1122 Good Cheer and Success (for 2022)

 Every year without fail, a friend sends me a poinsettia plant as gratitude for many years of  help in his classroom, when I'm the one who is grateful for the experience and his friendship.

Did you know that the Poinsettia is December's birth flower?   I recently learned that the poinsettia was introduced to the United States in 1825 by the first Ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett also an amateur botanist.  Interestingly, the red "petals" we think of as part of the flower are really just the leaves.  The actual flowers are the little yellow things that look like buds or seeds in the middle.  

The poinsettia symbolizes good cheer and success, and that is what I am wishing you, along with good health, happiness, and a clear mind.  I am grateful to you for following my art journey and being a supporter in my progress.

Happy New Year.  

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1122--good-cheer-and-success-for-2022-/966752

1121 Luna

 The portrait of Luna, an Imperial Shitzu, was commissioned as a Christmas gift for a couple who had experienced a fire in their home.  They self-proclaimed that they would NEVER get a dog, but finally succumbed.  Luna provided them with comfort and love during the difficult recovery time.  Dogs are great therapists.

As a side note, our family watched the hilarious movie,  Best of Show, last night.  The Shitzu won first place in its category, and I noticed all the Shitzus had bows exactly like this one.  

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1121-luna/966459

1120 R.I.P. Cocobean

 Cocobean crossed the Rainbow Bridge and this portrait was a Christmas gift for his dog-Mom.  I hope she is happy with it.

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1120--rip-cocobean/965768

1119 Sacred Place

 This painting is a commissioned gift for my goddaughter/grand niece and husband as a reminder of their  Kyoto Japan honeymoon.  

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1119-sacred-place/962222

1118 Jumped in with Both Feet

 Painting a 48 x 48" canvas is a major commitment.  There is no backing down.  If I thought I was putting my toe in the water before, this was me diving in to the deep end.  I had another more colorful painting in this spot, but was tiring of it, so I painted a new one, with more of a calm feel.  I think Oliver likes it too.

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1118-jumped-in-with-both-feet/961124

1117 Dunkin'

 Today I finished the second of two palette knife workshop classes with Helen Oh at The Palette and Chisel here in Chicago.  It was great fun and a valuable learning experience.  The palette knife was a tiny narrow knife, and using it in a confined space was very different from using a knife on a landscape or abstract painting.

I would love to try painting doughnuts with colored frosting and maybe some sprinkles.  Someday.

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1117-dunkin/960789

1111, 1112, 1113, 1114, 1115, 1116

 

An 11 x 14"  mat purchased at Michaels has an opening to fit these paintings, 9.5" x 7.5".

For intuitive painting, it was recommended that I tape up multiple papers in a grouping, and work on them collectively as a body of work.  I learned that this helps to avoid obsessing or giving too much attention to an individual painting.  Gestures are made over the entire collection of papers, in this case six, some with eyes closed, so that a line or a splash extends from one paper to the next, creating cohesion in the paintings.  I did thoughtfully obsess about each painting at a certain point, and I know that sounds silly, in other words, I could have been more daring.

In these paintings, I used ink, acrylic paint, my rust solution, and hand painted papers for the small amount of collage.  I'm still not comfortable with the collage part, but will keep trying.

One final, but important note.  It is not easy for me and I know for certain, many other artists to put our work out in the universe, especially the learning experiences like these.  It is very scary to expose your work,  not knowing how people will respond to it.  The goal is to not CARE about the response, to enjoy the process, but that is very difficult.  I post these not because I think they are wonderful, but because it is important to show that it takes courage to be vulnerable, and requires a certain amount of confidence.  I hope people appreciate that.  

Your feedback is appreciated.

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1111-1112-1113-1114-1115-1116/960443

1108 Playtime, 1109 Leftover Paint, 1110 Bad Day

It has been a long time since I've posted a painting, but I've been busy painting every day.  I am not able to post several paintings until Christmas because they are commissioned gifts, because someone somewhere will recognize the subjects.  

I've been fascinated with abstraction for many years and have tried it periodically without success, at least what I think of as success.  There is so much more to a successful abstract than just paint slapped on to a canvas.  The same basic principals of a good painting still apply.  Some may disagree with me, but that's my feeling and I'm sticking to it.  As an artist who paints what she sees, painting intuitively or from imagination is very difficult, but I am determined to improve.  I've made a complete mess of things in my studio, and have some things to post at a later date that I am happy with, at least enough to post.

I've posted the three paintings above not because I like them, but because they illustrate some of the many approaches one can take.  The first one, I'm okay with.  I did have a vision for a very large, now completed abstract, but first I had to play around with the tools and paints.  I made the rust pigment with instructions from artist/teacher Mary Mendla, which was a lot of fun and interesting.

The second more colorful painting style is all over the internet by a few artists, one in particular who has achieved great success using this "formula" which is drawing inspiration from beautiful gardens.  She is a California artist named Betty Franks.  It may look easy but it is not, I assure you.  Betty uses many, many tools and many, many layers of paint.  Her work have grown on me because they are so colorful and happy.

Intuitive painting is a fascinating subject I haven't fully studied, but am learning.  It makes sense to me if, once again, the basic principals are adhered to in the end, which I feel is almost intuitive in itself if you have those things embedded in your head.  This painting began as just a piece of heavy paper covered in beautiful pastel colors, but then something happened to make me very angry and I reached for the black paint and spread it angrily all over the paper.  My son applauded me, and I admit I did feel better, but I wouldn't say this is going to be in my repertoire in the future.

Tune in for more....

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/1108-playtime-1109-leftover-paint-1110-bad-day/959237