Make Art And Thrive

Hope all is well out there in blog land.

I have decided  to end my posts here although I will 

be leaving the over 300 postings up for anyone

wishing to see them. 

There are so many online social networking and art sites out there

that many blogs, including this one, have been on the decline

for commentary and followers.

Cinnamon Studio has served me well for many years both as 

a personal visual journal and as a contact

with other artists. I have very much appreciated those

who have stopped by and kept me company.

Intrepid Possibilities Of Visual Language

The digital  art medium has clearly opened up yet more
 adventurous and bold possibilities

for visual language.
 I have used the images I make

with altered photos in some my paintings

but more and more I enjoy them as unique manifestations

of what seems like a kaleidoscopic parade

of  poetic signs and marks.
No translation is necessary
but a grid context exists in a proverbial sense
of words: worlds, space, place, emotion
without end.

 Unique symbols ride across the monitor

in regal splendor, maps

from a lost atlas of the deep.

Luscious abstraction arrives, 

and surreal landscapes  tease.

Winter Puddles And Tire Tracks In The Snow

I am not a big fan of being outdoors in the icy cold

of winter, but I do love taking photos of snow and ice,

puddles and track marks, snow laden trees and bushes.

For me, this is the saving grace

of below zero temps, and chill

that sends prompts clear into the bones!

 I have files and files of frosty photos

stored on my computer. Easy access to my next

favorite thing which is to digitally alter them,

gifts that keep on giving! 

Drop a little color,

or a Renaissance face! The perspective

changes everything,

creates a mood of ascension and space,

the universe in a tire track!

A self portrait is a bit of amusement!

I'm thinking faces might well define my art practice this year!
Thanks so much to Sylvia B, Cat G, and Indigo for your
very nice comments on my last face post!

Altered Portraits

I've always enjoyed painting faces and often re-cycle

 the images into collages or alter them with layers of

other paintings, photos, etc. Some of them show up so often

they are like old friends that don't mind playing "dress up"!

Sometimes  the layers and features seem made for each other.

Sometimes the altered portraits resemble graffiti.

I imagine them 12 feet high murals  in a subway station

or on the side of a building on a lonely street.

Sometimes the juxtaposition of images is like a foreign movie

you never want to end.

Details From Paintings 2013

For my last blogging of the year, I decided to post 

some details from  paintings I finished over the past 12 months.

Sometimes the "gods" in the details are better

than the sum of the whole, but hopefully

when all the details are working in harmony,

a good picture is made. 

Sometimes the details stand alone, and could easily

be the basis for a completed work.

Sometimes a loved detail needs to be let go

for the good of the whole. Sigh.

This is one of my finished paintings from the year, details

and all. (18" by 24")  I like the contrast in palettes and patterns.

It turned out so different from any of the 40 or so

oil and wax paintings I finished in 2013.

All of my experimenting with texture, marks and composition

 seemed to flow together in this one, " Summer Breeze".

This is a detail of the painting layered with birds on a wire.

End of the year?  Put some birds on it!

May your new year be filled

with beautiful details,

 happy accidents,

creative wanderings,

and art that flows and flows.

Winter Composition

The perpetual surprise of winter's composition,

crystalline moments of blue on ice

a grid of wonder taking it's place

against the sky,

this season offers  shrines of light.

Lines For December

 Stark winter visions

 in photos and paintings,

 raw structures drawn abstractly in the snow,

and on canvas.