Sticky and messy process but worth it for the time spent studying the painting! Hammershoi's dissolutions to white and black were particularly stunning in the piano, the lamp, the woman and the table. It was also a bold move to put the least contrast-y objects in the foreground.

Nothing is left to chance. Even the crease in the tablecloth creates an arrow pointing at the woman.

Collage, 8”x11”

I'm longing to marry Hammershoi's thoughtful approach to composing with a wild palette in my future work. And also, the strong sense of presence that is evoked by a human from the back. She was so easy to paint and yet so important.

I decided to 'plein air' my insomnia and did a couple of drawings of still life lit by the red night light. Fun to go back to red/green palette. I found that I was much freer at 3 am--a 'who gives a rip' attitude that helped me loosen back up...

16 x 20 inches, oils: cad yellow medium & dioxazene purple.

Probably better when it’s seen in B/W, so maybe I’m not satisfied the color so much.

A little bit hot afternoon

I prefer the purple/ yellow one, but green/red needed more thought. I like the thinking process.

The crayon which I used is made for kids, so their pallet is limited and intensive. Shadows especially on the face are one of the fun/ scary parts.

The last one ( with red shirt) was made while I held Coco in my arms. Her attitude, cry, fast breath, grab a cup or arching her body, etc. made my decision faster.

My favorite part of what I saw was the filtered light leaving these juicy golden blobs of sunlight across the grass. And work is in progress on capturing just how swoopy the pine branches were.

Not sure if there is really a big difference between using Diox Purple (top) or Magenta mixed with UMB (bottom)

The figure was from the Sunday long pose session. I really fell in love with the chair and a square format.

Q-magenta, cad yellow medium, q-violet, tite white

1. How to integrate/harmonize the inside/outside w/out losing the impact of coolness of interior with the brightness of afternoon sun.

2. What composition changes would you suggest?

3. This is much louder/clownish than I want it to be. What should I be paying more attention to in next explorations?

Version 1: cool dark interior

Version 2: its current state (the one that feels better)is lighter, relatively warmer interior. I poured some warm light into the tote on the threshold as a link between the two worlds.

Collage

Hands

I had 0 idea what I was doing with the clay but loved working with my hands and using a different part of my brain. What a lovely surprise and day!

I had just washed some quilts my great grandma made that I inherited recently and got to bring home from my trip back west.. they mean so much to me and were too beautiful not to capture with my favorite antique vase! 😭

I was thinking about Spring and how the season wouldn't exist without Winter. I tried to express that through the background colors and shapes.

I’ve always been more comfortable with drawing than painting, measuring and structuring rather than feeling it out, so that lecture really felt like permission in the best way (or maybe a reminder), that none of the image-making approaches are mutually exclusive, and that a painting /painting process can hold all of it. So grateful for all the lectures, and the different artists and different ways of seeing and being we get to hear about. One of the many reasons being in the MCA is so wonderful!

So many swirling ideas! Needed to step back this morning and draw from observation out the back door.. a very necessary entry point for the day.

Two other options I'm thinking about that I mocked up in Photoshop

Decided to work bigger! I hope to finish the background with some simple 2 value shapes

ALSO I went to sculptor open studio and I had a blast!! The whole beginning was the process of whacking the clay with a stick and I think I really enjoyed such a blunt method after noodling with in 2d.

This was so fun!! Loved making this lil monster world. Wanted to explore different vibes with both. Feel like I miss some of those tasty shapes and clearer value structure moments that are in the collage iteration compared to the gouache, so will keep those things in mind into whatever the next steps bring.

Still not 100% buying the bottom third clicking with the composition, but I just wanted to try and see what could happen. I’m glad I kept going even if I’m still unsure where it will end up.

Brought in a little magenta and wee bit of blue into a lemon yellow/violet base.

Right now the de Heem collage is really calling to me, and it's back up on my wall and I'm really enjoying looking at it. I think I might want to return to it and try collage satelliting, which I never got around to last term!

Also.. how do we only have a month left?! 🥲

Formal Concerns

monochrome vs. color

negative space as protagonist

pinwheels and mandalas

wrinkles, folds, pleats, petals

essentializing vs. realism

Poetic Themes

Moving from the center / Labyrinth

Mundane as portal to the Divine

Fibonacci sequence & sacred geometry

"Go to the limits of your longing" Rilke

"The secret name of every death is life again." Mary Oliver

Hiding vs Revealing

Far Away, So Close

What Materiality Feels Important?

Drapery - soft scraped background vs palimpsest of brushstrokes vs crisp edges.

Need luster, use more linseed oil

Layers to show time made visible.

Questions:

New formats? Long, skinny canvases?

New perspectives not just aerial or profile?

Folds/pleats as portal to mystery?

Reveal and conceal?

Painting emanating its own heat?

Sorry for all the iterations - but slow progress. Wanted to get Waxy and a little more abstract with this one but may leave it for the next one

!!! Thinking too much and not painting enough pondering curtain

. x

I’m working bigger for this one (12x16 paper), because I figured out a way to attach a board to my travel easel! Posted a photo of my setup. Yes, that’s my refrigerator, lol

Crayons

Also did a fun collage today at the Wednesday liferoom at SLU.

Himi gouache

Short sketch at Greenlake. The blue lines are made by Coco. lol

I came here for friends’ wedding party.

After the party, I noticed a text from my parents which said we lost our cat. I adopted him when newborn. .