Three Paintings For Granbury Art Show

These are my three entries for the fall show.  I'm hopeful that I will do well.

Autumn Flurry, Mixed Media

Dangerous Bayou, Acrylic

Tijuana Brass, Mixed Media

Earlier Water Media Work

 These were painted in the same period as the Polytich paintings.  I sold one of the sets, I am not sure which one.

Polytich Watermedia Paintings

 

These paintings created before the pandemic sold.

These paintings created before the pandemic sold.

Where do Ideas Come From?

 I was teaching watercolor at the time  I painted this and really like this painting.

Gisha Memory, watercolor and gouache and ink



My students have been creating index card 5 minute art journals to help them generate thinking and personal ideas in painting.  In reality, a lot of ideas from a lot of art comes from both internal and external sources.  I started creating feminine forms by accident one day when I first saw a geisha in an abstract painting and was intrigued by the painting which resulted.  I then saw the female form in every abstract that I looked at.  After I attended Drama and Desire Japanese Paintings from the Floating World at the Kimbell Art Museum, my female forms took over my work.  Here is where art influences art, the external source further influencing my art making.

Recently I saw a work by Dan Krall  that so reminded me of Paul Klee’s work. "Paul Klee paintings have been classified within several different related movements including expressionism, cubism, and surrealism.”   Perhaps it is because both artists are influenced by a similar source, the child artist.   Dan Krall is a production artist for the movies as well as a freelance illustrator.  Visit his blog at  where he writes about his influences for art making.  Where do your ideas come from?

Mixed Media Watercolor

 This is from a very early blog post.  This mixed media watermedia is still one of my favorite paintings.

Dancing Gisha, Mixed Media and Watercolor on Canvas

I began experimenting with paint media in college as a topic for one of my first graduate courses in watercolor.  I had seen my mother, Louise Butler  do all kinds of non-traditional type things with her paintings that sold in her gallery and wanted to begin to "think out of the box" in my use of media. 

This began my journey and true love with painting with "new" or different methods of working.  My favorite contemporary artist who has published the bible on experimental watermedia painting is  Maxine Masterfield;  Painting the Spirit of Nature.  In 1991 Maxine Masterfield and Grace Hegeman founded ISEA (International Society of Experimental Artists).  If you want to try your hand at experimenting with media check out this book or web site!



Old VRS New

 I just finished 8 new paintings but I wanted to compare them with several old abstracts that are not on the blog so far.  These are several early abstracts that worked well, painted earlier than ten years ago.

Dark Moody Blue, Water-media and collage

 

Hidden Dragon,Water-media and collage

 

  Red Still Life, Water-media and collage

 

Gemstones ,Water-media and collage

 

Blues With a Vengeance, Mixed media oil and collage

 

Raspberry Rhapsody, Mixed media oil and collage

Last Dance, acrylic

 

These next two paintings were finished 2013.  The difference her was the use of harmonic gray.

 

Summer Dance, acrylic

 

Plum Lady, acrylic

 

2019 Fall Award