Color Cat Studios: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Chrysanthemum Series - First Friday

These paintings are some of my Chrysanthemum Series. They are currently hanging in the Da Vinci Gallery in Tomball http://www.davinciartistsgallery.com/exhibitions.html

Come on out and see us this Friday for our delightful First Friday evening of meeting artists, beautiful art and an hors d' oeuvres and wine bar.

The paintings in this series are mono-prints. That means that there are no two alike. I enjoy carving wood blocks, and that is what I did with the chrysanthemum.

Each background has layers of paint and iridescents to give them depth. Once I am pleased with the backgrounds, I will paint the wood block and print it onto the backgrounds. Often I will paint on top of the wood block print as well, so there are many layers in these pieces.

Come on out and see us Friday night!

Monday, September 29, 2014

Artist, Anarchist, One-Man Band

A quote we all surely appreciate- "Plenty of alternatives exist to being an artist: an anarchist, a one-man band, a high-wire act with no safety net. - Matthew Daub

I found this in the latest edition of Professional Artist in a really helpful article that Matthew wrote. So true.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Uncle Sam Collage with Five Guys Burgers and Fries

This collage came from the bright packaging and menus at http://www.fiveguys.com/. I took some of it home with me and came up with red, white and blue. What is more patriotic than Uncle Sam? So... here he is - in all of his Five Guys glory.

By the way, what Uncle Sam is saying is, I'm thinking, one of two things:

1 - I want YOU to go eat burgers and fries at Five Guys (good idea); or,

2 - I want YOU to come out to the First Friday event NEXT WEEK, at the Da Vinci Gallery in Tomball to lay back, meet the artists, and experience some great art!
http://www.davinciartistsgallery.com/

Da Vinci Gallery Painting - Happy Pair

I've prepared five or six paintings for the http://www.davinciartistsgallery.com/. Tomorrow I'll take them over and the hanging will be Sunday. Here's a bright painting which I call the Happy Pair, that will be hung. Come on out next Friday to our First Friday event. Lots of fun! Meet the artists, enjoy some wine and delicious food, and enjoy some great art!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Goodbye to Tony Motto

Well, one week ago today area people lost a very special man, and I lost a good friend. Tony Motto, you were a friend of the community, a friend of the arts, and a friend of mine. You will be greatly missed by many people.

http://www.woodlandsonline.com/npps/story.cfm?nppage=53802

Turkish tour

Another look at those natural color-sources. I asked about cochineal, because you couldn't just have that on a shelf, and yes, their deep reds are cochineal. It's a South American insect that is a parasite to the prickly pear. Owners deposit them into their fields, and blow them off and collect them once they're big. Then they crush their fat, bloody bodies for a nice, natural, red dye. I'm so happy to report that the rug we purchased has cochineal in it. I'm also happy to report that it's likely in your lipstick and blush, ladies, and if you drink cherry coke - it's in there, too! :)

'My' Chair

At our theatre the other night we had an orchestra meeting after I taught my sets class. After about a half hour, someone pulled me out of the meeting for a few minutes. When I came back, everyone in the room was laughing and pointing to the nice, uh, black leather chair. I had paint on the back of my shirt, and it permanently smeared all over the leather! The last time I went in the office, I noticed that someone had taped up the sign you see here. One way to lay claim to something! Well, it's not the first time, let's see, there's my driveway with many colors of paint, our carpet with Peter Pan green footprints, my car with yellow paint on the seat, my gloves, half of my clothes. It seems like everyone likes my painted clothes, kind of like already-broken-in-jeans. Maybe I should start a clothing line!