ACEO “Blue Day Dream” Abstract collector’s card in oil

2.5 by 3.5 15.00 oil on watercolor paper an abstract in blue with a lovely hint of yellow

Tribute to Monet # 11

Another beautiful small 6 by 8 inch painting. It’s part of my series ” tribute to Monet” these paintings are all water paintings and they have all been very different. Some are very realistic, many are impressionistic and this one is leaning towards abstraction. Ya never know what I’ll paint, so plan to come back and see what’s up for tomorrow. $75.00 oil on canvas.

Collage Journal #2

Not for sale but I would be happy to tell you how you could make your own.

This is the cover to a journal.
I made this today in preparation for a collage demo I’m giving on Tuesday. It has papers I created with tissue paper and acrylic paint. In the center there is a watercolor paper insert which I painted in WC but used a transfer from my sketch book. I also used wallpaper, around the edge I think they call it grass cloth plus various tapes and screens for texture.
If I cover it in UV varnish it should last many lifetimes.
Oh yeah… I forgot to mention…
I covered the whole thing in “Golden” Soft Gel Gloss.
The actual journal was a “composition book” you find in any drug store or school supply for $1.00. It has lined paper inside which is nice for notes, recipes, journaling and even some creative writing.

Koi, Koi, Koi

Koi, Koi, Koi

Oil on canvas panel 8 by 10  $95.00

 

I painted this from an idea I had for another painting which was to be an abstract…   I like dividing the space almost equally but  think in my abstract painting, I’ll use three different colors.  Not only different but not all from the same side  of the color wheel… I’ll try to have a greyed color from the opposite side,  maybe the piece will have a bit more of a resolution.

Ancient Ritual 117 Sold

4 by 4 watercolor on gessoed masonite…. abstract $25.00

This series explores the use of ritual in our lives to mark the passing of time and events in our lives.

I enjoyed my self doing the demo at cheap Joe’s today. I will be teaching a class there soon, email if interested in joining the class.

shipping is 5.50

A workshop DVD review

This review of an instructional video was written by my good friend Adele Greenfield.     I thought you might like to check this video out.  I have used this approach in the past and it’s a good way to paint an abstract design if you feel your stuck or blocked, it may help you get a jump start.     John Salminen, AWS, DF, NWSA Designed Approach to Abstraction Review by Adele Greenfield John Salminen’s video should come with a warning, “Watch the first part of this DVD passively and you will miss out!” His is no ordinary demonstration. You’ll take a journey into abstract shapes and values and learn everything you need to know about design. He invites you into his world and, at the beginning, it’s like he’s beside you every step of the way as you draw with him and design your painting with him. The key words here are “with him.” Yes, it’s the next best thing to his being in your studio, holding your hand to start you off and get you into his process so it becomes your process too. While he takes you step-by-step at first, don’t panic. This is definitely not a cookie-cutter approach, stifling your creativity. He helps you make choices that keep your work intriguing and varied so you have a wealth of shapes with which to work. You’ll look for irregular, unpredictable, and oblique shapes, dealing in pure abstraction with no recognizable subject matter. With his examples, you’ll know exactly what he means.The beginning is structured so you’re comfortable enough to get to the place where you can become painterly and . . . creative. Once you have your design, then it’s time to watch him assess and refine his piece. Here, it’s up to you. Pause and go to your own painting on occasion or watch it straight through to see how he works, taking in his many lessons like how to knock back intense areas, “sealing off any exits,” and avoiding monotony.John says that every strong painting begins as a strong design, the common language binding all styles. Value is his favorite design element and he describes his paintings as “value dependant.” Closely related middle values can make a piece glow and are the strength of watercolors. Watch as he introduces intermediates to add transitional passages, helping you move from dark to light areas. You’ll see how he works with the 9-Value System, from the lightest light (white of the paper which is number 1) to from the darkest dark, number 9. In every painting, he says that we have an obligation to fully represent all the values we’re capable of, including the very dark ones, which many watercolorists shy away from. State the extremes, even in a high key piece. But there needs to be a visual linkage, a visual pathway, among the various shades.John’s approach to beginning the painting is unusual, using tracing paper and then transferring lines and shapes that produce surprising results. Tracing paper gives you layers to work with and lifting a piece isolates various shapes.First, you will make some simple linear drawings and he gives you specific criteria. He’ll show you how to combine them and you’ll see interesting shapes come together in an unpredictable, random manner. Then you’ll make decisions – light, medium, and dark values. And again, he explains this thoroughly so you cannot possibly go wrong. During this process, he throws out valuable bits of information such as “even when it’s broken and fragmented, the eye will follow a dark shape more than it will a white shape. Keep the light shape intact.” He helps you focus on the relationship of shapes, illustrates ways to provide a visual pathway, and points you toward your center of interest, telling you how to make that area sing. Following the mostly 80/20 ratio, he spends time explaining and demonstrating dominance, curvilinear and geometric shapes, and the use of warm and cool colors. Among other things, he’ll show you how he masks areas, lifts paint, and adds calligraphic lines. John discusses the difference between a trick and a technique and then emphasizes technique, integrating a little collage, incorporating texture, and creating a push/pull illusion. He likes putting dark acrylic into a corner, turning it into a black void and giving the piece much depth. Then he shows you how to smooth out the surface with a dry brush. You’ll also see how to use a mouth atomizer, the most effective way to spatter, and even how to sign your name.Once you get used to this way of working.  You’ll never be stuck for an abstract design idea. And when it comes down to it, even the best realistic painting has the underpinning of a good abstract design.

The Struggle

Most artists struggle. Either they can’t seem to get down their vision of what they want or they don’t know what they want, (they’ll know it, if they see it). I think this struggle is part of the process. Its too bad because of this constant push/ pull it sometimes seems not to be worth the effort. Its why some people give up doing their art. Also, I see people giving up their art because they don’t have enough buyers. Buyers equate “good artist”. No buyers (not counting family and friends) means not a good artist. This definitely is not the case.

We live in an age when people will buy a Persian rug for their dining area, cover their sofa in silks, and import tiles from Italy to decorate their home tastefully and expensively, yet these same people will have pictures of art rather original art on every wall in their house. They will pay more for a custom frame and mat then for an original piece of art. Go into any model home these days, same thing, prints everywhere. (Please, I have nothing against prints.. so don’t write me justifying your print purchases) Most from 18th and 19th century artists. I guess they feel pretty good or safe rather, that this art cannot be denied as good art. It has stood the test of time. The truth is… I think people don’t trust their own judgement when it comes to choosing art. They need someone to tell them what is good art. All they have to do is trust their inner voice that says “I love this” but they don’t trust that little voice so they listen to experts…But who? do you trust Gallery owners? Especially when they are getting 50% of the profits? Do you trust your own decorator who is going to choose a piece of art because it matches a sofa? You have to admit, even I may not pay some of the high prices for some art, especially when it appears to have been painted with a stick or a rag. People don’t like to be taken advantage of and they don’t like to admit they don’t “know” art. The other problem is a simple one, people don’t appreciate original art in the US as much as in many other cultures around the globe. Now as in the past, Art was OK as long as it was something to do as a hobby but not as a career. It isn’t real work. We have a very strong work ethic in this county and some parents often put creativity in the back seat while encouraging productive hard work, left brain thinking.

So, if we don’t buy original art and we encourage our kids to do anything but become artists, and we don’t support the arts in schools what we are we saying?

Its no wonder today’s artists may feel as though it isn’t worth the effort, that the struggle to produce good art is just that, a struggle. As an artist I’ll remind you, of a few important things.

1. Its takes a very long time to become proficient at something as complex as art.
In fact, if it were easy, would you still even want to do it?

2. Don’t take the advice from lay people. They won’t help you, even if they have good intentions.

3. Be a lifelong student, don’t plan to figure it all out right now. It really is about the journey not the destination. Its a journey for one, just you.

4. Do whatever you enjoy doing, even if no one buys it. Hey, its cheaper than therapy.

Studio Tour

Here I am sitting for a minute before I start the painting…..probably wondering what will I paint next. Often, I plan, plan plan, but once I start, I usually forget the plan and just let the painting decide what it wants to be.

 

 Here are some small pieces of paper waiting for me to just get a few minutes to start a painting.    I think I was gessoing these .. I usually do the priming in an assembly line  because it can get messy. 

I don’t like to store all of my seldom used items in my painting area preferring to keep it tidy. Especially since My painting area is small.
Behind all these completed paintings are several things, a big box of mat board, slides, a light box and related equipment ( some things I can’t seem to throw out even though I haven’t used them in years) and framing supplies. Also framed bios which are ready to be hung with my photo for outdoor festivals or street shows.

I have a small TV in my work area that I can watch. Often I will watch DVDs or videos of other artist’s painting or giving instruction. Its a good way to learn and its very easy to trade DVDs or videos with other artists so you can always have something new to see and possibly learn a new trick of the trade.

This is a walk in closet that I keep most of my frames and also larger framed paintings.   Many of these paintings are stored here after being in a show or in a gallery.   As you can see…  I also store my Bike here to keep it dry and clean.

Here is a sneak peek at many of my small paintings just waiting for someone like you to buy.  They are stored flat and by size. I have four big drawers full of Daily painting.

This is my little area that I use to pretty much do everything from painting to shipping.  The green cabinet straight ahead is of course my flat files with all of my stored paper which I buy in bulk, all of my customer information and my daily paintings, also many larger works and drawings.  I got this flat file at a newspaper that I used to work for because as most of you know newspapers now use computers. Of course I’m old enough to remember when back in the day they did something called “cut and paste ” these files were used to store all of their materials for this job.  These flat files became obsolete and if your lucky, you’ll get one for next to nothing from your local paper. These large files are sold for $500.00 in most artist’s catalogs.   On top of the flat files is my mat cutter ( I highly recommend the Logan 650) but from this distance you can’t see it very well… also along the sides of the flat file are stored all types of supports and foam core.  My router is on top of the flat file and my computer is across the room on a small table I use to package the paintings and get them ready to ship out.

This  large cabinet is full of art books, sketch books,  video tapes  and DVDs of art instruction and art history books.  I really love these books and go thru them on a regular basis.  

This is a photo of my daily painting table with my dog SAM lying underneath.  I have three large dogs and there is always one under the table as I’m painting.  
If you go to watch my video on Utube this part of the video is bascically black because it’s evening and a black dog in the dark is a dumb thing to video unless of course he opens his eyes.

This is a table I use for pressing the daily paintings. I also do most of my own framing and matting for the watercolor paintings.  I will usually send out larger works for shows but most smaller paintings I’m comfortable with matting and framing myself if I have time. The square item at the-top right is what I use to flatten out the small paintings. I place the painting right side down in between paper towels inside the little press. Then I use books or heavy objects to keep it weighed down till it drys.. the final result is a perfectly flat painting, ready to mat. All you need are two boards connected with a hinge. This was my brother’s idea, I used to just put a lot of books on top of the paintings which were placed inside of paper towels.

My cat is my best critic… she watches  and comments..  Everyone’s got an opinion!

I had a plan to up load a video with music or some fancy editing but as luck would have it no time… so if you would like to see my work space you can go to YOU TUBE and I uploaded a soundless video of my painting space you can look for it by going to youtube.com and putting in “Shantiartist” and my studio tour should come up. I was really under the gun today so I didn’t have time to really put much together. I hope you have enjoyed this slice of my life and a view of my work area. 

 HERE IS MY PAINTING FOR TODAY….  DID YOU THINK I WOULD FORGET?
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Angels are among us #54

SOLD 8.5 by 11 $60.0 plus 5.5 for shipping.

Mixed media on paper this is one in a series ( Angels are among us) of paintings including Angels. It started our as an abstract but my brother pointed out there was an image in the upper left hand corner… so I figured it could not be denied. Perhaps she watches over the sailors.

Angels are among us

Watercolor on gessoed Mat board. 5 by 5 $45.0 + 5.5 shipping.  SOLD

“Angels are among us” is a painting from an my old series. I did a series a while back about Angels and sometimes every now and then I will paint another.

what is art?

I laughed out loud when I watched this… Thanks to David Darrow for pointing out this utube video. They have them on other topics too. I’ll never be able to sit with artists and discuss art again without thinking about the dog and his prints.

Abstract by Shanti Marie

SOLD
This is 5 by 7 $ 25.00 plus 1.00 s&h
This painting is from my ancient ritual series which is exploring the way we mark time thru events of ritual in our lives. This is acrylic.

Abstract #91 watercolor on paper 4″ by 6″

this 4 by 6 is only 30.00. It also has a companion piece which I will put up tomorrow

collage mixed media abstract

four inches by four inches mixed media piece & companion piece to the collage I put up earlier this week. I made the paper, painted it with watercolor, gesso and acrylic, then covered it with varnish. The reds and the tans are beautiful together. It looks great!

“90b Abstract ” watercolor on paper

$40.00
4 by 6 companion piece to the one I did yesterday = “90″… If you put these paintings side by side they almost seem to connect.

OK so I can’t think of a name for these two paintings. I figured with all the folks who usually try to tell me what to name my paintings I would have at least received one suggestion. no not a one. c’mon folks your name can be part of the Shanti Marie History this can be your legacy..