Challenge #4 - a fun one!

Dear Readers,

Our challenge #4 parameters:

1. Round canvas (integrated round shape)
2. Jackson Pollock drip painting abstract
* Any palette *
3. Stay an arm's length away from painting your still life or landscape

(remember you can click on any of these photos to enlarge) 

The picture above was taken either by my brother or my cousin 

who were both interested in photography

at the time (1971-72?).

I had already done a studio painting from it.

My first thought was to use a magnifying glass

 to warp the image.

sketch through magnifying glass,
my eyes went a little wonky after that

My round canvas was a Masonite panel that Matt cut for me.

You can see how big it is here - 22 5/8" diameter.

To set it up on my easel, Matt also made a "sub-cradle"

I had to make a sign!

Below are Patrick and Timi's paintings.

3M Tondo Under Glass
Ink, acrylic & oil on Masonite
22 5/8 inches diameter

Ok, so that was our Challenge #4, that we began around December 2021.

Thanks for checking it out and be sure to check back to my Studio Journal for more

in-depth notes about our other challenges, and miscellaneous offerings.

Happy Painting!

🎨

Teri

Repost of our 3 Body Problem Challenge #2

Hello Studio Journal readers,

 I posted this in November 2021, before we had even thought

about applying for an exhibit at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.

It was our second challenge.

Enjoy!

 Hi everyone. Have you done challenges with your painting practice? 

It forces you to think & react differently from your

"normal" way of painting.

Recently I did this one with these strict parameters:

Finger painting - no brushes, no knives

Palette:

Yellow Ochre

Burnt Sienna 

Cadmium Red Medium

Payne's Gray

Viridian

NO white (none showing from the canvas nor used)

Self Portrait

I chose to use a mirror to paint myself.

I covered the canvas with a layer of yellow ochre. Yes, just using my hands.

These were some of the color combo's using the palette.

This is the beginning 👆 ... i forgot to take any mid-way pics.

Red Lipstick (A trope of femininity)  oil on "canvas" paper   16 x 12

I would love to hear if you have tried

a challenge.

What were your parameters?

How did it go?

Stay safe and happy painting!

PS i am steadily adding more paintings to:

TeriRobusStudio

Come on over and sign up for my website

newsletter. In the menu click "Keep In Touch" (or that link)

and I will send out some news every month or two.

🎨

Teri

Repost - Challenge #5 (3 Body Problem exhibit)

 

Hi all - this is a re-posting of my talk about our Challenge #5 painting,

 originally published at the end of the year 2022 - enjoy!

Below is a photo of what I chose as an interior -

our 1st parameter. I did not use the photo as reference. 

My easel is set up in the room.

Painting by Egon Schiele - he may have used a pointed

something (pencil? end of his brush?) to incise the ripples in the water,

and the lines on the boat. 

Our 3rd parameter. 

My incised lines are on the pillow shams and the lampshade.

My sketch - done at my easel 

in the bedroom

First sketch - realized perspective was wrong ...

Following our parameter #2, I found some collage pictures

that I thought had to do with what I wanted to

convey ... dreamlike, with apparitions sitting around, 

 bed linens, wall color, lamp and night sky.

The addition of the cat snagging the comforter

was just out of the blue ...

My cohort's paintings:

Timi Johnson

Timi simplified the corner of her home

 where a coatrack stood. She used papers from her Italy trip,

and gorgeous colors.

Patrick Ripp

Patrick used a vintage style photo for the woman with the grapes,

his own photos of his (late) kitties, 

AND photos of Timi and my original paintings! I love the chaise's impasto,

and his wall brush marks and color.

I thought their paintings were terrific!

Here is mine.

Little Dipper Dreaming 
Collage and oil on Multimedia Artboard
mounted on a 1/4" birch panel, with a 3/4" cradle
11 x 14 inches

This challenge was both difficult and fun.

It was hard to figure out my composition, 

then how to incorporate the collage items ...

but I loved finding the cat to add to the bottom left corner, 

did you find it immediately or after looking for awhile?

Lastly, we painted a still life 

before having our challenge reveal.

Holiday style!

Our next challenge (#6) is in the thought stage. We have our parameters and

are finding our painting to exchange (yes ... yikes) and clarifying

exactly what all the parameters consist of.

Thank you so much for reading, commenting and supporting working artists!

Wishing you all the very best of the new year,

staying safe and healthy and doing things you love.

🎨

Teri

TeriRobusStudio

Painting Jane's Bouquet

 Dear Readers,

Today I am sharing how my painting

"Jane's Bouquet"

developed.

This is how it looked right when the bouquet was delivered

to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum at opening night of our

3 Body Problem art exhibit. (I explained about the show on my post of December 31.)

When I got the bouquet home I thought it might be nice to have

it in front of a black background.

But, after I set it on my cardboard still-life plinth,

I loved the way the cardboard contrasted with the flower colors.

... and you see that by now, the poor blossoms have drooped

and faded ...

But I felt I could still capture the beauty of the original.

Here is the beginning, on a big piece of cardboard. 

It has this painting on the back, too. (eek!)

I used transparent gesso & turned the cardboard to landscape/horizontal direction.

The following photos are how the progression went.

Jane's Bouquet
Oil on cardboard
17 3/4" x 21 1/4"

I realize I didn't explain who Jane is. Jane Terzis was Professor of Art

at the University of Alaska, Southeast. She was then and is still a Master painter and Artist.

She was my major professor when I

was going for my BA in Art. My friends, Timi Johnson and Patrick Ripp also

attended her art classes, and she became a mentor for all three of us.

Jane's website: Jane Terzis

I will publish this painting in my newsletter first, then on my website. 

If you would like to subscribe (no charge for subscription) to receive my mostly monthly newsletter "Studio News" here is a link:

Keep in Touch

and my website is:

TeriRobusStudio

Thanks so much for reading, for those of you who paint, 

happy painting! For those of you who collect,

happy browsing!

Thank you all, for your support!

🎨 best (art) wishes!

xo Teri

Timi Johnson - Artist Interview

Satsuma With Scissors
by Timi Johnson

Dear Studio Journal readers,

today is the 17th anniversary of this blog, my Blogiversary! 

If you haven't been here before, Welcome!

There are lots of posts that might be interesting for you, so take a peek.

Today, like the last two years, I have an artist interview for you

 (and for me since this is my art journal). 

Timi Johnson and I met in a University of Alaska, Southeast, art class over 15 years ago. We have painted together, had art exhibits together, exercised together, partied together ... you get the picture, she is a good friend.

Timi is innovative, creative, fun, a problem solver - in many ways. She is someone who I respect and admire for all the things she solves and the things she creates, and more.

So without further ado, I present -

Timi Johnson  Artist interview

How do you describe your art, and how would you describe your creative self?

    I describe my paintings and my efforts in art as expressive, abstracted representations.  I am most interested in the liminal space between barely-legible and decisive representation.  On another thought, I am as interested in the texture of the finished painting as I am in the subject, and I find that the paintings and drawings which interest me most from my past are the ones densely packed with a variety of marks.  I like scratched up old antiques as well which tracks.  

Gold Creek Rocks
by Timi Johnson

What is your medium of choice; say if you headed to your studio/workspace, what would you naturally pick up to create with?

    Oil paint is hometown for me.  So, other than a few recent forays into the water media world, the base of my work is oil paint.   It combines beautifully and unpredictably with charcoal, graphite and cold wax which continue to appear in more recent works.

Where do you think your characteristic “style” comes from? Do you think your style has changed over time?

    You know, there’s that aesthetic of imperfection as perfection that I’ve gravitated towards in all things that probably generates my preferred way of making.  When I first conceived of painting, I followed a fundamental attraction to wet paint in color and texture.  I had to find where that thing lived, and that sense of PAINT is the thing that still attracts me. In other words, I resonated with the sensations of being a painter far before I had the experience. I think my art continues to evolve toward the aesthetic that drew me initially which seems to involve increasing density and variety of mark making in addition to decisive color and energetic values.  

Where are you from, and does that affect how and what you create?

    I grew up in Colorado, both my parents are from the four corners region. I’ve spent lots of time in the high desert and Rocky Mountains though most of my painting life has been here in Juneau.  I wasn’t intentionally exposed to art or painters growing up, but I’ve always been a creative.  I guess maybe the light of the high desert and the light of southeast Alaska have been particularly inspirational for painting. I bet most landscape artists describe light as source.   

Who are your most important artistic influences?

    I think I’m working backwards here from my nascent and uneducated impression of “oil painters” as I described earlier to the artists which represent how I think things should go.  So, you know Fechin, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Diebenkorn, Frankenthaler, Giacometti, Cassat.  Currently I’m drawn to densely mark making artists like Jordan Wolfson,  Frank Auerbach (RIP), and the broader group including Russian Impressionists.  There are some very evocative landscape artists using cold wax and charcoal who I have been following on IG/ FB as well.  The colors of Ingrid Christensen.  The list goes on and on, happily.  

What are the most 1- difficult and 2- easy aspects to your work?

            1 - Difficult.  Okay, I’m a hyper and energetic person. What I enjoy  most is the zone flow of being in a really good and dynamic painting session.  For me, this takes some planning and forethought which isn’t the fun and bouncy part.  The difficult part for me is slowing down in order to get to that bouncy-fun-part, which requires some amount of reasonable planning in an uncluttered mental and physical space.  

           2 - Easy. I’m not afraid to put down thick, strong colors or textures, I don’t need to keep everything I make. I find inspiration easily and with some basic planning can usually achieve an acceptable painting.  I don’t get bogged down very often by my past paintings, I understand they are signposts of my journey and describe me when I was there.  

Does your art help you in other areas of your life?

    That’s a fish consuming it’s tail isn’t it?   I found painting and it found me.  I have new eyes; I see paintings everywhere.  Painting has brought me deep and abiding friendships. It has expanded my world in multiple dimensions. It helps design my travel and adventures.   I love everything about it.  I don’t regret for a minute giving up my treasured well-paying career as a physical therapist to hurl myself at this endeavor.

Bruce
by Timi Johnson

Thank you, Timi. Your answers are just great. You in words!!

Again, readers, please check out Timi's website:

Timi Johnson Fine Art

You can also find her 

on Facebook

on the Insta(gram)

Thank you for reading ...

All the best in art and life, make it a good year everyone!

Teri

🎨