My newest assemblage - "Make Something Real"

Make something real.

Those words came to me when I was considering what kinds of images I wanted to create to promote The Unforeseeable Future on social media. More than just an epiphany for that particular project, "make something real" has become this year's theme for me.

I have become disenchanted with the latest advances in technology. It seems like the notions of digital/virtual/artificial/augmented when it comes to images, intelligence, and reality itself have overtaken everything else. So far I'm not impressed with the metaverse, or NFTs, or A.I. "art." I need to get away from screens sometimes. I need to work with my hands. So what if it's messy.

Like its predecessors in this style, Make Something Real is the result of years of accumulation. An aluminum palette that probably dates back to 2019, paint skins, and paint that dried in various tubes and bottles when I was away from my studio in 2020 and 2021 all make up the entirety of this colorful assemblage. The support is a framed cradled wood board from the Artist and Craftsman Supply on Wabash that we lost in 2020.

I thought I hadn't made much art this year and was less productive than I was last year, and then I removed the blank wood boards that were laying on top of this piece and realized that it was almost done. I only had to add a few more pieces of dried paint.

In keeping with the title, I decided to use vintage ceramic titling letters to spell out "make something real" in some of my photos.

I think I may have come up with the title of my next book. We'll see.

Because of that, I've decided not to sell it yet. In the future it may be the star of a solo show.

Echoes of Silver Whisper 2

 Echoes of Silver Whisper 2 is the spiritual successor to Silver Whisper and Echoes of Silver Whisper. 

It has elements of both. The outer layer is made with recycled sheets of foam packing material. The surface of its canvas gets its texture from the dried acrylic medium that remains after I pulled off the crumbling latex glove assemblage that it used to be. Like the other pieces I've made recently, it measures 8" x 10".

At the time of this post,  Echoes of Silver Whisper 2 is available for purchase on Etsy. But if you happen upon this post after it's been sold, don't despair. I can make a similar custom painting for you. Click here to learn more about my commissioned art process.

Sea of Waking Dreams

 My latest piece in my series of foam sheets on stretched canvas is Sea of Waking Dreams.

The base color I used in the background reminded me of Sea Green Crayola crayons. The title is a line from "Possession" by Sarah McLachlan. 

At the time of this post, Sea of Waking Dreams is available for purchase on Etsy. But if you happen upon this post after it's been sold, don't despair. I can make a similar custom painting for you. Click here to learn more about my commissioned art process.

Phantom Galaxy

Sometimes I name my paintings after things that bear no resemblance to them. Sometimes I just need a cool name. That's why Phantom Galaxy has its title.

 

 

The title was inspired by the news about the phantom galaxy, and I think the colors were inspired by my phone's home screen wallpaper, and some of my favorite toys I had as a little girl in the 80s. As with my other recent paintings, I used sheets of foam packing material that I draped like fabric and glued to a stretched canvas before painting it.

At the time of this post, Phantom Galaxy is available for purchase on Etsy. But if you happen upon this post after it's been sold, don't despair. I can make a similar custom painting for you. Click here to learn more about my commissioned art process.

 

More new paintings for the summer

Here are some more new paintings that I made this summer. I've really been enjoying the process of working with the sheets of foam packing material that I've saved over the years.

This is Flare.

This is Golden Hour, which, as with Pandora's Aquarium, is an older piece that I just repaired after it got damaged in storage:

This is Visions of a Sunset:

And this is Icewater:

All the paintings are available for purchase on Etsy as of the time of this post. But if you happen upon this post after they've been sold, don't despair. I can make a similar custom painting for you. Click here to learn more about my commissioned art process.

Pandora's Aquarium, revisited

While reorganizing my studio, I unearthed a variety of old pieces of artwork. Some were incomplete, like the canvas that would eventually become Enmeshment in Green Blue and Yellow. Others had unfortunately gotten damaged. Sadly, that's what happened to Pandora's Aquarium, which I made way back in 2010.

Pandora's Aquarium in 2010

 I'll be honest with you, I don't enjoy repairing my artwork. I usually feel so bad for letting it get damaged in the first place that I don't even want to start. That was how I felt about Pandora's Aquarium for a very long time. I didn't know where to begin. I couldn't remember what paint I had originally used. How could I make a seamless repair? But then I saw Stuart Semple's new "Ice" paint, and I knew that it would be the perfect medium to take my work in a new direction and give it new life.

Here's the repaired and renewed version:

At the time of this post, Pandora's Aquarium is available for purchase on Etsy. But if you happen upon this post after it's been sold, don't despair. I can make a similar custom painting for you. Click here to learn more about my commissioned art process.

 

Enmeshment in Green Blue and Yellow

This is one of those paintings that I started on years ago, set aside, and just finished a couple weeks ago. 

 

 

I had forgotten about it. It was buried under various supplies in my studio and I unearthed it while reorganizing everything.

 

It's made with packing materials, and I realized that what I needed for it was the yellow netting that once held several fresh lemons.

 

Enmeshment in Green Blue and Yellow is 8" x 10" and I am selling it on Etsy for $100. If you happen upon this post after it's been sold, don't despair. I can make a similar custom painting for you. Click here to learn more about my commissioned art process.

Electric Lettuce

 

 When I began my new green painting, it reminded me of lettuce.

 

 Lettuce is always on my mind because I've been growing it since the fall of 2020. But the shades of green in this painting are even more intense than ripe, healthy lettuce leaves.

The intensity is what makes it "electric." Perhaps I am also inspired by the electric device I use to start my lettuce seeds, an AeroGarden.

Electric Lettuce is 12" x 16" and is available on Etsy for $250. If you happen upon this post after it's been sold, don't despair. I can make a similar custom painting for you. Click here to learn more about my commissioned art process.