Yayoi Kusama

Awhile back I painted a portrait of an artist named Yayoi Kusama after looking at contemporary female artists and coming across her.  She is a fascinating woman with an equally fascinating history, and she is still alive, creating artwork at 88 years old! I blogged about her a little bit and posted my painting of her ...

"Yayoi Kusama", oil on panel, 6"x6"
purchase info here

If you would like to find out more about Yayoi Kusama, I recommend checking out this link - It takes you to a page recently created on Artsy, a great website who's mission is "To make all the world's art accessible to anyone with an Internet connection."  (Love this!)  One their editors contacted me after he came across my blog post and asked if I would like to link to their page. They are showcasing Yayoi right now to coincide with The National Art Center in Tokyo's current exhibit "Yayoi Kusama: My Eternal Soul".

The Artsy page has Yayoi's bio, over 250 of her works, articles and much more! Check it out..:)

Collage of the paintings I completed during this 30 in 30

Well, another 30 in 30 has come and gone! The last image we always create at the end of every 30 in 30 is a collage of all of the paintings we created during the challenge.  It is really a great thing to do, as all the paintings always have such impact when viewed in this way.
This challenge was a little different for me as I had so much else going on in my life that I didn't get to paint all 30 days.  That's ok though. I must admit, I was disappointed the first day or 2 that I missed painting.  I do like to challenge myself and finish 30 paintings. But, in reality, looking at the work I did complete, which amounts to 20 paintings, I can say, Let it Go, Karen! 20 paintings is not too shabby.  

If you followed me through out this challenge, you may be wondering what happened to my Glimpsed paintings.  The Glimpsed paintings are a series of 20 of the world's most visited cities all painted on very long, narrow, vertical panels that measure 4"x 18".  I completed 11 of these so far.  What I found during the challenge was that these paintings are very time consuming to design and research and I definitely need to devote more than one day to each of them. I am still pumped about the idea as I really love the concept and results - My intent is to provide an image that gives a fleeting glimpse of one of these 20 places in the world, as if you are driving by an area and catch sight of a beautiful scene but only for a fleeting moment. Anyway, there will definitely be 9 more of these to come to complete the series, but as I said, I will be taking more time to find the images and design with care.  Thanks for everyone who followed me and gave such wonderful, positive feedback through the intensity and fun of the 30 in 30!  Love you!

January 2017 Collage of Paintings

Day 30 - "The Duck : Harmony in Red" (The Red Chair)

The last painting from me in this challenge is one that I specifically painted to hang at Art Plus Gallery in W. Reading. The member artists at the gallery are having a friendly contest to create a piece of artwork that is inspired by our sweet Red Chair.. (See pics below). I was inspired by the chair, and also by a fellow member who decided to paint the chair in a Van Gogh painting. I really loved that idea so after getting a nod of approval, I shamelessly borrowed the idea and painted my red chair in a Matisse inspired painting - in fact, one of his most famous paintings titled "The Dessert: Harmony in Red" also known as the Red Room.  I will include an image of Matisse's painting so you can compare and see the changes I have made to make it my own. Hope you enjoy!

The Duck, Harmony in Red (The Red Chair), oil on panel, 14"x18",
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The Dessert : Harmony in Red (The Red Room), 1908 by Henri Matisse

To read more about this painting, click here

The Red Chair

Day 26 & 27 - Learning to Waddle

This 30 in 30 has been much more of a challenge for me to get up to my studio and to paint every single day.  Some of that is just life keeps happening... doctor's appointments, sick kids, work, dinner, laundry... And some of it is that I also make all of my own frames, and have been doing that lately... But part of it is that I just enrolled in a design course which I am hoping will teach me the lost art of composition... knowledge that was well understood by masters such as Michelangelo, Van Gogh and Rockwell, but has been largely forgotten during the past century with the rise of abstraction and conceptual art.  I can tell you this. I have a degree in fine art and went back to college to become certified to teach art to kids k-12.  In all the years I spent in college, I never had one course that taught me what I am beginning to learn with this course.  So, anyway..

The 2 paintings I am presenting today are almost the same... Same subject, colors and almost the same composition, with some seemingly minor differences.  I call them "Learning to Waddle" (probably should include 1 & 2) I guess because it's what I feel I am doing right now with this course.  I am learning the basics again and feel somewhat that I am starting back at the beginning.  Looking forward to sharing my progress!

And if you feel inclined, would you leave a comment telling me which of the 2 compositions you like better?  Thank you!

Learning to Waddle 1, oil on panel, 9"x12"
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Learning to Waddle 2, oil on panel, 9"x12"
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Day 22 of the 30 in 30 - Tourist in Seoul

Seoul is the 11th most visited city in the world.  Located in South Korea, I wouldn't have thought it would be a popular tourist destination, but upon reading about Seoul, I found that not only is it apparently beautiful, but the South Korean people are said to be kind and respectful of each other and visitors.  According to one visitors site, the South Korean's way of life is "Work hard, play hard", and Seoul is reported to have an active and fun night life as well as an amazing park system.  When you look at a map of Seoul, you can see a huge park that resides smack in the middle of the city. This scene, while not in that park, is located in the area of Seoul called Yongsandong, and is near their National Museum.  I liked the small pagoda like structure with the mountain rising in the background.  Also enjoyed painting this young lady, enjoying her day as a tourist.

Tourist in Seoul, oil on panel, 4"x18"
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Day 20 of the 30 in 30 - "Roller Derby Ducky"

How many of you out there (assuming you were born early enough to not only remember the 80's but have actively participated in them) had a pair of roller skates and a "Hang Ten" tee-shirt?  Well, I lived through the 80's (showing my age here...) but, alas, I was not an avid roller skater...  But, I had an epiphany the other night....  My ducks need roller skates!  Upon looking for images of roller skates, I started coming across AMAZING images of roller derby skates and of course all things 80's.  Along with that came the iconic Hang Ten shirts with the two little foot prints on the upper left and the rainbow stripe across the chest.  It became evident that I needed to put all of these elements together, and so, Roller Derby Ducky was born.  And what better day to paint such a painting than on this day of peaceful transfer of power, when so many people out there are looking to smile just once. I hope this painting is the reason you did...  :)  

Roller Derby Ducky, oil on panel, 9"x12"
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Day 19 of the 30 in 30 - "Park Güell, Barcelona"

Travelling the world is fun, but tiring!  Today's most visited city (the 10th, I believe) is Barcelona, Spain.  Many famous artists have come from Spain, so I thought it appropriate to choose a scene from Park Güell, a beautiful park that was completely designed by the famous artist/architect, Antoni Gaudi.  It was constructed between 1900 and 1914 and is a combination of architectural and natural elements.  His buildings all have soft curves and often include mosaic work.  the view I chose is from the very top of the park, looking down at one of the iconic structures in the park.  The wall you see at the bottom of the panel is actually very intricate mosaic work... too intricate for me to try to represent.  In fact, this whole scene was pretty intricate, and mid way through painting it, I wondered just what the hell was I thinking?   I do, however like the zig zagging lines that take your eye through the picture and buildings themselves are what initially attracted me to paint this scene.  If you want more info about Park Güell, you can check it out here and here. There is so much more to see than what I was able to represent in this tiny Glimpse of the park!

Park Güell, Barcelona,oil on panel, 4"x18"
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