This is my FIFTH time (CRAZY!) participating in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge hosted by . Leslie Saeta I chose to do abstracts this time (funnily Leslie is doing them...no I didn't copy you Leslie...we just think alike LOL).
The reason I chose them was that I knew I was going to be pressed for time this month....and I figured abstracts are intuitive, right?? I can just paint something that speaks to me and let it happen, right??? WELL, I know abstraction is NOT EASY...but I have been challenged, to say the least, in making my work close to LOOKING like something...It's been a love hate process I can tell you!!!
Click on each image to see a larger version...there are 3 more days to go so I'll post those another time.
The reason I chose them was that I knew I was going to be pressed for time this month....and I figured abstracts are intuitive, right?? I can just paint something that speaks to me and let it happen, right??? WELL, I know abstraction is NOT EASY...but I have been challenged, to say the least, in making my work close to LOOKING like something...It's been a love hate process I can tell you!!!
Click on each image to see a larger version...there are 3 more days to go so I'll post those another time.
I have been super busy (taking 2 online web design and graphic design classes). I also spent 4 days painting with Kristy Gordon from New York City (originally from Nelson, BC), doing alla prima figurative painting here in Lake Country. These 4 paintings I included as 4 days in my 30 Day Challenge...not abstracts, but paintings all the same. Stay tuned for a detailed blog post on that workshop!!
I have always loved abstract art and wanted to share why I decided to try it out this month. The type of work I like is very much like the work of these two well known abstractionists: Willem de Kooning and Richard Diebenkorn. I'll let you read about and look at the images from Google but I am attracted to their use of line, shape and colour. Plain and simple...it just appeals to me...no mysteriousness or hidden meaning that many people attribute to abstraction...it is total ATTRACTION!! Click on the two images below to see larger examples of their work.
BUT I really want to share with you two of my favourite local artists who I actually KNOW and who both happen to have events going on this weekend (both around the same time on Saturday actually LOL!). Kara Barkved and Fiona Neal. Click on their names to see their websites and Click on an image to see a larger version.
Kara, along with Heidi Thompson and Robert Dymtruk, is showing her work at the Lake Country Art Gallery from now until February 27th. All three artists will be presenting an artist's talk this Saturday at 3:00 at the Lake Country Art Gallery! Come out if you can.
Fiona does lots of workshops on intuitive painting (I hope to take one sometime in the near future). This Saturday she is doing 2 demos of her process at Opus Art Supplies in Kelowna. You need to pre-register for these and they may already be full. Just call Opus to find out.
As you can see both of these artists use shape, line and colour in different ways. I am attracted to both...it's hard for me to understand or say why, really. I've tried to make similar gestures and colours in this month's journey, but they don't turn out this way...so I realize in abstraction...well I have something different to say. It won't be the same...my voice is different! And I LOVE that I enjoy other people's voices!
As you can see both of these artists use shape, line and colour in different ways. I am attracted to both...it's hard for me to understand or say why, really. I've tried to make similar gestures and colours in this month's journey, but they don't turn out this way...so I realize in abstraction...well I have something different to say. It won't be the same...my voice is different! And I LOVE that I enjoy other people's voices!
One resource I have tried to learn from in my abstraction journey is this book by Rolina van Vliet. Some things I've tried have not turned out but it's given me a start in understanding a more structured way to achieve abstraction, other than just flinging paint! She goes through all the principles of design and provides structured exercises to get one moving into an abstract process.
That's what I've been up to this past month! Let me know what you think about abstract art. Do you like it? Do you paint them? Why do you paint them?? Let me know which one speaks to you!
That's what I've been up to this past month! Let me know what you think about abstract art. Do you like it? Do you paint them? Why do you paint them?? Let me know which one speaks to you!