brushes of fury

Orienting, 36"x24", oil on canvas

Night Revelry, 40"x16", oil on canvas

A Peaceful Place, 24"x18", oil on canvas

from the last post, you saw orienting during the process. the interesting dilemma i had with this painting is that i wanted it to feel angled, therefore i couldn't work with the canvas sitting perfectly upright or my brushstrokes wouldn't match the directional pull. i had to prop the canvas up on one side, so it was actually painted while perched on one corner.

night revelry was a fun piece. i used my my smallest brush and thinner paint in order to layer my brushstrokes and colors like i do in my drawings. this one is full of color and when you look really close it is quite intricate and suprising. it takes a lot longer to cover the white canvas when using such a small brush, but i really like the effect of it. this one also verges on abstract, which is something i like to do as i feel my real subject matter is space rather than landscape.

a peaceful place, so named by a facebook poll, is an attempt for variety in landscape with more foreground and somewhat more structure with the road. a road is a great device to show depth and lead the viewer into the distance. i had also intended on using telephone poles, which was a favorite subject during my college days, but i want to do that on a larger piece on a horizontal canvas.

next up, i have two large canvases and four smaller ones. unfortunately i'm already running out of room for all of this in my apartment as i switch them out with work at the restaurant. i've already started using my friends' walls as storage, although they seem quite happy with the arrangement!

i had a great trip to aspen, colorado last week. i was in dire need of a road trip as i have an almost unquenchable wonderlust. i get rather cranky if i don't get to go out and explore every once in awhile. driving independence pass was one of the most beautiful things i've ever experienced. the leaves were starting to turn in the mountains and it was just warm enough to have my top down on the jeep. i ended up sunburnt, but very satisfied. it was a little heartbreaking when i turned off of 82 and started my journey home. but then it's beautiful here, too, so i can't complain!

be back soon! namaste. :-)

fresh air

ahhh, my day off! it's so nice out that i decided to move my studio outside. so with my indie rock on the itunes radio i flew out of my head and my instincts started painting. a few days ago i had an idea to play with the vantage point and angle of my paintings. one of my favorite painters up in maine, dozier bell, often does landscape as if it's scene through a lens or airplane scope. the land is tilted and navigational marks put you in the pilot's seat. the piece in process here has that diagonal landscape and the viewer is forced to turn their head. i'll probably call it orienting, as if we are willing it to get back on course.

oops, i painted my cat...

i was told to paint more, so here we go. i went out today and bought 4 larger canvases and last week i bought some smaller ones and restocked some favorite colors. ($$ouch!!) what are my favorite paint colors you ask? i love prussian blue, burnt umber, alizarion crimson, and yellow ochre. if they are not obviously present in a painting, they are mixed in somewhere.

i've been working on two paintings, one has more foreground with a road leading into the distance and the other verges on pure abstraction with a movement from a yellow base to a deep blue top. to me it's the sunrise...or probably more appropriately the sunset as i rarely ever actually see the sunrise. i am a creative vampire. i'm thinking of calling this one 'night time revelry' due to the fact that when you look at it closely, i've used small busy brushes for the whole thing and many colors weave throughout the painting.

and i love getting my hands dirty.

El Dorado

i'm excited to say that my show went wonderfully! there was a great turnout and many good friends came to support me. by the end of the night i had sold half of my show! needless to say, i had to get to work painting, drawing and framing in order to fill the holes on max's walls!

El Dorado is my largest piece in awhile, a 4 foot tall by 3 foot wide oil on canvas. i've also hung 7 new drawings at the restaurant. all of my work will be hanging until the end of september.

maybe i should have a closing reception....by that time it will be all new work!

a new space

well, it's smaller, but at least it's temperature controlled! now that i've moved into a small apartment i have less room, but my studio is constantly staring me in the face! after installing my show at max's, i felt inspired to unwrap my large canvas and do a bit of underpainting. for some reason, my kitties seem very intrigued by this 4 feet of space i have to work in and take up residence there most of the night. don't be surprised if my latest work is a little furry....

OCD

here's a sneak peak at one of my favorite sets of drawings from my show. i call it the OCD series because of the compulsive mark making and repetition of line, loose boxes and rectangles. each piece is 6"x 9" and hangs separately.

mark your calendars, saturday, august 14th from 2:30 to 5:30!

tides are turning

so sorry to have been MIA from my dear blog, but it looks like things are back on track. thursday night i hung 16 paintings and drawings at Max's restaurant in downtown Santa Fe! i won't be having an opening until august 14th when it's busier and their new kitchen staff have gotten all the wrinkles smoothed out. but there was a soft opening last night and let me tell you...the food is FIO (food induced orgasm)! i spent a lot of time framing all my work and picking what i wanted to put in. most of it was done in this past year, but there are some drawings from several years ago that i've always wanted to get framed and display. i'll put some more photos up soon once i get them off of my camera. oooh, and i also got a pretty new camera. it's a canon T1i. i love it! it's amazing how much better my photos are with a DSLR.

i've been rather busy with my aunt's house, getting it ready for the market, having a yard sale, entertaining the fam when they came to visit. and then i moved into town, which has been the best thing for me. i love being within walking distance to work, downtown and the farmer's market. i feel free again and the juices are flowing. and now that i have an empty living room/studio, looks like i'll be painting again very soon! i inspired myself after seeing all of my work on the wall and i want to paint an even larger piece for the restaurant. lots of ideas!

also, i've been working on the side doing print/marketing work for clients. i can do business cards, flyers, brochures, logos, etc. feel free to contact me if you need any graphics work done. you can reach me at sarashawger78 at hotmail.com.

namaste!