Avon Waters -A teaspoon of Art Appreciation

Energy and movement with paints and strokes

2008-08-22T22:01:00.004-05:00

This 52x48 inch oil on canvas was completed in the studio over the course of several weeks.

I've continued to try and find ways to create movement and express the energy. This work I believe does both by the use of color and the way the paint is applied to the canvas. It is heavily layered with multiple colors using pallet knifes and the sides of the paint brush.

Transfer of energy to canvas

2008-07-31T20:42:00.001-05:00

This is a detail of a large canvas 44x48 that I am working on.

Since I paint with abstract expressive color using an impressionistic style rather than working to create a likeness as a realist might, it frees me maybe more to let the energy I feel transfer to the canvas.

This detail shows how in a combination of brush strokes and palette knife I am able to make the energy transfer. The color also helps because it creates visual textures.

A break is often good

2008-06-15T08:13:00.003-05:00

Due to all the graduation parties, my daughter Hannah getting married and the usual spring fix-up chores and gardening chores -- painting time each spring suffers.

By mid June things settle out and my routine news -- hopefully it will be like previous years where after a break I am refreshed and approach my subjects with a new energy.

This 24x36 inch painting --oil on canvas -- was done from a photograph in the studio. I was on Blue Herron trail in the Mississenwa State recreation area when suddenly the trail went through a stand of pines. Most of these were in perfect rows, probably some state conservation project, but now they were tall and the lower branches all dead from lack of sun. They appeared to be shaking hands with one another.

This was done with a wash of color that was then balanced with the addition of color added with brushes. Finally, texture and interest was added with multiple sized pallette knives.

"Pines shaking hands" $1,000 Framed. To purchase this picture see contact us at http://www.avonwaters.com/

Size does matter: style can transfer to larger formats

2008-05-07T19:28:00.002-05:00

"Up in the Sycamores before the Spring Bud" -- $400; if you wish to purchase this 20x24 inch oil on canvas painting, see http://www.avonwaters.com/, contact us or click on the Etsy.com button on the right of this blog.

I've finally figured out a way to convey the style and textural richness that I create with my smaller works into larger sizes. While in Bogota Colombia, I bought some interesting small and oddly shaped palette knives.

Up until now my style has been schizophrenic, my smaller pieces having a heavy impasto and my larger pieces having more broad thin paint. More recently I managed to be able to add interest to the areas that had of broad color by adding brush strokes of a small brush on its side, but this painting is truly a break through because it uses the heavy impasto of the palette knife that I use in the smaller paintings using the pallet knives from South America. They create a brush-like pattern when held one way and can create the familiar tonal smear when used more broadly.

The obvious revealed: exaggerating light

2008-05-04T18:48:00.001-05:00

"Dead Pine in the Woods" -- $140; if you wish to purchase this 9x12 inch oil on canvas painting, see http://www.avonwaters.com/, contact us or click on the Etsy.com button on the right of this blog.

This painting is of a dead pine tree I found in the woods at the Mississinewa Lake recreation area in Indiana. Forty years ago, I remember riding in the back of the car into this area as the dam was being built. The houses were abandoned but not yet torn down to make way for the new flood control reservoir.

Had I not made those trips, I would have not been able to recognize the significance of this pine tree and several other pine trees that were in the middle of a thick woods. This is really the reminisce of what used to be someone's home and the pine was part of landscaping around the circular drive. In the woods I came upon a slight clearing. The circular shape told me that this pine was once the landscaping in the center.

The style I picked was once again the use of a palette knife. The challenge was creating contrast. In the deep woods, the light is very subtle and this painting exaggerates the light source to create more contrast and interest.

Using color to create depth perception

2008-05-01T19:21:00.002-05:00

"Fence row" -- $140; if you wish to purchase this 9x12 inch oil on canvas painting, see http://www.avonwaters.com/ contact us or click on the Etsy button on the right.

This is an experiment in perception using my love of intersecting plains. Here, a row of trees creates a natural divider or fence row between two small open fields. Behind these horizontal planes is a vertical plane of trees greening in the spring and bathed in light.

The use of the cooler blues with the lavender creates the depth perception I wanted. It looks easy, but in reality it is very difficult to get the fields to recede against the much warmer and more intense greens of the trees. To do this, I have had to play with the color saturation by graying the paints and using small amounts of white. Then there's a yellow green scumbled over the lavenders and pinks.

Shadows and Shape as inspiration

2008-04-29T18:34:00.002-05:00

Shadows and shapes inspire
"Barn on curve" -- $165; if you wish to purchase this painting, see http://www.avonwaters.com/ contact us.

This 12x16 oil on canvas is a study I've wanted to start for a while – barns. Indiana and the Midwest are full of barns of all different shapes and sizes. I've been doing woodlands and still am inspired the shapes created by the shadows cast by the tree trunks and the shapes of intersecting planes where the ground meets the woods or the sky meets the tops of trees.

But when I saw the interesting shadow cast by the overhang of the roof on this barn, I had to try and do something. At one point I had ¾ of the barn on the canvas and wiped it off. By zooming my point of view in closer and letting the barn take up the right third of the canvas, I felt the shape of the barn then became a kind of visual anagram to the shadow and the negative space the barn created against the trees and sliver of forground.

I will be in the woods most of the summer but I'm sure I'll revisit structures more this year if I find the shadows that inspire.

Every painting experiments with something

2008-04-19T05:53:00.007-05:00

"The greening of spring" -- $165 To purchase this painting, go to http://www.avonwaters.com/ contact us.

This 12x16 oil plein air on canvas was inspired by one of the few warm days on a weekend walk to the local state recreation area and reservoir.

It is my first landscape since returning from Bogotá, Colombia and it was inspired by the contrast of the light and shadows on the bright green grass. Seems like in the spring, the grass has a very unique green. Even the green in the lawns is never the same after the grass has been cut the first time and that is what I wanted to try to capture here.

For me, what keeps me painting are the problems each painting presents and the little experiments I can do in them. This one had more experiments than I normally try. Often, if I experiment too much, and things don't go well, disaster strikes -- I got lucky this time.

I also wanted to continue trying to translate the bright abstract colors that I do in my 20x24 and larger pieces, into the smaller canvases – I think I'm making the transition. Up until now, they have only had hints at the expressionist and abstractness that I seek.

The thick impasto paint is also an attempt to carry through with ideas I have about breaking up broad areas with interesting elements. I find if I focus on the spaces between the objects of interest, the painting is more interesting – it's the negative space that creates the interest for the objects.

Brush work

2008-04-15T19:26:00.001-05:00

"Clouds Marching," 22x36 oil on canvas -- $600
This is a little more yellow and orange than the painting really is. This became a study of not only clouds but on how I used my smaller brushes on large paintings. Up until now, I had used small brushes sparingly and concentrated on using large brushes and contrasted the layers of paint so the large strokes showed.

Here, I wanted to try to duplicate to a small extent what I have been doing on smaller canvases using heavy paint and the palette knife. By doing so, I could add more interest in the broad areas of color that until now had been much smoother.

I accomplished this in the clouds by loading a small brush and dragging it almost parallel across the canvas instead of using it as one might use a paintbrush, perpendicular.

Learning curve less each time.

2008-03-31T10:27:00.005-05:00

“Yellow Church” 6x8 oil on panel – SOLD

This is a poor image with little color and is too dark. When I return, I´ll replace it with one that better represents the work.

This yellow church in the old colonial part of the city of Bogota made me think of Van Gogh’s yellow house. This is the third and probably the final painting I will get to do while in Colombia.

Compared to the previous two pictures, this one I found myself getting used to the different brushes and tolos than I usually use. Doing cityscapes is also very different than doing the landscapes I am used to doing. I think I want to try this in a larger size and use brighter colors, now that I am used to painting this structure.

When I moved to Indiana from California, I remember how difficult it was to learn to use the new light and colors. Compared to California, Indiana was very green and I had to learn how to deal with all the green. In Colombia, the process is much the same -- now I am having to learn how to handle shapes instead of broad plains of color intersecting on a flat Indiana landscape.

The good thing is, I notice the learning curve this time is less than when I moved from California.

Different perspective

2008-03-29T08:28:00.002-05:00

“Iglesias de Monserrate” 6x8 oil on panel, SOLD

This is my second attempt at painting in the different light and with different tools than I am used to using in Indiana. With this one I became more free with the paint.

I worked from a picture because I wanted a different persective than most people see this church. It sits about 1500 feet strait up a mountain and is used as a way of knowing where one is when in the city of Bogota. If you look up and the church is to your left, you are in south Bogota, to your right, you are in the north.

By using a photo, I was able to zoom in and place the church on the top of the mountain and make it the focal point, not the enourmous mountain below it.

New light, new color, new place

2008-03-26T19:19:00.002-05:00

"South Bogota Barrios" $75 -- SOLD
This is the first time I have attempted to paint when traveling a long distance. I found that a new place with new light and different terrain -- in this case mountains -- I was much more reserved in my approach to the subject.

It required me to solve new problems that my subjects in the woods of the Midwest do not present. Here I had to figure out a way to paint the thousands of homes and still give a hint that they are homes. The majority of homes are red tile with a few that have color. In a small 6x8 inch oil on panel, using an impressionistic style, I decided to treat the mass of homes a mass of color, and only hint at the vertical and angular roofs for the homes in the foreground.

I also used a few splaces of color for the few homes that were painted blue. This appears loose, but the reality is it felt very tight to paint and I hesitated much more than ususal as I struggled to solve more problems than usual in a single painting.

Canvas verses smooth painting surfaces

2008-03-12T18:08:00.002-05:00

5x7 oil on canvas
$20 "Flag with pencils"
To purchase this painting, see Contact Us at http://www.avonwaters.com/.
I'm not flag waving patriot. Interestingly enough, it wasn't until recent history that the display of the American flag became so popular. A historical look at its use shows that today it is displayed more than in the past.

This study uses local color and is a little more realistic than I usually paint. I had some 5x7 canvases that I wanted to use. I'm not sure I like canvas when it is used on small pieces – I think I prefer smooth panels for smaller pieces. To me, the canvas texture is too large for the subject. On larger pieces I don't mind using thin paint and having the texture show through, but here I think it distracts from the subject.

Picking a background color

2008-03-09T14:49:00.002-05:00

$40 oil on canvas, "Stuffed toy": to purchase this painting see http://www.avonwaters.com/ and "Contact Us."

Unlike previous still lifes, this stuffed animal gave me a chance to do something different. The curves, folds and colors not associated with fruit or vegetables gave me a chance to work on color relationships.

The still lifes are a nice break from landscapes, especially when the cold weather makes it more difficult to work outside or in a cold studio where the heat has been off all week. With each still life I do, I struggle with color. Since I have a desire to use exaggerated color, or expressionistic color, I must pick a color scheme and then try to make it work with the local color of the subject. But it does set up a problem to solve and for me, solving each problem in each painting is interesting for me.

Adding color when little exists

2008-03-06T21:51:00.002-05:00

"Foggy morning across the reservoir" This 24x36 oil on canvas was done from a series of photographs taken on one of several warm winter days. This is from the deep wooded area down one of the many access roads in the Mississenwa State Recreation area. It is near the USGS tributary called Rocky run.

The distinctly yellow color comes from an exaggeration of the yellow light of that particular day. Exaggeration of color becomes necessary for me as a result of the grayness of the typical Midwestern winter.

The violets come from the reflection of light of bare trees. This too is an exaggeration that comes from only the hint of violet as the dominate color among the winter grays.
SOLD

Work on display in Wabash, IN

2008-02-13T20:18:00.003-05:00

Over the weekend I had three pieces out of three submitted accepted into a juried show. The above three pieces of artwork are on display in the Clark Gallery from now through March 6th in the Honeywell Center, Wabash, IN.

I do hope those of you who live close enough get over to see the show. When I dropped the pieces off it looked as though the quality this year was quit exceptional.

There is an artist's reception from 7 to 8 p.m. March 6, 2008 that patrons can meet the artists. I plan to be there and would love to talk with anyone who comes -- see you then.

Still life offers a change

2008-01-30T20:22:00.000-05:00

$40 oil on canvas, "Celery" 5x7: to purchase this painting see http://www.avonwaters.com/ and "Contact Us."

This is one of those paintings that is a break away from my usual and favorite subject, landscapes. By doing a few still lifes, it gives me an opportunity to step back and take a new look at how I paint my landscapes when I return to them.

And the still lifes also let me experiment with color combinations that I may or may not use with the landscapes later. Often, although not in this case, I will mix a color that is unique when placed against another and I can carry it over into the landscape painting.

To see more of my work see http://www.avonwaters.com/.

Adjusting colors

2008-01-27T17:11:00.001-05:00

$200 oil on canvas, "Tributary" – to purchase one of my paintings see http://www.avonwaters.com/ and "Contact Us."

Okay, I played a cruel joke on my readers. In the last entry I said the painting was destroyed. The reality is, I wanted to show how a failure can be turned around – that is of course if you think this one is any better.

If you'll compare the two paintings, you will see I have changed the colors of the background woodlands and increased the contrast of the woodland floor and the trees. And as a result of the changes, the reflection of the stream has changed and softened.

Many times paintings don't work out as planned and I must go back into them on a different day. When that doesn't work, they get painted over and no one ever sees them – but in this case, I thought you'd enjoy seeing the process.

To see more of my work, go to http://www.avonwaters.com/

Learning from failures

2008-01-23T21:11:00.000-05:00

Not for sale: Destroyed

Sometimes paintings just don't work out. This is one of them. In my effort to get color into my work in the dead of winter, I tried to use exaggerate color but in my effort to do so, I ended up using too much white mixed into my color. The result, a chalky mess.

Because of my working method with color, it is a delicate balance to use white mixed with color without over doing it. Color is releative. Depending on where it is placed, what color it is placed next to, it is perceived differently. I've found that what color mixture works in one painting won't work in the next if I place it next to the wrong color.

I've also found that some very bright paintings are bright because of their color relationship, but when I place them next to paintings using colors from the tube, or with paints not mixed very much, then the bright painting can appear dull. It's a very delicate balance that in this case failed.

Positive and negative space opportunities

2008-01-20T19:46:00.000-05:00

$200 16x20 oil on canvas: "Path along a woods" To purchase this painting to Contact Us at www.avonwaters.com.

Since I like color, winter can be a difficult time. But the weather hasn't been warm enough to begin rotting the leaves on the ground. This makes them an opportunity to add color to a scene that is devoid of the usual opportunities that the other seasons bring.

This path was found along the Mississinewa River. Fishermen use it to walk along the river and then take detours to the river's edge to fish. The leaves are still orange and yellow. The defoliated trees have a blue and red cast to them and this contrasted well with the ground color and sky.

One good thing I find about winter is that it allows the trees to cast distinct long shapes across the woodland floor. This lets me work with the positive and negative spaces within the canvas – it also helps create more depth as the shadows recede they become smaller and closer together.

Go to www.avonwaters.com to see more of my work.

Palette knife creates texture in snow

2008-01-17T20:12:00.000-05:00

$125 12x16 oil on canvas; To purchase this painting go to Contact Us at www.avonwaters.com.

"West gate" was done entirely with a palette knife. The knife gave the paint a very rich thick buttery texture. Because there is so much white in a show scene, the eye sees subtle differences as it moves up and down, piles under trees and fences – but those subtle changes don't translate well onto the canvas. To solve this problem, the pallet knife gives texture to the snow and makes it more interesting for me.

The photo shows some of the subtle color that is added to the white but not to the extent that the painting shows when viewed in person.

Painting different versions of the same scene

2008-01-11T22:07:00.000-05:00

$40 If you wish to buy this painting please go to Contact Us at http://www.avonwaters.com/.

This 5x7 inch oil on canvas was done entirely with a pallet knife, but is the second attempt of the same scene; "Amboy Friends Church west tower." As my last entry indicated, snow is particularly challenging for me as an artist that likes color.

Often artists will do one two or more paintings of the same scene or subject. Most people are not even aware that the artist has "redone" the same subject because the pictures are not shown together like they are here in this blog. Because they are together here, and because some painters will put different versions in a single show or exhibit, the viewer gets to compare. By nature, anytime we compare two things, we tend to pick what we like the best.

But as an artist, when I do more than one picture of the same thing, it is not to "try and do better" but to try different things. In this "same subject" painting, I attempted to use only a pallet knife rather than a palette knife and brush as in the first. I also tried to play with the color more than in the first. If you compare the tree on the left in this, and the tree on the left in the previous painting, they are vary different. In the first, the brush gave me less control than the pallet knife when making the branches.

In other "same as" subjects; I have tried to do something different with color, shadow or even point of view. Because the subject has been painted once, often this frees me to concentrate on other aspects of the painting than I could when I first painted it. Because I'm familiar with the drawing, that challenge is gone as is the composition element and that is liberating – thus allowing the artist to experiment more with different elements of the art. So, for me it is never a matter of "can I do a better job" than I did on the first.

Snow: dealing with a lack of color

2008-01-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

$70 If you wish to buy this 9x12 oil on canvas please go to contact us on my website, http://www.avonwaters.com/

Winter in the Midwest and other places where there is snow is so drab. This picture, "Amboy Friends Church West Tower" was done recently after a heavy December snow. I actually did two of these and will post the other one next.

For an artist that likes color, winter is a very challenging time for me – and snow tends to make that challenge even more exasperating because everything becomes white. This is my very first attempt at painting snow. I studied many of today's plein air painters in the Indiana Plein Air Painter's Association and saw how they avoided using a lot of pure white. Most of the canvas has blue, violet or yellow added to the white areas to create interest. White is used very sparingly in their work and in mine. I have done the same, saving the pure white highlights for the most significant impact.

For me, texture plays a vary important role in this since the color pallet is limited due to the snow. I've used a pallet knife to lather on the paint very generously. And because the pallet knife is used, I can add a color to the white and actually mix it on the canvas – thereby leaving trails of color through the stroke. Be aware that the photo of snow pictures seems to add more blue than is really there in the original and photoshop has only managed to remove some of it.

So as an artist, the whisps of color that drag through the white from the pallet knife and the occasional color from building and trees, seems to satisfy my thirst for color. But I really can't wait for spring and the return of more color options.

Symmetry Part II

2008-01-01T16:57:00.000-05:00

$40 -- if you wish to purchase this, see my website for email information under contact us.

"Two Hot Tomatoes" is a 3x6 inch oil on canvas that uses the symmetric composition of two similar sized objects but by selecting a strong horizontal canvas, the composition becomes more interesting. Symmetry is the most difficult thing for an artist to capture and make interesting, yet as humans we are drawn to symmetrical objects and construction. We like the reflection of a row of colorful trees in the water or the entrance of a building to be in the center and similar wings going out in directions from it.

But as an artist, something as simple as the reflection of trees in the water along a river so often puts the horizon line in the center of the picture. Because the picture has borders, what is interesting in nature becomes less interesting on canvas.

Had I placed the tomatoes in the center of a traditionally shaped canvas such as a 8x10 or 16x20, the viewer's eye would move from one to the other and back. By selecting a strong horizontal canvas, I force the viewer to sweep across the images and the edges of the canvas help create visual movement that otherwise isn't there with the subject. But still, neither image is dominate and that may bother some. Yet the choice of canvas to move the eye makes it work for me – and that counts for something. As the artist, I'm betting it will work for others too – you be the judge. I look forward to your comments.

Dealing with Symmetry 101

2007-12-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

"Un Pecho de Aguacate" is a 4x5 inch oil on canvas -- $30 -- is a study of symmetry. Had these been two identically shaped avocados, then I would have had to do something different. But two elements are at work here to make this composition work with moderate success. The first is the combined teardrop shapes of the fruit remind the viewer of other shapes such as two balloons tied to a wall or taped to a birthday table or even shapes from the human body.

The second element is the slight curvature of one of the fruits neck toward the other helps create a circular movement. This in turn with the irregular curves of the fruit moving out and around, helps the viewer's eye move from the top, around the bottoms of the fruit, up the leftside and back across the top of the two fruits – that was the intent and I'm sure people will debate its success or not.

To see more of my work or to contact me, go to http://www.avonwaters.com/

Controlling color by mixing

2007-12-21T20:46:00.000-05:00

This 5x5 inch oil on canvas, "Red Tomato" is a good example of modern still life. When I lived in San Francisco in the early 1990s, I had the opportunity to see a Wayne Theibold retrospective show. Theibold made the modern still life famous with his use of contracting color and complementary color in reflected highlights along with the impasto or heavy application of paint.

This painting has the blue background laid in with a palette knife. I've controlled the contrast and center of interest by controlling the purity of color. By mixing white and a touch of yellow and violet with the background, the color becomes muted just enough so that the pure shades of red right out of the tube contrast very distinctly with the background.

You will see many food still lifes on the internet and in contemporary shows. This is Theibold's legacy – taking the simple object and placing it in a field of color.

To see more of my work see www.avonwaters.com

What size painting do I need?

2007-12-17T20:49:00.000-05:00

This oil on canvas, "Onion braid" is on a 2x3 inch canvas. This is the smallest size I've ever painted. Because it is on canvas and not on a flat panel, the detail must be impressionistic – there's just too much texture from the canvas to do much detail that other styles of painting might allow in such small sizes.

As an artist, I pick the size of a canvas by the style in which I want to paint and by the shape of the composition that I might be painting. By that I mean I might be looking at a subject and seeing it would look good on a strong horizontal or vertical, so I pick a canvas I have on hand that would fit the vision I have for a subject. As for the style. I like to paint more abstractly on canvases 16x20 and impressionistic on canvases smaller. For me, the larger canvases offer a chance to explore the intersection of planes of different color and use broad strokes. If I were to make impressionistic paintings that large, then I would have to create the image using many small strokes – much too tedious for my tastes.

As for what size is right for someone buying a painting; I think any size is right. It's a matter of what space you have to fill. Small paintings in narrow spaces between doors and walls or windows are great, especially if stacked on top of one another. Larger paintings can become centerpieces in walls over larger furniture. Almost anything goes now days – just watch the TV shows. You see small New York apartments with the walls covered almost solid with photographs and art of all sizes. It used to be that a painting was thought to have to be hung centered on a wall with no pictures above, below or beside it. That's pretty much out the window now days.

Which is better: painting outside or in studio

2007-12-09T19:10:00.000-05:00

This 9x12 oil on canvas was painted from a photograph in the studio. "Rocky Run" is a creek that only runs full when there has been a heavy rain. It goes deep into the woods of the Mississenwa Recreation Area in Indiana and starts as a dry limestone rock bed. Few streams in this flat part of Indiana have the ruggedness to look like a Montana fly fishing stream. I have been out to the stream three times this year after a rain to see if there was any water in it and not until one day this fall did it have enough water to make it interesting.

Usually I paint in Plein Air on location but sometimes I will paint from a photograph such as this painting. Is one better than the other? Each has its advantages and disadvantages. In this case, the weekend was rainy and wet and I wanted to paint a landscape, so painting from a photograph became an option. In the studio, a painting can also be developed more slowly and "fiddled with" over the course of several weeks, months or even years for some artists. Although this one was done in a few hours, I had the option of coming back to it.

Working outside, you must work quicker and record the light and color that is fleeting. It is harder in this respect and the brush strokes are usually looser outside due to the speed of the process. Some people say Plein Air paintings appear unfinished. But outside, some say the colors are brighter and fresher. The shadows also don't appear in finished works as dark as they can sometimes when a painting is from a photograph. Bottom line is, if you like the painting – it really doesn't matter if it was painted from a photo or from life.

It's rained so much that I haven't had enough light to photography the small still lifes I painted last week, so be patient – this week will be light on the number of postings. See my other paintings at www.avonwaters.com.

Still life: a way to study color

2007-12-05T21:21:00.001-05:00

This painting is available on an eBay auction for seven days, click here.

"An apple for the teacher" is a 5x5 oil on canvas. Another still life and in the same vein as the last – or at least near the kitchen.

This is a study on complementary color. The background has a tinge of green. As I said in the last post, still life can give an artist the chance to experiment and study objects or in the case color combinations. By mixing a green the challenge is to make the green recede away from the red apple. Because red and green are opposites, if the color of the green is not toned down or grayed, then the two colors will visually vibrate. While this can be a fun effect, in this application it would make the focus the vibration and not the object of the painting – the apple.

Another basic principal is that warm colors come forward and cool colors recede. In this case the yellow-green is the warm color and under some circumstances it could come forward and make the apple appear as though it were in a cut-out hole within the space. Again, the challenge was to use color in an unconventional way.

To see more of my work see www.avonwaters.com.

Still life: an artist's option when the sun goes down

2007-12-03T20:27:00.000-05:00

This painting is available on an eBay auction for seven days, click here.

"Morning Coffee" is a 3x7 inch oil on canvas. Due to the season and the short days, there isn't enough daylight to do much painting outside during the week once I get home. It has been years since I painted still lifes. My love of still life developed when I lived in the San Francisco Bay area in the early 1990s. I met many California artists and visited a retrospective show of Wayne Theibold whose still lifes used bright color and complementary color highlights. All used still life among their many other subjects. For me, still life is a pleasant break from my favorite subject -- landscapes. But still life is a great way to also hone the skills of shadow and refection.

The California colors, lavenders and yellows are hinted in this small canvas. This cup and saucer were unusual because the saucer was so much deeper than most; it allowed for the reflections and shadows to have more shape.

Still life has been a staple of many artists for centuries. The Dutch, about 400 years ago took still life to the limits with minute details and their recording of reflections – almost mirror like reflections in fruit and glass.

To see more of my work see www.avonwaters.com

Using Expressive Color

2007-12-02T16:55:00.000-05:00

This painting is for sale at www.artmajeur.com/avon.

"Dead Trees Standing" is a 20x24 oil on canvas painted in the Indiana Mississenwa State Recreation area. This scene caught my eye several times this fall but the light wasn't right for the vision I had. After the leaves all fell, the orange yellow and red leaves on the ground reflected back into the trees and gave them a distinctive redish cast. The grassy field in the foreground reflected a pale yellow light. In the grassy plain were dead trees with grey-blue trunks denuded of bark. They were trees that drowned about three years ago after beavers built a dam and flooded the area.

The colors are exaggerated. Artists must make decisions on every painting they do. Most of the landscapes in Indiana wooded areas have little color after the leaves fall. The reality is, the colors are there and one of the decisions an artist must make is to paint to scene and its colors as they are, or does the artist make other decisions.

It has always been my opinions that if you want to recreate the colors in the original scene, use a camera. Although there is a certain skill need to do realism or a painting that looks like a photo as is done in photo realism, there is also a skill to use any style of art such as impressionism, abstraction or expressionism. I merely have chosen to use abstract expressionistic techniques to exaggerate colors to create emotional response from the viewer.

Color is exciting. And as an artist, when I combine certain colors such as reds, oranges and yellows – the painting takes on a different life than it would if I merely recorded what I saw. Artists usually change what they see, no matter what style they use. Many will eliminate the number of trees, or cars on the street, or cut things out so there is a focal point – it's all part of the development of a composition that will interest the viewer.

Checkout my other paintings at www.avonwaters.com

How did the "Daily painting" movement begin?

2007-11-29T19:28:00.000-05:00

This painting is available on an eBay auction for seven days, click here to place a bid.

6x8 oil on masonite, "Cloud study."
About three years ago 15 artists began meeting on the internet and pledged to discipline themselves to paint at least five of the seven days a week (there were other artists before this that painted daily). As you can imagine, it doesn't take long before the paintings began piling up and some began marketing their work to family and friend -- and then on eBay auctions. The paintings are usually small such as this study. I paint about three a week; others paint daily, weekly, monthly or at some interval.

By setting a goal of painting at some interval, the artists and I are accountable to one another and themselves. Because they are small, the cost of the paintings is low. As a result, what started out as an exercise in discipline now has become the "Daily Painting" movement as people began buying up almost every painting the artists create. Prices are as low as a few dollars but most of the daily paintings sell for $100 and less.

Many paint only small daily works, others are like me and paint larger gallery sizes. To see more of my work go to http://www.avonwaters.com/.

What Shape Canvas is needed

2007-11-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

This painting is available on an eBay auction for seven days, click here.

This 4x5 inch oil on canvas was done on my lap sitting by a stream on a gray day. The stream feeds into the Mississenwa River in Indiana. The gray day muted the colors and deadened the highlights in the deep woods. The orange comes from the fresh bed of leaves on the ground -- the rains had not yet turned them into a black tea.

The shape of a canvas is mostly determined by what I'm comfortable painting on. Some artists prefer square canvases over rectangles, and some have an affinity for long or narrow canvases. Not always, but usually I will pick sizes that are considered traditional or ready-made. This is because the frames for these are substantially cheaper. Ready-made frames can be half the price of a custom frame.

With that said, it is important to remember that an artist usually will pick a canvas shape that fits the subject. As an artist, if I try to make a scene fit the canvas rather than use a canvas with proportions that fit the scene, then I'm generally not as happy with the end results.
Like many artists, I carry with me two "L" shaped pieces of cardboard. On each leg of the cardboard I have marked various sizes in inches. When I put the two "L"s together to form a frame, I can slide them to the marks to match the proportions of the canvas I am using. Then I can look through this cardboard frame at my scene and eliminate all the things I don't want in the picture. For years artists have used their index fingers and thumbs of both hands to create a frame or taken paper and cardboard frames into the field with them to aid in fitting what they are painting onto the canvas

How do artists decide what size to paint?

2007-11-24T07:14:00.000-05:00

This paintinting is available for sale on my gallery website, click here.

This 20x24 oil on canvas was inspired by gunfire. I've been painting deep in the woods but chose to stay in the open field because of all the deer hunters and shots ringing out around me. Besides, I don’t look good in orange and my easel sticks up in the air and might just look like antlers. For many painters painting out of doors or in Plein air, this is a large canvas size.

The size of canvas an artist uses can be determined by a number of reasons. Usually I'll carry with me a variety of sizes of canvas from 5x5 inches on up and my enthusiasum for the subject will dictate the size. If I feel like I want to do a quick study, I'll use a small canvas. But painter style will often dictate a need for a larger canvas and in this case, that is what happened.

I have two styles I like to paint in; impressionistic where the paint is thick (impasto) and lights and darks are depicted in broad strokes separate brush strokes – and often very loose. But sometimes I like to interpret subjects using expressionistic color – expressing he scene in exaggerated or unusual color and using space and planes or shapes of planes to create depth. And that was what I wanted here. The corn field only needed a few strokes to simulate the picked rows. More would have distracted from the vertical motion of the bare trees and the oak that still clung to its leaves. Too much detail would kill the effect I was after.

Unfortunately but true, sometimes the size is dictated solely by what the artist has on hand. I've painted a number of pictures on a certain size because that was the canvas on sale or there was an old painting I wanted to get rid of by painting over it.

Galleries serve a positive purpose too

2007-11-21T21:57:00.000-05:00

This 6x8 inch oil on masonite, "Dead End Road" was inspired by the irony of it being almost the end of fall. It was a cold day and I had to wear gloves. Maybe that is why the brush work here is looser than in most. This painting is on an eBay auction for 7 days, click here to place a bid.

Maybe I’ve given the impression that I have great distain for galleries and gallery goers; not true. The majority of gallery goers are well informed, well educated and know their art. Unfortunately, while visiting gallery shows to write show critiques, I ran in to a number of visitors that, although they were well educated, it was obvious that they were using what they knew to intimidate others or to impress friends they brought along with them for the evening.

One of the purposes of this blog is to eliminate the intimidation people feel about art. How and why people feel intimidated varies, but I’m guessing that some of the intimidation comes from not being able to “speak the language.” The fact is, you don’t have to speak the language, but I hope over time my readers will get enough facts and gain the confidence to enter a gallery and be comfortable saying why they like something or don’t like something.

Galleries serve another purpose for artists. They provide a sales outlet. But it is the gallery that decides what is worthy of being shown and what doesn’t deserve to be shown. The artists pay dearly to be part of a gallery, giving back 50 to 60 percent of the sale price and in many cases paying the shipping and insurance both ways for the show. It does free the artist’s time to do more work because some, not all, of the marketing is placed in someone else’s hands. The Internet is changing who gets to decide what should be seen by others and what should not. Anyone can post anything – no matter what their skill level. Buyers now must either rely on the gallery owners to pre screen art or they must gain a little knowledge themselves. But remember, if you decide to ever visit a gallery, don’t use your knowledge to intimidate others – or I’ll call you a gallery hound too.

Ideas about where to find artists to talk to

2007-11-19T20:01:00.000-05:00

This painting is available on eBay, click here to bid.

If you like art but don't go to galleries, you need to read on – this blog is for you.

In the last entry I mentioned talking to artists to not only learn more about the creative process, but as a great way to educate yourself on art. As I said, most artists love to talk about their work. Many prefer to talk to the new collector or the person who is trying to learn about art, more so than the gallery hound (that's the person who comes up to an artist at an opening and starts spouting off art jargon or dropping names of art movements and styles).

So where can you find artists to talk to without having to go to galleries? There are several ways that are very non-threatening. The first is the easiest, go to an art festival or an arts and crafts show. The next easiest way is to do a search for what called a "paint-out" – more on this later, but this is where artists interested in painting outdoors are invited to a town or location. They paint all day and show their work off at the end of the day, usually in a public place. The next way is to look for something called an "Open Studio" tour. I have participated in open studios and they really do offer a chance to talk to the artists and ask questions about specific works and how they were created.

Studio tours are great – more on this later too. Usually these are in areas where several artists have studios and they open their studios up so the general public can tour their workplaces. As this blog progresses I'll talk more about these opportunities and events.

The work featured today was inspired by the bright color of the huge pile of corn. The bright colors of fall were dull in comparison to the corn. As an artist, finding the unexpected among the usual often creates surprise, as in this case.

The artist's creation process

2007-11-15T20:28:00.000-05:00

You can bid on this painting on an eBay auction, click here.

Not all art is created equal. By that I mean, every artist starts out to create an image, or vision, that they have in their head. But what ends up on the canvas each time doesn't always match the image. Sometimes the outcome is better than expected and sometimes it is less than expected. While it is true that some artists don't have a preconceived idea and like to let things happen, many like myself preconceive the outcome, whether consciously or subconsciously.

Many people who like art and buy art, often say they admire the creation process that the artist goes through.

To learn more about art and the creation process I mentioned, don't be afraid to talk to the artists. Most enjoy talking about what they do. By asking questions you can learn how artists go about picking a subject, the colors and style they use.
This work was inspired by contrasts much as the last one was. But in this case, it was the row of nearly bare trees out in the open against the sky. These were small Sycamore

Fall birch

2007-11-13T20:40:00.000-05:00

To bid on this painting in an eBay auction, click here.

You don't have to be able to put into words why you like something. Leave that to the gallery folks or the critic who writes a piece for the local newspaper. All you have to do is know that when you see something, you like it.

Chances are, it's the color, subject or the way the artist has composed the visual elements that attract you to a visual piece. Later on in this blog I'll discuss some of those things as I post my pictures. But for now, all you have to do is to be ready to react to something and recognize that you have had a reaction.

Now that sounds strange, but there are some people that are so conditioned by others' reactions or by the so called art education of what art is, that they subconsciously shrink back from their own reactions and adopt the reactions they learn from others.

The inspiration for this painting was the contrast of the trees. Not just the color, but the type of trees and how they grow. This birch tree not only had contrasting leaves, but birch branches point down. This constrasts with the maples that around this tree with branches that grow pointing up. The other contrast is the blue-gray bark of the birch and the dark bark of the maples.

Off Road trail into the woods

2007-11-12T13:45:00.000-05:00

This painting is in an eBay auction, to bid, click here.

So you like art but say you don't know anything about it. This blog is for you.

You only have to know one thing, do you like what you see? If so, then that is all you really have to know to enjoy art. What is good art to one person isn't necessarily what is good art to the next – otherwise all the artists would find out what "art is" and would be doing the same thing and the same painting year after year. And it's because they are not doing the same thing, that makes art and ones taste for a painting very subjective.
You don't have to be part of the wine and cheese crowd that visits galleries to enjoy art or even be a gallery hopper to talk about it. In my opinion, that crowd does a disservice to art by intimidating others who can't look at an artist work and talk in the terms they use.

Today's painting is simple. It's a response I had to the half mile hike into the woods after following the tracks 4x4 off roaders made illegally into the woods in the Mississenwa Reservoir. This 6x8 inch oil on masonite is a quick study of the end of the trail where the tracks when up a hil and curved to end at a fallen tree just out of sight of this view.

Trio on the hill

2007-11-09T21:12:00.001-05:00

To bid on this painting, click here.

These three oaks stood separated from the other trees not only physically, but chromatically. This 6x8 inch oil on masonite was done just before the leaves on most of the other trees in the Mississenwa State Park in Indiana changed color. This has been a very strange year. usually by the middle of October all of the leaves have fallen off, but not this year.

Santa Fe church

2007-11-07T21:04:00.000-05:00

Click here to bid on this painting:

I found this church in New Santa Fe, Indiana and its shape reminded me of buildings in Santa Fe, NM. This is a 6x8 oil on masonite.

Red tree on a curve

2007-11-05T20:23:00.000-05:00

This painting is in an eBay auction. Click here to bid on this painting.

The trees at the edges of the deep woods still have their leaves. The ones in the center of the woods are almost devoid of their leaves.

2007-10-31T20:16:00.000-05:00

This painting is in an eBay auction.

This shelter house at the Mississenwa State Recreation area in Indiana was dwarfed by the large hardwoods that surrounded it.

See more of my work at www.avonwaters.com

Nature's bagpipes

2007-10-30T17:47:00.000-05:00

This painting is on an eBay auction.

This clump of trees along the Mississenwa River in Indiana was so uniform that it appeared almost artificial.

To see more of my work go to http://www.avonwaters.com/

Yellow tree at the Mississenwa State Park

2007-10-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

This painting is in an eBay auction.

Driving around the Indiana Mississenwa State Recreation Area, I came across this brightly colored tree against a backdrop of darker trees. It really stood out. The actual painting has more yellow in it than this photograph.

To see more of my work go to http://www.avonwaters.com/

2007-10-24T20:30:00.000-05:00

This painting is for sale on eBay.

The spire makes this church stand out among all of the trees in a little small Indiana town. This is a 6x8 inch oil painting on a masonite panel.

To see more of my work go to www.avonwaters.com

Missinewa River in the morning

2007-10-22T19:49:00.000-05:00

6x8 oil on masonite. The light shining off the river attracted me to this scene. You can bid on this picture on eBay.

Sprawling chestnut tree

2007-10-22T19:41:00.000-05:00

The chestnut tree outside of my studio sprawls acrosss the fence. It looks wind blown because the top was blown out of it last year.

2007-10-16T20:01:00.000-05:00

You can bid on this painting on eBay.

This 5x7 oil on masonite was inspired by a Mexican bowl I had on the shelf.

See www.avonwaters.com for my larger works.

Green Pear

2007-10-14T14:26:00.000-05:00

This painting is on auction in eBay.

Pears aren't ripe yet. This is a green hard one I took from our tree. It's an oil on masonite. The colors are a little more vivid than this reproduction.

Fallen trees

2007-10-08T16:56:00.000-05:00

This picture is on eBay auctions http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180167655646&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=008

This 5x7 oil on canvas is deep in a woods at the Mississinewa State Recreation area. To see more of my work see http://www.avonwaters.com/.

Barn on 800 South

2007-10-04T19:08:00.000-05:00

This painting is for sale on eBay auctions.

Amega farmers bought up smaller farms in Indiana, only the barns stand on some farms. The old barns are disappearing fast.This one is up the road from my studio.

To see more of my work go to my webpage, http://www.avonwaters.com/

The Road Sign

2007-10-03T09:51:00.000-05:00

Road 950 East

This painting is for sale on eBay

This little 5x7 on canvas was done up the road from where my studio is in rural Indiana. It's a plein air work that reflects a subtle part of rural life -- the roads and fields all look the same and people look for the crooked or bent road sign to know where their turn is. Or at night, it's only the reflection of the green road sign that tells them their turn is coming up along a solid wall of corn.

To see more of my work visit my website www.avonwaters.com

2007-09-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

This 9x12 oil on canvas was done at the Mississenwa Reservoir, Summerset, Ind. It's much more traditional than my larger canvases. I tend to be more of the traditional impressionist with canvases that are under 16x20 in size. I am much more of an abastact impressionist with my use of color. But some of my use of color is very evident in the dark shadows.

The woodlands were deep and dark, but this old picket fence lead off toward an open area where the sun was very bright. To see more of my work go to my website, www.avonwaters.com