Sunday, July 3, 2011

Printing Some....Painting Some

 






I spent a few hours making some relief prints yesterday.  Nothing too taxing-- and I limited myself to three colors: red, black and sepia.  I ended up with about 20 prints that I will use as starting points for mixed media pieces.  I cleared my table of my printmaking suppies in the evening in preparation for transitioning to painting. 

I hung a blank canvas on my wall (well, actually two, of differing sizes) and have been staring at them ever since.  Well, not exactly "ever since,"  but I've been "sizing them up" so to speak while alternately moving through the house and flipping through my sketch books.  I'm torn:  Representational or abstract? Graphic or painterly?  Bold or subtle hues?  Organic or geometric?  Horizontal or vertical division of the canvas?  (Or none at all.)  Limited palette, or two or more distinct palettes within the painting?  Ever go through this kind of mental anguish before starting a piece of art?  Perhaps one of these days I'll get to the place of  "addressing"  more than one canvas at once. It sounds so freeing. But maybe it just divides the anguish between multiple canvases. However, one obvious benefit of the "multiples" approach is the possibility of moving ahead on one of the paintings while in "stuck mode" on the other(s).


I'm curious -- do you tend to work on one piece at a time until completion, or on multiple pieces at once?  And if multiple pieces, are they typically within the same medium, or do you go back and forth between mediums?


Cheers!

10 comments:

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Fabulous prints!

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Thank you Carolyn! So nice to hear from you....I am so enthralled with Cornwall thanks to your lovely photographs. And your work is always gorgeous!

em said...

great prints, great starting point! i'm not an artist, but i can relate. i just haven't been inspired to photograph recently... and that's when i go someplace new to look for inspiration... just yesterday i saw some yews clipped to look a bit like lollipops and it gave me yards of ideas. once i get obsessed with a form or image, then i have to represent it somehow... sometimes even with art. i'm sure something will move you!

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Hi Em, Thanks for commenting! I definitely consider your photography an art form! You have an amazing eye and your photographs have brought me much pleasure over the past many months. I'm curious to find out what you do about your yew obsession! Cheers....

Chris Gray said...

Great prints.

...and in answer...Most certainly more than one at a time...and mixing up the media too...

Variety is the spice of life!

(Can't remember who said that, but they got it right :-)

Carole Reid said...

Hi I just found your blog through Annamaria. Your work is beautiful. I also have a photo of the peony seed pod (or crown) on my blog. Come for a visit!

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Hi Chris -- Thanks for responding to the question! I am always amazed at how prolific you are! Always beautiful pieces coming from your studio!

Welcome Carole! I'm so glad you found me so that I could find you! Spent a long while on your blog last night. Such free and spontaneous work. Beautiful colors! Best...

annamaria potamiti said...

Great prints Gloria- thank you for sharing your process and your dilemmas- I know exactly what you mean- hope the right way becomes clear in your mind soon!

I have numerous pieces in different levels of progress in ,y studio at any given time, but when I get my teeth into something I tend to work on it nonly and quite obsessively...!

Have fun!!

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Hi Annamaria,

Your response mirrors my way of working with respect to having several pieces of various media spread out at any given time. However, with respecdt to painting, I have found that if I do not take a painting to completion during that "obsessively focused" time, I have trouble getting back to it to wrap it up. I currently have several "almost there" paintings; some going back a few years. Actually, from the standpoint of the viewer, the paintings are probably finished. But I know what's left to do....

molly said...

i love the sound of you just STARTING something. that's the hardest part for me. i stare at things a looooong time. and yes, when i start one, i usually end up starting another at the same time. sometimes a third. it feels like procrastination, but maybe it's creativity. dunno. yet.
i do love whats come out of your 'zone' so far...