folded flesh

oil on canvas
20" x 10"

flesh paintings

acrylic on canvas
7" x 5" each

I've been thinking more about the flesh and its many material and metaphorical qualities. It's presence in my work has been unavoidable it seems these past few months. Even my abstract, nonrepresentational work seems to pick up on the aesthetic. In this series of small acrylic paintings I have zoomed in on various places on my own body (elbow, neck, palm, forehead, and stomach) and have simply painted what is there. This is a different approach than I normally take. Unlike my sculptures which tend to start out with abstract forms and often turn into something that evokes the natural environment, these paintings were derived from life, though they appear to be abstract. I think this is a fun way to play with the boundaries of representation as well as the boundaries of my own work. I'm having fun with painting and the more I paint, the more I see it fitting in with my wider body of work.

another painting

I'm really excited about this painting I just finished. Justin told me I should be psyched, and well, I guess I kind of am. What's so neat to me, is that I'm starting to realize that painting actually has a place in my body of work. When I fist started this class (painting 1) I saw it more as an exercise, if not an obligation, as a studio art major. But I've learned, especially with this painting, that my body of work can be enriched by some corresponding 2-D work of this nature.

oil on canvas 1' x 4'
(click on image to look more closely)

A few posts back I showed some images of this piece in-progress. I first made a 3-D panel covered in my favorite yellow urethane foam in a can, "great stuff," then torched the edges to create a richness in color. Then I simply painted what I saw.

Here are some detail shots...




Be on the lookout... this painting will be a part of the January exhibition in the Hill Student Gallery at CofC!

a painting

For our last painting session, we had to paint an alla prima portrait. It could be of a classmate, ourselves, or we could bring in our own model... soooo I talked my man Steve into sitting for me. It was a great exercise. The quickest I've ever worked.

oil on canvas 14" x 24"

a painting in-progress

Have I mentioned I'm taking Painting this semester? For the first time... ever. It's been neat. Frustrating at times, but cool. It's true what they say, that painting opens your eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. It's fun to see how it influences my sculpture by helping me look at materials and texture with a new set of eyes. Below are some images of a work in-progress. I'll be busting my butt all week to finish it!

great stuff (torched) on panel

oil on canvas