Back Stairs

I've been wanting to paint this apartment for awhile.  I first noticed it one  late afternoon when the sun was casting intricate shadows of the stairs.  The contrast of the old whitewashed building made it a good subject.  The sky was a brilliant blue with only a few clouds when I took the photo. It sits right behind the art supply store on  SE Foster.

White Stag

The sketch. I knew I didn't want to get too literal with this painting

My sense of nostalgia grows as I get older.  The memories of my youth get dimmer and I find old buildings that were vibrant and new when I was young now old and fading.  But it's not depressing to me. It's interesting how those old buildings tell a story.  How they have survived over the years.  If I were standing here 40 years ago, what would this look like to me?  This building is now leased office space.  Still useful, but not nearly what it was forty some years ago.

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I started at the top and worked my way down. Usually I start with the focal point, but for some reason I was drawn to those ducts.

I wanted to convey the age of this building in this study. I ended up painting a little more loosely.

Hubcap Project.

I am in the process of creating a piece from an old hubcap.  This was sent to me by the organization landfillart.org.  An Artist reclamation project  that encourages the use of recycled materials in art. They currently have over 700 hubcaps that have been done by artists from all over the country.  I first heard of it through an artist friend of mine Angela Blakely, who is doing a hubcap as well.   I am excited to start on this project, and I have the feeling it might open up a new avenue of expression. Or should I say re-open since most of my sculpture in college was done from found objects.

Dia de Los Muertos Show at Screaming Sky Gallery

This was a great night.  I got to see alot of the fantastic work of the other Artists and talk with a few.

Dreamscapes

This is one I am still working on.  Grace expressed an interest in the sketch so I am giving it a go.

Original sketch

The work in progress

I continued to work on this painting yesterday morning with mixed results.  I was happy with some of the things I learned.  I never really had a vision of the finished work, which was a little difficult.  I didn't know what to do with the lower right corner or how to treat the background. I decided to keep the original colors instead of trying to change a lot. This will be framed for display at Lecias work,  The Lippman Company as part of their Halloween theme.

Dia De Los Muertos 4