Behind the Painting: Search for ordinary wonder.

This is the last post of this set of twelve Behind the Painting posts, though I may do it again in the future. I am sending an exclusive 13th Behind the Painting to my mailing list next Tuesday. If you are interested in turning the dozen into a baker's dozen, you can sign up for my mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/btD855

I started these dozen posts with Should be. an older piece about the idea of should and its connection to shame, self-doubt, and disappointment. When I started painting chairs, many of them were rather angsty. I wanted them to reflect the shame I suffered in my own life and help others realize they aren't alone in these feelings. Today, I want to reflect upon a more positive painting to end on a high note and represent the more optimistic pieces I have been creating recently.

This last painting, called Search for ordinary wonder., is based on an observation, sketched in my sketchbook at a coffee shop. My boyfriend and I were sitting at one table and another woman sat at another table next to us. There was a special event that day and they had a DJ cranking out the jams. They were loud and upbeat, the woman was peering around us to watch the DJ playing there. Her eagerness to engage and watch and just be interested me. She was enjoying the musical moment she stumbled upon (or maybe sought out) and after I painted this piece, I recalled her craning around us with a look of contentment and enjoyment. So I titled the piece Search for ordinary wonder. in honor of her. Treasuring those simple things and being present in the moment like she was is important. Whether is is focusing on a sound or simply remembering to take a deep breath. Is the title an instruction or an inspiration or both? Perhaps a more accurate title would be, "Let the ordinary wonder amaze you." So here's me reminding you. 

Another painting came from this same day, titled Independent Certainty. that I am just adding on. It is of a man who was sitting facing the DJ while a couple had a date behind him. And I was impressed by how confident and comfortable he looked alone, watching this DJ, even bobbing to the music. So here's some opposite action to all that shame, not being afraid of enjoying what you love even alone in public. You do you.

Search for ordinary wonder.

10 x 8 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

Independent certainty.

10 x 8 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag
2015

Sketches for the paintings

Pen and House paint on paper

2015

Behind the Painting: Worth the wait.

A few weeks ago I went to grab a coffee. As I sat there enjoying my warm, frothy latte from Peet's, I found myself wanting to draw and was upset to find I didn't have a sketchbook with me. I did have my planner though, with many past weeks begging to be scrawled upon. A handful of chair painting sketches were born from that drawing session. Once I got back to my studio, I transferred these scribbles to my sketchbook. In the bottom-most image here, my planner is perched on my sketchbook showing off the sketches for Worth the Wait., this week's painting selection.

I just finished the painting this morning, and even more recently realized it was the same colors as Different Approaches., last week's piece, which means that one of them will need to be updated (probably Different Approaches. because I have issues with it's composition as well.) Plus I have been changing the background of Worth the Wait. every week and I'm satisfied with it finally! I settled upon a grey-blue-purple-ish color, which is actually where it started. I went through coffee and peach colors. Usually it makes me cringe to see a blue background with a green foreground because it just screams being outside, but somehow, the grey-ish color makes me happier than peach for this painting. Me changing the background color is a common thing, and I am really excited that I documented my process more thoroughly this time around. 

The composition of this painting is of the line of people waiting for coffee while I was sitting in Peet's. I started doing vertical chair paintings fairly recently, about a year ago at the most? (Out of three years painting folding chairs.) I am still getting a handle on how to use the space in these compositions. What caught my attention about these people in this line is how they were all facing their own direction, paying attention to many different things. The phrase "single-file" implies to me that lines are all organized and perfect. Though compared to the disaster of airport "lines," which are really just masses, this line was pretty clear. I can still see some of the people who were standing in line. There were two guys standing at the counter ordering. And I recall the guy on the right had his arms up behind his head and just looked so comfortable and confident, almost kind of ridiculously so. I wish that had transferred a bit more in the painting. Though I love the bonded pair at the head of this line cause it makes me think maybe people are in line to get married or the single riders at Disneyland. What's worth the wait for you?

Worth the wait.

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

Worth the wait. in progress

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

Worth the wait. in progress

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

 

Worth the wait. in progress

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

Worth the wait. in progress

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

Coffee shop sketches

Pencil and pen on paper

2015

Behind the Painting: Different approaches.

A few weeks ago, I asked people to select pieces they wanted to hear about and this week's piece, Different approaches., was nominated by one of my studio peers.

It came about one day when I was in my studio analyzing/worrying about something and I managed to stop the cycle and wonder, “How much more do I let myself think about this?” This phrase interested me, so I added it to my list of potential titles. The same day, or soon after, I took out my sketchbook scrawled the phrase, "How much do I think about this?" across the top of the pages and went to work sketching chair compositions. There two main sketches on the right-hand page below are based on this phrase. These two sketches became Different approaches. and How much more do I think about this?, the two paintings pictured below

The painting, How much more do I think about this?, is a more literal interpretation of that moment I had where one feels as if their brain is caving in (implied through body language and the horizon lines). I can't recall exactly what I was thinking about then, but I am certain it related to me feeling awkward or shameful for some social interaction. Different approaches. tells a story of my social hesitancy, particularly during awkward attempts to join a group or interact with unfamiliar people. The chair in the upper left is me standing there wondering if it will ever be possible to approach the other chairs (people), grinding my gears attempting to get up the nerve to talk to them. (Usually the answer is I don't.)

Titling Different approaches. went different than expected. Originally, I wanted to make it about shyness or hesitancy, then I realized that viewers wouldn't necessarily identify as the reserved figure in the corner like I do. I decided the title should include all the other chairs I put in the piece because I put them in there on purpose with their own body language and stories. The two chairs in the front are absorbed in their conversation, oblivious to the fact that anyone else is anything but contently interacting. The third of that trio has is angled towards the hesitant one in the corner, implying they notice them or are even perhaps beckoning them over. To help the viewer appreciate the multiple perspectives and stories within, I titled it Different Approaches., and as a reminder that we all do approach things differently.

Different approaches.

16 x 12 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

How much more do I think about this?

7 x 5 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

 

Sketchbook spread

Pencil and watercolor on paper

2015