Painted Lands

I mentioned that I had done some "starts" over the past few days. This was one of those starts.

This painting started with a sprinkle of powered charcoal. Water was poured to create patterns in the charcoal. After this dried, the remainder was painted with watercolor.

Please comment, I would like opinions, suggestions etc. Should I change anything on this? Should I crop it?

Busy-ness and Creation

I have been busy lately doing little odds and ends. I have some paintings started using some experimental techniques. Making starts is a fun thing to do. The work comes in making them into finished pieces. The great thing is that when you have a passion for something even the work part of it can be fun.
I am excited about my "starts" so turning them into real art will be a joy. I do have a passion for painting. Thus the work is fun, joyful and sometimes ecstacy. But to be true and fair, I must say that sometimes it is agony and frustration. The secret is that out of the agony and frustration comes glory. Why? Because when we create we become more than we are. We become one with the universe and the creator (or forces of creation, if you choose.) Personally, I believe in a Creator. That is my belief and I am not ashamed of it. When I am one with the Creator, I have joy.

Whatever you believe, I hope that when you create joy is yours also.

Peace
Gene

Try it Tuesdays

I have been doing an art challenge/learning experience since the inception. It is called "Try It Tuesdays." Each week brings an exciting new technique to try. They are posted on Tuesdays (imagine that!) EVEN better, there are prizes. The prizes are totally random. The only requirements are that you:
a. do the technique
b. post a picture of it on Flickr or your blog
c. Register on the website that you have posted the picture.

This week I am the winner. I did the torn paper technique on a piece of mat board.

I will use it later as a background for a collage.

Try it Tuesdays
The prize this week was from Covet Me

Playing with Paint

A wonderful friend, Jolene, noticed that I used the phrase "play with my paint" To me that is the natural process of making art. We so often call it a "work" of art. When art becomes WORK for me, then I may no longer make art.

As in all of life, your vocation should be something that feels like "play" rather than drudgery (work). This does not mean that you can't be intense about the art. I doesn't mean that you can't be focused strongly. It means that it should be a joy and something that you "don't want to stop."

Watch children playing (or if you can remember your own childhood, as I can) and notice that they are very focused, intent and in the moment. The act of play is all they know and all that matters. The ordinary rules are suspended (unless mom yells "I TOLD you not to play ___ in the house!") The child has stepped out of ordinary time into that magical realm where time changes and hours seem like minutes. The adults say "look at them in their own little world." BUT that world is large, sometimes larger than the world those adults inhabit. This is where I go when I paint. My child returns and I am freed from the bonds of reality and my inner world comes out in paint and collage. It is an imperfect rendition, true. It is also more real than the desk I sit at 8 hours a day in my "real" job.

Let the children play. Those children that you have repressed and oppressed in your "grown-up" body, let them out to play. You are an artist.

Blue Fall Reflections

I love the intensity of this painting. The trees were formed by applying paint then pressing another piece of watercolor paper to the surface to "smoosh" the paint. This created texture lines which became the lighter tree branches. Then the other parts of the painting were done in a traditional manner.
I love to play with my paint and see what magic will happen. I think this one made a nice magic.

Morning Magic

The original is also available for sale. The image is approximately 21" wide by 14" high.
Please contact me for pricing details.

I painted this piece over several days. Then I let it sit. I do this so that I can see if I still love it after the love affair while painting it has gone.
After a couple of weeks, I decided that nothing I could do to it would improve it. While this is an abstract work, I see an amazing "picture" here. There is a brilliant fiery sunrise in the background with a couple of tree branches crossing the view. Hiding among the leaves of the tree are bluebirds. These birds are singing and rejoicing in a perfect sunrise. It is a new day. Rejoice.

Music to Inspire the Art

Last night we went to Music at McClellan. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra played, joined by TWO of Broadway's best. Michael Maguire (who was Enjolras in Les Miserables on Broadway) and Debbie Gravitte who won the TONY AWARD for Best Featured Actress In A Musical for JEROME ROBBIN'S BROADWAY sang the night away.

WOW ...I had a difficult time sleeping when I got in -way after my bedtime. The songs are still running in my head. Probably the best songs of the night were - Bring Him Home -Maguire and Defying Gravity (from Wicked!) -Gravitte.

I was thrilled and amazed at Ms Gravitte's performances and stage presence. She spoke briefly about the song "If He Walked Into My Life" from Mame, before she sang it. She revealed that she has a son who is going from boyhood to manhood. She said that the songs means so much more to her now. Then she sang it with full emotion as only someone who has lived it can.

Michael Maguire, before he sang "Bring Him Home" spoke of the time in which the musical is set. The time was turbulent, and we live in turbulent times also. He said that if you don't know the play, compare the song to the wishes for our soldiers. BRING THEM Home. Regardless of how you feel about the war, we all want to see the boys home safely. I cried for both reasons....the play and the soldiers.

The most FUN part of the evening was a medley from a favorite of mine- Little Shop of Horrors. Debbie Gravitte sang "Somewhere that's Green" as part of it...then it finished on Suddenly Seymour. And how could I possibly fail to mention - Michael Maguire sang Music of the Night with a brief but pleasing cameo by Ms Gravitte. Several Standing Ovations were the order of the night.

I refuse to end without mentioning the Glorious Alabama Symphony Orchestra. WOW!!! Wow! Such a wonderful treasure.

Thanks to some suggestions from a wonderful and giving artist friend -Nanette Jones- I have named the painting. You know, that painting I am donating to the American Cancer Society auction. The title is Shadows on Sunset. I love it

Visit Nanette at http://www.nanettejones.com

Art Donation Request

The local chapter of the American Cancer Society has asked that I donate art for their silent auction. I have chosen a piece that I am considering. This is a small piece but I think that it is a real gem. The size is 5 inches by 5 inches. I will frame it in an 11 inch square frame with a cream mat.
I am having a difficult time naming it.
Here it the piece, if your muse has a name for this , please let me know.


Thanks for looking
Gene

Delivered work

Today I delivered two pieces of my art to the Visual Arts Society of Jacksonville State University. These art works will be in the Members show which opens June 15th.

One of the pieces is Paradox of Dreams shown here.

The other is Celestial Season:

I hope that these works are well received. I would love to see them sell at this show.

Peace
Gene

Art by Gene Black

This will be the place to read about my artistic journey. I will share my art work here and also my experiments in art.

My website is located at http://www.geneblack.com

My Flickr photostream is at www.flickr.com/photos/ebandit

Welcome to my world.