May 23, 2016
Two paintings that I am declaring finished.
“The poet, the artist, the sleuth, whoever sharpens our perception tends to antisocial; rarely ‘well adjusted,’ he cannot go along with currents and trends.” Marshall McLuhan
Still Life
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” -Chuck Close
March 28, 2016
I spent a little time back on my first still life of this year. I need a few more days away from it before I decide if it’s finished.
This one came about as something to do with the extra paint on my palette at the end of a painting session. I hate just tossing it, but at the same time I have not come up with a good way to save it until next time either. This is my solution.
Today’s quote is courtesy of Who Said That. Check them out!
“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” – Syliva Plath
This past week has not been productive. And in the time I was working creatively, I was plagued by self-doubt. Regardless, it’s here to see.
“What we create is who we are, and who we are is what we create.” -Tobias van Schneider
March 7, 2016
My quote this week came to me courtesy of Who Said That. Read more of Tobias van Schneider’s thoughts.
“To be an artist is to fail, as no other dare fail… failure is his world and to shrink from it desertion…” -Samuel Beckett
February 29, 2016
This piece is progressing. I’m currently planning to complete the drapery in the background in a less posterized fashion than the apples, but I’m not completely sure. I’m kind of just playing with this as I go and making decisions along the way. My apples may still change completely before I call this finished.
“Art begins with resistance — at the point where resistance is overcome. No human masterpiece has ever been created without great labour.” – André Gide
February 22, 2016
Here’s the new painting on my easel. I had taken photos of fruit right after Christmas and had picked two images to paint early in the new year – prepping both canvases at the same time. I thought that if I had two larger paintings going at once, if I got bored or stuck working on one, I’d just move to the other. My unfinished still life with the red apple is annoying me currently, so I started looking at this one and was not as interested as painting it as I had been back in January. To make it more interesting I have decided to play a little. I am working with book paper and transparency in the background and simplifying the gradation of the images throughout. I’ve converted the image to black and white in Photoshop and then posterized it to five tones of grey plus black and white. It’s still early on and I may change it entirely before the end, but here’s the beginning of the image. Any comments are welcome.
That’s why we’re here— to make a dent in the universe. —Hugh MacLeod
February 15, 2016
A little further along on this one.
“The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question.” -Bruce Mau
February 1, 2016
“An amateur is someone who…”
January 25, 2016
“An amateur is someone who supports himself with outside jobs, which enable him to paint. A professional is someone whose wife works to enable him to paint.”
– Ben Shahn
susanne semchuk 