Here is a collage to show the paintings I submitted (created) for Leslie Saeta’s 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. Take a look at the collages some of the other participating artists posted today!
I only painted 22 or so new paintings during that time, because I took the last week off to spend some time with my brother and his wife who were visiting from London, England, AND to prepare/participate in Culture Days Burlington.
Still, I am very happy with what I did accomplish, considering all what I had going on during those 3 weeks. If I had just said I was too busy to take on the challenge, I would have completed far fewer paintings.
IF you have been following my blog, you may be wondering how the Culture Days event went … for now I’ll just say it went great! I want to touch up my painting a little before posting though.
Meanwhile, here is a video clip promoting Culture in Burlington, I make a 2 second cameo about halfway … you might recognize the paintings behind me!
If you are in the Burlington, Ontario area you will see some of my 30 in 30 paintings in my studio during the Art in Action Studio tour, Nov 1 &2. They are also available online.
No, you did not enter the Twilight Zone! I painted this playful little piece a few months ago when I discovered paint markers, and I wanted to explore pattern. It was fun, but I was not sure how it fit in with my body of work, so I tucked it away somewhere in my studio.
There was a point when I was embarrassed by my “experiments”, and after photographing them, I would gesso over the image and reuse the canvas. Now when I look back, I realize that these little paintings are stepping stones, and seen individually as little islands they may not make a lot of sense, but from a distance (or rather, in time) we can see how they link up to create a path.
My work, in general has been evolving in the last 2 years, and I have been laying down more and more stepping stones. Finally, I am starting to connect them, and I am really excited about the direction I am moving in. There is still a lot of work to do, but I have a vision now of where I want to go.
Eventually I will do a post to show the progression of this idea, but for now let me just say that this “Surreal Garden” full of alien looking plants was the step before the peacock paintings.
I would be lying if I said that I didn’t struggle with my painting yesterday. I made several false starts, changing subject matter etc., but finally – around midnight, back in the comfort of my own studio – I made a good choice, and everything else flowed. I am glad I pushed through, just kept painting until I made it to the other side, because I am very happy with how this little painting turned out.
On the other hand, I have reached a point where pushing to post a new painting (that I am proud of) every day has less benefits, and will be detrimental to my larger goals this week. So, I will be pausing my painting to catch up the business side of my art career, to prepare for my Culture Days event on Friday, to attend to family and household matters … and to catch up on sleep!
Instead, I will re-share links with paintings – that I created earlier in the year – onto Leslie Saeta’s blog for a few days. And when it feels right, I will paint and post new paintings for the challenge. I am not quitting altogether, I am just side-stepping the self-imposed craziness.
As an entrepreneur it is easy to get caught up in the drive to move forward and to forgo/forget about self-care, but it is important for avoiding burn-out.
Good luck to all of you artists who have taken up Leslie’s challenge this month, and thank you to those of you who are following me, and commenting on my blog!
Another variation of my peacock feather- inspired abstractions.
I’m still on the move this weekend, enjoying a little family time, wish they lived closer. I only have a few family members in Canada, but seeing them always means a long car ride. So different from St. Lucia, when you bump into family and friends wherever you go … to the beach, the grocery store, the bank.
I am very distracted here, so I’m going to wait till I get home later today to paint.
Peacock abstraction triptych- 3, 6″x6″, acrylic on canvas
This is the third canvas in the peacock feather-inspired abstract triptych. And here are the canvases all together …
and another combination …
Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, I had to quickly take them with my phone before I left the house. I am traveling with my brother and his wife, visiting family. I brought my paints, so that I can keep up with the challenge.
Peacock abstraction triptych -2, 6″x6″, acrylic on canvas
The second part of this triptych is abstracted, so right now it is all about movement and colour. I painted all 3 canvases at once, as if they were all one continuous image. Tomorrow when I post the third, I will also post a photo of what they look like together.
I was up late tidying my studio last night, in preparation for the interview. It was very casual, one videographer/interviewer, but I used it as motivation to tackle the chaos that was piling up in my studio.
Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of the interview, but Kune will be using the footage he is taking of several Cultural Makers in Burlington ON to compile a quick promotional video that will be introduced by our Mayor at the Culture Days event I am participating in next Friday, in front of Burlington City Hall.
If you are in the area, save the date, I will be doing an acrylic painting demonstration from noon till it gets too dark to see! There will be bands, & other performances, as well as other arts and culture booths to check out.
Peacock abstraction triptych -1, 6″x6″, acrylic on canvas
I am so excited about this triptych! I am posting the first one day, but there are 3 canvases that go together … the image is abstracted, so you could place them horizontally, vertically, or even separately. They can even be rotated, until you get a composition you like – I will post a few combinations on day 20 of the painting challenge, when I post the third painting.
I have more to say about this triptych, maybe tomorrow, today is a busy day, and at some point I need to clean/organize my studio because a film crew is coming by tomorrow to interview me. More on that later.
Another peacock feather-themed abstraction. I am having fun with these. There is a joyful sense of play, so much potential for new compositions … I have ideas for many other variations I’d like to explore.
Tomorrow morning I will photograph the next mini-series, also peacock feather-inspired. I painted them as a triptych. So in love with how it came out.
I’m looking forward to painting this subject on large canvases. There is an organic, natural flow to the work, that I also have when I paint foliage, it’s like I’m conveying the vitality, movement and life of my subject matter. It is obviously my passion. So, thank you for letting me share it with you.
This peacock feather themed abstraction is based more on yesterday’s painting than on reality, so it’s even looser. And the third painting – which I will post tomorrow – is even more so. I think they look better in person, especially when viewed together.
At this point, I have painted ahead … I’m really having fun running with this theme. I will probably stick with it for a while, there are so many variations I want to try out. That’s all I’ll say for now, but stay tuned!
Surprised? If you have been following my postings each day during the 30 in 30 challenge this month, then you may have been expecting more fruit today. The truth is, as much as I was enjoying working from observation, the still-life was just feeling too … still!
Often in my larger paintings, there are areas that I define/refine more (realism) and areas that I have fun just playing abstractly – in the case of a flower painting, that may be the background. So far during this challenge, it seems I’ve been giving in totally to one impulse in each painting, instead of a yin-yang combination.
With realism, the more you look, the more you see, and it is easy to get carried away on a wave of perfectionism. So, I wanted to take a break and paint something fun, something with more LIFE … and although the inspiration for this painting was another still-life object, my approach has been to imply more movement.
The object that I’m using as inspiration is a mask with peacock feathers. I bought it in Leeds, England in 2001 and it has just been hanging in my studio for years, waiting till I got around to use it as a prop. There is just something about a peacock theme that I love, maybe it is because there is so much blue and green and those are colours I use a lot in my painting. Maybe it’s because turquoise has always been my favourite colour.
It could also be because of the patterning, one of my favourite art movements is Art Nouveau – decorative and romantic, the goal was to bring beauty into our everyday lives. That’s an ideal I can get behind.
Embracing and inviting love and joy into our living and working environments does not mean a rejection – or ostrich-like attitude – of the ugly truths that also exist in all our lives. It is a conscious choice to counter-balance those truths.
One way for you to share more beauty with the world, would be to share my Facebook page! Thank you to those of you who have recently started following, commenting and liking. As my work does vary, the more people who get to see it means the faster each painting will connect with someone who just has to have it in their life. And of course, that means I can continue creating more art.
So, I really appreciate all of you who not only follow to see what I might paint next, but also tell your friends about my art!
BLUE ROOTS ART STUDIO – acrylic paintings of Caribbean & Canadian landscape, flowers & foliage. Burlington, ON, Canada. 905-639-3419
