Finished or Overfinished?

Well, it's either finished or overfinished. One of my favorite teachers, Kay Owens, always says you have to know "when to get out the hammer"--meaning you have to know when to quit on a painting. I may have gone too far on this one--I needed to get out the hammer sooner!--because I added some finishing details that feel a little "tight" for the rest of the painting.

I liked the initial spontaneous effort--it was nice and loose, with soft and hard edges, defined and undefined shapes, different sized areas, and a nice light pathway through the painting. Roy saw the crucifix/cross shape right away--the bari sax (a generic large sax in this painting)on top of and at right angles to the soprano sax which crosses the painting horizontally.

Almost finished with the painting, I added some little bits of embossing, because it's so magical when you do it  and a few other scribbles and pieces of collage and now, the painting feels contrived to me. Also, the lines of the musical staff emerging from the bell of the largest sax are too regular and don't do what I wanted them to do because it's difficult to control the paint as you blow it across the paper.

But, on the good side: the painting was fun to do, I learned things from it, and I generally am pleased with the overall effect. The best part of it was that I started it with no pencil lines or sketch. I just went for it and I need to start more paintings this way.

The name? Ahem. . . . I think it's pretty obvious, isn't it? The only question is: should it be "Saxy"? Or "Over-saxed"?

The New Painting, further developed

This photo is of the same painting that I started yesterday, with some additions of paint and line. I have laid some pieces of torn and cut paper on the painting--the "notes" (circular shapes) coming out of the 2 saxophones plus some areas of dark, lacy paper to add the dark path through the painting. Let's see what comes next, when it comes! I think that I will modify the edges of the dark papers so they are less regular and then start gluing things down. This was intended to be a "quick" painting but I can see that I want to do other similar ones, just based upon what I've learned in this one!

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas "

. . . . and to sound a lot like Christmas, too! This is the time of year when music is playing everywhere and when you're a musician, so are YOU! Concerts, programs, caroling, church programs--everyone wants your services. My husband, Roy, is a French horn player and he finished his last Christmas job on Sunday evening. Not that he's complaining, but he did a lot of playing in the last 2 weeks. I am an oboist and I don't play many places like he does but the fact that we are both musicians brings me to the subject of today's post.

Perhaps the fact that we are is why so many of my paintings have musical "themes" or subjects.

Even some of the abstracts feel like there are musical elements and I think it's because music and musical instruments are something I can paint about without having to see them (0r a photograph of them) right in front of me to paint them. I can paint them from my memory, using my imagination. Not that they are all that accurate sometimes, but you will know what I'm painting about.

So when I'm at a workshop, for example, and at a loss for a moment about what to paint, I often turn to something musical. I guess it's because that's my comfort zone. Today's painting example is called "Gimme That Old Time Rock 'N Roll" and it is a large acrylic--2' by 4'--with a gallery wrap edge, no separate frame. It's done in acrylic with paper collaged on, some pen work, a little sparkle, and some gesso from a squeeze bottle for some of the linework. I have the original available and one print on canvas that is the same size as the original. Prices upon request.