Artist blog about abstract figurative oil painting and contemporary collage. Discussion about painting in the studio and the creative process of painting abstract and impressionistic oil paintings.
This is a 9"x 12" plein air California landscape in oil on a mahogany luan panel that I finished yesterday. The location is McClellan Park Ranch in Cupertino, California. I used a varnish wash as the first layer and the following palette: ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, pthalo green, carbozole violet, transparent red oxide, cadmium orange, hansa yellow orange, cadmium yellow orange, cadmium green light, and titanium white. There are passages of transparency alternating with opacity.
"Primitive Horse" is part of "The Horse: A Guide to the Unknown" series of horse collage/mixed media pieces I've been creating. This work is 36"x 40" and I used acrylic ink, tech ink, acrylic, watercolor and collage on canvas.
I just completed this mixed media piece, titled "Ethereal" (24" x 24" on board). This is part of a new series I am working on called "The Horse: A Guide To The Unknown". I am interested in the ways in which horses connect us to ourselves, to spirit, to the unspoken, and to the unknown. I am exploring the concept of inner and outer worlds, as well, through this work.
I always wanted to be an artist. I love the materials of art: the firmness of a hog bristle brush, the creamy thickness of oil paint, the texture of bark paper, the smell of plaster. I love stepping into the mystery of creation; not knowing what is going to happen and being astonished by the image that emerges. I'm drawn to exploring the reaches of the
imagination and the orphaned off parts of the self. I like to see what bubbles up from the unconscious mind.