after one full day

I worked on this after my first full day at my new job, which was much more chaotic than yesterday. I'm not sure what to call these drawings yet, but I think I might collect them into a series and pitch the idea of a show to the Florence Museum , FMU or the new gallery in Darlington. I'd have to get them all framed, but I bet they would look good together if I can do about 20-30 more. Let me see if I can find some bigger Bristol paper....

first day of the rest of my life

While I don't claim to be a photographer, I do use a lot of digital pictures to capture things I might want to paint later. Here are a couple roses cut from my garden that I think would make a nice painting. I think I like the second one better because of the scale, but these may just languish among many other digital photos on my hard drive waiting to be painted. If I don't paint these individually, I might use them for some design work. You always need a romantic pair of flowers for something.

work in progress

This is an oil pastel piece I started last night. Not sure where it's headed, but I still like it so far.

ink series continued

These are more of the same ink series from the previous post. Somedays you feel this is all anyone sees when they look at you. Not your work, not your awards, not your drive. Then they tell you so, and you wish you could punch them. But you can't, and you want to vomit.

dishonesty, sexism at work

Two pieces in a series of ink drawings conceived after a trying day in Cube Nation. The first shows a topsy-turvy landscape with a beautiful sea and sky in the distance. Roots grab at the earth and sky. Scratches in the dirt and deep crevices carve the lines and shapes of my emotions.

The second is an even more expressionistic inquiry into the day's chaos, where one is high from potential advancement then thwarted and cut down by those same wordsmiths. Stamps of gray symbolize the smoke screen of the corporate bureaucracy. Hatched lines are wounds twisting and transforming into frustration.

fire threatens homes

Work in progress, Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 36"

I felt posting this work in progress was timely given the number of Californians worrying about the threat of wildfire engulfing their homes.

Last week, my own home was threatened by fire, and this painting grew out of that. I sat on the couch with my husband when we heard a whooshing sound. I opened the back door to see flames flames shooting up above the woods beside our mobile home. My husband ran to get the hose while I evacuated our animals into the kennel far from our home and the tree line and called 911. He called to the neighbors to get some help. Five of them came over with buckets and together, we extinguished the flames before our wooden fence or home caught fire with our neighbors' help. The fire apparently started because someone had burned a stump but not fully watered the smoldering ashes.

Having a fire safety plan helped us quickly evacuate had the fire reached our home. So if you don't have one, please make one, especially if you have animals.

new cut

SO after looking at this on screen, I think I might "crop" it like this whenever I get it framed. I think it creates better flow, creates a different feeling, focuses more on the details I like about it. Now, though, that white square space at the bottom right is distracting. Hmmm...
Feel free to comment.

Undetermined title, Oil pastel on canvas paper, Oct. 2007

This piece is about searching for an escape from daily turmoil. This is the first pastel I have done in some time, but I stayed up working on it for several hours one night after work. As noted, I haven't come up with a proper title yet, but I'm sure something will come to me sometime. I like the depth of the colors in the middle and bottom right, but the top is somewhat distracing to me. The eyes looking off-page bother me....

first post

Welcome to my first post on an ongoing discussion about art. My art. Art I see. Artists I know. Artists I like and dislike. How art develops. As well as discussions about design, composition and art in general. Politics and news, which are a big part of my life, will get integrated in these discussions also.

Enjoy.

In the meantime, check out my work at http://www.lisarock.com/.