Reflecting on a series

6 Mixed media pieces on heavy stock colour paper coated with polyurethane.

Haven’t got any big pieces in process currently, so I thought it might be nice to review a series that was inspired by the fall, leaves and water. The part I am most proud of  was staying within the original idea yet having different looks. Schooled and practiced painters may find this second nature, for myself it was a challenge. The first in this series is the one on the top right, and the last was a bit of a cop-out by just going black and white. I have displayed them as a unit/series once and it felt good. Each has a story as to why it is different from the last, maybe at a one man show I might get an opportunity to bore someone… 😉   As a normal course  of artistic creativity I tend to jump around a lot, which keeps me from being bored and juices flowing, but at some point I want to explore where some pieces might lead me. We may never create the next world’s masterpiece but if we don’t stretch with the creative spark we achieve, how will we know what is possible? Curious how others feel about this, feel free.

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Sunset Thru The Woods

Mixed media 12×18 in. I wanted to show the trees and how light seems to go thru or around them at sunset. This is based on what I see out my back door and in the fall it is so intense it is hard to see anything in that direction. I maintained my triangles concept thru out the piece…can’t begin to remember how many times I applied color and acrylics to this…I like the top to bottom effect of light and dark colors. Yes this is part of the Fall series, for what it’s worth there was 20 pieces in that series…not sure I will be showing all of them.

How Did We Get Here

Mixed media 12×18 in. The title say a lot about this piece. I started in a way different place than where I ended…but I am very happy to be there. Was going for fire/fall color thing, original triangles were larger and I didn’t have blue on the menu. Might be hard to see in this photo but piece has about 3-4 layers on top of each other to get to this point. I love how the whites get muted near the top and the change-up of curved lines near the bottom. The paper I used on this is a real brite marigold and about 100 lb. weight, which takes the acrylic well.

Lunar Shallows

Mixed media 12×18. I have done 6 of these trees/water/leaves/reflection type pieces and still find things to do with them. I wanted a lot more of the reflective look on this one thus the moon and the squiggly lines. It made the waves/water more pronounced, I also used more green and brown shades. I have been toying with having some sort of abstract aquatic life near the surface…I promise it won’t be Nessie, but that would be a thought….

Autumn Shallows

Mixed media 12×18. The first time I did one of these reflective-fall-water-leave pieces I couldn’t get a photo without a great deal of glare on them. So I figured I would do the next piece similar but with the glare/white added as part of it.  I like the effect and the blues and leaves are more distinct vs. the first piece (What Waterbugs)…I still need to learn to take better photos of my work.  I had someone tell me they thought the white was abstract geese going south for the winter…verrryyy interrrestinnnggg!  (think laugh-in, the TV show)

Muddy Waters

Mixed media 12×18 Fall series.  I like the way the colors change on the trees and the background but without the puddles/reflective blue waters it was way too flat for my tastes. The outlining of the trees was a late addition that helped me give it a little more of a surreal look to work with my leaves. I liked the effect so much for some continuity I used on the brite blue waters.