The Start of the Hopeful Element

    I only had a little studio time this week (it's going to get better, right?), but I thought I'd post where I'm at with this little painting. I spent a longgg time last night and this morning trying to get the ellipses right on those little pots. I'm not lying to my students when I tell them I still have to work hard at things like this.

Here are the ellipses, during the construction process. I'm not sure they are spot on, just yet. After this, there is one more element to go. My next job, besides truing up those pots and working on shading everywhere, is researching the final element. Doing that is one of my favorite parts :)

New one

   Today, I sat through the beginning of the semester meetings. It was not a joy. I suppose public education is suffering everywhere from lack of funds. So even though I'm excited about getting the litho shop set up and sharing what I learned this summer, spending the day hearing from administrators about the state of the university sent me straight to my marimba first and my easel second when I got home. They were both sweet relief.

     After obsessing about strict perspective rules for so long, in this new one I'm easing up a bit and letting my eyeballs do more of the work, rather than my brain. I can tell I'm going to fuss with these lines a few more times before I start adding layers of paint. 

     Even though there is a tornado in this one, I promise there will be a hopeful element as well. I have a feeling we are going to need some of those in the next couple of years.

    This checkerboard pattern has always been really comforting to me. It first struck me when I saw this painting at the Art Institute of Chicago for the first time many years ago. I've used the pattern many, many times. And now, I'm hankering for it again. This one is called "Thanksgiving", by Doris Lee (1935).