oil on paper


This week I am having a mini-show at Dhyana Yoga in Old City. They are having an open house as part of Philadelphia's First Friday events. It is very low key, but I am very excited about it. This is the first time I am showing my work in Philadelphia, and it will be along side influential Old City galleries, even if they don't realize the yoga studio even has art.


oil on paper


All of the works are from this year, although the paintings on paper are from my time at Swarthmore and the two on canvas were completed about a week ago. I don't have exact sizes, but they are all roughly 3 inches in width. The show also includes two oil paintings on paper from earlier in the summer, which were included in one of the first posts here.

oil, wax and charcoal on canvas


This one (above) is my favorite. Although hard to see in the photograph, the red shape is painted with wax, which gives it a very matte finish. I liked sculpting the figure out with the wax, and how it is so heavy it has plopped down in space. There is very little depth in this image, it is all working on one plane, but I like the simple relationship that sets up between the red and black shapes.




oil on paper


oil on paper


oil on canvas

When I stopped painting this piece, I didn't think I was done and I intended on returning and changing things around. It was also the piece that I fussed over the most during the painting process. I don't think the extra fussiness particularly helped much, and I'm glad I didn't end up going back to rework it. I might try another similar one and change things around. For example, I would have made the small turquoise ball more intense to make it stand out more. But now I wonder why I always think that is necessary. Do the smaller shapes always have to be the most obvious? Can other shapes attract your eye for its color, and not just its size? I want to work on playing with color, size and placement to intentionally draw the viewer's eye into one area, but not have it always be the same kind of area. Although not nearly successful yet, this painting is a start in the right direction, as although the turquoise blob does not glare at you, once the viewer sees it, its small size and blurred outline bring about questions of its role in the space. It demands attention that way because it is not so obvious, but still holds the other shapes together.