Thursday, April 9, 2009

. . . started a painting




yesterday and worked on it pretty much most of the day, between pruning rose bushes and hauling fallen branches outside. I decided last night, right before I went to sleep, that I was stressing way too much over my painting. . . I just needed to paint, period. No fancy new techniques, just put paint on the canvas, like normal. If it was all geometric, that's okay. If it's not free and easy and spontaneous, that's okay. It's all about color, texture, and shape. And every painting doesn't need every single trick I can pull out of my hat. I have to forget about what was at the art auction, what I have seen in videos, what I have been reading about. If some of those things make it into my way of painting, fine, but otherwise, just do what I do. It's been okay so far.





Okay, so now that I have given myself a little pep talk, you can see that I am still out of any art to show you that I have created. However, I still have a bunch of pictures I have taken of the stuff in the artist cabinet. I love the bright colors in the first and last pictures. I actually love the jacket on the lady in the third picture. And the hats.





Someone well-versed in the history of fashion could really interpret these Vogue paintings (reproductions, I'm sure). For instance, is the hair bobbed? The skirt length in the third picture is ankle-baring. . . is that because of the lack of fabric in the war years, or is it more a statement of the freedom of women, the suffrage movement, etc. I am fascinated by any history involving women, because there just isn't much of it. Also interesting would be the perspective of an art historian regarding the style and manner of the paintings, something I know absolutely nothing about.


These pictures are on glossy paper, probably 8 x 10". There are more of them, but here I picked out the most colorful. I just don't know what to do with them.

3 comments:

Jazz said...

I love these old illustrations. And if I remember correctly they started bobbing their hair (i.e. cutting it short) in the 20s with the flappers. I might be wrong though. That artist cabinet is a treasure trove! I wish I lived near to you, I'd go steal tons of stuff.... which I'd eventually just have to get rid of.

~Babs said...

That first one really appeals to me,,,,,something about the warmth of that yellow,,,,and the child/mother/grandmother maybe?
makes me think of My Jack.

A treasure trove for sure, that cabinet.How I love plundering through things like that!

Mary Buek said...

Jazz and Babs: I wish you guys lived closed, too. I would help you load the stuff up just to get it out of here. There is some really neat stuf in that cabinet. I want it to be put to good use.