Day 30 of the 30 in 30 challenge! - Cat Call

 

Good morning! It is the final day of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.. And, I want to be honest… while it is definitely a challenge to keep up with the pace of a 30 in 30, and some days I was just plain tired… I am also sad it is coming to a close…  I love the groove I get into, the productivity and the influx of ideas and most of all I love all of the kind, uplifting comments and love everyone shares with me, cheering me on. So thank you!! This painting is titled "Cat Call" and is 3rd in a series of visual idiom paintings I am doing.  (There will be more, so stay tuned!) 

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I love vintage things, particularly those of the 50's and 60's.  Their lines, colors and overall design is just appealing to me.  This rotary dial phone is one of the things I love for all those reasons.  I've painted rotary dials many times.. but never an avocado green one :)  This color was a staple of interior and product design in the 60's and 70's (check out some crazy house pics from this era here) and was used in everything from kitchen sinks and cabinets to drapery and carpets... It was definitely overdone in my opinion, but the there are still some things I love in avocado green, this phone being one of them.  And, I am proud to say that my kitchen has a vintage kitchen sink in avocado green!When we first bought our house, I figured we'd replace that baby... but now that we've been her for awhile, I've kind of fallen for it.  Pretty sure its here to stay... :)

The sleepy kitty on top of the phone is of course the cat of the title.  I've a new love interest in painting subjects and that is sleeping animals.  I suspect they are going to start showing up in many of my future paintings!  

Cat Call, 10"x10", oil, click here to purchase

Day 26 of the 30 in 30 - Frogtography (In defense of Joy)

THE CHALLENGE: Well, if I'd have known what a challenging painting this was going to be, I would certainly have not done it on the same day I had a scheduled board meeting and then a meeting with the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts regarding the State budget and grants for art orgs... Perhaps this is needless to say, but, I was up until 1 in the morning painting this sucker... So I'm feeling a bit burnt... :) One of the wonderful things about art is that it forces me to slow down and really looook at things... And that is great.  It's just that this camera has ALOT to look at, and consequently paint, and it turns out  a whole lot more than I realized.  

THE CAMERA: I've always LOVED the look of this classic camera - Made by a German company called Rolleiflex - it was their long running line of medium format twin lens reflex cameras... (no I did not know that. I just looked it up on Wikipedia.)  But, I have known of these cameras and just exactly how freaking cool looking they are.  They are so cool, James Dean is famously known to have owned and used one... So, I've been thinking of painting a Rolleiflex for awhile.  For no other reason than it is the animal that seemed most likely to hang out on a Rolleiflex, I perched a tree frog on it. :)  

THE JOY-  Why a subtitle -"In defense of Joy"? Not that I feel I need to defend my art.  I don't.  But, I read something yesterday, someone's opinion of what they thought 'real' art is... In a nutshell, to this person, real art should make the viewer uncomfortable... and 'real' art is definitely NOT about Joy. There was a lot more said, a lot of it quite mean.. And so, I feel I need to give a shout out to Joy and Joyful art...

In defense of joy because... I believe that creating art with the sole intention of making people smile is just as necessary as creating art that makes you uncomfortable...  I know that political art.. art that speaks about global issues.. art that hopes to bring attention to the wrongs of the world.. that kind of art is absolutely important.  For obvious reasons.  

But I have come to learn that not all art (my art for instance) is cut from that cloth.  Joyful artwork is the counterbalance to that kind of art.  

Joyful art is the counterbalance to the everyday, mundane yet tragic quantities that make up the moments our lives. There is not one among us who is not touched with some kind of hardship, this is true...  And there is not one among us who's hardships are not valid and real.

I know and acknowledge the suffering of the world.  I know it is there.  And I know that there is work to be done to change the injustices of the world. What I have found to be the truest of truths... the most beautiful way that I personally can respond to this.. this enduring fact of the suffering that is life... is to create art that will bring a spark of joy into that mundane tragedy, to do my part to counterbalance the suffering.... if even for only a second.

With that defense and explanation,  I present "Frogtography". And, I hope it finds your heart and I hope it makes you smile.

Frogtography, In Defense of Joy, 11"x14", oil, click here to purchase

Day 21 - Rabbit ears

 Following the theme of yesterday's painting - a shameless visual idiom, I give you Rabbit Ears :)  Don't you just love that vintage TV?  The color of the glass tho... ♥♥♥

Is it nostalgia or has product design become less interesting?  The lines, shapes and colors of everyday, useful things from the 50's ad 60's, like tape dispensers tvs, cars and telephones attract me over and over. There is a solid and natural quality that felt good in your hands, and pleasing to the eyes. Or maybe it's just me.. :)

Regardless, a rabbit on a vintage TV speaks of time past when TV's needed big antennas and took up undeniable space <3

Rabbit Ears, oil on gessoboard, 11"x14", click here to purchase

Day 19 of the 30 in 30 - Duck Tape

I like ducks... I love vintage curiosities. These 2 guys seemed the most natural of companions.  This was one of those rare and special paintings that just painted itself. Do you know the kind of painting I'm talking about?  When the whole painting evolves naturally and every single brush stroke is some how exactly the right brush stroke. Such a joyful experience and I am extremely gratified with the results!

I seem to remember a tape dispenser like this on my 3rd grade teacher's desk.. a cast iron 'whale tail" design put out by 3M in the 50's.  One of them weighs several pounds, but the beautiful lines and balanced design make me want to have one anyway. And what else would you put on top of one of these but a duck? :)

Duck Tape, Oil, 11"x14", Click here to purchase

 

Day 18 of the 30 in 30 - The Tetris Effect

 I am fascinated by iconic bits of humanity.. old telephones, vw bugs and this, a vintage gameboy, with the iconic game Tetris loaded and ready to play.  I just found out (from wikipedia) that the Russian inventor of Tetris wanted to create a game to "Make people Happy"... I just LOVE that tid bit as the art I create is specifically...  Designed to Make you Smile (aka, make you happy!!)   :)

I was also intrigued to find out that Tetris is one of the worlds best selling and most played games, ever.  Very cool is the fact that, it is considered high art, by some. In 2013, the MoMA in New York acquired an original 1984 copy of the game for its collection. (A lovely thing I did not know before I painted this...)

 And, perhaps, most fascinating is the "Tetris Effect" a phenomenon that occurs in the human brain when people play A LOT of Tetris.  Here is an excerpt from https://www.thrillist.com/tech/11-things-you-didn-t-know-about-tetris, which explains it better than I can.  

"The Tetris Effect is a real thing. And it’s kind of a big deal. It occurs when people play for such an extended period of time that they begin to pattern thoughts, mental images, and dreams in such a way that brings them to imagine how real world shapes can fit together. (E.g., items on a supermarket shelf or buildings on a street.) It’s been the focus of renowned psychiatrists, and has even been studied as a model to rewire the brain to think more positively."

Hmm.  maybe my little chickadee is experiencing the Tetris Effect in this painting... imagining happy thoughts of birdseed falling from the sky, stacking up neatly on the the ground.. ?

The Tetris Effect, Oil, 11"x14", to purchase, click here

Day 14 of the 30 in 30 painting challenge - "Look Before Crossing"

I believe the weekend should be about slowing down and smiling more often, if possible.  So, in an effort to help this cause, I present today's painting.  Look Before Crossing is the latest in a series of more whimsical paintings I have painted.  This one combines two of my favorite things to paint, birds (cute ones actually) and items of nostalgia.  Have any of you ever owned a pair of Mary Janes or T-bars, as these shoes are apparently called?  I am pretty sure I had several pairs when I was a kid and I know I bought a pair or two for my daughter when she was little. I love the RED color of these too..

After painting her and just looking at her for a bit, I thought she looked like she might be readying to cross the road.  Hope all turns out well... Enjoy your weekend!

Look Before Crossing, oil on panel, 6"x6"
to purchase please click here

The Process of Art

I have the good fortune to be hanging my work in the Double Tree hotel in Reading during July and August. The body of work I created for this show is representative of everything I have been considering in my painting in recent months.  I have found that I am generally what is called a process artist, meaning simply that I appreciate and study the process of making art above all else in my artwork. To further explain, this quote from Helen Van Wyck sums it up for me right now... "It doesn't matter what you paint, it's how you paint it". I love color, the paint itself, elements and principles, brushwork, simply put, the language of art... These 5 paintings represent my latest in my endeavor to convey my own personal language in the art of oil painting.  I chose these subject matter because I am drawn to the lines, colors and form of 'things' from the 1950's and 60's.  If manufacturers started using the aesthetic of this time I would rejoice and probably... buy everything! So, I ask you to enjoy and please look closely at these paintings...  I love the abstract quality my paintings take on when viewing closely.  I revel in texture, edges, brush stroke, color and the juiciness of oil paint!  If you are interested in purchasing these paintings, please contact me at karelyn1772@gmail.com     Thank you!

Blue Chuck Taylors, 24"x36", oil, $1050

Green Metallica, 24:x36",oil, $1050

It's Not a Bug, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Rotary Dial, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Schwinn Phantom, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Ringing True

A new Vintage Phone! I love painting these old phones.  Their lines, the way the material (what are they made of anyway?) reflects and absorbs light, the nostalgia of them... I just love them!  The crop of an image is also important to me.. When you crop an image to show only part of it, the negative space becomes that much more important.  And lastly, I had fun with the cast shadow in this pic.  I think it really adds depth...

Ringing True, oil, 9"x12",
to puchase, please click here

I have had some of my artist friends ask me what my preferred brushes are to paint with.  I would have to say my go to brush is the Masterstroke bristle brushes put out by Dick Blick.  I prefer flats and use sizes 2,3,4 and 6 extensively.  They are pictured below and I used them almost exclusively to paint this picture.  Also pictured is a small fan brush, of no particular make... just a cheapy one that I picked up at a local art supply store, but one of my necessary brushes definitely!

Days 24 and 25 - "Cad Red" and "Vintage Thunderbird"

I just couldn't make it to my studio yesterday due to the immense amount of snow that I had to help deal with in my area of the world.  But, I made up for it today and painted 2 paintings!  The first one is in response to the last one I did, "Utrect Blue".  This one is titled "Cad. Red." Just look how that thin line of Cadmium red is screaming when it is juxtaposed next to Utrect Blue!

Cad Red, acrylic on panel, 4"x4"
to purchase, please click here

This Vintage Thunderbird is today's entry in the 30 in 30.. I was lovin how the red played off of the 2 different blues (ultramarine blue and this funky blue I have called "Utrect" blue) in my previous two little stripeys and decided to play with those colors using a representational subject...

Vintage cars are a theme I return to from time to time as I love their lines, shapes and details.  And I love painting chrome and headlights.  Go figure.  So, this experiment of painting my subjects on stripey backgrounds is proving to be a lot of fun for me.  I am loving being able to pick a finite number of colors for the background that will "talk" to the subject. 

Vintage Thunderbird, oil and acrylic on panel, 6"x6"
to purchase please click here

Day 14 - My Red Chucks

I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday... With family, and framing and an art opening, I just ran out of time!  But I had a great time painting this one.. As the title implies, these are my own personal pair of Chucks... I love them and want to get several more pairs in different colors.  This, I think is one of the most appealing things about them!  All of the colors!  Anyway, this probably isn't my last painting of Chucks... I think I have a problem... :)

To talk shop a little bit, I painted this one with both acrylic and oil.  I started it with acrylic, painting the striped design in the background. (did this because it dries super fast)  I opted for neutral black, gray and white with just a bit of red and yellow ochre. I love that palette and love how it allows the red shoes to pop.

My Red Chucks, oil and acrylic on panel, 9" x 12"
to purchase, please click here

Day 12 - Vintage Chucks

Today's entry is for the vintage category of my 30 in 30 challenge.... Vintage Chuck Taylor's, or Converse All Stars, technically...  I have always called them Chucks, which may not be correct, but that is what they are to me... I had a pair in High School that I wore out... and recently have gotten a red pair of low tops like these (that my daughter sometimes borrows...)  Love 'em and would love to get 5 more pairs in multiple colors!

Vintage Chucks, oil on panel, 6" x 6"
to purchase, please click here

Day 10 - Orange Bus

So, VW got itself into some hot water recently.. and did some pretty despicable things... But ~
I have always liked the look of early VW vehicles... the bug, the rabbit, the bus.... Just so cute!  And the colors.... don't get me started....
Anyway.... Here is a sunny orange VW bus, I am guessing early 60's.... waiting to take me away on a road trip!

Orange Bus, oil on panel, 6"x6",
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Day 8 - Vintage Plane

Don't have a lot of time to blab today, so with out further ado... "Vintage Plane"... May be able to write more later....

 Vintage Plane., oil on panel, 11" x 14"
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Day 2 - Foxes and Cookbooks

I am going to try to stick to 3 themes with this 30 in 30.... I may waver a bit if an image just needs to be painted but doesn't quite fit one of the categories, but, the 3 themes are "Stripeys" (you saw one yesterday...), landscapes (could also be sky scapes), and lastly, "Vintage".  Today's painting fits into the Vintage category.  One of my kitchen cabinets is home to many vintage cookbooks, including the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, which possibly every American housewife has owned at some point, the classic Fannie Farmer cookbook (which I took with me when I traveled to Scotland many years ago and which amused Scottish and British girls to no end) and my two Vegetarian Epicure cookbooks which were staples of the early Vegetarian movement...  

I also have these two very cute fox salt and pepper shakers that I got much more recently, and don't qualify as vintage, but... they look so good standing guard over my cookbooks, they needed to be in the painting!  This one was painted with basically a primary color scheme (Red, yellow and blue...) As a point of interest, the 'green' in the background was made using yellow and black!  Just a little paint mixing trick I picked up somewhere along the way... :)

Foxes and Cookbooks, oil on panel, 11"x14",
to purchase, click here