Heading towards the End of 2022

Looking ahead to the end of 2022, I can see that family plans and unexpected events will probably mean less painting. In October we took a road trip to see the "Big Five" national parks in southern Utah, an amazing experience. While the rock formations were astonishing and gorgeous, the aspen trees turning gold most impressed my painter-brain. I tried several ways to show the feelings their beauty evoked, with limited success. No surprise there. Still, it was an interesting exploration and learning experience.

 

And one more "abstract," one that I actually loved, titled "Balancing Act":

Third Quarter of 2022

Many paintings were created this summer, so here's July-August-September now. The issues of climate change and the resulting loss of species, especially birds, became the focus of my work. One always hopes that one's artworks contribute something worthwhile, but painting my own grief about present and future environmental disruption and species losses is a legitimate purpose, too.

After the Fire

Birds Are Going Extinct

Degrees

Anxiety and Dread 1

Anxiety and Dread 2

Anxiety and Dread 3

Living on the Edge

Maelstrom

Mercy

Selfie

Pandora in Middle Age

The Goddesses Get Closer

Water

There Used to Be Tide Pools

There Used to Be Kelp 2

 

First Half of 2022

In the first half of 2022, I did not paint a great deal, but I did experiment with different styles of painting, from cartoons and realism to abstract landscapes. All of these are watercolor on paper, some with ink and water soluble colored pencils.

 

Fractures

Mom and Babies Greet the Day

Pet Heaven

Rocky Agoura Hills

The Hot Earth

Doing Environmental Art with Grandchildren

In August, 12-year-old grandson Ryan came to stay for a couple of days before school started. What would entertain him??? I got out an old painting that wasn't very thrilling and suggested that he and I could paint on it together to make it more interesting. He seemed to like that idea!

This old painting was about sea level rise due to climate change, and as we painted, we discussed the issue, sort of slowly and in a round-about way. It occurred to me that this was an example of interactive climate art and a way to inform. We also discussed color harmony, composition, and symbolism. He developed his own symbol for fish, and it was a good one, in that it wasn't clear whether it was a live fish or a fish skeleton. He added symbols and used stencils to create a feeling of the ocean. I was impressed with his interest, understanding, and creativity. 

When it was done, we framed it, and he took it home. It now hangs in their living room! I hope that when his friends see it, he will talk about the issues a bit. I hope he will remember making art and having fun with his Grandma.

Here is the before and after of the painting:

It's Memory, Not Plagiarism

Recently, I was discussing how two artists might independently produce very similar paintings, with neither one copying the other. It suddenly occurred to me that this very thing had happened to me. Early in my career as a psychologist, I worked with the TAT (Thematic Apperception Test), which involves children telling stories to certain pictures. For decades I never even thought about that test, but recently I noticed that two of my old paintings look like TAT pictures! The images must have lodged somewhere in my memory, and one day they emerged again as I painted.This is TAT Card 4, if memory serves, a fraught picture of a man and a woman, drawn many decades ago:

Here is a digital drawing I made in 2014 from an image that seemed to just come into my mind. You can see that it is the same composition, only with the positions of the man and woman reversed. The men's hair even has that curl, his eyes and facial expression are similar, the woman's hand is similar, etc. Obviously, the memory of this image stuck somewhere in my brain, and one day it felt like it simply occurred to me.

Here is Card 7 (I think it's 7) from the TAT, followed by the painting that again FELT like it was inspired by an image that simply came into my mind:

My painting from 2008 is an abstraction of the TAT image, and again the figures are reversed in their positions, but the feeling about the relationship between the two is similar. It's interesting how memory can work, and it's interesting that I only recently recognized the similarities between my paintings and the TAT drawings, probably triggered by the discussion of how artists might paint very similar paintings without intending to do so.

Second Half of 2021

In the second half of 2021, I produced many paintings, which became more abstract and more message-oriented over time. I also played and doodled, used new colors, and tried new techniques, such as collage and stenciling. I learned some valuable lessons, and had a lot of fun. I really like to keep landscape elements in my paintings, and if they get so abstract or patterned that I lose those, then I'm not happy with the result.

In the summer, I painted some abstract landscapes with darling artistic granddaughter Maddie, while experimenting with odd colors I found in my art supplies:

Weeks later I kept painting on the second one, and as it became "Nightfall on Epsilon 3":

I also did doodles with the Kee kids, trying stipling with different stencils and adding lots of layers:

Some more seaside paintings ended up being about kelp deforestation, although trying to keep the message subtle may have hidden it too much. In the second one below, I tried odd colors again and collaged on bits of newspaper articles about environmental issues.

The oil spill into the sea off of Orange County in October 2021, which threatened the beaches and the ecological reserves, inspired some Edge paintings:

While I continued to tear up some paintings and collage them back together, I decided with "Remembrance 4" about endangered species that I liked it too much to tear up, so I printed a photo of it and tore that up, resulting in "Remembrance 6." I liked that well enough to try to replicate it in a painting, "Remembrance 7." And here's where I lost the landscape elements and am undecided about these two. Compare the two versions below. What do you think? Will I continue on this track or branch off again? Doesn't really matter, because I have really enjoyed making all of these paintings and THAT is the whole point!

Smaller versus Bigger Paintings

Lately I've been painting mostly on quarter sheets (11 x 15), and when I make something I like, I try to recreate it in a bigger format (16 x 20 or 18 x 24). The second, bigger version almost never looks as good as the original, smaller one. WHY IS THAT? I can't seem to figure it out. It also works in reverse, where I do a large painting that lacks something or other, so I tear it up and collage it into a smaller version. Then it almost always looks better than the original. Why is THAT? For example, "The Edge 1" is 16 x 20 and "The Edge 2" only 12 x 9, and the smaller one is definitely an improvement.

The Edge 1

The Edge 2

First Half of 2021

That Was So Much Fun I Did It Again

Took another unloved painting, cut it up, painted and drew with ink and collaged on the pieces, then put them together into a triptych.

Maybe I'm getting carried away........

Another Painting Metamorphosis

 Took a painting from 2020 that I never liked much and cut it into thirds. Began painting on one of the pieces, intending to make three totally different paintings out of them. As I blithely painted and collaged, it occurred to me to make a triptych, something I've never done. So on with the painting and collaging for hours, and then I got stuck on how to arrange the resulting creations. I need help! Which of these four possible arrangements would make the most effective piece of art???

I started with an arrangement that closely resembled the original piece, only with more stuff on it:

Red Head Guitarist 1

That seemed a little dull, so I offset one of the pieces:

Red Head Guitarist 2

Still playing around with them, I tried this: 

Red Head Guitarist 3

And then I got carried away:

Red Head Guitarist 4

NOW WHAT????