Color of the Year

Pantone's Color of the Year

Understandably you may not have been on the edge of your seat waiting for Pantone to announce it's Color of the Year for 2018. But announce they did this last week.  It's Ultra Violet, and this is some of what Pantone has to say about it:

Inventive and imaginative, Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.

Mark and Katie's Orchid

A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade, Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future. Complex and contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now. The vast and limitless night sky is symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our own.

Two Beets

Nuanced and full of emotion,  Ultra Violet symbolizes experimentation and non-conformity, spurring individuals to imagine their unique mark on the world, and push boundaries through creative outlets.

Hug

You will begin to see this color pervade our lives in clothing, furnishings, everywhere in anything you can imagine.

 ,

Eggplant

I always think of this hue as one bearing a Royal nature, lush and rich, deep and mysterious. Though it is not frequently in my palette when painting here are a few images where Ultra Violet was the center of attention or added some degree of interest.

The Yin and Yang of Spring

Six Figs

Split

Guadalupe Arenas Snake Weaver

Madame Butterfly

As you live each day, take a look around and watch for Ultra Violet.  Let it inspire your ingenuity and creativity.  Turns out I put on an Ultra Violet top today and I am noticing this color everywhere even though the announcement has just been made.  It will be added to my palette as I approach my next painting.  What will you do with it?

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See Where You Are

See Where You Are

Do you know I have a book titled, See Where You Are.  It's my mantra, my belief that you should engage with your surroundings, living in the moment, observe and take it in.

Today I received an email from an artist who also blogs and she is talking about how to practice the art of seeing. Her points are on target and I couldn't say it better, so here is a link to her blog.  Check it out by clicking here  Enjoy!  And See Where You Are.

If you would like to order a copy of my book, contact me by clicking here and I will give you the details and ship one out to you. Or click on this to be taken to an order page.

See Where You Are 

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Invitational Exhibition V

The Project Advances

A picture is worth 1000 words.  You've heard that before, and it certainly is a true statement.  So here are several photos showing more progress on my piece for Women In Art:  Tell Me A Story, the invitational exhibition at La Quinta Museum which will open in January.

Adding the butterfly cut outs.  Painting in the lizard shapes.

Introducing white  pigment along the butterfly wings and along the side of the lizard shapes.

Using paper cut outs to work towards additional design elements.  Also working out the final placement of the Book of Faces.

Close up of the butterflies.

Book of Faces has been attached.

Side view of the pages in the Book of Faces.

Now that the Book of Faces has been attached to the canvas there are additional design elements to be added as well as some small correctional details.  The project advances towards completion.

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Invitational Exhibition IV

Working the Canvas

If you read the last post, you know my Book of Faces for this invitational exhibition at the La Quinta Museum, Women In Art:  Tell Me A Story, was completed and the work on the canvas which would support the book began.

The 18 x 24" gallery wrap canvas was painted with hues used in the faces and a composition similar to other paintings in this series, Native American Basket Weavers. Shapes inspired by actual designs used on baskets created by these women were added.

Cutting out stylized butterflies to paint and adhere to the canvas.

Because this has become a mixed media piece, snake skin was added as a representation of basket design work.  The creation of the canvas design is still on going.  Come back to watch it all come together.

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Invitational Exhibition III

Next Part of the Process

Once the statement for Tell Me A Story:  Women In Art was complete (it was included in my last blog post), it was time to begin the actual work of art for the exhibition. Requirements: 1.  Must be specifically created for this show, 2. Must be presented on an 18x24" gallery wrap canvas.

My thought was to create a painting in a style similar to the last two Basket Weaver paintings completed;  Madame Butterfly and Guadalupe Arenas, Snake Weaver.  

Madame Butterfly

40 x40

Guadalupe Arenas, Snake Weaver

48 x 48

If you follow my Facebook Artist's Page you have seen photos of the beginning and progress of the new painting. 

Beginning of new painting

Additional progress on new painting

New painting with stylized basket designs used by Delores Patencio circling around her.

However, every time I stepped up to the easel I had a nagging thought that this painting just wasn't right.  It wasn't the painting itself, it was the idea behind the painting.  This is Delores Saneva Patencio, an historical, basket weaving member of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.  She would be a perfect subject and one I have painted several times. Eventually I realized my problem was connected to the statement.  The statement that will be exhibited with the painting talks about telling the story of the women, not one woman.  This work needed several faces, not just one.

It was a break through that brought additional ideas.  If I was to paint several faces, representing several different women, why not present them in book form?  After all, this is telling a story, and stories are found in books.  This required book making research.

Creasing 140 lb. cold press paper with a bone folder.

 

Punching holes to facilitate stitching the pages together.

Sewing the pages together with waxed thread.

I decided I would present eight faces, eight actual women who lived in the Coachella Valley and are known as basket weavers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I created one book of 8 pages, but before painting these pages thought I would paint on loose sheets and then perhaps create another book, with the painted papers, after the paintings were done.  This so I could paint freely, not worrying about mistakes, and have the option of using one or another.  After more research about basket weavers and hours of time in front of the computer to locate photographs, I selected the following seven women and painted them in large, rapid brush strokes: Ramona Lubo, Rosa Lugo, Guadalupe Arenas, Mary Kintano, Delores Saneva Patencio, Maria Los Angeles, Mercedes Nolasquez.

First a black and white palette with the thought of 'bringing the women out of the shadows'.

Then Raw Umber added into the palette,

Burnt Sienna added, 

Burnt Umber introduced, 

and finally Yellow Ochre was added.

For the cover sheet of the book I created a compilation of the women:

Back to the process of actually making a book out of the painted sheets of paper.  This time I used a raffia type of material to sew the pages before gluing the spine and attaching snake skin as the binding. Both the raffia and snake symbolize materials and designs used by these basket weavers.

Now that the paintings were actually in book form, names of many noted Coachella Valley basket weavers were added to the cover, circling the head of the woman.  Designs were added to her head scarf which symbolize those woven into some baskets.

As you can see, I also ripped the pages to obtain an undulating, wide, deckle edge which would allow the successive pages to peek out beneath the top page.  With this book of faces in hand I had to address a very blank canvas and figure out how to attach the book and what to create behind the book.  Stay tuned....

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Day of the Dead Altar I

Creating an Altar for Day of the Dead

When I was approached last year and asked if I would be interested in creating an altar for the Day of the Dead celebration at the Palm Springs Art Museum, I jumped in with both feet.  To begin with, this historically Mexican holiday has always intrigued me,  I could not possibly refuse to represent the Artists' Council , and the opportunity to exhibit in this beautiful museum is always greeted with open arms.   Plus the positive twist on death, honoring the deceased by celebrating their lives year after year holds tremendous appeal for me.

Example of an altar

  The inviter mentioned my Indian Women Portraits and that it might be nice to utilize one of these paintings in the altar.As it turns out, the museum is hosting an exhibition titled Grass Roots: Native American Basketry of the West that opened this month.  Actual baskets woven by Native women of the Coachella Valley are included in the exhibition, including some by Guadalupe Arenas. What a synchronous  connection!  My creative thoughts began to race and explode!

Guadalupe Arenas, Snake Weaver

48 x 48

This was perfect, a bit out of the box thinking, the kind of thing I respond to.  Breaking from the traditional Mexican altar, this altar would honor a deceased basket maker, Guadalupe Arenas,  who was a member of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, local to the Coachella Valley where Palm Springs is located.  It would bring awareness to Arenas and other women of the valley who toiled endlessly to create amazingly spectacular baskets.

Guadalupe Arenas, Snake Weaver

48 x48

I decided to approach this project like a painting, focusing on composition, color, line, texture.  Guadalupe Arenas, Snake Weaver, the painting, would be the focus of the altar. Every other element of the altar would pertain to and relate to this work of art, so I began to visualize and sketch ideas.

Proposed Altar

This altar will have traditional items such as skulls, photographs, flowers, and candles, but they will not be presented in the traditional way.  This altar will follow the palette of the painting using pink, purple, blue, green, golds. Lizard and eagle shapes will be cut out of canvas, rocks and small paintings of cactus will represent the desert, snake skins will festoon and drape to symbolize the snakes woven into baskets created by Guadalupe Arenas.  The work begins:

Cutting eagle shapes from canvas.

Using the stencils used to create the painting.

Canvas lizards.

The altar is beginning to go together in my studio and this is the first of several posts that will document the creation and assembly.  It will then be broken down and reassembled in the Palm Springs Art Museum later in October where it will remain on view into November.  Mark your calendars for the museum celebration October 30 10:00 to 4:00.

Much more work to accomplish and explain which I will do as it happens.

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Completion of the Triptych

Competed And Installed

Complete.  In Place.  In Position. In Situ.

It has been a couple weeks since my last blog post, and in that time I have spend hours at the easel, working on the third panel of this triptych. 

The rock cairn was the first design element to be painted onto the canvas.

The veins of the leaves were added next to provide segments of painted areas and to allow me to see where the light and dark tones would be added.

After the leaf color was added, the third canvas joined the other two on the wall so highlight corrections could be made.

There is a wicked light source from the right because there is a glass wall, so in these photos the painting appears dark on the left and quite light on the right.  In person this is not so.

Completed.  In Place.  In Position.  In Situ.

This painting was powerful when it was just one canvas, but now that it is this size with splitting, balancing rocks and swirling leaves, it is commanding.  I was a little concerned the residents would find sleeping under this a bit daunting, however I am assured the nights are peaceful and restful.  It must be the cairns, the balance inferred by the harmonious stacking of the rocks, cradled by the leaves.

Time to take a little break from the studio.  Time to gather inspiration, do some sketching, work towards something new.

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