"Scapes" Show Extended and Artists' Talk

"Scapes" been extended and will be up for July's First Friday Artswalk on July 1st. 5:00-8:00 PM
Also-This Saturday, June 25th, I will be part of a panel discussion, along with the six other artists who are showing their work. Bagels at 1:00PM, talk at 2:00. At The Whit.

“Andrea Feldman's beautiful "Breaking Through", pan watercolor and oil pastel print on metal. Love this piece and the super innovative approaches Feldman has to art making. Just one of 42 pieces from 7 artists that comprise the "Scapes" exhibit in both gallery spaces at the Whitney Center for the Arts.”
--Leo Mazzeo-Manager

Charcoal Woman

Charcoal is amazing. It feels very sculptural when drawing. It's also very delicate. Lean your hand in the wrong place and there goes the eye or some other part you just spent 20 minutes perfecting.
I like the effect. The black and white is a breather from color. It's just so messy!
I was attracted to this Asian woman because of her beauty and her expression. She looks like she's learned a lot in this lifetime. Nice. I've enjoyed getting to know her.

Real or unreal?

I'm sitting inside on a gorgeous day, because the neighbor across the road is shooting his gun. I'm almost certain that he's shooting at a target, but doesn't he know that I feel raw and angry and sad and vulnerable? Hearing the reverberating gun shots makes me questiin, "What's real and what's unreal?"

My go-to practice is almost always to paint, but how can I process this discomfort? I was flipping through some stock photos looking for inspiration when I became intrigued by this little boy's expression. I think he holds many questions waiting to be asked such as: "Is this real or unreal?" I relate. It's difficult these days to even name the options, let alone sort them out. I resonate with the look on his face. Serious and scared.
 I enjoyed spending time with him, painting him. I feel like he 'gets' me. I hope he finds what he's looking for. And me too.

June 12th is My Millie's birthday

Sunday June 12th is my Millie's birthday. A few friends came, we cooked, we chatted. We had a lovely day. I feel so blessed to have her in my life. I'm also grateful that I am able to cook and have people over.

What's the rush?

I had an idea of painting a path picture really small, 5"x7".  I thought it would be good for a gift I wanted to give. Well, I made a really loose sketch. Really loose. Then proceeded to make four attempts to paint this little scene. None of them felt right. I tossed the pics into my picture storage bin
and moved on. I would paint on the back of the paper.

I noticed that I went thru this process so fast. The whole thing happened in about 3 minutes ...no not really, more like an hour, but I was not connected to what I was doing; hand and eye disconnect.

So when I was rummaging thru the bin several days later, I was so surprised to find them. I had completely forgotten about them. What was interesting to me was reassessing the lot as I had previously rejected them all. Did I still feel the same way about them now? Probably. I don't remember the specifics. I still wasn't going to use any as a gift. But before I toss them, I'm going to check out each one and just go crazy and grab some other materials; ink, oil pastel, gesso....wherever the impulse leads, just to see what may happen. Nothing to lose. Why would I do this with these almost-got-recycled pics? I won't give them away. I won't use them for a gallery show. I'm going to do that because it's an opportunity to try something different. To play. What a lovely thought.

And now for something completely different...

I saw these 2 little people in a photo while I was surfing around the
net taking a break from Candy Crush Soda. I liked them so I saved the photo. A short time later I was getting ready to paint but realized I didn't have a project in mind.  Having nothing to get
excited about, I came back to these little girls. 

I always enjoy a challenge. I like to try new things.
I think it's helpful to paint something completely different from my usual. It helps to hone my skills and/or develop new ones.
Is it my best work?  Nah, but I enjoyed doing it.

 

'Scapes' was wonderful!

 
'Scapes',the beautiful, group exhibit opened last night at the Whitney Center for the Arts.

 I'd attended several events there before, but this was different. First of all, these were my paintings, (and six other artists' pieces) hanging on the long walls. The curator, Leo Mazzeo did an amazing job of hanging the work in the spacious gallery. The work was grouped by color and imagery with some pairings that were surprising and complementary to each other. The result was a beautiful, cohesive, exploration of landscapes that were anything but traditional. 

Both Leo and Ghazi Kazmi, the Executive Director, set the tone for a lively, joyous, party atmosphere. We had a steady flow of old and new friends. For many the Whit is a regular stop on the monthly Artswalk.

I'm grateful to all who came to support me. It was a wonderful turn out. I enjoyed meeting the other artists and am proud to have my work hanging alongside theirs.

Hope you can make it

Hello dear ones,

I'm happy and excited to have some of my work included in a local gallery show. The show is called Scapes. It's a group show and five other artists beside myself are showing their painterly interpretations of the landscape.

Curator for The Whit Galleries, Leo Mazzeo, came to my studio and chose 8 Scapes

both real and imagined.

I hope that if you are nearby, you will stop in and say hello.

Candy Crush Soda-Just a game?

In case you’re not familiar with it, Candy Crush Soda, is a popular, play by yourself, or against others, tile matching, make-the-pieces-go-away, challenging and addictive, video puzzle game. After playing for a few weeks, I've come to the realization that there is actually great wisdom to be attained from it, if one begins to notice.

You may be chuckling right about now, but hear me out. I do think there are life lessons to be learned or reminded of, and no, I don't think I'm just rationalizing how I spend my time.

This is about just giving your brain a pleasure break; something different from the usual daily tasks. Granted, it is problem solving, but nowhere else in life do I get a quirky little girl cartoon puppet jumping for joy when I complete a project.

At first glance, the game board can look daunting. There is no instruction, just a goal simply put, such as: "Find the bears", or "Eat all the chocolate." Each new level may require a very different strategy from the one before.

So what are these "lessons" that I receive when I lay in bed at night with the Ipad on my belly, hi-fiving the air when I complete another 'level'?
-It's safe to just begin, even if I'm not sure of what to do or how to do it.
-One move at a time will reduce the overwhelm and help me get through it.
-I can meet each new level with curiosity and perseverance.

I find CCS visually stimulating and I often come up with creative ideas while playing. (OK, I may totally forget them by the time the game is over.)

More benefits:
-Playing CCS helps to reduce stress when feeling somewhat beat up.
-There's nothing required of me and nobody's watching anyway.
-I can lift the self-judgement and let myself 'be'.

BTW- For us "immigrants", meaning we weren't born with a mouse  in our hands, learning anything new on an electronic device can feel like a major victory. Tackling  the CCS software is good practice without worrying about causing damage.

And finally, one can link the game to Facebook, and send requests and/or help out to other players. These players, from your "friends" list magically appeared on my screen as little icons in cartoon frames. There's my sister, my niece, and several pals from back in the day, who I otherwise have not connected with in 30 years or so, except maybe to 'like' their cat videos.

I neglected to mention that playing a round or six of CCS can also make me feel like I just had a work out at the gym.....well not really;)

Scapes-the art show

Well, I've been busy getting ready for this show. I'm flattered to be included. Several pieces, mostly abstract, were selected by the curator, Leo Mazzeo.
The work spans from my very first collection in 2013, to new works, illustrating my continuing love of watercolor layers and textures. I hope if you're nearby, you'll stop in and say hello. It should be a lively event.

Looking in or looking out?

Haiku for a quiet Sunday

Nature repeats shapes
A microscopic image?
The cosmos maybe

I've been laying in bed since Thursday, sick as a dog. I had fever and was coughing and sneezing and I had no appetite and I couldn't eat! That's sick! By this afternoon I was out of bed, but still not so great. I played Candy Crush Soda on my IPad. I did crosswords and the jumble, using up boxes of tissues all the while.

My go-to remedy for any ailment, physical, emotional, mental, etc. is to paint. I've said it here on the blog many times: I love the feel of the brush dragging the paint, making marks on the paper. My default imagery is spheres. I've heard different explanations of what they may represent. I think of them as a pleasing shape in nature. No beginning or end, repeated within our bodies as well as our environment and beyond. Awesome.

Which way is up?

Here's a piece I had given up on. It just didn't speak to me. So I played around with sepia colored ink and then oil pastels. Then I spun it around.  I think it works better.

Is Anyone Home?

I've been posting less frequently lately. I have been keeping this blog for over 3 years and at times, posting nearly every day. Creative time had become something I looked forward to and mostly enjoyed. Also, and really important, is that I was not locked in  to producing something very labor intensive or complex nor invested in the outcome. I published, unashamedly, knowing that tomorrow I will have another chance. So what happened? I continue to treat painting as my go-to place for inner peace. My dedication to recording my process, however, has slowed down. This is a familiar pattern. I'm good at starting things with great enthusiasm and then it somehow loses it's urgency or importance. Or I seem to have devised new standards for what I post...So I'm making an effort today to write this, and post my latest experiment.
I had some blank canvases on a shelf and I decided to apply thick layers of gesso ino which I pressed some objects to create shapes when it was still wet. Then I started applying paint, just highlighting some of the textures in the surface. I continued to paint what I saw and this is the result. And tomorrow I'll have another chance.

Put your brush down..

"Put your brush down and step away from the easel", I said out loud to an empty studio. I lifted my gaze to take in the marbled blue sky, and new growth green. There's plenty of flower litter that didn't get processed before the winter. I can go out and do some snipping. The deck furniture can come out of the shed. Hmm, the shed. I've had to bang on the door, wait respectfully (ha!) then toss a rock through the open door. Nothing. Not a sound until I step through the door. That's when she flies over my head and I curse. I haven't seen her babies, but I know the nest is up on the top shelf, probably cozy in the car emergency kit carton. It's got a mylar blanket which the family of squirrels must prize as their ultra-modern winter rental. Well hopefully they're out now as I should be.
It's  time for me to stop messing around, put on my shoes and go outside.

My Millie

Andrea in Wanderland

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care where –"
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland 

It had been an ideal Sunday. We meandered, we shopped, we sat outside as we ate our lunch.

"Sure, I'll do a little painting", I thought. "What shall I paint?" It didn't much matter as long as I could experience pulling the colors along the paper. I happily filled the larger-than-usual page with random images.

Gee-o

I'd been struggling with a painting of a fence and field of wildflowers in painting group. It was a tricky composition with perspective, lots of greens and large spaces to fill. I continued to work on it when I got home, but ended up tossing it after a half-hearted attempt to salvage it. I don't think I was very into it to begin with. In fact, it took me quite a lor of Googling before I settled on that photo reference.

It didn't occur to me until the next morning, that I might change the frustration energy by just sitting down to a blank page to play. I have found in the past, that making shapes, dragging colors around  the page, using a variety of mediums, is very freeing. Little thinking goes into my fun fest. Because I think of it as practice, there's no pressure to produce something frameable.
It's just like how I cook; I grab a little of this and some of that, and add a pinch or a dollop. It's a very intuitive process, and it always comes out delicious.

Building Birches

Well, I am loving this gesso and the acrylic white paint. I enjoy the lightness and ease of watercolor on paper, but am also attracted to the sculpting properties of oils and acrylics. Sooo-I had the beginnings of a bunch of birches not going anywhere. I gessoed the entire page of 200lb watercolor paper. When the gesso dried, I painted on top of it with watercolor, then proceded to heap tons of acrylic on it, which was very satisfying. The paper became heavier, less absorbent and textured almost like stucco.

Watercolor: Saving the fails

Gesso is used to prime canvas for oil paint or acrylic. I watched a demo using it on paper for watercolors and mixed media. It was applied as a wash over the paint to create texture and mood.

These two pictures hadn't worked out the way I had hoped and I had put them aside. Then I decided to apply a gesso wash to them to see what I would get. I had nothing to lose I was going to trash them.

I applied the gesso carefully over the whole page. When dry, the image had softened. It left a sort of white gauze over the page and a gritty texture. Then I was able to go back and bring up selected parts. I used watercolors, watercolor pencil, pastel pencil, and/or some white acrylic.

As watercolor is so unforgiving, this is a way to get new life from a picture.