I'm on a roll !!!!

This has been a very encouraging week. I've been  waiting for the finalists in the Lethbridge 10000 art prize to be announced......and here I am, to be hung in the show from 15th to 30th June at the Lethbridge Gallery, Paddington, Brisbane.

Signs Of The Times - acrylics, 46 x 46cm

This is a comment on the destructive proliferation of advertising in our society. The (deliberate) crazing and distressed surface implies the disintegration of our social structure with figures disappearing into a background of colourful, and often indecipherable, advertising.

AND there's more.... my second submission will be in the online show for the same duration...

A Conversation With Myself - acrylics, 35 x 35 cm

In my quest to find the essence of abstract painting I have given myself over to the simple movement of brush and paint .  The expression of id is instinctual and unstructured.

AND.....I've sold a painting this week...hooray!



Lean On Me, or When Pears Are Blue
30 x 30 cm, acrylics

It's been a week of renewed confidence...just when it was waning....and a boost to the art account that will enable me to buy more supplies...Yay !!!!!

To celebrate this wonderful turn of events I am offering FREE POSTAGE in my ETSY shop until 8th June for my followers.
Just use this coupon code:  YAYMAY2013 before checkout.

Back to Jane's last class next post...... see ya.



Fun with Jo & Jane...penultimate week

It's going to be sad to finish this class.  This is the 5th and second last lesson.  I wont elaborate on the steps as I don't wish to usurp Jane's teaching status. 

However, to get to the following images I had to -
1. Cover a page with marks... painted, drawn, or other mark making method.
2. Isolate two separate sections of the page and work on them individually.
3. Bring the whole together into a composition.

My progress has been remarkable thanks to the excellent structure of the class. The last lesson requires at least six resolved images, so I'll be VERY busy this week.

Back to class with Jane

Jane Davies  class continues to take up so much of my time...but I love it.  We've progressed to finding ways to connect disparate elements (collage, paint, line) on a page, and then making compositions using transparent overlays.  

The transparent overlays were tissue paper that I'd made marks on with paint, or stamp, or line.

This first image was my last.  It's top of the list because, to me, it was a better composition than the following.

These two I find too messy and not well integrated.  They have some good points...palette, energy, mark making...but overall not as well resolved as the first one.

 

I will probably go back to these and make them work better, but already am on to the next lesson so they'll just have to wait.

 

Don't go too far...I'll be back soon.

 



LIBERATE YOUR ART

Blogging friend, and photographer, Kat Sloma, organises a postcard swap each year that she calls 'Liberate Your Art'. 

Aptly titled, the postcards are your own images, either printed copies or handmade. Most of the participants are photographers, but there are some who work in different media, like me.

You send five cards and get six back, including one of her own.....this year it's this one....
  

Kat Sloma

 Kat is a talented photographer, and this is a gorgeous photo.

The other five that I've received are :

Vicki - Hula-la

Elizabeth Slade

Lisa Wright

Heather Black (sorry, can't find a link)

Suzee Ramirez

It's rather nice to imagine your art, or photography, winging its way around the world, and being held in collections of other artists. 

Photo Book Giveaway

PhotoBookGirl, in association with MyPublisher is having just the best giveaway...I HAVE to share it.  You could win a photo book every month for a year.

Imagine ...one for your holidays, one for your art, one for family celebrations, etc., etc.

Definitely a prize worth winning...and you just might....or I will...or someone will.

An Oldie...but Goodie

The Bird Feeder

I seem to work on several series, on and off, at the same time.  This painting, now sold, is one of my Italy In The Square series.   It is a series that I still revisit every so often.

I've decided to put it up for a vote that could win me AU$500 worth of art supplies.

If you like it, I'd be delighted if you could visit...

http://woobox.com/sas3g8/3dv5gu

...and vote.  You can vote each day for the duration...it all helps.

Next post I'll be back at class with Jane.....my, she has me working!

This week's mini-lesson

One colour - one shape (large & small)

Jane's workshop this week included a mini-lesson, to enable some late-starters to catch up.  We were given restrictive parameters and, using what we'd learned in previous lessons, were to make compositions.



One colour - one shape (large and small)



Three colours (black, white, and red) - one shape (large and small)
 

Three colours - one shape (large and small)
 

We were allowed to use tints and shades of the colours chosen, and any combination of techniques of application that we wanted to. Oddly enough, these restrictions still give you plenty of choice.  I chose circles as I seem to be more comfortable with them. 

On reflection, I think I should have chosen triangles in order to get out of my comfort zone.  I could've added collage elements too...silly me.

I think I'll really have to go through these lessons again when the workshop is over, and really push myself.