Abstraction and size

After finishing my last painting I was determined to apply greater abstraction to my next painting. Within an hour I jumped into my failed 72x96 canvas - still wanting it to be about light and colour....even a possibility of atmosphere is not out of the realm! But, most important, counter to my last painting!

I spent more time studying this canvas than painting it, looking for clues what to do next......it always shows up sooner or later...

DAY 1

899-1 Progress 72x96 oil on linen (5-26-14)

After 3 or 4 hours I knew this would be like the last Koi and Lily painting! Gurrrrr!

DAY 2

899-2a Progress 72x96 oil on linen (5-27-14)

Next morning, back with a big brush and mineral spirits, I washed and blended the entire canvas, leaving some heavy knife texture in place. I only added colour blocks to pull bits of colour back out.  I have light reflections on a water surface, a clear indication my core design element is showing up. I'm also getting some unwanted horizontal lines and colour passages that need breaking up. Tonally blended it looks better than shown here but still on the fussy side, looking a bit patchy!

899-2b Progress 72x96 oil on linen (5-27-14)

Couldn't leave it alone, I went back and increased the light reflecting on the waters surface....adding some suggestions of lily pads and.....stopped!!.....falling backwards here!!

More palette knife scraping and mineral spirits washes in the morning.......

DAY 3

 889 Mystic Light One 72x96 oil on linen (5-28-14)

A distant shot at a much lower resolution - without glare
 

This thing reads better in person - in fact, rather interesting closeup. It has all the components, I was originally after; light, colour and atmosphere with depth. Extra bonus, it reads well in diminished light. No question, counter to my last painting. I did waver by adding a faint Koi center bottom - just hopeless! I thought it was a good idea but perhaps too anemic here. Although not a lost cause because it gave me a clue on how.....good progress:=) 

I see something to explore further on a fresh canvas. Next one is #900.....love round numbers.

Later..............

A weeks worth of paint and canvas - 898

I should say a month; this month was a bust with regards to the painting front. My big canvas backfired on me and I got stuck in the "now what mud"....as always when in doubt paint a few lilies!

Last summer we had a deck pond installed and stocked with goldfish and a couple lilies....not thinking any of it would survive the winter. Well, the fish and lilies did survive! The lilies are producing a few buds and the fish are growing...even added a few. I never thought I would be painting my own lilies, but here I am doing just that!...As small as our little pond is, I'm getting some good usable material. Our goldie's are much too small to use as painting subjects, but fun to watch their antics..lots of photos there too. The pond is turning out to be an excellent study of light and moment on mirrored water surfaces and how depth changes and responds to the sun. Is this worth a little pleinair painting?.....perhaps.

I think it's mating season - in real life it looks aggressive!

 Base reference

Cropped detail;

A featured lily
PROGRESS 48X44

A few days work - 898 48x44 oil on linen

Day 3

Today, my last on this painting, will be working the entire canvas. Starting at the top working down I'll follow the light, adjusting values as I go.

FINAL 

898 Red Koi & Lilies 48x44 oil on linen (5-26-14)

DETAILS

Nice to be back!

Later....

Shades of 2009

I'm over the first wave of what turned out to be a major move. The simple decision to release my early paintings wasn't so simple in the end. It caused me to re-think my space.. how I would display and market these paintings. It then became logical to include my website and perhaps wrap it up with my AAC ad.....all things no longer effective as they once were. I had to evaluate Crossroads as a businessman not as an artist wanting good walls to paint for......a new wrinkle in my game!

2009 produced a large number of paintings and will be released in related subject groups. The first release covers local Richmond subjects, all small works, nothing larger than 20x24. In total about 40 paintings will be displayed at a time. As paintings are sold they will be replaced with like work and after two months exchanged for another subject.

Friday night we were ready and looking good, but only after a lot of scurrying around, finding frames, painting walls, adding signage, adjusting lighting...even a last minute title change. 

Shades of 2009

IN SEARCH of  LIGHT & COLOUR

2009 was a great painting year. My main goal was always about sizing up!! Starting out small, deliberately working each size up until I became comfortable with it and the subject matter. Frequently repeating the process if it was a view or an idea that worked well. My subject became important very early on. As it turned out, I don't have what you would call "studies or incomplete paintings".  Most, if not all, are finished paintings with the exception of plein air which were of the moment and never carried into the studio for additional work.

This exhibit and the slideshow illustrates that working process well. A process that worked so well I decided to produce quality Giclee's of the final paintings.....another project that will most likely take more of my valuable painting time..:=)....It never ends!

Back in 2009 I had a website, but my one and only 2009 sale was off the internet and believe it or not the buyer was 10 minutes away. Google's search engine is a very cool resource as we all know.....especially if we use important KEY WORDS in our titles!....:=)

SOLD - 2009

15 Libby Terrace Fountain 14x18 Plein air oil (4-17-09)

The full exhibit can be viewed on my website. SHADES of 2009 - In Search of Light & Colour

Later....

3am planning session - time of my own

I guess we all have 3:00am planning sessions lying in bed thinking.....2 or 3 in the morning is always good planning time for me. If I remember any of it in the morning, it's clear what I should pay attention to. Aside from my 72x96 floundering on my easel, I'm working on several other things;  securing framing for a smaller works show opening this coming Friday at my Crossroads Gallery. It will feature about 40 plus paintings from 2009. None have ever been in a frame or exhibited before. Yesterday after working on it 24/7, my first shipment arrived. All are standard small sizes up to 16x20, all sizes popular amongst artists........I found inventory seriously low out there in better framing... especially if you want multiples in a size as I did. Thanks to JFM it got done at the last minute! They were low on inventory too so a portion had to be custom. Not a problem for me because I like mixing stock and custom framing together.... it raises the framing bar over simply using stock frames.

What it tells me tho is the art business must be booming out there......how cool is that! I actually thought the framing would be the least problematic of everything in front of me. Boy was I wrong!

 SOME FIRST PLEIN AIR PAINTINGS

Some works being released Friday evening at Crossroads

2 Libby Terrace 10x10 oil on panel (3-18-09)

(my first ever plein air painting)

Frames make a difference

11 James at Libby Terrace 11x14 oil on panel (4-14-09)

826 Libby Sunrise 11x14 oil on linen (6-12-13)

(Most recent plein air from the same location)

12 Libby Terrace on Easter Sunday 14x18 oil on panel (4-12-09)

The other thing my 3am planning session stirred up was quality art prints. Every once in awhile I churn that idea around a bit. I always thought it would be an end game move but now it seems to make some "cents". Perhaps my decision to release work from 2009 marks the end game. Plus, prints could fill a gap my work doesn't fit anymore.....the affordable market.

Recently I decided to release older works to give me painting time and not have to worry about keeping fresh work available. It gave my inventory or collection a value I never considered before......the value of time, time to call my own and still stay in the game. I had that in the beginning, but it started to slip away with gallery needs, commissions and untold numbers of events all taking my time away from what I do well.....we all face it. The question is how to get it back! The next five years are important... I can paint, but it's what I paint that's important now. I don't need more inventory nor do I want to paint for it! I'm sure in the future there will be works added to it, but not because I need it.

Effectively, with the opening of the Crossroads "In Search of Light and Colour" Friday evening, I will have reclaimed my time as my own again!

However, the real reason I was having my 3am session was about the canvas on my easel.....after some hard core evaluation, it's fairly clear to me my canvas is too big for this particular idea. Aside from all the distractions, I need better reference material and more work on a smaller scale before bouncing up to a billboard. If I were ready, it would have worked out of the gate.....in time it will!! I decided to move on, change subjects to something I'm comfortable with sizing up and get on with it!

Later.....

A weeks worth of paint and canvas

My 72x96 sizing up canvas is OFF TO A ROUGH START....I deviated from my original drawing straight off.......dumb! I chose a closer view as opposed to my original interior room concept, plus I'm not using a model. I was curious if it were possible to develop my figure only from a drawing based on shapes that felt right, a light source, and simply follow the light.

However, my main focus got positioned wrong within my composition!!! I had solutions, but when it's off, it's off. So after two days I decided not to waste another moment on it! Scraping and some mineral spirits and a bit of gesso will give me and my canvas a fresh start.....one of the pitfalls of sizing up.

 REGROUPING!

72x96  is a nice shape - my mistake here is the straight lineup (red line) I created with my composition, perhaps OK for a landscape but not here. Also, because it was late in the day, I played in my background and inadvertently shut the painting down! I really needed to work from my figure out......wont make that mistake again!

I didn't want to start a fresh canvas so I let it dry and my gesso didn't cover all that well....second coat tomorrow.......gurrrr!  

Later that day I went to LeGrand's May Gathering Reception for a much needed drink!

 Time to relax and enjoy the art and conversation

First stop....Best bartender ever!

 Art is in the air

 Always a good grazing table at LeGrand's

Wonderful company in a beautiful setting for art, Sue LeGrand is on right chatting with friends

My favorite spot over the mantle - one of these days my fellow exhibitors will figure it out and push me off it...:=)

Perhaps new artist and water colourist Susan Ludwig-Peyron (left with white scarf) will..:=)

Guess who's admiring a really stunning Brian Blood Sunset.....more competition for my other favorite mantle spot! Theirs! However Brian would be a very good fit for this lovely couples collection.

Happy camper!! Shelly Fullerborn proudly showing off her and husbands newest painting acquisition....that little guy looks familiar!

SOLD!

 201 English Landscape 8x10 oil on panel (12-30-09)

Congratulations LeGrand Fine Art!

COMMISSION APPROVED!

897 A Day at the Beach - Hollands 16x36 oil on linen (4-30-14)

Congratulations Richard Stravitz Fine Art Gallery!

Later....

Sizing Up

While doing my little commission, I stretched up a 72x96 canvas, thinking of it as a solo exhibit center piece. Yesterday I placed it on my easels 17 foot wall...about the wall size required for a painting this large. I thought staring at it for awhile something brilliant would surface and perhaps it will.

One of the problems I found sizing up as a representational painter was or is subject......historically, figures do it well as many artists proved. I can readily put figures in waves and of course I already know my Koi work large. It works well for the same reasons Monet belted size out of the park with his water lilies....acceptable creative control, a close kin to abstraction. I just finished a painting called Migration on (3) panels, sizing up my wild ponies. Many will perhaps see it more as a mural, at least I did......not my intent, but certainly a sizing up pitfall.

Figures are easier for me when it comes to painting action, as in sports. I seem to prefer that to static figures. When I started the year out with nudes, it was with the intent of building up to a large figurative painting using a ballet theme in private moments. I did make some pencil drawings with that in mind during the Rubens Experiment. The Rubens Experiment itself was also a lead into this same idea. Since I am an interior renderer, it could be fun playing with it in a another more dramatic level than if I were simply creating an environment for a client, as in the past.

Looking back now, I actually did a lot of preparatory work leading to this 72x96 canvas. Looks like I'm ready to do it! First, I'll review my concepts history....many times my first move is the right move.....back to those drawings!

SUCCESSIVE CONCEPT DRAWINGS

Drawing 1

Drawing 2

Drawing 3

Like I said, the first move is typically the right one!

At the beginning of this post, I had absolutely no idea what would go on this canvas. Gives credence that talking to yourself has some benefits.... but more importantly, writing some of it down somewhere.....:=)

Later....

A weeks worth of paint and canvas

My small commission is similar to 847 A Day at the Beach (below). The family makeup is similar and only wanted it a little larger.

847 A Day at the Beach 15x30 oil on linen (7-3-13)

897 A Day at the Beach - Holland's 16x36 oil on linen (4-30-14)

My little painting turned out more challenging than first anticipated. I had to use more reference material, a different wave about the same time of day and of course the figures, dressed in familiar clothing. Success here will be if the family see's themselves at their beach day.......    

SOLD

892 Merging of Light and Water 48x44 oil on linen (3-3-14)

620 Ballerinas - Lacing Up 36x36 oil on linen (12-25-11)

Congratulations to Stravitz Fine Art Gallery!

Time to think about my next painting. In between my commission pauses, I stretched a few canvases, one rather large at 72x96.......perhaps a Koi.

Nice to be back to my daily routine! This weekend I'm also looking forward to attending LeGrands Fine Art Soiree on Saturday...nice way to spend the evening.

Later...........

Much about nothing

My commission is still hanging out.... as it turned out Migration wasn't quite done......I spent a little more time (with a big brush) noodling a few things nagging me. I also painted my edges so when the panels are bolted together no holidays will crop up at my seams. I'll use a floater frame for this one.....I'm not keen on using gallery wrap presentations for representational art, more specifically mine. I also want it varnished before I do my final photo shoot. I use GAMVAR water white picture varnish; it's very thin, fast drying, only requires a light coat and gives a wonderful crispness to colour. The real beauty in this product tho, it can be applied as soon as the painting has touch dried...about a week if you use mediums......perhaps more if not. However, some colours take forever to dry so you have to make sure.

Over the last few days, in between everything else, I updated my inventory and images, especially the information. Looking back, I'm thankful I numbered my paintings with a pictorial record from the start... it includes a hard record stored in binders. The binders are always current and the information on my images evolved from a simple number to a title with basic information. Now everything is uniformly done. Even this is archaic with all the art inventory programs out there developed for gallery use. In my mind, keeping track of a paintings location or history is the difficult part....perhaps the next step for me. However it's done, curating work for show exhibitions is easier only because its a desktop operation. Now if only there were a program to make the selections.......which brings me to my next aimless thought.

One of my favorite internet stops each day is Art Net News  I never did follow the global art market or any artists for that matter.  It never had my interest, so all this is new to me......."fools and their money are soon parted" comes to mind with auction news. As an outsider, it's fascinating reading......with pictures. Frequently, descriptions don't match the art, but that's OK because I like looking at pictures. I have never been taken with the dark side of art or the twisted nature it can evolve from. I'm fairly simple, I like anything beautifully crafted regardless of style... anything that makes me smile or want to touch it. I don't look for hidden meanings or try figuring out why or multiplexing it to death.....lots of people are very capable of overcooking. It is what it is......but this stop gives me other perspectives........progress

I decided to use paintings from my existing collection for the solo at the Cultural Art Center. As it turned out I have more than enough, so all that's needed is a show title and a few words to describe it. One that fits based on the paintings is SIZING UP;  basically what I've been working on over the last 2 or 3 years....looks good to me! I even got a few descriptive words to go along (revamped a bit)......:=)

SIZING UP

An artist who enjoys a challenge, Chuck Larivey has spent the last three years “SIZING UP.”  His large scale oil paintings engage the viewer in a monumental way using size as a way to captivate the audience, making them part of the artistic experience.

INTERESTING READING if you donate your work....The broader economic implications of donating your art  


Timely, and I totally agree with its author! Recently I came to the conclusion it made more sense to pen a check, take a clean donation and be done with it!

The most successful one I was ever involved with was a painting actually donated to a foundation and it hangs on their walls. In turn, the painting was used as the paddle painting in a gala auction ....it raised well over $26,000 and no one had to take something home they didn't want. I thought it was a brilliant move by the foundation and under similar circumstances would do it again. I also support another cause where the paintings are gallery hung and sold at asking price and, if not, returned. In the end, I'm happy as long as the money gets to where it belongs regardless of how it gets there or who gets the credit.......but now after some experience, it's the only one I'll use my art to support! 

A reserve at auction keeps your work from going out at pennies...otherwise it will!

The IRS thing is another whole can of worms. Why does the buyer get credit for the donation? They get a painting and a full donation for money spent....kinda like double dipping to me....even worse, on a broader view, the American people just bought them a painting...ooops!

Somethings wrong with this picture! It seems out of sync and not in the spirit of supporting a cause. I don't know the history or care to take the time to find out. But, in the end I suspect the IRS thing revolves around big money.......

As a professional, my work has established value and should be worth more than the canvas and paint. After all, they don't mind taking a cut every April 15th.

Yesterday, I started pushing paint again, so my small commission is finally on the go.

Later..............

Monday morning, a new week, a small commission and big laundry list!

This week a small commission is in front of me, although I don't know if I'll get to start it. I have two upcoming exhibits in May, Crossroads and LeGrand's soiree. Both are the last shows of the art season before everyone heads to the beach. The paintings are selected for LeGrands, not necessarily framed, they have to be delivered by the 24th. Crossroads is later in May; it will be a major undertaking because of exhibit changes we'll make. Paintings from the last five years will be selected with each year featured, many for the first time. To compliment it, we are going to add a monitor with a continuous video loop of all my work from day one in sequence.....including rejects:=) Gotta take the bad with the good! The exhibit will run through the summer.

MY LEAD PAINTING AT LEGRAND'S MAY 3th SOIREE

807 Koi & Lily 60x48 oil on linen 2013

My new solo project at the Cultural Arts Center has to be curated now. Even though by installation time I will have new paintings to choose from, I'll earmark enough from my current inventory as a backup position. Some of those will be used at the front end for marketing purposes. Curating it now has another purpose; it will also give me a heads up on what additional paintings are required....my concern is the time consuming larger anchor paintings. It will move along smoother if I have a concept or an exhibit title in place....I'm hoping the paintings available will suggest one. Either way, I need it quickly. I have ad material due later this week too. So a small commission painting might be a good thing right now.........because this is a big laundry list!

Later.....

Migration is finished and has a place to hang out too!

  Migration (894, 895 & 896) oil on linen 66x180 (4-12-14)

When I started the year with a new goal, "painting for an exhibit that didn't exist," no exhibit space did exit! I just knew it was time for a change, a change from supplying galleries with paintings to making paintings for solo exhibits. I believe it to be a different creative process. I knew if I had the work, the work would find a venue. I also knew if I didn't, no venue would surface. 

Galleries for the most part can't handle a painting like Migration unless perhaps in a solo exhibit situation. Paintings like Migration are not painted to sell but get attention! Migration is the first painting this year painted with all this in mind. 

Every exhibit needs anchor paintings; something they stop dead in their tracks for, something to remember, and something that makes everything else pale for a moment. If its a small exhibit, one anchor might do the job.  If it's larger format exhibit space, more are needed to lead you through the entire exhibit, keeping your interest peaked and forcing you to move on to the next morsel. Now, if you can put the viewer in the painting, and size does that, you make them part of the experience and therefore part of the creative process through interaction! We don't have a tendency to forget that kind of experience. If you can make these kinds of paintings, I think you stand a chance in today's art world.

Because of other paintings like this done over the last few years, an opportunity did surface. Not exactly what I expected, I actually thought it would be a gallery. I was approached by The Cultural Art Center at Glen Allen to do a solo exhibit in their main gallery. The center and gallery space sold me; it was perfect for what I had in mind. I was on board! A good first step for an artist like me. I have six months and now I'm able to paint to a space I know.

I get to fill these walls - how cool is that?

Center hall with gallery on either side

Gallery A

Gallery A

Gallery B

 DEL'OCEANO: FROM THE SEA

 Outstanding exhibit of kiln fused glass 

by Cara Michele DiMassimo

Spooky, because it kinda reminded me of  "build a ball field and they'll come" situation.....mmmmmm

Later..........