And now for the Blog Hop questions . . .
1. What am I working on?
I have spent the last year revising Books, Boxes & Wraps: Binding & Building Step-by-Step. More projects and illustrations, more working tips, tools and sources, long days at the computer, and at last, the second edition is available from my website, linked to the title above. The book is also available on Amazon in the UK and Europe, and will soon be on Amazon in the USA. I have just started to paint again and am absorbed in the wonders of color. Far Away, my first painting since the book, is now in the National Association of Women Artists 125th Annual Exhibition in NYC.
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
My work differs from others of its genre because of how I sense my environment.
3. Why do I create what I do?
My creative work has changed several times over the years due to life circumstances. Soon after I graduated from college, I was offered two jobs the same week, one as an illustrator with a downtown Seattle ad agency, the other—an offer from the editors of Vogue magazine to be one of their models in the Vogue Fashion Pavilion the Seattle Worlds' Fair Century 21. I set artwork aside and took Vogue's offer and continued modeling in Seattle for six years.
During that time I had children. Oil painting had been my favored medium. However, with young children, I no longer had large blocks of uninterrupted time. Nor did I have racks where wet panels could dry out of reach of little hands. So my oil tubes and brushes went in a box in the garage for 16 years. I sketched in ink and watercolor and I took up calligraphy.
By the mid 1980's the children were older, my oil paints came back inside and I fell in love with color and light at a much deeper level. I strive to capture the beauty and joy in my surroundings through color patterns, values and temperature.
Century 21 in evening light
Hair watercolor on paper
Sally's Roses oil on canvas 22 x 28
Far Away oil on panel 14 x 14
4. How does my creating process work?
It begins with heart-touching moments, the way colors change as light falls across objects, people, a landscape. In Far Away it was the shapes formed by the way she was sitting that first caught my attention. I also loved the color combinations and the negative space created behind her. She was so absorbed in the story, she was unaware I was watching her.
I shoot my own reference photos and also paint from life. I usually sketch the composition in thin paint directly on the panel or canvas. Sometimes I work out several compositions in rough sketches on paper first. I like painting wet in wet and just keep going. Sometimes I work on a piece for several days to a week. Then there are those times when a painting takes weeks or months to finish. I get to a point and know there is hope, but not quite sure what needs to happen next. At those times the best move is to set the work aside for a while. After I haven't seen it for a several weeks (or months) it is often instantly clear what needs to happen. That is when I continue.
And now, here are the artists I have invited to blog next Monday, November 11th.
1. Sue Gill Rose is an acrylic and watercolor painter and a dear friend. We met through Women Painters of Washington. I love the patterns she creates in her work. Each month we get together with several other artists, to critique each others' paintings, have lunch and share lots of laughs.
The Green Man
Destination, Roslyn on the other side of the pass
1 comment:
Love your post Marilyn!
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