Spring Green

Spring Green
15" x 24"
Mixed Medium on Wood

I am so happy to be driving between NYC and Hudson these days, because the spring colors are rapidly exploding..but the most refreshing is the new strip of green...the trees are still black, and we've had a lot of gray sky..but oh what a lovely stripe of green on the ground!
I bet that tommorow, the trees will have their firework display of baby leaves uncurling in citron and neon greens, I can't wait to see!

River At Night

River At Night
15" x 24"
Oil on Board

Backside

Backside
28" x 38"
Mixed Medium on Paper

This is a loose drawing from class the other night, I like how her ribs look like a corset tying up her back.

Evening Landscape

Evening Landscape 4/25
15" x 22"
Oil on Board

I finished this today, the paint is still wet, and reflecting a little in the photo. Its all painted with only oil...I hardly ever use just one medium. I'm very intrigued by evening and night vision.

Zoomed In

Kathy 4/24
28" x 38"
Mixed Medium on Paper

* I was despairing over this full pose in class tonight, and thanks to Gretchen (again!!!) I zoomed in, and I really like it!

Opening up!

This drawing was also from this past weeks life drawing class. It's wildly marked and she looks like she's bursting open with wings. I have to say I am very grateful to my dear friend Gretchen who is an incredible figure painter who is next to me in class, first of all I owe a great deal of the "opening up" of my actual life drawings to her. A couple weeks ago, when I just got so fed up with trying to draw the "right way" I began drawing what felt good, which looked very wild, loose and messy to me...and Gretchen looked over and said "Dawn, that's really good!" It was the encouragement I needed to take another look ,myself, and almost agree with her.
During this drawing I was scribbling wildly, and dancing all over the page, making a HUGE mess, and Gretchen looked over again, and said " oh, Dawn I love that!"
Cheers to our friends and their appreciation of our work, and our authentic selves. They help us shake off our self -consciousness, and open up to our true selves! I am forever grateful to all of you, you all are helping me become the artist I am!

PS. Check Gretchens Daily Painting Blog, you should see her gorgeous nudes! www.gretchenkellyart.blogspot.com

Line Ladies

Here are three more life drawings..they are all 28 x36

Nude Sketch

This is one of my drawings form this past weeks life drawing class...this week was a good class, good model and good drawings, I will post more tomorrow, as I want to hold your attention

Two landscapes...and the birthing proccess

1.Trees Reflecting
28" x 36"
Mixed Medium on Canvas

2. Blue Mountains with Orange
28" x 28"
Mixed Medium on Wood

These are two new landscapes I finished today, that are based on memory and medium.

I was thinking about my process today while finishing these. Completing a painting is really a creative birth. I have never given birth to an actual human child before...but have birthed many many paintings. A friend of mine once said that right before a painting is finished it practically is destroyed, and I agree with that, but actually I think that its more of a labor, a bloody-scary -fragile-beautiful birth. Each painting starts as a conception of thought, idea and feeling and then you carry it, imagining it, naming it, seeing it, wanting it to be some way...but your never really sure what its going to be, because its divine, and not solely created by you alone. There is definitely another active partner in its creation. So, when its time for the baby to be born, its very scary, things become messy, and feel out of control, and you have to surrender to the fact that the baby is no longer you...it has its own life and identity( carrying your DNA but also a unique pattern), and its pushing free...at this point its very scary! Things look messy and unclear, there are new marks you've never made before, you feel the loss of control...and its also the time when yes, you might loose the painting..its very fragile...but then in a sudden swoop you see the crowning head of this new beauty, and a rush of endorphins comes in and very quickly the painting is done! And then all you want to do is sleep, and wake up and look at your new painting and fall in love.

Another thought I had, is how there really is an archetypal DNA pattern to my paintings...these two new ones seem to replicate those miniature daily drawings I was doing this past June...

Aquinah Beach

Aquinah Beach
23" x 21"
Mixed Medium

* Excuse the glare...dang digital camera's!

South Beach Dunes

South Beach Dunes
24" x 28"
Mixed Medium on Canvas

I really am loving the bands of line and color, and the variety of textures in our landscape. This painting is a new palette of color, ( its photographing a lot more gray, its actually more pink/beige and gray and very soft.

Studies of Sky and Elements

These little studies are really enjoyable...kind of like my previous Tomato project, but much more interesting...the sky holds my attention every day, with its poetic beauty and infinite vastness.

1. Blue Mountain
Acrylic on canvas
10" x 10"

2. Sky and Beach Grass
Acrylic on Canvas
10" x 10"

Aquinah Beach

Aquinah Beach
11" x 17"
Oil on Paper
2007

I am currently "downloading" all of the images I have stored in my memory of the Vineyard last weekend. Check out the little skinny clouds in this one. The day I drove to Aquinah, the sky was completly clear except these two silly little "S" shaped clouds, it was so whimsical and cute! PS. If anyone doesn't already know, I will be having a two person show of landscapes at the Belushi/Pisano Gallery, on Martha's Vineyard this July. I hope to see some your lovely faces and don't worry I will remind you again!