Weekend Inspiration: Andres Amador

I am just blown away by this beautiful, fleeting artwork.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to stumble across this.  I haven't been able to get in touch with the artist himself, but please check out more images of his work here.  And on Andres' website it appears as if you can join him in the creation of these beachscapes/sculptures/prints. I think that would be an awesome experience.  What an amazing medium, and a studio to die for, huh?!
Have a creative weekend!
 

Showering

This weekend seemed to go by quick!  Yesterday, I helped throw a shower for a good friend and co-worker.  We enjoyed a wine tasting at a local vineyard.  So nice!  I enjoy helping organize these things but have learned to keep it simple and not too overwhelming. I think this worked great, a few vintage table clothes, flowers in some mason jars and lots of wine!  The bride-to-be made me a lovely knit blanket at my baby shower so I wanted to return the handmade favor and made her a wreath.  I really like how it turn out, simple as well. 

In other news I got my first rejection from the show applications I've been sending out.  For the most part I am used to it, but this time since I was on a high from so much productivity in the studio, it made me question myself for a second.  Just a second though.  On ward, and back to the studio this week to complete a new commission.

(Side note; Boordy Vineyard, and specifically the interior shot above,  was used in the movie "Runaway Bride"  to film the luau scene.)

Collections of Titles

Does anyone else do this? I collect words I like for I one reason or another and save them for painting titles. Sometimes they fit something already milling in my head and sometimes the imagery comes after the word. But, I write them all over the place. Some I've had for years and still haven't used. One of those archived ones I think I'm ready to pull out. Here's a small group of them: 

Inertia

Tethered

Resonate

Invention

Reinvented

Curio

Ju Ju
Construction
Path
Lullaby
Target
Vista
Visited
Gathered/Gathering
Bailiwick
Variation/Variegated
Tomes
Clearing
Picket
 Cairns
Ancestral
Turned
Wonder
Artifact

If any of them strike a cord with you, I'd love to see what you create!

Patricia Gerkin: Weekend Inspiration

"Greek Chorus" 8x8" encaustic/mixed media on wood

"Secret Woods" 8x8" mixed media on wood

"Spring is in The Air" 12 x12" encaustic on wood

Hubby was searching for himself one day.  (See...I told you I wasn't the only one.)  And he came across Patricia Gerkin. (Gerkin is my married name.)  How surprising that she is a fellow encaustic artist that seems to perhaps be distantly related to my husband!  And to top it off I rather adore her work! I am so glad that Hubby stumbled across her.  Check out more of her work here.  I particularly like the Currents and Consistency series.  Thank you for sharing Patricia.

Just for fun

I'm sure this experiment would of worked better on an iPad, or with a stylus. I was playing around with the Brushes app on my phone. I was hoping to use it to record ideas. Not sure if I'm talented enough with digital media, but it sure was fun.

One of them I even did while Miss V was napping on me.

Sweet Spot

"Atmosphere" 18 x18" encaustic on panel

"Float" 12 x 12" encaustic & rust on panel

"Atmosphere" 10x22" encaustic, rust & metal findings on panel

As a runner, there is always talk about a "runner's high".  I'm not sure if I ever felt that specifically, but I do find that sweet spot everyone once in a while.  For me, it's when I am just in the zone and it's effortless.  On Monday night I had just a couple hours to be in the studio and in no time I found myself in that sweet spot.
I turned around "Atmosphere" and found what I think it needed. (You can check out the before here.) I was able to pull together "Abandoned", I started it last week and I wasn't sure what direction to go in with it. But I was just moving in that rythym where every decision I made turned out to be the right one for that piece.  
I kept moving and with my last remaining blank panel "Floating" appeared.  I'm sure it was a good thing that it was my last blank surface. At least that's what I am going to tell myself.  I mean, what if I could've just kept going like that?  It was great to have such a productive evening!  That sweet spot is like a drug.  If I had another surface I'd be out there tonight trying to capture that feeling again. 

Whispers

"Whisper: Sprout" 4x5" encaustic on panel

"Whisper: Cocoon" 4x5" encaustic on panel

"Whisper: Cluster" 4x5" encaustic on panel

"Whisper: Become" 4x5" encaustic on panel"

I hope every one's weekend was lovely.  We have a sick doggie, so It was not a fun one around here.  But, I wanted to share some new work with you!  Here are 4 little pieces in a new series I am working on.  I am almost set to send off for a show deadline, which listed the postmarked deadline as today!  Hmmm, Federal Holiday. So I think I will try and see if I can get by with a postmark of the 21st.  (Nothing like waiting till the last minute!)  Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll consider me anyway.  Fingers crossed.

Cedric Smith: Weekend Inspiration

"Today's Special" mixed media on canvas 60 x 49"

"Southern Pride"  38" x 48" mixed media on canvas

"Church Bus" 11 x 14" ultrachrome print

Amazing, huh?  I saw Cedric Smith's work when Hubby and I were vacationing in Savannah.  It just stood out over and above all the other artwork we perused all weekend.  I couldn't wait to look him up.  When I started these post, I immediately knew I wanted to share these complex and sweet works with you. As usual I was draw to the layering and re-working that is present in his work. Even though the work seems rather large and demanding, I wanted to get up close and inspect the nuances in the technique as well. I love the bitter sweet nostalgia of the work and the advertising imagery becoming so painterly.  Amazing.


All I could think about was purchasing one and that when we had the perfect house it would be there in the kitchen where I could enjoy it every day!  And when researching this post I found Cedric's Etsy store.  I can, at least own a print one day. Hurray!!

I also can't get by without mentioning his photography.  The juxtaposition between the past and present leads your mind to create a narrative.

Check out his bio to learn more. And make sure you visit his website and blog as well.  It was really hard to pick a favorite painting to post here!  Thank you Cedric for sharing your work.

Happy creating!  

Amazing Techincal Talent

Close to You
(Angus calf)
8”x10”
Pyrography on maple

I am speechless.  The first work is by artist Julie Bender and is wood burned or Pyrography.  It is so amazingly delicate.  
The second is quilled (I've been trying this, and been put to shame here) and is by artist Lisa Nilson.  Check out this lovely article about her Tissue Series here.
I just had to share!

Critique Anyone?

"Atmosphere" (?) encaustic on birch panel 12" x 24"

So, after an evening pondering whether or not the above painting was finished I read fellow blogger Megan Woodard Johnson's  post "Venturing off My Beaten Path", and was reminded of how common it was for us artist to ask that question.  As a student at a fine arts college, I couldn't wait for the day when I could stop talking about my work.  The ad nauseam "crits" sometimes seemed, for some, to be about creative spinning more than the actual creating of art.

Since those long ago and far away days, I've realized there needs to be a happy medium.  While the act of creating requires a significant time alone for most of us, there is still a need for a certain amount of artistic community.  I find this lacking the most while I stand in my studio asking myself "Is it finished?", "Is something missing?", "Would you add something?"  

I often think about the graduate studios at said fine arts college, and loved the perfect combination of being walled off yet peeking next door for a conversation or an opinion.  When I daydream about one day doing a residency I think this is the environment I would search for. (In perhaps a tropical climate, or one with amazing vistas and to-die-for pasta.) But, I digress.  My point is this: in such a lovely and supportive community full of talented and inspirational peeps, would a critique post be possible?  Once a week, or bi-weekly, you could send me some images of a work in progress, and I could post them with one of mine and we could give each other some constructive criticism.

Let me know if anyone out there is interested.  And I would love some feedback about the work above, if you're so inclined. And please, no need to be an artist to comment!  Sometimes the best feedback I've gotten is from those persons that just appreciate art.
Thanks!