This one is 36 x 24 – larger than what I typically work on. It was a lot of fun to do. It had several incarnations along the way, so there are several layers of paint built up, which adds the depth and texture that I really like.
I’ve had an inquiry about this one, so it might be sold. We’ll see.
My spring break begins on March 12, and I’m heading to my sister-in-laws house in Newport for a week of relaxation and painting. I am really looking forward to the time away from my weekly routine.
Namaste,
Jackie
This painting, Alchemy #2, which was in my recent show has been sold. Many people tell me that I price my paintings too low, but since I’m not trying to make a living at this, my philosophy is that if people enjoy my art, I’d like it to be accessible to them. And if I make enough money to keep me supplied with paints and canvas, then I’m very happy.
For me, art is about the pleasure I get in creating it, and the pleasure others get from seeing it. I give a lot of paintings away, and donate many to worthy causes for fund raising efforts. My 8 year old niece and 5 year old nephew have decided that I run a lending library of paintings. They live on the second floor of my two family home, and they regularly go through my paintings, pick out ones they like, and hang them in their apartment. When they get bored with a painting, they bring it back and exchange it for another. I think that’s so much fun, and apparently they do as well. I also have several of their paintings hung in my apartment.
What good is art if it’s sitting in a corner not being seen?
Namaste,
Jackie
Tracks
Often when I’m painting, I have several canvasses on the table, and as I’m using a color on one, I’ll “clean out” my brush on another, and a painting is born. That’s the story with this one – I was using a decorative foam roller to give texture and depth to an other painting I’m working on, and used up the excess paint on the roller on this one (and a couple others). If I don’t have another canvas handy, the excess paint goes onto heavy card stock, which eventually ends up as part of a collage or another painting.
Namaste,
Jackie
Portland Harbor
“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.”
–Christiane Northrup
I haven’t posted anything here for a while because my focus has been on other things, although ideas about art are always in my head. I’ve been working on a website for my art which I’ll unveil in a few days. I’ve also been ruminating about a painting I’ve been asked to do in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s evolving inside my head, and I think this weekend it will finally begin to make its way onto canvas.
The quote above fits so nicely with my life – when I appreciate the gifts and blessings in my life, more gifts and blessing come into my life.
Namaste,
Jackie
This is most of the show – deciding which paintings to hang together on the varied colors on the painted walls took me a little while to figure out, but I think it came out well. I am very excited about how well they all look together. Who knew I’d be here when today when I picked up some paint, brushes and canvas at the discount store 2 years ago?
Namaste,
Jackie
In preparation for the upcoming show “Alchemy” I was thinking about making some business cards. I decided to be more creative than printing some out on the computer. With leftover scraps of other collage work, I made a whole bunch of ATCs – artist trading cards. I thought it would be fun to give people who come to the show their very own little piece of art. These could be framed if people wanted to, but on the back is my contact information. The top photo is a panorama of about 60 of the cards and the other two are closeups.
When I’m painting and need to switch colors, I wipe the brush or palette knife on paper that I have sitting on the table, or if I’m using palette paper to mix colors, I save the dried paint to add to later paintings for texture. Sometimes these become abstract painting on their own, but more often are cut or torn up to use in collages. In some of the examples above, I cut a small piece of the painted paper and mounted it on a solid color piece of card stock. In others, I cut an ATC size piece from the paper and it became the base of the card. Others are more of a collage using scraps of the painted paper, as well as other papers. It actually was a great deal of fun to work on these while I was waiting for layers of paint to dry on paintings.
Today I’m finishing all the paintings for the show and putting wires on them. On Monday I’ll hang the show. I have room for about 16 paintings. I’ll probably take more than 16 with me, so I can switch things out depending on how the whole show looks. I’ll take photos of the show and post them next week.
Namaste,
Jackie
This is another of the 12″ x 12″ paintings I’ve been working on – not sure if this will make it into the “Alchemy” show or not, or if it does, which way I’ll hang it. Like most of my work, this is mixed media – there are dried paint skins, a very thick raised gel paint, acrylic, and the top layer of yellow is a tempera paint that is nearly translucent.
Namaste,
Jackie
There is more glare in this photo than I’m happy with, but you get the idea. I’m in the process of choosing the art for my upcoming exhibit, “Alchemy”. I’m pretty sure this one has made the cut. There is space for 15 or 16 paintings, depending upon size. Most of the one’s I’ve done lately are 12″ x 12″ but I also have some older ones that are larger that I’d like to display, as well as some of the 6″ x 6″ small works. I have about a week to figure it all out.
Today I spent the day at the college where I teach, organizing my office and courses for the semester that begins on Monday. Every year I tell myself I won’t wait until the last minute, and then every year, I do. But my first class isn’t until 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, so I still have PLENTY of time! It all feels very well under control however, so tomorrow I can spend some time getting ready for the exhibit.
Namaste,
Jackie
alchemy |’alkemē
Figurative: a process by which paradoxical results are achieved or incompatible elements combined with no obvious rational explanation
A few days ago I was asked to come up with a title for my upcoming art exhibit. To be honest, it hadn’t even occurred to me that I’d need to come up with a title, and I was stumped. I have a hard enough time naming paintings. So I thought, and I did some research on abstract expressionism, and somewhere came across the word ‘alchemy.” I’d always thought of alchemy as the science of turning nothing into something – like spinning straw into gold, or something to do with “magick.” And then I ran across the website http://al.chemy.org where I found the definition listed above. AH-HAH! The statement on the website reads:
“Alchemy is an open drawing project aimed at exploring how we can sketch, draw, and create on computers in new ways. Alchemy isn’t software for creating finished artwork, but rather a sketching environment that focuses on the absolute initial stage of the creation process. Experimental in nature, Alchemy lets you brainstorm visually to explore an expanded range of ideas and possibilities in a serendipitous way.”
And, suddenly, my exhibit had a title. Alchemy seems the perfect description of the work I do – paradoxical results and combining elements with no rational explanation. I love it.
Namaste,
Jackie
Portland Head Light
Here’s another view of my favorite light house in Maine, this one taken by me a few days ago when I was in Maine. I had a wonderful trip, part business, mostly pleasure. I stayed at the Eastland Park Hotel in Portland which I highly recommend. The city of Portland has a wonderful art museum, as well as the Maine College of Art.
And as is always true for me, visiting the ocean was healing and rejuvenating. From Portland I traveled south along the coast to Newport, RI where I stayed for a few more days. Long walks around town, sleeping late, and painting, with the company of my beautiful sister-in-law, niece and nephew, made for a perfect time to prepare myself for the semester ahead.
I have many blessings in my life…
Namaste,
Jackie
