Photo Plates=Hard Work

Back to printing again...my hands hurt and I have not even printed my image yet. But it was great fun choosing an image to manipulate and prepare for print. The subject matter: Detroit, of course.

This is The Ambassador Bridge merged with The Belle Isle Bridge.  Finished print to follow within a week.



"View of Drogheda", Ireland

I was invited to visit Ireland 2 years ago and had an opportunity to see lots of sites, inlcuding Dublin. The town depicted here is where I stayed for 8 lovely days. It was very special-great people and down right beautiful. This work, a commission, will be part of the collection of a school there. So, with a deep sigh I hand this work over to the patron with fond memories of a quaint place.

Acrylics on canvas, 16x20"

Etched in stone…

After choosing painting as a medium for over 20 years, I decided to try something new. As I wind down my studio classes in graduate school, I signed-up for a general printmaking course & a lithography course. Deep sigh/happy sigh…it, in short, has been the most difficult thing that I have EVER done as an artist. For those of you who know printmaking-you just know & feel my pain and for those who don’t…well, just imagine being pledged/hazed. It has definitely been a learning experience and when I tell people what I’m up to they have a new found respect (or sympathy) for me.  To start, there’s this really heavy stone that is about 100 years old & 50 pounds.

An image is drawn on this stone in reverse (it prints backwards) and different type of ‘crayons’-oil based pencils and then there are chemicals (acid!) involved in a detailed process called ‘etching’, then lots of ink and with each step there’s this Goldilocks element to it of not too much, not enough…try, try again. By the time the image is printed, my hands look as though I’ve just changed a tire and I want to cry…a lot! And I’m not one for tears. So, with that said I am making my way through this process and learning, with trial & error (lots) a new widely respected medium…now I understand why Michelangelo demanded that there be a publicly held mass before he worked in certain mediums.

  

And just to clarify, I am NOT giving up painting…I’m finishing up a commission this week of a scene from Ireland…will post by week's end.

Ambassador Bridge Take Two

Ambassador Bridge from the Detroit River, 2010

The first version of this painting (16x20”) was well received at my August Abstract Cities show. It was snapped up from a non-Detroiter and was one of the most popular pieces. I felt compelled to make another that provided a wider view of the bridge as I remember it from boating on the Detroit River. This version, (15x30”) took a few months to complete. Around this time, I was watching an episode of Detroit 187 and the Ambassador Bridge was shown; it was so exciting for me. I LOVE Detroit and this is not the last painting of my city.

Detroit...A Renaissance City

I finished this using a new acrylic paint that has properties like oil paint.



The angles were challenging but I'm eager to try it again. Like the artist Paul Cezanne painting Mt. St. Victoire, I love my home town and would like to paint it often. We'll see what's next...

Detroit

October 4th...Started a painting of Detroit today from a photo that I took when I was 14 years old using a camera that my father bought me as a birthday present;  it was a Canon AE-1. 
 My sister and I went downtown to shoot some landscapes & portraits. This particular photo was taken at Hart Plaza near the (then) new Renaissance Center.

Once I started painting the sky & background, various memories of Detroit, my parents (both deceased) and friends came to mind. I thought of an article recently posted on FB about Detroit having the fewest sunny days and that it had earned the title of "most stressed city".  My painting quickly became an abstract with soft tones of blue, gray and yellow. There were hints of passing storms and sweeping memories breezing by in a flash.

The next canvas will be of the Ren Cen, this one was simply therapy for me-and it felt good!

The Beach - Sunsets and a Storm

Last summer while at my favorite beach I took a series a photographs of the sun setting. I stood in the same spot and watched the colors change before my eyes. It was as relaxing as watching the sun set on the Santa Monica Pier out west.

Well, this summer I decided to capture those sunsets on canvas. All 3 pieces are 24x36". The first, Sunset- Northern Neck was well received at my August 5th art show. It was purchased as a gift for someone who had recently purchased a home there.

The second will be delivered Labor Day weekend to someone who is an avid photographer and who has enjoyed this sunset most of his life.

Lastly, there's the abstract storm of the same place.

For those of you who enjoy abstracts, this one is still available.