This might be her second most favorite holiday

Anniversary

Do you realize that I have been posting here for four years? (First post).
2005:
2006:

2007:

2008:

2009:

Experimentally manipulating clumsy blocks

Nothing perfect here
Tweaking colors and layers
Let alone the shapes

Home Decor

I finally got around to framing this random act of sanding. It looks so sweet on our "Venetian Plaster" wall. Todd mailed me the panel which is simply an aggregation of errant paint from one of his work environments. The frame is from Spencer (broken links prove my point of his evasive web presence) who worked at a frame shop in Chicago.

Tim makes a connection

"this is a photo of a frame full of penjing (Chinese miniature tree and rock landscapes), by Cao Hua, which was part of an exhibition by the Singapore Penjing and Stone Appreciation Society. (scanned from the book Bonsai Master Class, by Craig Coussins [D & S Books, 2006]).

which way does the energy flow in this composition? is there a sequence, comparable to abstract comics?

there's a sensibility in Asian artforms such as penjing, bonsai, bunjae, gongshi, hon non bo, tieu canh, suiseki & so on, which could be incorporated into abstract comics.

a quote from Craig Coussins, comparing bonsai to penjing:
it is generally thought in the West that if a styling is an abstract form, as opposed to a recognized form, the tree is a penjing."

-from a recent post at Abstract Comics: The Blog.

You know where to find me

Ikebana Wannabe

Sesshu

"There is a Japanese art in which the artist is forced to be spontaneous. He must paint on a special parchment, with a special brush and black water paint in such a way that an unnatural or interrupted stroke will destroy the line or break through the parchment. Erasures or changes are impossible. The artists must practice a particular discipline, that of allowing the idea to express itself in communication with their hands in such a direct way that deliberation cannot interfere.

The resulting pictures lack the complex composition and textures that ordinary paintings have, but it is said that those who see will find something captured that escapes explanation.

This conviction that direct deed is the most meaningful reflection, I believe, has prompted the evolution of the extremely severe and unique disciplines of the jazz or improvising musician.

–Bill Evans, from the liner notes to “Kind of Blue,” 1959

Pencilove (Abstract Comic?)

I hope someone learned something

Earlier in the day I found myself counting to ten. I do not understand what is so hard about linear perspective for some people. It seems to me that they stubbornly refuse to follow simple instructions. My first class of the day drained me. I knew the only thing I could do for my painting class was paint.

I gave some advice. I quipped here and there, but by the end of the first hour the class had split evenly between those who were working on their projects and those who were sitting behind me. After the second hour, I was vaguely listening to the conversation in my periphery. I had my internal radio tuned to the warm and fuzzy chatter of college students, but it was filtered by an ambivalence that had set in like a protective force field. I just wanted to paint.

Sketchbook Installment Three (circa 1986)

Transcription:
Here I sit on a bridge over water marked with cellulite dimples.
In the distance are the cheers of a family game.
The sun comes out from behind a cloud for an instant.
My thoughts are stopped by a young man who is majoring in philosophy
We talk about reality and the fabric of the universe
We talk about the bugs on the water and wenie (sic) the Pooh
The bugs also cause cellulite dimples
Winnee (sic) the Pooh just "is"
The story ends because of a man who is taking the picture of a boy
The boy says, in response to a question,
"I wish I was going to college."

Have you ever heard of. . . ?

Karla Moss

Statement by the artists:
"When I look at a painting, I want to see the soul as it is, alone and lonely with aching parts and ugly fears. I want to feel the quiet places where things fly away from it all, and meditate sleepily. I want to perceive ideas of the human mind. . . clever and imaginative, and the belly of guts held in, yet helplessly pouring out. . . because the effort shows. To me, the beautiful is the dignity of non-perfection. . . and the lie of perfection.

I cannot call myself an action painter because sweeping and wild strokes of luck are not enough. There are days when I am also exhausted with slowly emerging forms that will not deny their past. I may scrape them or build them prouder and more complete. It may take weeks or months to finish. I must ponder over them, awaken them, and be awakened. . . the past giving depth to the present.

San Remos (pictured below) took a long time to emerge. I was after a floating and moving form, inseparable from the total image. Inspired by Rembrandt, the master of dramatic light, I wanted this floating form to give light, and dying, lose itself in eternity. When it was finished, it reminded me of the warm glow in a dingy bar, or the street lamp outside one, and so I name it San Remos, after a little bar. (source)

Google is no help on this one.

Unpublished pre-web Fish or Cut Bait circa 1998

Footnote links:
Kind of bummed I missed the 24 hour abstract comic day - Process.
Finger Painting: Dead End - The New Yorker
Unexpected precursors: Scott McCloud, part II - Abstract Comics: The Blog
A man, a plan, a canal - weathercraft! - The Woodring Monitor
The Swipe File - Nest Issue!

muttering "just put the palette knife down"

Steven LaRose, Incisors and Grinders, 2009

Oil on wood, 11.5 x 14.5 inches

Have you ever heard of. . . ?

Claude Bentley

Statement by the artist:
"My paintings have no pre-determined plan. They are resolved on the canvas. Their source may be subconscious intuitive, unknown. I wish to complete a painting in the shortest period of time in order to preserve the initial impulse. The result may invoke an image or be an adventure for the eye. Titles are for purposes of identification, are afterthoughts, and should not create a limitation for the spectator."

I will likely add a version of that final sentence to my next artist's statement. And yet, I would also stress that the titles are not simply arbitrary. I tried using numbers as titles for about a year, and I regret it.


"I gave the top prize in the 1959 Annual National Exhibition at Sarasota, Florida to Claude Bentley's painting for the following reasons: It is a handsome and an arresting painting executed with much authority. It has beautiful and subtle color and is seen abstractly, in the contemporary style with complete understanding and well balanced composition. What is more, it has a spirited quality that seems vividly reminiscent of the Plumed Serpent."
Adelyn D. Breeskin, Director, Baltimore Museum of Art.


Adelyn has a fascinating bio at the Dictionary of Art Historians.

Saucy

These colors make me uncomfortable

Steven LaRose, Unruly, 2009

Oil on wood, 11.5 x 14.5 inches

Two more punkass kids making interesting paintings.

Daniel Lergon, Untitled, 2009
Lacquer on fabric. 200x270 cm.
(link)

Glenn Brown, Come All Ye Rolling Minstrels, 2009
Oil on panel, 55 1/8 x 42 11/16 inches
(link)

Fish or Cut Bait (unpublished from Feb. 1997)