Saturday, March 16, 2013

Experimental painting

 So wonderful to find myself back in the studio...painting again! Now with later hours of sunlight there is more time to linger over paints.  I can lose myself there.  The above painting swam from my strokes and resolved itself in only 3 or 4 times of work.  There is a feeling of satisfaction when a painting seems so clear and itself from near the beginning.  24x30, a gratifying size.  When I showed it at Art Group it was turned in all four directions to some interest on all sides.  Is a painting worth more when it is 4 different paintings?
 From Etsy.com I made the discovery of silk fibers from old silk kimonos which I used in single strands glued with beeswax to a wood panel, as seen above.  Some paint has been added and more colored wax.  Not finished by coming along enough to show; a marvel really at this stage.  Detail above.

12x12 panel in full here.  Where will this go on its way to becoming?
More experiments.  I had some very firm paper which I acquired for little money.  This I painted with house paint, then marked with palette knife texture.  The paper buckled so that I had to pause in the process, feeling curious but not satisfied.  One day I ripped the paper into sections and marked upon this with oil pastel, then turpentine, then paint.  Somehow this image only tells a small piece of the feel of this piece.

There is a large construction project going on outside my studio; sometimes I am enchanted by the boys with their sand digging toys; sometimes I ignore it; and sometimes I am driven away by the noise and madness.  The last day I traveled to the studio, ah, yesterday!, I went later and the noise was put aside for the weekend.  I could paint in peace and longer with the extra light in the day.  I began this painting which is shown here in its beginning stage, but it made me feel so expanded that I was moving color and making shapes dance and fall into place.  Healing!

Greetings to all who have ventured through these colors, shapes, and words to find yourself here at the end of this post.  Maybe you have a few words to offer back to me.....be well and prosper.

3 comments:

Altoon Sultan said...

Aren't the longer days great! the work looks lovely Maggie; I especially like the work on paper, which has a very strong presence, and the last painting. Have fun in the studio!

Maggie Neale said...

Hello Altoon, yes, more light in our days is so uplifting and the garden still sleeping, so more time for paint! I really do love working on paper but I don't take the same care to preserve the art I put on them...and framing seems such a project. Well, so far art is a personal process for me and the best therapy I can conceive. Enjoy!

Blue Sky Dreaming said...

I think you are on to new ventures, materials and shapes. The new pieces seem fresh and may change. Love the first piece and can easily see how the four views would work. Explore on!