Waverly McFardle.

Recognize this painting? I do not know what to title it. Suggest one.

The previous one left me cold. There wasn't enough going on in it to retain my interest for very long. I like some hard edges but too many can be abrupt and harsh on the viewer, too few and I feel like I'm floating out to deep space never to be seen again.

The green misty rectangle at the top is so glowing and luscious.

Why do I like blue and yellow so much?

I have been pushing myself into new and uncomfy realms of endeavor. I'm not so sure what I think of the work itself, but I continue to feel that I'm going in the right direction.

I found an art group in Anacortes that has lots of room and tables to paint on so I feel like I can go back to painting in the large. For a month now, I have been pretty much painting what I see in front of me but I feel that real artists can paint the ideas out of their imaginations. Yesterday, I drew a little cartoon in my note book that I carry everywhere. It was extremely rough and awkward but I liked it anyway. You can see where professional artists beginnings are not as smooth as one is accustomed to seeing them.

In Fairhaven, in the cafe at the bookstore, there were some figure paintings that were interesting and active but without faces on the figures which I find disturbing. The paintings all sold so I figured there was something to them. And its probably what bothers me about my paintings. They are static. I went to the mall to do some action drawings, which was really beyond my capabilities to draw fast enough but maybe with practice...There you are- all my so fascinating thoughts on why I like blue and yellow.

Western Sky.

I've been living in the Pacific Northwest for five years now but I guess the western sky is indelibly imprinted on my psyche.

I laid in a figure painting this morning but was then irresistibly drawn to paint abstract paintings. I made two but am going to save the other in case I find myself with a week's worth of paintings that I don't particularly want anyone to see. Which is what happened last week.

This could also be a tempest at sea.

new western landscape

I thought the photo of this painting was really washed out until I tilted my computer screen farther back and discovered that the photo is true to life.

I was not thrilled with it's stripyness (o.k., not a word) but loved, loved, loved the wash of blue over nickel azo gold in the rain showers. I was unhappy about the large yellow, green shape until I expanded it and painted out some of the purple shape, washed the nickel over the upper part and now it's a coherent painting. Fancy that.

I took this photo this summer on our drive back home through the west. The sky is immense in the west because there are no trees to obscure vision and one can see forever. Some times I miss the wild, wild west.

Tired of being good.

The painting on the right is what I painted yesterday. The first one is how the painting looks today. I added glaze to the large red shape because I enjoy the contrast of shiny versus matte. The large red shape lets light in giving it a feeling of depth in contrast to the areas that absorb some light.

Unfortunately, my brain has assigned an image to the shape that I am not enjoying so I'm going to have to make some changes but I do like the negative shape it creates so I'm not sure how I'm going to resolve my dilemma.

I also had fun creating the color for the neutral background. I enjoy my frankenstein color creations. Yellow is not a color I choose to wear or live in but it seems to be my color of choice for painting.

i'm still here.

Despite my resolution to be good and post blogs more frequently to keep readers coming back to read fresh items, I let life lead me astray. I took the weekend off and went to Seattle. The change was refreshing. I've been going to my various figure drawings venues but have been chicken to show the results. Perhaps I should just get over myself and show them, already. Nah.

Today, I felt like throwing off the restraints and playing. So. I watched a cheesy vampire movie in the a.m. and fooled around with some paint and crayons in the p.m., thank you very much. What d'ya think?

Rotating the figure

Over dinner the other night, I mentioned that Temple Grandin, who designs human cattle chutes (thank goodness the computer dictionary read my mind and offered me both words because I spelled is the way the verb is spelled). She claims that she can see a plan of what she wants to build in her head and rotate it to see it from every angle. My son felt that anyone could do that but when he tried to imagine the human figure from every angle, he found it to be difficult. Seeing a standing figure from underneath, in one's head, is the most difficult.

One could imagine my drawing from more angles than one could the painting.

colorado landscapes from last summer

I was inspired to try my hand at cloud paintings after viewing Sharon Kingston's cloud paintings. These pieces of art are acrylic and water soluble crayon on paper. This is going to be my media of choice of a while because I like the variety of affects it affords me. As far as I know, there are no water soluble paint sticks that I could use with water soluble paints. These have the added benefit of being more affordable in this troubled market.

Yes, I admit freely that as much fun as I have creating these little beauties, I am a professional artist. Gasp.