New Watercolor: Although spring break has flowwwnnnn by, I’ve been enjoying spending a bit of time in my studio (new and improved with a new rug!). Daydreaming about summer, which usually includes the beach, I painted a watercolor created from horizontal lines. A first attempt included horizontal, vertical, and wavy lines (see a few posts ago), but I wasn’t happy with how busy the painting was, so I simplified. Using positive and negative space, I somewhat abstractly illustrated clouds and waves. As for the color palette, I was partially inspired by Long Island beaches, but took some liberties using colors that reoccur throughout my work.
A painting I did a couple of months ago. I have a box full of children greeting cards from my dad in the 50’s, they are a great source of inspiration, including for this painting… Happy Bunny Day!
Artwork and kitchen Updates!!!……
The first picture includes an artwork I won at an auction at Cinders Gallery. Not sure if they still have them, but at their old gallery front on Havemeyer they would have auctions with artwork from the different artists they represent, at very reasonable prices. It says ‘curb your dog’ on it and is by the artist Kelie Bowman. Below it is an old cross stitch that reminds me spring (specifically May!) is just around the corner. Then, in the mud room (to the right) is a print by the artist George Anderson, who does a lot of Maine themed paintings of fishermen, lobstermen, and other nautical scenes. I love his choice of bright, modern colors, and hope to have an original some day.
The rest of the photos are some before and afters of our kitchen. I was never a fan of the sort of country-raspberry red on the walls. It made the room dark and blahhh - so peach it is! At first I thought the peachy pink was a bit much, but once we re-occupied the walls and counters with some things (cookie jar collection!), its looks great! Eventually we’d like to get butcher block tops, put up a white subway tile backsplash and re-do the floors (art deco tiles?!).
Ocean landscape: A partially successful 1st attempt on an idea for a series of paintings. Still figuring out the best way to handle the waves, because they are obviously not working, and the sand is a work in progress, but I think my second attempt will be a lot better. Also not sure about the wavy lines, might be to busy…. BUT I’m happy with the colors, sky, and line work for the water - prettty!
More alpaca to share. The watercolor is one I did almost 4 summers ago. There are lots of alpaca farms in Maine, and we usually visit one on our drive up to Acadia…
The second alpaca drawing is a drawing for a painting I have yet to finish (the painting can be seen in my house art tour). I’m not really convinced of the center part of the painting/drawing, so 2 years later and I still haven’t finished it. Just waiting for some more inspiration. It was also inspired by textiles; persian rugs (which I love!) and South American textiles (Peru and Bolivia are where alpaca are from).
Painted this a month or so ago, and bought a frame for it today. I especially like it next to my aloe plant in the yellow planter. The colors and shapes compliment one another really nicely.
Back to the alpaca. I have quite a few pieces of artwork I’ve created with alpaca in it. They are just so cute and soft! I could go on and on about them… but I’ll save that for another time.
This is the first part in a series of posts of our art collection. Since college I have been collecting art by various artists, including friends or artists that have caught my eye. Some notable ones include Mark Ryden, which I will show in a later post, Gina Garan’s Blythe doll photos (I have 2!), and a husband wife team from Portland Oregon who go by the name Apak.
As artists, my husband and I also display our own artwork around the house, although there are to many pieces that have yet to be framed. We’ve been living here since August, so it is a bit of a work-in-progress, but I like to think of our home as an art installation in and of itself; with lots of color, figurines, antiques and art carefully curated…
More to come soon!
Happy almost Valentine’s Day! Missed the boat on getting this printed as a card this year, but here is a painting I did a couple of months ago for Valentine’s Day. Going to start working on more holiday cards… Easter, Mother’s Day, etc., in hopes that I will have the time to get my Etsy shop up and running. Enjoy!
A variety of awesome paintings by my equally awesome husband. The one on the middle left is currently hanging over our bed and is his interpretation of the Costa Rican rainforest… Lovvve the colors and how they interact together, along with the organic shapes and lines. Recently he also had a painting featured on the Nate Berkus show! To see it go here: http://behogan.org/ and it is the top center one.
Here are some older works I am revisiting in a concurrent series to the landscapes in reference to the human body. I posted them because there is a lot of similarities and to show the multiple histories I am building from.
The smallest is the Sediment painting, at 1.5x2’; and then Architecture as Landscape and Costa Rica paintings, at 4x2’; Arizona is 5’ and the two panel is 6x3’. All done in enamels.
I will be posting some new works soon, as well as other paintings from the recent past.
Brian
One of my favorite paintings I did awhile back! Although I intend to put mostly new artwork and images up, I want to get some of my older stuff on here as well, which will eventually be on a website of my artwork.
After going to Costa Rica a few years back, I became a bit obsessed with sloths (we saw a few in the wild!). This painting is done in latex house paint, and the tree and leaves are a glossy varnish. Some glitter was also painted on the sloths eyes and the edges of the painting….. I love how sloths (3-toed) always look like they are smiling! Perhaps someday I will visit or volunteer here: http://www.slothsanctuary.com/what-we-do/sloth-rescue-and-treatment/
