Introducing Elizabeth

Introducing Elizabeth.

I have been working on this piece both in my head and on the canvas for about 6 weeks now. A record by far. The major elements, maps, a dress, class photo, and china were planned out early. Other ideas, all needed to make the piece "whole" slowly emerged. Quietly knocking on the door of my consciousness, or occasionally barging in when all else failed.

Elizabeth was one of those quiet children. Not particularly pretty, nothing special. She grew up in a time when preparing for life as a girl included things like collecting china for a hope chest. She never wandered far from home. Not even in her mind.

The life she got was so different from the life she imagined. So different, it was almost abstract.

Starting with the larger panel on the left, the background begins as a map, a big piece of what is now "home." A green landscape. Over this is a series of linoleum block prints. A simple pattern that hopefully triggers thoughts of quilting bees, grandmothers, women's work, craft.

The dress on top, a simple house dress is washing over with waves. Ripples really. A not so subtle reference to a fish out of water, or more precisely a water girl on dry land.



This is a close up of the bottom right panel. A class photo from sometime in the 50's. A girl is singled out, in the spotlight as it were. Linoleum block prints obscure part of the class, strengthening the circle shape that is often repeated in this piece.

I have named her Elizabeth, only because I'm sure that's what her name would be somehow. In reality I have no idea who she really is. A circle of small silver beads is stitched through the canvas.

The top right hand panel begins with a map, I chose this part of the world because of the abrupt change in scenery. Driving west you are in the middle of flat nowhere. Miles and miles of nothing, then practically in an instant it all changes, a city, and mountains, huge mountains. How things change. The china floats above. Something that speaks of a simpler time, it gives a sense of stability, family dinners, and somehow, privilege.

I had a few issues working on this piece. One of the maps in the background that I had copied and spliced, layered with acrylic and set to dry, folded over on itself at some point. I may have folded it...who knows. In any case, it stuck to itself and became a wadded up heap in the trash after spending too much time trying to rescue it...

The water on the dress eluded me for days. I am not sure why, it almost became like that trick your mind plays on you when you study a single word for too long. It somehow loses it's meaning, and makes no sense. Scott told me over and over it was looking great, I would play every game in the book, looking at it upside down, from on top of a ladder, or spin around suddenly just to see if I could catch it with fresh eyes and see what was really there. Finally photographing it seems to have done the trick, because I like it in photos.

The china by the way was the simplest part, I painted it in a couple of days and it just came together beautifully. No hiccups, just poof, done. A gift from the art gods. There is a thin line of beads and freshwater pearls that mirrors the quarter circle on the bottom piece, taking your eye all the way back to the dress.

Sitting back and looking at this piece, wondering why it took so long, why so much drama? I have to think back to my original plan, separating elements in a piece, rather than piling them one on top of the other in layers. Painting water, and china, both for the first time. I think I set myself up for a huge challenge without even realizing it. Talking to a friend lately about what it takes to make it as an artist, he said, "someone asked if I could do that, and I said sure, then I had to figure out how to do it." That seems to be the whole game, set you own bar higher, then start jumping.

Elizabeth is 48" wide and 36" high. $5000

Paper dolls

I've been enjoying using collaged papers in these new little dress pieces, and I thought I'd show a few of them off. This one has an old map of Paris as the dress, the lines are stitched with bright pink embroidery floss, and two buttons are sewn on with the same thread. The background, as with all of these, is a collage of Simplicity sewing patterns from the '50's and '60's. **sold**

This one has more of a '70's feel to it. The paper in the dress is a bit of rice paper that I marbled years ago, and tucked away in a flat file until I found a good use for it. The embroidery floss is green. The little green glass and iridescent shell beads are stitched along one side. Reminiscent of a beaded curtain!


The paper in this spring green dress has just a bit of sparkle to it, in the form of silver glitter no less! The glass button on the left has a little diamond shape of silver in it also, and mimics the notch shape just above on the pattern piece in the background.



And last but certainly not least is this transparent dress! The text that you see is an acrylic transfer from an etiquette book from 1910. Matched up with two crystal clear glass buttons, I think this one is stunning. The stitching is black, to keep it very neutral.

All of these dresses are the same size, the image size of the artwork is 5" square, they are matted in a bit of a shadowbox style to make room for the buttons. The mat is a double thick cotton (acid free) mat in off white. The overall size is 9" square. They are all shrink wrapped and ready for framing. $145 each.

Dream Sweet

"Dream Sweet" is my newest experiment with linoleum block printing in the background. Damask and floral patterns were carved into two different blocks, then "inked" and "printed" in the checkerboard pattern. I use quotation marks, because I used acrylic paint for the whole process, not the old oil based printing ink I used to use in my lino prints on paper. I did apply the paint with a roller, but the printing process was more like a stamp, or even a potato print. Kinda loose, rubbed down with fingertips rather than the trusty wooden spoon.

The dress was a donation from an artist friend, thanks Joan! A beautiful turn of the century cotton baby dress, or perhaps nightgown. It has beautiful details, netting, and embroidery, tiny little pleats. It needed little work from me, as it was lovely to begin with.

The "stars" are little freshwater pearls, individually stitched through the canvas. Dream Sweet is also stitched through with a dusty blue embroidery floss. I chose a primitive childlike hand for the words this time, if I do it again I may try a type that looks a little more formal. Such is my life, already trying to figure out how to make the next one better before this one is even good and dry.

I am sure this will hang in a baby room somewhere, and hopefully become a treasured memory. One of the fun things about making little baby dresses is knowing that my piece is the beginning of a new art collection! And I'm all for nurturing new art collectors!

24" square $695

Busy Bird

Introducing "Busy Bird"

Steps forward in the life of a painter seem to be few and far between. As much as I know my work is improving over time, the tiny shreds of evidence are not always easy to find. What seems to me like an overwhelming epiphany in the moment, may result in little more than a shrug in the real world.

But this piece had one, perhaps a tiny one, but still it is a small step forward. Rather than use a rubber stamp from my collection to make the background, the lines of x & o's, I carved a small lino block. Not a huge task, those who have known me for many years know how familiar I am with linoleum block prints as they were my medium of choice. I've pulled dozens of multiple color reductive lino prints, never with a press, as I've never had that kind of dough, but with a wooden spoon.

But I don't think I can tell you how much I enjoyed carving that little block, the smell of linseed oil, the carving knife went through like butter. I thought it had been 3 or 4 years since I had carved a block, but I have just surprised myself. I just checked the date on the last lino I remember carving, it says 2001, time flies. Anyhow, this little change, has opened up a bunch of new possibilities, carving any patterns, or text into a block, and treating it like a stamp. Much more original than using store bought stamps, and endless possibilities.

Now back to Little Bird, the star of the show. The dress itself was a little sweater dress. I have never used a sweater dress before, and as I was soaking it in the goo, I really wasn't sure it was going to work, I expected it to stretch into some unidentifiable blob. But it went down very nicely. The key coming out of the top is silver leaf, with an acrylic transfer of a photo of this crazy little wind up bird I have. The bird is also repeated along the hem of the dress. Busy Bird is stitched into a halo shape where the head would be.

I must say this is a bit of a self portrait, it was the last piece painted in a marathon painting push after a really great show, as I was trying to get ready for the next. If you sat me down and asked me my mother's maiden name about the time I finished this, I'm not so sure I could have told you. But it is at times like that when the grand, or even puny ideas seem to come out of nowhere.

Little Bee

You can tell someone has been to art school when they have an aversion to making something "cute" or "pretty." And I have to tell you, I have this affliction in spades. Usually deep in my dress paintings, there is a little bit of irony, or snarkyness just waiting to be noticed. In fact, when someone walks into my booth and says "Oh CUTE!" (Or even worse, "cute, cute, cute, cute, cute....) I know they aren't really paying attention.

But this one....this one is simply too cute. Little Bee just sort of fell together nicely, it was going through an ugly phase...many of my paintings do, and then *poof* there it was, over the top sweet. And I just couldn't do it, I couldn't find a way to make it a little more mischievous. Or ugly it up a little, it was so pretty sitting there, that to do any of that stuff seemed as mean as poking a kitten.

So don't confuse this with an earlier "little b," where the b is the beginning of a 5 letter word. This one is what it is, just sweet. And I know it will be in a baby room soon, making everyone giggle. I can hear Moms everywhere making little bee buzzing noises, while they tickle someone small to sleep. And I guess that's ok too!

If you click on the image to make it bigger, you'll notice little stitched wings above the shoulders. Now I'm off to the studio to work on the next one, which will probably be a little snarky, just to make up for it. And please, don't tell any of my art teachers from college!

New Birds

A couple of new birds...

I am having fun with these new birds, the backgrounds are loose and abstract and I love them!

I've spent many years painting pure abstract work, much more of a challenge than you would expect. Making something beautiful and balanced, without having anything representational to "anchor" to is tricky.

But these give me a foot in both worlds, the tightly controlled little birds contrast nicely in both color and style to the backgrounds they sit in. And the dots of color as well as the changes in the top layer of color lead the eye around the composition.

Chatterbox is stitched in cross stitch through the top one, and although the thread looks black in the photo, it's actually a deep greenish brown, mirroring some of the deeper colors in the bird. This bird is a real chatterbox by the way, he or one like him sits on the peak of my studio in the morning and sings a good morning song that can be heard all through the yard!

A female cardinal is the next "bird in the hand" she is currently on the easel, if I get her finished before packing the van for the next show I'll try to put her up. Have a great day!

Goody Two Shoes

Somewhere deep in the first pages of this blog you will find the first "Goody Two Shoes." It was one of my all time favorites, and she sold either the first, or second time she was shown. So it's time to re visit the theme. This one is smaller, at 24" square. I'm loving the jade green, red, and yellow, colors straight out of the 40's and 50's. The dress itself is also from around that time. "Goody" is stitched along the top in black embroidery floss. And the photos are gussied up a bit with yellow polka dots and a little transparent white to make them pop.

I'm quite pleased with this one, and will be packing it (her?) up to go to Ann Arbor next week, along with many others. See you there!

Goody Two Shoes has sold, and is on her way to L.A. you go girl!

Wallflower

Wallflower is fresh off the easel. It has quite a different look from most if it's "sisters," partly because the dress is more from the 70's era rather than the 40's and 50's. The pattern is a loose interpretation of what was actually on the dress, enlarged to bigger than wallpaper size. What I love about this piece is the contrast or "push-pull" between the transparent color and the opaque ground. I added a bit of a shadow behind the dress just to make it pop a bit, but I already know there will be many, many people who will breeze by this piece and never even know there is a dress under the paint. Most of my paintings hold some sort of surprise for those who are really looking! You will have to look closely though to see her name, "wallflower" is stitched along the bottom hem of the dress in black floss. This piece will show for the first time in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the "Original" show, here is a link to their site http://www.artfair.org/

Wallflower is 24" square.

Ideas

A question I hear over and over at art shows is "how do you come up with all these ideas?" It always sort of takes my by surprise, because I guess I never think I have enough. I am always building piles of new ideas, in my head, in my sketchbook, on scraps of paper beside the bed. They come in the form of photographs, scribbled notes, random sketches.

Walking the familiar route from studio to kitchen this past winter the buds on my dogwood tree caught my eye.



The contrast is what caught me, they tell you in art school that the human eye registers contrast between light and dark faster than any other aspect, even bright colors.

So I went in to grab the camera and made a few shots. All the while little birds were out fluttering in the chilly air. So here I was out shivering in the cold, while they were out doing whatever little birds do. And, well, I can't carry on with this thought much further without sounding like a complete nut. Suffice it to say I must have been heavily influenced by Disney's Dr. Doolittle as a child, I wish from the bottom of my heart that I could talk to these little creatures. In fact I do talk to them, all forms of animals, lizards, dogs, frogs, birds, even bugs on occasion, so I guess what I really wish is that they could understand, or even talk back!

So as I watched the birds, it dawned on me one was gathering bits for a nest. And I was simply cheering her on, "attagirl" as my father would say.

This is the second I've done like this, the earlier one can be seen a page or so back in this blog. The bird is a pine warbler, not the same as the little brown bird that was building it's nest, but a later visitor. And who knows, this may be a male, being such a bright yellow, but I'm still going with "attagirl." And if you need to see it, I have my artistic licence in my wallet somewhere!

Attagirl is 24" square and has sold!

New post coming soon!

I am catching up on my to do list, and will post a new painting soon. Maybe even this afternoon! But I just wanted you to know I've created a Facebook page, so if you are a FB junkie (like me) please take a minute to seach me out. You'll find me under "Kathrine Allen-Coleman, mixed media artist."


Or try this link... http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Kathrine-Allen-Coleman-Mixed-Media-Artist/114416795259825

Please join my page by clicking the "like" button at the top, it's the easiest way to hear about what I'm working on and where you can find me. Thanks!