iPad Project 2-28-11

iPad Project 2-27-11

Sky Scape

9" x 12", oil on panel

I recently read the F. Scott Fitzgerald book, Tender is the Night. He writes, "You will feel your own reflection sliding along the eyes of those who look at you. You are no longer insulated; but I suppose you must touch life in order to spring from it." A lot of people base their self-image on being noticed and admired by others. To some degree we all need to feel appreciated. I like this quote because it so astutely puts this mirroring into words. Looking at landscape, at light, at paintings is different. Sky Scape looks a bit like the open skies of the Midwest but also like land after the snow melts heading towards the mud in April. Luminous and peaceful, it is grounded by the purple/brown/black bottom. When I look, I start with where I'm at, myself, look out, take in, and feel lighter. It's a re-energizing process - touching 'life in order to spring from it.' It is a way to feel centered, the opposite of chasing other people's ideas of perfection.

Peggy Orenstein in her new book, Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture, says that culturally it isn't enough for a woman to be smart or a good person. We're supposed to be "hot" too. It's exhausting. I think I'm ready for more wrinkles, for when time takes it out of my hands. Until then I'll try to keep perspective and focus on my own gaze.

iPad Project 2-26-11

iPad Project 2-25-11

iPad Project 2-24-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-23-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-22-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-21-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-20-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

40th Birthday Self-Portrait 2-13-11

12" x 9", oil on panel

I'm not minding turning forty but it does feel different. At mid-life there comes a deeper looking at where one has been and where one would like to go. I'm feeling positively - that I've done alright and it will be alright. Appearing both strong and vulnerable, the gaze is penetrating as an artist's eye sees differently. Dots float in the background, incorporated into the figure in the eyes and round piece of white on the tip of the nose. The purple strap of my painting apron is painted asymmetrically, visually picked up by the delineation of the neck. I think I seem relaxed yet organized, structured. I've been wearing my hair in a way that is less controlled than when it was straight, going with the naturally wavy. It's looseness contrasts with the angularity in the picture. The oval cut black shirt mirrors the shape of the hair. Light comes from the right (I'm afraid this jpeg might appear overexposed but haven't been able to correct it). I might like to do this for every birthday. Paintings are made in time but this seems to accentuate the fact. It was very hard to paint, not because representation is difficult but because one has to wrestle with one's image until it feels right. The artist has to literally face herself, come to terms. There is nothing to do but move forwards.

iPad Project 2-19-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 1-18-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-17-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-16-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-15-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-14-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-13-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

Hydrangea Oil Pastels (PRIVATE COLLECTION)

Blue, Pink, & White, 18" x 12", oil pastel on black paper, PRIVATE COLLECTION

I'm working on a pink hydrangea oil painting - slow going.

The Poetry Foundation has a great podcast, Poetry Off the Shelf. I came across the July 9, 2010 installment where poets Edward Hirsch (President of the Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation) and Nick Flynn read Israeli and Slovenian poems in translation. One of the poems read by Hirsch was by an Israeli poet about his father. Hirsch commented on the particular tenderness in the poem, so unlike American Modernism. A hallmark of the latter is a coolness and rejection of anything with feeling for fear of sentimentality. This has continued in American Art and I am certain my bubbly and joyful images made out of color would be deemed frivolous and less serious through this lens. Today is my fortieth birthday. At forty, opinions about my art which run contrary to their truth are irrelevant. Just as certain as wrinkles beginning to set, so is my self-confidence. Dot I will.

iPad Project 2-12-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-11-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-10-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-9-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-8-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-7-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

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IPad Project 2-6-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

Painting: January 2011

22" x 26", oil on canvas

I'm thinking of a convict tracking time with hatch marks in relation to my dots. I'm not using them to keep a calendar or with longing for the passing of time. The dots occur in time, however, as actions and records of a moment. Like the prisoner's marks, they result from my existence in time-space.

The convict is uncertain of the future, as am I. I don't think the convict has the same relish for making his mark, the drag of the pencil or chalk on the wall. His marks are numerical symbols. Mine incorporate vision, organization, and sensation. Both are emblematic of will. Both are of personal importance.

My dots are made with the love of painting and the belief that they, and hence painting, matter. I know what the paintings of others mean to me and so I persist, insist that they are relevant. Take a step back and its our collective hope that our lives matter. It's our will that makes it so. No giving up.

iPad Project 2-5-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-4-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-3-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-2-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.

iPad Project 2-1-11

A project for 2011: Every day for one year I will make and post a new iPad artwork. It begins with the image for January 1st and then I will change that same image each day, not starting a new one but building off each subsequent day's image. Thus you will see the evolution of one artwork in 365 stages over a year's time. Each stage is an independent artwork. Sometimes the changes will be subtle, sometimes drastic. We'll see what happens. Enjoy! Reminder: images from this site can only be used with the permission of the artist. Email to contact.