Carousel

The bright colors and liveliness of this piece inspired the title "Carousel." I was going to call it "Harlequin," but clowns and harlequins and such really creep me out.

There's some glare on the photo; sorry. I took it just before we left and it was still wet--we just arrived in London for 8 days, and I plan to see some Sargent and Turner while I'm here! So far, my intentions include Tate Modern (hoping for Rothko), Tate Britain, and National Portrait Gallery. Anyone with specific what-art-to-see in London suggestions, please feel free.

Sometimes you just gotta find a little sunbeam and lose consciousness for a while.

(P.S. Lynx wants you all to know he's a boy--but he won't hold a grudge for those of you who thought he was so pretty, he must be a girl.)

$625.00 - Carousel (No need to frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Suspension 2

It was too cold in the studio last night to work in there, and I had a migraine besides, so no artwork got done yesterday, I'm afraid.  But here's one that I put the final layer on a couple of weeks ago and is now done.

I was recently asked why, when I posted Suspension (#1) a few days ago, I didn't say anything about how tortuous it was to paint with the knife. It was a great question, because it made me stop and think. The answer is that when I try to do realism with a knife, it's agony, but completely abstract with a knife feels just fine.



Sold.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Suspension

Suspension: one thing held by another; things falling but being caught in time; suspension of disbelief; suspension of ordinary beliefs and habits.


Sold.

When I do abstracts, I like to put paint on in one layer, let it dry for at least a week, put on a whole 'nother layer, let it dry, etc. I let some of the previous layer show through each time I put more paint on, and do a little scraping too to show the previous layer in lines or patches. Usually I end up with four or five layers before I like a piece and consider it finished. A few nice things about working this way are: that I always have a still-unfinished piece around I can work on anytime, to help with the realism-painting burnout, a very interesting texture builds up, and that if I don't like it, I can just "add another layer." (The Husband will sometimes come ask me what I'm doing, and that's what I say, "just adding a layer.") It also helps take the pressure off for producing a painting that you like in a single sitting; in fact, you can go wild and put on a really UGLY layer on purpose, just for fun, knowing that the next layer will obliterate it. Negatives are that I use up a LOT of paint, and that it can be hard sometimes to wait for a layer to touch-dry.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com