"Vessels"

Divine Vessels

60 x 76
Acrylic Glazes

This post completes an ongoing project I began in October. I have learned many things from this experience....too numerous to mention here. But the overarching lesson learned was to never underestimate the ability and the need of the human spirit to continue to learn and grow and express ones self. This was truly an amazing experience. I would be remiss if I didn't mention my mentor on this journey, Kathy Cartwright (www.kcartwright@kacartwright.com)

Thank you Kathy!

Below is my artist statement for the series "Vessels". Following that is a statement that pertains specifically to the triptych Divine Vessels.

"Vessels"

My art reflects my search for life’s meaning through the exploration of the interrelations between the spiritual, physical and emotional realms. In that search, I’ve found a myriad of “vessels” that contain and from which emanate life-giving forces. The paintings in this series utilize vessels to metaphorically contextualize the transference of energies that nourish life both physically and spiritually. Although my paintings include recognizable subjects, I’m predominantly interested in the interplay of color and form, not just representation. Each work begins with the transformation of ordinary containers, such as bottles or vases, into abstracted forms that interrelate to create a symbolic vessel. Because I am a vessel, my canvases are the vessels that carry my thoughts and emotions to the viewer. I choose historically symbolic colors such as red for “life blood,” yellow for “power,” and blue for “truth” to support the message in each painting. I intend to explore the myriad of possibilities of this theme in the future.

Triptych: Divine Vessels
Divine Vessels is the first painting in the Vessels Series that expresses my belief in divine spirits that guide, inspire, and protect us. These vessels connect us to another life plane; they deliver messages and give us faith and hope. This triptych depicts earthly male and female figures in juxtaposition to the central divine figures as an expression of the connections between these two life planes. My palette consists of colors that support this theme expressing truth(blues); wisdom (violets/purples); power/presence (yellows/golds) and faith/peace (white).

Seeing the Light at the End of the Canvas

Just thought i would report that the triptych is still in progress. Hopefully by the end of the month it will be complete and i will post it. I am presently applying the color glazes. Even though i am working hard to master this technique, I don't know when i have had so much fun applying color! At the same time I am writing my artist statement about this series. This is not so much fun. It is very hard to put into words the emotion and thoughts of my work. I have always struggled with this. With my mentor, teacher and friend Kathy's (www.kacartwright.com) help i am sure i will accomplish this and more. So bear with me a while longer and hopefully you will feel it was worth it!

Divine Spirits III

Here they are: Divine Spirits III, the third in the series I have been working on. It has been an amazing journey to get here. I liken it to learning to paint with my left hand or trying to learn to run backwards!! But it was worth the effort. I am now transferring them to five foot canvases and hoping to end up with a triptych of Divine Spirits. Should be fun!! Stay tuned!!

Divine Spirit II

This is the counterpart of Divine Spirit I. If you look closely you can see many of the same formations as the first one. Both designs came from the same original design but with fracturing shapes and viewing it in a different perspective a male figure emerged. I should have Divine Spirits III up in a few days. i just have a few minor changes to make!

Two more works on the horizon...

I have just finished the underpaintings for two more works in this series that seems to be developing from my inner voice. The first one is the male counterpart to my last blog post which I have temporarily named Divine Spirit. It is the second work to be created from the same design. So at this point I shall name him Divine Spirit II.

The third work is from a totally different design of bottles but has nonetheless become a "third

party." I guess an appropriate temporary title would be Divine Spirits III.

At this point i am just wondering how the concept of bottles (or vessels) fits into the designs. In looking up the word vessel in the dictionary i found this definition: a person regarded as a holder or receiver of something nonmaterial: a vessel of grace. hmmmmm.....food for thought!

My Art is About....

On my friend kathy cartwright's blog (www.k-cartwright.blogspot.com) we had a discussion about finishing the sentence My Art is About..... I began to think about this and how to explain what my art is about. Not an easy thing to verbalize. So as i let that thought simmer for a while i came up with the following:

My art is more than "just" art.

It's a way of life
It's an expression of myself
It's an extension of myself
It's a daily prayer
It's a meditation
It's a look into my soul
It's my soul speaking, singing and drawing
It's a deep breath
It's inhaliing life
It's gratitude
It's a gift
It's more than "just" art.
It's hard work
It's a best friend
It's sometimes a foe.

So for now this is the only way i can verbalize what my art is. The rest will have to speak for itself on the canvas.

Ta Dah! The Finished Work

After many weeks and many many layers of glazes I have finally completed one of the designs i have been working on. It literally took a turn from the original landscape format design (shown below and in previous posts) into an interesting figure. It is amazing to me that the results came from a bottle design. Posted below is the transformation from original design to grisailles to the final work at the left. I haven't named her yet. Any suggestions??

Original design. It needs more division of space or fracturing.

This became too fractured and overdone. I realized i had to go too far to find the middle place to come back to.

I was able to "unfracture" it by going back to the original design and reworking it.

This was much better. I now needed to find the design within the design. This was accomplished by rotating the work and choosing a portrait format. Adding the first glazes helped to define the figure and i continued to develop her with subsequent glazes. I chose a phalo blue and cad red palette. It was interesting working with only two colors. Even more interesting was watching it take shape layer by layer. Working over a grisaille helped me stay within my value ranges.

Adding some opaques in the final stages added definition and depth to some areas needing more than a glaze.

There are approximately 20 layers of glaze on this piece. I am developing her counterpart and hope to share that also with you when it is done. Both figures developed out of one original design. The most interesting part of these works is that the biblical looking figures that are coming out of the designs have been subjects that have been on my mind lately and in my thoughts. Creating designs from your mind or memory will certainly bring more meaning to your art!