Happy New Year Roses

Roses from a Friend

8x6in oil on canvas  $125.

Well - am I a lucky gal or what! A friend
decided she knew the answer to my recent "trials and
tribulations" and sent me these gorgeous roses.
Lickity split...just like that, I painted these without
any redos.

Artist Note.

As I finish this year I reflect on the personal growth
in my art. I managed to develop my own technique and
even devised a tool for doing it. It has brought me deep
personal satisfaction as well.
Looking back on my journey into Fracturing, I can see
bits of it appearing and then disappearing for many years.
It took the discipline of painting every day to bring it out.
I wanted the looser appearance in my work but didn't
want to just swish my brush over the edges to get it.
There were a whole pile of artists doing fresh loose
paintings. This was the school I was drawn to.
Studying John Singer Sargent was a great way to start.

This very week, one year ago, I painted these roses.

I still love roses and blue and white vessels, and I was
rather pleased with this one here, but I can
tell you that I prefer the actual act of painting the new one.
It holds my interest and I find the painting has more "life"
to it.

Breakthrough pieces were
these freesias.  I painted this
one very loosely and fast
on oil primed canvas.
(This one has never sold
and I always thought it
was a strong painting.)

I followed it with the version above. Both were painted
as a demo to show the different approaches to the same
subject. I loved painting this one so went  back to try
and do it again.

 This time I tried it with hard
surfaces to see if it would
work.
I was delighted to find it did.

I use the two pieces above in my gallery area to demonstrate
what the fracturing is in comparison to my more realistic pieces.
I can tell you that as many visitors like the first one
as do the second one. It is the more knowledgeable ones,
and usually artists, or ones with some art background
who enjoy the Fracturing.

Next step was to see if I
could use the technique
with a landscape.
I did a series on
Yellowstone using the
watercolor sketches I had
painted when there.
I enjoyed it immensely.
I had found a technique I
could paint everything
with.

In March I did a series on lemons  and Daily Paintworks picked
my Lemonade as one of their "picks of the day"
and I was thrilled. Then a couple months later I was a featured
Spotlight artist (click if you would like to read the interview.)
I started to realize that my Fracturing technique had a following.
I was asked to do an Artbyte by Daily Paintworks so I made a video
(in real time ) It has been finished and will be offered later this month.

So this has been my trip down memory lane for the year 2012
I want to give a special thank you to those wonderful people
who have bought my work. You gave me encouragement
to continue in the new direction. Without art collectors there
would be less painters and what a loss to our culture it would be.

Thank you also to my wonderful blogging friends and supporters.
I look forward to seeing your new work and following your
amazing blogs in this new year.
I wish for you all a healthy, enjoyable and productive art life in 2013
Your friend in art,
Julie

Freesias in Plum Vase

Freesias in Plum Vase

*x6in  oil on canvas board  $125.

A visiting friend brought me these beautiful yellow, white and purple
freesias from Trader Joe.
Another friend brought me yellow and white roses...
AND it is not my birthday!
I started to paint them both today -
following some of the good tips passed on to me in my last post.
Hard for me to focus when I have two going but will keep at it.

Freesias and Lemons

Freesias and Lemons

8x6in oil on canvas   $125. SOLD

My friend came with Freesias from Trader Joe's in Albuquerque.
Purple/blue and white. Gorgeous!
How I wish TJ's would move to Las Cruces.

Fracturing the Vessels

Fracturing the Vessels

8x6in oil on canvas   100.

Try to keep an open mind here...if you like realism done smoothly
then I understand that this is a bit of a jolt. I did a different technique
from the same still life as yesterday's painting...minus the feather!

This one was much harder for me to do as I have not got the
technique down yet. I do think that is why I am fascinated exploring
how far I can fracture the pieces to where they still look like how
they are, but in a definitely different manner.
I played with more color in the background too. Fun!

Here is yesterday's painting so you can compare the differences.

Earlier this month I did the freesias the same way and liked those a great deal.
Flowers are easier for sure.

A Different Way

A Different Way

8x6in   oil on canvas panel  100.

Continuing to paint the gorgeous freesias.


Artist Note:

This is from the same set up as yesterday, but painted
on white, oil primed linen. I chose a more contemporary
viewpoint and expressive painting technique to take advantage
of the qualities that oil primed linen offers.
If you click on the image to enlarge it you can see how freely
the strokes and paint are applied.

Two Vases of Freesia

Two Vases of Freesia

5x7in  oil on canvas board   90.

This piece was a fast exercise using simple rectangular shapes with the flowers having the only curves.

A brush and palette knife was used with a very limited palette of Cad Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine blue and white.
First I mixed up a purple in two hues...one more red and the other more blue. Then I added these purples to the yellow to make the ocher and sienna colors. The yellow of the flowers has a touch of crimson added plus the purple for the shadow. The blue/purple was mixed with yellow to create the greens.
This was much more fun than painting red and green but I am still trying to do the holly painting. If at first you do not succeed...

Clementines and Freesias

Clementines and Freesias

7x5in oil on canvas  90.

Trying to do a full still life in such a tiny space was an interesting and challenging experience. I usually zoom in to have more of a close-up type view.
I used a brush all the way through as the details were too small for me to comfortably use my knife.
 I find using an angular shader is excellent for this type of work. The one I used was size 3/8. Any thin lines are easy using the tip and I blend colors by dipping into two different colors - one at each end, and apply with a simple stroke.

My Friend Came With Flowers

My Friend Came With Flowers

6x6in oil on canvas board   85.

Lucky Me! My friend Pam came to visit for a few days and brought me some lovely yellow and white Freesias.
My daughter calls this friend, The Food Goddess... because she works wonders in the kitchen. She is up in the house working her magic while I am finishing this off in my studio.   As I said, lucky me!