Art Inspiration Today - Masks by Junior Fritz Jacquet

I found these on sifter today - I thought they were pretty amazing.  Now, I'll think twice about tossing the old rolls in the bin :) 
Here's the story:

French artist Junior Fritz Jacquet has been fascinated by paper since a young age. Inspired by the traditional art of origami, Jacquet explores and experiments with folding and crumpling techniques, developing an innovative style all his own.
In a series entitled Masks, Jacquet squishes and crumples 40 different toilet paper rolls into unique and expressive faces which are then coated with shellac and various pigments. In addition to the masks below, you can find more on his website and Facebook page.

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Artwork by JUNIOR FRITZ JACQUET | Facebook

Photograph by Matthieu Gauchet

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Artwork by JUNIOR FRITZ JACQUET | Facebook

Photograph by Matthieu Gauchet

 

 

 

Aura, Wind in the Sails and Vacations

Aura
The Goddess of the Breeze
encaustic on birch 6 x 12

Aura was the goddess of the breeze and the fresh cool air of early morning.  She has a sketchy history with the other gods and goddesses that turned her a bit mad - but I've chosen to portray her as a pleasant wind in the sails. 

Speaking of wind in the sails - I've been on a bit of a break from the studio and also everyday life.  No better way to do that than to get out of town.  Hubs and I took off for 10 days away.  I honestly think it was perfect timing as we both were feeling as if we had lost the wind in our sails.  Work has been hard for Hubs and I've been painting like a mad woman with endless hours in the studio trying to prepare for the June show at the winery - I ended with 64 finished paintings - phew! 


view from 8 Bells Winery

I'm a huge proponent of vacation.  It never seems to be the right timing when it actually comes around - but if we ever waited for the right timing... I don't think we'd ever get out of town.  So, I just book it anyway - its paid for, we're going and somehow regardless of timing - we make it work.  And... it always refreshes the wind in the sails.

No better way to get sailing again than to participate in Summer of Color!  Its in full swing - starting this week with Citron Green and Turquoise as our challenge.  Looking forward to seeing what amazing creations come from this beautiful combination.  Want to play along?  Hit the button and join the fun.

You can see my first attempts at the color combination here

 

And.... its Friday!!

Summer of Color, Citron Green and Turquoise

Summer of color is a fun project and a wonderful community of artists from around the world.  Last year we followed ice cream inspiration and this year there is a voting process to choose the color combinations.  The first pick is citron green and turquoise.

water color and ws oils

 I was having some trouble with using only water soluble oils and getting the colors citron and turquoise.  I have a limited selection of colors and really mixing what I had wasn't cutting it.  So...  I grabbed the old water color set and laid in the bright colors.  Then using the ws oils over the top was kinda easy and added another dimension.  Hmmmmm... maybe I'm on to something here. 

water color and ws oils

ws oils and felt pens

Encaustic on Glass, Faces and Warm Ups

encaustic on glass

 I'm trying to loosen up..... again.  I get a leeettle too tight and fussy when it comes to painting.  So, I've come to trying to be good about doing warm ups.   I remember way back in gym class and in sports - we'd do warm ups.  We run a little, jumping jacks, sprints - whatever - but the idea is to get the blood flowing and circulating before diving into the nitty gritty of a workout.

After taking the painting faces in wax class with Charlie Levin - I got really intrigued by Charlie's forte which is painting wax on glass or Plexiglas.  Honestly - I wouldn't have thought it could be done.  So, I, naturally being just my pure inquisitive anal self - had to give it a try.  I had this piece of glass and decided to take a run at it.  Well, its hard - this is like my 25th try or so.  I use it as my warm up.  I scrape off the old wax face with a razor blade and give it another go.  Its hard because not only am I trying to paint a face but... I have to think backwards.  What goes down first on the glass is what you see as the top layer on the other side of the glass..  so, painting "inside out" is what Charlie says.  And it is... highlights and the things you want to see "on top" go on the glass first and then layering from there backwards.  In this picture, you are looking at the side of the glass that there physically is no wax - it is all built up on the back side.  The luminosity is magical.

I kinda liked this last face on the glass, so I stopped doing that warm up for a while, so I could enjoy what I had created for a short time, before scrapping it off and going again.  So, I broke out the oil paints and did this little number.  I'm trying new colors and new ways and i seem to be able to figure things out better using oils rather than wax.  Although, this one reealllly doesn't qualify as a warm up because it took too long - lost ground on that leeeeettle too tight and fussy thing - but i like her.  Now to figure out how to translate what I did here to wax.  Need more warm ups.

oil on hardboard

Happy Friday - and a Mama update - She's still there - but now she is perching on the side of her nest rather than all hunkered down inside... I'm wondering if that means we have some hatching going on :)  Will keep you posted.



Face in the World, Travel and Collabortive Art

Face in the World
start - charcoal on gesso, birch panel 8x10

In keeping with trying new things - I'm joining in a collaborative art project.  It is being hosted by Ayala Art and is a spin off from the 29 Faces project.  We are a team of 5 people spread across the globe.  Each of us starts a painting with a face theme.  We then send it to the next person in our team for her to add her magic, and so on through the 4 other team members and then back home to me in her finished state.

I've never done collaborative art before.  It teaches us as artists that we can let our work go and its OK.  That each and every piece we create is precious - yet, its OK to let it go out into the world and be altered by someone else.  I'm really excited to watch the progress of this as she travels the globe and lands on an art tables of other artists.  Travel teaches us to see things in a different way than where we call home.  Travel alters our view points and opens our eyes to new vistas.  She definitely won't be the same when she returns. 

From Seattle, she will head to the land down under - Australia.  From there, she will travel back to the US and land in California.  Then, she will catch a flight to the UK and from there to Michigan and then home to Seattle.  I hope to be able to show her progress at each stop.  Her journey will take a few weeks.  I will also show the other artist's pieces as they arrive here and what they look like when they leave from me.

Travels, Progress and Happy New Year

I don't know how you feel about things, but 2012 whizzed by for me.  Its been a year full of wonders and progress.  Sometimes, we have no idea how far we have travelled, until we pause and take a look back.  I mean really look back to where it is that we started.  Look to the point where we took our first steps in the direction in which our hearts told us to go. 
This is my first wax portrait that I did.  And really, there weren't many before her regardless of medium.  I painted animals as a kid, not people, not portraits.  Yet, lately this past year there has been a compelling desire to learn to paint portraits.  No explanation, no reason - just got it in my head and had to go that way, that direction.  It was the same for me, when I just had to learn how to do encaustic painting.

encaustic and paper on birch

I honestly, have no idea where this road is taking me - nor do I really care.  All I know is this is the way I need to focus what I am doing right now.   I know I am on a ride, where I'm not exactly sure where the next stop lies, nor if its a long ways down this road, or perhaps I get on to something new tomorrow.  But, what I do know is that its right for the moment.  The road has taken a twist with the addition of oil paints.  But, I know, it will all come together some how, some way.

oil on paper

 

While, not every painting is perfect - the progress is forward even if in bits and pieces.  2012 has been this way for me.  Its been a piecing together of wonderful progress -  one painting, one face at a time.  And, I know it isn't just me - I've seen it in many other's work this year and its been fun to share your progress with you.  Thank you all for your support through 2012.  I am so looking forward to what 2013 has in store for all of us.  Wishing you all a very creative and Happy New Year!!

 



Breaks, Water Soluble Oil Paint and More Faces

This past week I've been working more with the water soluble oil paints. I'm figuring them out. I'm also getting a better feel for painting faces and the ability to see in terms of values. Taking the time to stop the norm for me and settle in to learning and studying is a great break and a beneficial one.
My break is coming to an end and Christmas is just around the corner. Wishing you all Happy Holidays to you and your families.
Have a Merry one!

Spin Cycle, Practice and Face Painting

I've been practicing.  I feel that I know enough to be dangerous, but not enough to bring it home over the finish line.  I'm pretty good up to the 80-85% mark, then I'm a little wobbly after that.  So, I decided to try some warm ups this week and focus on trying to keep a fresh look + trying some other head positions.  I'm a little unsure on using warms and cools in colors and how the shadows actually fall.  As I go through this realm of unsurity, before I know it I've dropped into the endless spin cycle - making corrections here, then there, and then another round, again and again.  So, these studies have rules... fast (or at least faster), few corrections and decisive strokes with fresh color.

I'm still working on the swimmers from last week.  I was actually kinda hoping to be done with them by now.  I can say one is done.  I have declared her complete.  I had really thought that two were done.  But, now that I have revisited, I think there are a few more corrections to do.  This thought process, by the way, is actually the kiss of death because opens the door to fall into the dreaded spin cycle. When I get to that spot where I'm so close to being done.... just like 10-15% left to go... I start over working things and over thinking, and over analyzing.   I make a correction here, that throws things off and leads to a correction there and before you know it - I have made a lot of little corrections.   In wax, like any other paint - mud is inevitable when we churn and aren't decisive in our choices of color and stroke.  Colors build up and layers build up that end up losing the fresh clarity of confidence.  So, in between the spin cycle of working on the swimmers, I'm doing these small studies.  They are an attempt to get over the finish line with clear colors and confidence without the churn of overworking things.   Practice, practice, practice... its true.