Saturday, June 14, 2008

New Finished Piece

i am currently working on a series of large scale paintings... well, larger then i typically work. the largest of these is a diptych that is nearly 4 feet long.
the painting below is one of the finished pieces. it is titled Highland Ave. and Mechanic St. there will be more to come soon!
highland ave. and mechanic st. 16x18 inches

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Graduate thesis show and painting process

the paintings below were done as part of my graduate thesis. in a nut shell, i used my art making process as a basis of my research to understand more about the artist / art teacher identity. during the months i spent researching, i documented my painting process and i have included the images below.

"Masters of Art in Teaching Art Capstone Exhibition" - a fancy way of saying my thesis show.
the image above is from the show we had at the Winfisky Gallery at Salem State College. the show was this past may and in the image you can see two of my paintings and a framed monoprint.

side streets of beverly (21x42 inches - triptych)
this is my finished painting. below are the steps that show part of my process. i worked on the painting over the course of a few months.


step 1: layout images and glue them to the panels



step 2: paint an underpainting... i just really like orange as an underpainting


step 3: paint - i block in the big colors. most of these colors get painted over right away

step 4: paint more


steps 5-10: just keep painting. i usually paint over everything a few times. often i glue new images over areas that are not working or just paint over entire spaces entirely.


process (11 x 22 inches - diptych)

this was another painting that i did as part of my thesis. i was encouraged to make a piece that expressed some of the challenges i faced in dealing with artist / art teacher identity. in this piece i incorporated some school curriculum maps, teacher assessment procedures, student assessment procedures, and my class schedule... all of the things that felt at odds with my artist self... and tried to recreate them into something more me.

New paintings - completed in Feb. 2008


below are a few paintings that i completed in february that didn't make it into the gallery on my website yet.
central (12x16 inches)
milton street (8x10 inches)

market street (10x16 inches)


Monoprints

these are all monoprints that i have recently made. i studied printmaking in college and it was actually my major. after graduating, i began focusing more on collage and painting since i did not have access to a press or other print-making equipment. but we now have a small print press in our studio which i am excited about.


cabot and pierce streets

congress and rantoul streets


congress st. #2

primary houses

turquoise houses

Drawings

the following drawings were done in my graduate drawing class. it was great working with drawing materials again since i have recently been so focused on working with acrylics.
houses #1 (18x44 inches)
i decided to experiment with my houses subject in a drawing medium. there are still layers of collage incorporated into these pieces. i also used charcoal, graphite, chalk pastels, and gesso.

houses #3 (22x36 inches)


houses #5 (22x18 inches)


this is a drawing experiment created in my classes. it is charcoal on paper and measures about
18 x 24 inches.



these two drawings were also complete in my graduate drawing course. i chose the hinges as a subject because i enjoyed their overlapping shapes. it was later pointed out to me how these hinges looked like my houses... funny how the houses keep coming back into my work.


Enormous Tiny Art - Nahcotta Gallery Opening

Nate and I at an opening at the Nahcotta Gallery in front of my tiny paintings. I believe this photo is from 2007, although I have been in a few of the "Enormous Tiny Art Shows" that Nahcotta has hosted.