milton

The mind and emotions are powerful. They truly effect the way we--or at least I--see the world. Emotions can be both wonderful and horrible, confusing and clear. There are days when my head feels like it is spinning and nothing makes sense; and there are other times when my mind is crystal clear and everything seems to line up. Either way--good or bad--emotions fascinate me. They are what makes life interesting and gives it flavor. I'll admit, there are times I think that the world would be so much easier with out emotions, and there are times I try to shut them down, but shutting emotions down just leaves me tired and numb. And numb is no good. It these emotions, the positive ones and the negative, which I paint. Generally they are my emotions, which I paint into faces that are not my own. It is my way of expelling those emotions, particularly those I have trouble understanding. Once they are out on paper I can see them and evaluate them more rationally. It's my own personal little therapy session. Other times I paint the emotions I see in others. There is never a shortage of emotions; I could fill a lifetime with paintings of different ones. Emotions are not simple or easily understood, but they are enthralling.

Mail Art by Jenn Sprowl

This is the mail art piece I received from Jenn. The colors in this piece are wonderful. The browns in particular are rich and deep. It is also so interesting to see how the postal system adds marks to these pieces. I once again added the black boxes to censor the address on this piece; sorry it makes it hard to truly get the full effect.

"Brushed Pale 6 -2"

I added some warm yellows, which added some nice contrast to this piece.

"Brushed Pale 6"

Another simple, subtle, deconstructed piece. This time, however, I painted on watercolor paper and I did not sketch anything out before hand. This made it really difficult to complete the piece in a small number of brush strokes. Since there is no pencil, this piece has a much softer feel than my earlier pieces in this series. It seems a bit flat, however, and I think I will add a second color in later to add more depth.

"Brushed Pale 5"

Another minimal painting. This one really aggravated me and I am not quite sure why. I wanted to keep using as few brush strokes as possible, but for some reason today that made me really tense. Sometimes when I think about a painting too much--try to make it spectacular and full of tons of meaning, I over think the painting and stifle my creativity. And then I just become more frustrated because I am frustrated.

In spite of my frustrations over this piece, the idea of minimalism and deconstructing a painting still fascinates me. This whole line of thought has been inspired by Piet Mondrian, who took deconstruction to the extreme. I do not want to go as far as he did, limiting myself to lines and rectangles, but I like the idea of striping things back and getting at their core--simply.

Self-Portrait by Oskar Kokoschka

I stumbled across this piece by Oskar Kokoschka. The expression, the emotion, perhaps the insanity, are brilliantly captured. I also love the way the brush strokes speak on their own.

Normal?

What is normal? Is there such a thing as normal? A great deal of the time I do not think that anyone is really normal. We are all slightly insane--idiosyncratic, esoteric, quirky. I also think that everyday we walk a fine line between living a "normal" life and being committed to an insane asylum. All of this fascinates me and spurs my creativity.

Words that relate to my art... more to come on this later

pain
healing
normal?
hollow
alone
people
emotion

...

Sorry about the delay in posting. I managed to come down with a nasty virus.

"Brushed Pale 4"

The fourth subtle piece on computer paper. I am really pleased with the expression captured on this one.

"Brushed Pale 3"

Subtle on computer paper with a sketch done first, once again. I am not really pleased with the way that this on came out. It became too wet too fast, and thus there is too much green and not enough clarity.

"Brushed Pale 2"

Another subtle piece on computer paper, which I sketched out before painting. I am trying to force myself to use as few brush strokes as possible.

"Brushed Pale 1"

Another subtle piece in watercolor, this time on plain computer paper. This time I sketched out a face before I painted.

Lyrics to a song (Somebody's Baby by Jon Foreman) that has moved me lately:

She yells
"If you were homeless sure as hell you'd be drunk
Or high or trying to get there or begging for junk
When the people don't want you
They just throw you money for beer"

Her name was November, she went by Autumn or Fall
It was seven long years since the autumn
When all of her nightmares grew fingers
And all of her dreams grew a tear



She's somebody's baby
Somebody's baby girl

She's somebody's baby
Somebody's baby girl

She's somebody's baby still



She screams
"Well if you've never gone it alone
Well then go ahead, you better throw the first stone
You got one lonely stoner
waiting to bring to her knees"

She dreams about Heaven, remembering Hell
As the place that she visits and knows all to well
Every now and again, when she's sober
she brushes her teeth



She's somebody's baby
Somebody's baby girl

She's somebody's baby
Somebody's baby girl

She's somebody's baby still



Today was her birthday, strangely enough
When the cops found her body at the foot of the bluff
The anonymous caller this morning tipped off the police

They got her ID from the dental remains
The same fillings intact, the same nicotine stains
The birth and the death were both over
With no one to grieve



She's somebody's baby
Somebody's baby girl

She's somebody's baby
Somebody's baby girl

She's somebody's baby still

The song is on Jon Foreman's myspace if you would like to listen. (http://www.myspace.com/jonforeman) Look under the Winter album.

I wanted to do a piece that was really subtle, but this is too subtle. There is not enough contrast to make it interesting. I think if I had at least rendered one section more tightly it would have asdded more intrest. Perhaps I will work one it more tomorrow.

Collaborative Art

This is the second collaborative art piece that I created with my sister. I first painted the face in blue, and then my sister added interest to the piece by brushing in the red on top.

Collaborative Art

My sister and I decided to do some collaborative art pieces. My sister started this one, then I added in some more color and value contrast to complete it.

Newspaper Experiments

These are just some experiments I did using newspaper for a paper. The textural quality of the words is interesting, but the newspaper is very thin, making softer edges difficult without destroying the paper.



My sister decided to paint with me while I was home. The following two are her experiments.

Mail Art

This is a mail art piece. I bought an actual postcard from my hometown and then created a piece over top of it. It will be interesting to see the results after it is mailed.

"Face Down"

Unfortunately I have yet to find a nice neutral background to photograph my pieces on here at home. So for now I will have to settle for the hardwood floor, which is rather distracting. Hopefully I will find something better soon.


I am really not sure how I feel about this piece. The nose certainly needs some work; maybe I should just practice paintings noses, as they often seem to come out a little off. My little brother said it looked like the person in the painting got into a massive fight. I am not sure if that is what I was going for, but at least it is conveying emotions and thoughts, which is something I value in art.