Experiment

I have a number of 1-inch-deep canvases in my art cabinet and wondered if there was a way to use them with my new method of working. (I've been using cradled panels since I moved into using strips of imagery as it is easier to work on a solid surface when trying to keep the lines straight.) I roughed up the edges of the three filtrations and then staggered the trim of the strips so the edges are uneven. I might try doing this with a painted canvas, too. Let me know what you think of this method.

Revisiting the Farm

I did a post on August 20th of artwork I made of the farm where my grandmother grew up. That scene was the farm in summer and this one is showing it in autumn. I'm planning to take photos of the farm in winter and spring, too, as the landscape changes so dramatically with the seasons on the midwestern farm.

Paradise

This is a 12" x 12" pieced together memory of a wonderful morning. We were staying with a friend in Paradise Valley, Montana, and a rain storm pelted the windows in the night. When we stepped out onto the porch the next morning, the air smelled like sage and the mountain ranges surrounding us had a dusting of snow shining on their peaks. It was such a magical morning! Now I know why they call it Paradise!

Autumn in Illinois

There is a lake on the north side of my town that is always stunning in autumn. I walked around its perimeter taking photos and decided I liked this view the best. As I layered up the strips of altered imagery, the tree at the right seemed a bit too dark. I put some small strips of leaves and grass from the bottom left into the tree, so I guess I reversed "nature" by putting the leaves back on the tree! It DID help to give that dark tree some more interest. I'm pleased with how the colorful trees on the far shore seem to glow with light. This is another 12"H x 24"W collage on cradled panel.

Tetons

The Teton Range in Wyoming is not like any other mountain range in our country. The Tetons lack foothills or lower peaks which can obscure the view. The range is too young to have had time to erode into soft hills, so the Tetons rise sharply, from 5,000 to nearly 7,000 feet above the valley floor. After driving through Yellowstone, we entered Grand Teton National Park and encountered one stunning view after another. We stopped at the lodge to take photos and were driving down to Jackson Hole when the road turned and it seemed we were going to drive right into the mountain range! We stopped at a little parking lot to take in this amazing view and watch the billowing clouds as they revealed a mountain peak to us and then obscured another. These mountains have been uplifted by geological forces and being in their presence is completely uplifting. This piece is 12"H x 24"W and is titled "Uplifting."

More desert anyone?

I'm making some more desert pieces for Xanadu's winter "high season" and am enjoying cropping photos I took around the Valley of the Sun to fit a 12" x 24" cradled panel. The horizontal one is of a landscape in Sedona and the vertical is a view from the lower cliff dwelling at Tonto National Monument. One of the filters I used on this one is "sand" so that is the grainy texture on some of the strips... it seemed appropriate for the subject matter.

The opening for the Buchanan Center's 64 Arts national juried show was last Friday. Eric Fischl was the juror and he flew out from NYC to be here for the opening. Since he's "an internationally acclaimed American figurative painter and sculptor," around 20 of the 78 artists in the show came to the opening. I enjoyed visiting with artists from Rhode Island, Montana, New York, Michigan, Washington, Iowa, and Illinois. Here's a photo of Eric talking at the opening with one of my pieces on the wall beyond him.

Arizona Landscape

I was surprised to realize I'd made square and vertical collages from the photos I'd taken around Scottsdale, AZ, but I hadn't made any horizontal landscapes! Having used up my supply of 12"H x 24"W cradled panels, I decided to make a collage of those dimensions on two 12"x12" panels. I also decided to experiment a bit and merged a constellation chart with the sky in one of my digital manipulations of the photo and put a topo map of Tonto National Forest in the sandy areas in another. Those additions are very subtle, but offers something unexpected in the close up view.