Leap

So I've had this bathing suit piece sitting in my studio since, oh, July. 

It started ok, but quickly lost momentum, and eventually got bogged down in an ugly spot.  The only thing that looked good were the midnight blue rings.  Raindrops, puddles from a sprinkler perhaps?  So, I put it aside, face against the wall as I worked on other things.  Yesterday, the time had come, I put it on the table, and started painting over the ugly bits.

You hear lots of different advice on getting out of a painting rut, but my preferred tactic is to paint my way out.  I am an intuitive painter.  By that I don't mean, I just "follow my heart, and let paint fly."  It's more of a process of adding and subtracting, working with the limitations set by the piece, the limitations set by the last decision.  And somehow, it just comes together.  Buried in the red background is an octopus.  and the girl doing the cannonball?  After several months of not really painting anything remotely realistic, all I had to go on was, "Gee, I wonder if I can still do this."

Being a full time artist, living this life, travelling across the country in hopes of a good show.  It's always a leap.  Sometimes you just have to tuck your legs up and go.

Oh, and "Leap" finally gave my new direction a title.

Brave Girls, Bad Girls, and Bad Girlfriends.

Coming soon.

Leap

20"x 24"

Vintage bathing suit, acrylic, and linoleum block prints on canvas.

Framed  $895

Nine newies.

Nine fresh new small pieces.  These are all 8" square, on deep gallery wrapped canvases.  All these and several more will be packed up and on their way to Miami next week for my first show of the year.

See you at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival  on Feb 15, 16, & 17th

You'll find me in booth #244

Are you interested in purchasing one of these little babies before the show?  They are $145 each including shipping in the US.  You can contact me at kallencole@aol.com

Enjoy your day!

What I like about these.

Some of you may know that once-upon-a-time I was a printmaker.

I would pull small editions of linocut prints.  I used the reductive process, carving a block, printing from it, and carving the same block further.  I was always searching for the perfect print, and constantly rejecting a print that had a blemish, a dot of dust, a dry "sparkly" area.

But now?  Oh yes, printmaking is obviously in my blood, because I am back at it.  Linocuts have become a very strong part of my dress paintings, and now, my new body of abstract work.

But now I get to ignore the rules.  I can apply ink thickly and painterly, or dry and almost translucent.  I can shift colors with no worries of an "edition".  And blemishes?  Bring it!  Crinkles and folds, sparkle and all.

Yeah, I'm kinda having fun with this.  And the abstracts have their very own shows coming up!

See you in Miami at Coconut Grove - Feb. 15, 16, 17

And in Atlanta at the Dogwood Festival April 11, 12, 13

'Tis the season

 

Yes, I know, I've been very quiet.

Truth be told, I have been working like a field hand.  Well, not really, but you get the idea.  I finished my last show for the year, took a couple of weeks to regroup after a lot of travel, and opened my commission drawer. 

 

My commission drawer is a new thing this year, every so often someone would send something, I'd take notes, put all the precious bits with the notes, and put it in the commission drawer.  When I finally opened it, it was a bit of an archeological dig.  The deeper I went, the further back in time I was for promised delivery dates.  Fortunately, you are all very patient.

 

But, after a starting process that was like pulling the cord on an ancient lawnmower, I am moving forward.  The table above shows the five pieces that will be done before Christmas, and there are still a couple in the drawer for the first of the year.  Hopefully I shot this photo with enough discretion that no one will spot their gift!

 

Have you ever considered a commission?  Feel free to contact me, and be patient!

New Work!

It feels like forever since I've been able to shout "New Work!" and really have much to show for it.  But I've been busy, and sometimes the new pieces sell before I've had a chance to put them up, and, and, and...

Ok, enough excuses.  Here is what I've been up to in the past few weeks, in addition to the (elle)ements.  Don't know what an (elle)ement is?  Check that out here. 

Here we go, the new girls.  Dresses on canvas, linoleum block prints, and acrylic paint.

Chatterbox

Approx. 24" square.  Framed  $895

Captain Invisible

Approx. 24" square. Framed $895

Captain Invisible started out as an "Attagirl"  A tree climbing tomboy.  But the more I worked on her, the more I thought she was actually a bit of a superhero too.  She may be invisible, but only when she wants to be.

Watergirl

Approx. 24" square, framed.   $895

Watergirl is one of my nicknames.  One I gave to myself.  So I guess that puts this in the self portrait category.  Made with three canvases, a dress, a bunch of linoblock prints, and paint.

Goody Two Shoes

Approx. 24"x32" (I think) framed $1100

Beach Baby

Approx. 20" x 24" framed $750

And a few new abstracts, these are all 8" square.  On canvas.

$135 each

All of these new pieces are currently bumping up I-75 in a motorhome, headed to Sausalito, California.  By way of Dayton, Ohio, and Chicago, and a few other places.  Here is a link to that whole story... www.mybrotherinlawsidea.blogspot.com

And here is a link to the Sausalito Arts Festival

http://sausalitoartfestival.org/

Now if any one of these new pieces needs to be in your private collection, just let me know, I can make sure that happens.

Black Sheep

I never know just what to say when people ask me how long it takes to do a piece.  Sometimes the execution goes fairly quickly, sometimes not.  Or if it's like this piece, the idea lodges in my brain and stays there for months, slowly inching to the surface.

 

But I like her, I've always had a soft spot for black sheep.  Especially the ones that leave legendary stories that families talk about for years.  Linoleum block prints on tissue, acrylic paint, a vintage dress, and a lot of little silver beads stitched through the canvas are all that make this piece.

 

 

Three separate canvases framed together as a triptych, about 28" x56" framed.

$3600

 

New work, abstracts.

 

One of the things I like about working in this series is, how intuitive the process is.  My dress pieces are largely planned, the plans may change as the situation requires, but there is a general feeling that I'm going for.  I work toward that.

 

But with these, I just start.  What I just did on the canvas, influences what I'll do next.

So, I pulled out these 6 identical 8" square canvases, and painted the first one with a brilliant deep cadmium red.  I liked how it looked, and decided to do another, until I decided that all 6 needed to be different variations of the red.

 

Then, I started making decisions about what to collage on top.  I managed to pull in the palette to just a handful of neutral colors, plus the red that was already there.

 

 

 

 

These are the 6 that I ended up with.  Black was the final addition to a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I kinda like them.

They will all be available at the Des Moines Art Festival, or beforehand, if you send me an email. They are 8"square, on deep canvas with the edges painted black. $145 ea.

New abstracts

 

It's interesting how things morph and change from one thing to another.  I started doing a series of tiny pieces that I called (elle)ements.  These were essentially elements of the "big girl" dress pieces I was doing.  (Elle) is French for the feminine, just in case you were wondering.  These little 4" square canvases have been holding their own quite nicely, and they have their own blog www.elleements.blogspot.com

But they have started moving things in another direction.  Simple abstract pieces that focus on the process of layering, the juxtaposition of patterns ancient and modern, opaque over transparent.  I think they are coming along nicely.  Above are my three latest pieces, all 36" square.  You can see these, and the rest of my new abstract body of work this weekend at the Decatur on the Square Festival.  In Decatur, GA.  Hope to see you!

Lucky Girl

Lucky Girl is going to Ft.Worth or Nashville for her first show. I haven't decided which, so if you have any interest, and plan on going to one show or the other, let me know, I can be swayed. 

Lucky Girl's dress is a gorgeous corduroy, and is a royal blue. The name of the piece is embroidered in the top left and right canvases.  The white circles are surrounded by a ring of glass pearls, pearl necklaces of sorts. The teacup in the middle is a tinted photo transfer. 

Approx 24"x 32"

Focus free

About a week ago I asked folks on Facebook what they would rather read me blog about, my art fair influences, my terrific middle school art teacher, or a sort of photo essay on one of the processes I use in my paintings. Process sort of won, but I will eventually get to the other topics. 

So I start taking photos of what I'm working on.

  Transferring a new damask pattern that Scott designed onto linoleum. 

Starting to carve

 

And then it all goes a little off track, the lino is in the background of this shot, still being carved as I move on to some stitching.

 

 

And then these happen, as I am working on a new version of "Goody Two Shoes"

 

Oh, and I am still printing other bits...

 

And sticking down other things, and waiting for them to dry.

 

As other pieces are finished.

 

So there you have it, Lucky Girl, Black Sheep, Goody Two Shoes, and another yet unnamed piece are all crashing around out there, ranging from barely started to almost complete.  I bounce from painting to printing to stitching to photographing, and somehow it is all getting done.  All linear thought processes out the window, I visualize something closer to pushing an entire wave to shore.

 

Now to get back out there...