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| Pinch me Mixed media |
This is the painting I have completed for June. And while one painting doesn't meet my goal of creating at least two per month, I have been active in doing other things art related.
At the beginning of June I was inspired to start oil painting again. I have everything I need, and I believed it was just a matter of making some stretchers and getting busy. Well, painting is a messy, sloppy, business. I currently rent my home and am very conscientious about not damaging the property. This includes not spilling chemicals, paint, or the other sloppy liquids associated with oil painting. I was very careful, and carefully applied paint to the canvas. I made certain not to spill, or get anything on the walls. Such precision resulted in a very stiff, stilted, and boring image. I immediately decided that this was not going to work. What to do with the canvas and the partially painted surface, you ask? I went over the image with glue, and then affixed various types of paper over the botched oil painting. On this mixed surface, I then painted with my very familiar water soluble water colors. The image worked out much better.
I have experimented with collage before, and have had some success. I also thought mixing the paper would result in an image that has a physical texture in addition to visual texture. If you recall, some of my earlier posts descried how I was interested in building texture in the background of my figures. You can make out the lines in this image where the edges of different paper come together. I think this is heightened by the image itself, with the solid wall, the figure, and the dart board pattern. This was an interesting image to work with, and I think I will try another one. I need to focus on getting the texture and the image feeling more cohesive.
In addition to working on this painting, the library in which I worked hosted an art exhibition June 16-18. One of the lead librarians is a researcher in Black History with a specific interest in the west and black cowboys. As part of Juneteenth, our exhibition focused on back cowboys and the Buffalo Soldiers. I helped select the paintings we exhibited, and it was this process which got me interested in pursuing oil painting again.
My favorite painting from the exhibition is below. I like it because most people think of cowboys as being men, and this image is unusual in that it features a woman. This image challenges preconceived notions and surprises the viewer. I think it is wonderful when art can have an impact such as this.
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| By Ivan Stewart |
Finally, my co-workers and I went to "Painting with a Twist" for an evening of painting. My image was different from everyone else, as I painted the image based on my own ideas rather than following along with the instructor.
So, technically I did paint two images this month. The image we were supposed to copy can be seen below.
