Abstract with Mirrors: New Painting

This is the painting I forgot to post when I finished it about a month ago. It's entitled "Beneath the City," and is valued at $400. It's a 16"x 20" acrylic/mixed media on canvas. The silver parts are shattered mirrors, which I have been experimenting with for a little while.

It took a couple months to finish, and is inspired by the works of Brandon Boyd (of the band INCUBUS) and Morris Bennett, a local artist. You can see some of his works at http://www.morrisbennett.com .


EDIT 7.29.2009: This painting has been sold and is no longer available.

Dabbling in Interior Decorating

In an effort to help my parents out while I'm living at home and looking for a real job, I've started working on updating certain rooms in the house. We live in a two-story country home, and my mother is into the burnt siena/gold/sage green color scheme. The room that I've spent the most time on thus far is the dining room, which was done in two shades of a golden yellow, separated by a chair rail. Here is a shot of the overall effect:


My father and I worked on the painting of this room together. Beneath the chair rail, we did a solid gold (shoutout to that old show, lol), and then above it, we painted a lighter gold, then let it dry. After that, we grabbed old rags, squished them around in the gold paint bucket, and pressed them onto the wall over and over to create a beautiful rustic, antique look.

Afterwards, I was given the task of finding some frames for reproductions that we had done of old photographs given to us by my grandmother. They are of our relatives on my father's side, and they are all black and white. I went to Michael's (http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home) and found some beautiful, vintage-looking frames, spent around $90 on frames and matting, and put them up on the wall. This really added to the rustic, familiar appearance of the room.

The final touch was inspired by a great bowl my mother had found at a local housewares store. I created a bouquet of faux flowers by using styrofoam blocks as an anchor in the bowl and Spanish moss to hide the foam from sight. I carefully picked out all the flowers to stick with the basic color scheme...and as a result, spent wayyyy too much time in the store (as usual). It's the first bouquet I've ever made.
I have to tell you, though, it would look a lot better if my cat didn't continually chew up the plastic grass. I've already replaced it three times, and have pretty much given up on trying to keep him away from it.

Chalk It Up

I recently returned from my journey to Troy, NY to compete in their 6th Annual River Street Festival street painting contest. It was pretty much smack dab in the middle of Downtown Troy, at Monument Square. There were a lot of really talented artists there, and I was glad to participate... I didn't win anything, but maybe next year! My favorite part was hearing little kids say, "Mom, look! That's from 'UP'!!!" Which, of course, made me feel good in that at least it was recognizable. A lot of teenagers and adults also commented on how much they liked the movie and my drawing. The sidewalk chalking was a lot of fun, though I didn't have a whole lot of time to walk around and enjoy the rest of the festival...but I did see some of the musical performance by the lead singer of The Spin Doctors, and checked out the sidewalk arts & crafts stalls, which impressed me. Maybe someday I will have enough money to support local artists and buy their stuff--I wish I could right now! lol. :-)

To the left, I've posted a picture of my mural by itself, and then one with the mural that some girls drew next to it. They chose to do a scene from the book, "Where the Wild Things Are."

I hope to do something like this again very soon, it was quite an experience and a LOT of fun! :-)

StreetPainting Contest

Tomorrow is the River Street Festival in Troy, NY, and I'm really excited to go. I have registered for the StreetPainting Contest, the winner of which receives a money prize, so I'm really hoping I can win. Unfortunately, the size of the area each person gets is only about 3' x 5', but hopefully I can make it work. I practiced in my driveway today and made the drawing waaaayyyyy too big, but I think I can scale it down enough so it makes sense tomorrow. :-) I'm doing a still from the Disney/Pixar movie "UP." I'll definitely post pictures next time I log on.

For more information about the River Street Festival, visit http://www.troyny.gov/ .

My First Parade Float

Can't believe I forgot to post about the parade float I worked on a few weeks ago. Through a friend, Ihad heard about the Quadricentennial Parade for Rhinebeck, NY, and that volunteers were needed to work on the float that would be used as a focal point for the parade. Of course I jumped at the chance. I bought some SPF 60 sunblock (us pale people are sun-intolerant) and trekked to Rhinebeck for a three-day weekend of volunteering. I used a jigsaw, power sander, staple gun, and other power tools to help assemble the float, which was designed by Terry Gipson of Gipson Design Group, Inc. (You can check out their website at http://www.gipsondesigngroup.com/ .) Their portfolio is quite unique and impressive if you get the chance to look it over. In any case, the float turned out quite well, and I was glad to lend my painting and powertool experience to a wonderful project. I have included a photo of the finished float. :-)



To view information about Rhinebeck and the lovely countryside of the Hudson Valley, please visit http://www.rhinebeck.com/ or http://www.rhinebeckchamber.com/ .



Many thanks to Terry Gipson for the opportunity and experience! I hope to work on more projects like this in the future.

Painting to Music

A few minutes ago, I visited the blog at www.creativeeveryday.com after reading about it in Artful Blogging magazine. I really enjoy the artwork and ideas offered there, and the most recent post was about creating to music...so I decided to share some of my music choices, because I rarely (if ever) create to silence. Here's some of the music I love hearing in the background while I paint...

...CITIZEN COPE...

their music is really soft-sounding, but has some killer hip-hop and ska/reggae beats in the background that creates a fantastic high for the listener

...JOHN BUTLER TRIO...

can't stop listening to their Grand National CD that came out about a year ago; songs like "Groovin' Slowly" and "Daniella" create some beautiful images and colors in my head

...ADELE...

the British sensation with jazzy overtones and pop/rock undertones, her voice is incredible and gets me in such a good mood every time

...ATMOSPHERE...

these are some seriously talented guys; I usually hate listening to rap when it comes to painting, but when their poetry spills out of my stereo, I am inspired

...THE DECEMBERISTS...

their CDs The Crane Wife and Castaways and Cutouts are fantastic; images conjured up by the lyrics deal with early American Realism and the plight of various classes in American society

...INCUBUS...

the wide range of sounds from all of their albums influences me a lot when I paint...from their first CD Fungus Amongus to one of their newer ones, Light Grenades, there are so many styles and genres mixed together that you can't help but feel totally freed and creative

So here's where I invite others to tell me what they like (or don't like) to listen to when they create. I am always looking for new music, and since I'm not a huge fan of radio, I would love to hear what everyone has to say! Comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks guys!

Experiments in Canvas...or What-Have-You

I'm always looking for new ways to bring my creative ideas to life, and have been thinking about different "canvases" I can use for my artwork. Typically, I stick with the traditional canvas of 16"x20" or smaller...however, there is a whole world of cool things out there that I could try painting on. In response to requests from others and my own ideas, I have painted designs and images on chairs, old milk jugs, an antique saw (sandblasted first to give it a paintable surface), and recently, slate rock direct from an old house that was torn down. What I really like about these various surfaces is that each one presents a different challenge for me. For example, the slate was difficult to deal with, mostly because it is not completely flat, as a canvas is, and the paint didn't take so well to it at first (acrylic and varnish). Perseverence pays off though. My finished product was made even more unique and interesting because I started off with a blank slate (pun intended). :-D

AND, as you all know, spring is here, and that can only mean one thing: TAG SALES! The beautiful thing about tag sales is that antique-looking items are selling for cheap, and here is where your creativity can come into play. As you wander through a tag sale, it is probable that you will spot at least a couple items that can serve as fantastic "canvases." As I mentioned before, an old saw can set the stage for a lovely countryside folk art painting. There are endless possibilities. If you're like me and working with a strict budget, tag sales (and even independent antique shops) are the way to go.

You are only limited by the extent of your own imagination...and what's available to you, of course. I encourage all artists out there to challenge themselves as well and try something that might seem totally odd or too difficult...you never know where it will land you, and the finished product is so often worth it!