the chaos behind things

I drew and redrew the same image of flowers from a photograph.  None of them quite looked like the flowers.  But the image was mesmerizing and the chaos drawings that arose were … something … I don’t know what they were.

This is one of them above.

Now, oddly enough, it’s also one of many studies for a Flower Wall painting I made that was exhibited this summer.

The passage down at the very bottom of the painting, to the left of the butterfly, is how it appeared in the painting itself.  I made lots of drawings of the image.  Not sure how many.  No doubt — some time or other — I’ll make others — or will draw something like it.

Here’s how Flower Wall looked in the exhibit. It measures 48 x 48 inches.

And the theme of the butterfly crossed into the large Butterfly Emblem.  Not planned.  It’s just the way of butterflies — they flit from one place to another.

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What the Sky says about the Road – on exhibit

What the Sky Says about the Road is on exhibit at the Torpedo Factory Gallery through the month of June in historic Old Town Alexandria.

What the sky says about the road

What the sky says about the road is the name I gave this oil painting measuring 24 x 18 inches.  It’s going to be in the June exhibit at the Art League in historic Old Alexandria, Virginia starting tomorrow.  The exhibit runs through July 1.

 

going on exhibit soon

The dark painting of flowers has been accepted into the May exhibit at the Art League.  It will be on the wall from May 8th until June 3rd in Old Town Alexandria.

on view at the Torpedo Factory

Got a chance to take a picture of my latest painting on exhibit.  It’s the long format landscape on the bottom right.  It’s now on view at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.  Here’s another view:

Making its debut soon ….

Just learned that the Crepe Myrtles will be on exhibit at the Virginia Art League in March.  The painting will be included in the spring landscape exhibit running March 6 through March 31st.

“Koi Silk” at the Art League

Got a chance to see the January exhibit at the Virginia Art League and to photograph my oil pastel Koi Silk in situ.  I love the framing which was done by Carriage House Framing.   The whole thing measures 41.5 x 29 inches.

Here’s another view for scale.

The exhibit in historic Old Town Alexandria goes through February 4.

Here’s a link for Carriage House Framing.

http://carriage-house-picture-framing.business.site/

 

between drawing & painting

A few weeks ago in September I went to the Botanic Gardens to draw with a Meetup group.  I decided to use some Sennelier oil pastels that I have — just because — and it turned out to be rather a challenge.  Sennelier oil pastels, as you may know, are expensive and lip-stick like (when new) and corrosive to the paper (eventually) because of the oil in them.  I used them on Arches oil paper, and since mine are not new, rather than being lip-stick like, they were just sticky.  I knew then that precision was not the effect to seek and so I bashed the color around.  And it’s kind of pretty if somewhat incoherent.

For a second drawing, I used Neopastels (Caran d’Ache) which I love.  Not much detail or evident precision in this drawing either but by the time I began it I had been standing rather a longish time, balancing my box of pastels under the drawing itself, a very ungainly way to work!  The flowers are composed of little flowerets that cascade across in a ball.  I got the ball quality, but not the parts.  Still, not bad to get some if not all of the complex perception.

The gooey Sennelier drawing sits inside the closed Arches oil paper tablet.  The Neopastel sits propped against furniture on the studio floor where I can see it as I work. (I’m working on a largish painting of a moth at the moment).   Seeing it there it has begun to affect me with its bright colors.  And even though the kind of flower portrayed isn’t even evident from the drawing, I find myself wanting to go back to Botanic gardens and make more incoherent drawings like these.  And I’m wondering if I could make a whole incoherent painting of them, one made exclusively from drawings.

So, we’ll see.  But for now, I’m all moth.

Here’s a detail of the gooey Sennelier where you can see the texture available. It’s a very expressive material for a certain kind of work.  I wasn’t quite in the mood for it that day I used it, but its appeal sneaks up on you later on after the work is done ….

The color relationships are not unlike those of the flower painting I made recently, which is now on the wall at the Virginia Art League during the month of October.

 

on the wall: Pickle Jar of Flowers

I just learned that my pastel “Pickle Jar of Flowers” has been selected for inclusion in the upcoming “Mark” exhibit at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia.

Here’s how the gallery describes the exhibit:

Pencil marks, painting strokes, woodcuts, or a dynamic editorial eye are all marks artists use to create their works. Mark-making has been associated with conventional pen, pencil, and paper, but artists make marks on ceramics, plates, fabric, and film, with tools ranging from sticks to scrapers to pixels. Artists can also be marked with memories, conditions, or experiences that shape how their artwork is made. Specific tools, techniques, and the artist’s physicality are embedded in every work of art. This exhibit will show the viewer how the artist’s mark can be the most important element in transforming the ‘blank canvas’ into an image. Artists are also encouraged to provide a brief statement about their ‘mark’.  The curator is Charles Jean-Pierre.

The exhibit will be on view from September 5th through October 1st with a reception taking place on Thursday September 14th from 6:30-9:30 pm.

A print of the painting is available for purchase here:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/pickle-jar-of-flowers-aletha-kuschan.html