Vacancy

The tension between abstract and figurative art has been ongoing for over half a century. This painting exploits that tension. Both the brightly colored stripes and the black and white face vie for dominance. The girl's eyes engage the viewer and yet remain out of reach.

"Vacancy", Oil and acrylic on canvas, 30"x40", 2006

Just For Fun

There are a lot of University of Georgia fans around here. This was a relatively quickly done painting of "Uga", the teams' mascot.

No heavy art theory here, just something for fun.

11/22/09 Update: Uga died unexpectedly on Nov 19th.



"Uga", 25" x 24", Acrylic on canvas

Dawn

I've been playing around again with what I've termed "anti-grid" paintings. In an attempt to speed-up the process, I used a smaller canvas, but same sized triangle as "Rose" (see earlier post). This leaves the face less defined and me somewhat ambivalent about this painting.

"Dawn", 30"x30", acrylic on canvas

Rose

I started to count the number of triangles in this painting. Then I decided it would take longer than it did to complete it. I estimate over 5000, though.
I use the triangles as an anti-grid. Although the image consists of individual units (triangles), they are irregular and individual, each triangle contributing its own important function to make the whole. This is in contrast to a gridded or pixelated image, in which all units are identical except for color and intensity. Can you place the metaphor?

"Untitled (Rose)", Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 48"

Breaking the Rules

Tina Steele Lindsey wrote in her blog not too long ago that she would at times "bend the rules" by using supports that she had been told would not work. Woo Hoo! You go girl! Give me an art rule and I am either going to figure how to break it successfully or confirm it just can't be done. Take this painting for example. It is oil and acrylic on canvas - only I painted the acrylic after the oil. It worked perfectly - the panes between the images are painted in acrylic and appear almost (but imperfectly) adhered on. Just what the doctor ordered.
"Attraction" 2006, 30"x40", acrylic and oil on canvas.

Artist's Block

I, like many artists, find myself in situations where I don't know what to paint - artist's block. But sometimes the work defines itself. This 48"x48" acrylic on canvas, I estimate, will be comprised of over 5000 colored triangles. So when I walk into my studio I know I what to do - paint triangles. Not always the most fun thing to do, but I am liking where this is going. I'll post the finished painting when done.