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Progress Photos from the Painting “Food Forest”

"Food Forest" Acrylic on canvas 24" x 30" © 2012 Marilyn Fenn
“Food Forest” Acrylic on canvas 24″ x 30″ © 2012 Marilyn Fenn

Several people have told me how much they like seeing progress photos of paintings.  Soooooo, I thought I’d share with you all some of my progress shots from recent works, starting with “Food Forest.”

The process for this painting started with a photography session at an Urban Patchwork “food forest.”   Several artists were preparing work for a one-night show to benefit Austin’s Urban Patchwork community gardens.  I took quite a few photos, and then spent days just thinking about what I wanted my first painting for this show to be.  I came up with my composition using imagery drawn from many photos.

I also painted this in acrylic — Chroma’s Atelier Interactive acrylics, which is mostly what I’ve used when trying to paint in acrylic.  You may know that I’m an oil painter at heart, and find acrylics frustrating, but I knew I didn’t have time for a new oil painting to dry in time for the show, so acrylics it was to be.  (yikes!)

I started on a Friday afternoon and finished the following Monday, which is pretty fast for me to complete an entire painting this size.

I have to admit, shaking up my medium really worked in this instance.  I love this painting!  It now hangs in the living room, so I get to enjoy it every day.  Which is not to say that I won’t part with it.  🙂

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The 4th Annual GROW Forth! Show

Paintings by Marilyn Fenn and ceramics by Michael Merritt
Paintings by Marilyn Fenn and ceramics by Michael Merritt

The 4th Annual GROW Forth!  art exhibition and fund-raiser for Urban Patchwork was a great success and a lot of fun.  A lot of art got sold; I had four pieces that found new homes.  🙂  Thanks to everyone who came out; to everyone who helped with the preparations, the event, the setup and breakdown; to the other artists, who made hanging the show and viewing the show so much fun; and thanks especially to Anne Woods for her masterful organizing of this amazing one-night event!

P.S.  To Paige Hill and all the farmers of Urban Patchwork — thanks for the delicious organic veggies!

Fine print: no animals or vegetables were harmed and no production babies were born during the production of this event (that I know of); we did, however, have one doggie heart attack, one head wound, and one appendicitis!  And one tiny painting slightly damaged.

View photos below:

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Paintings Going to New Homes

Painting-sold

I’m so happy to have sold a few paintings in the last week!

Going to a new home are “Spiral Jetty” and “Tornado – OK – July 2, 1999.”

Tornado - OK - July 2, 1999 | Encaustic on Masonite, framed | by Marilyn Fenn
Tornado – OK – July 2, 1999 | Encaustic on Masonite, framed | by Marilyn Fenn
Spiral Jetty - Oil on canvas - by Marilyn Fenn
Spiral Jetty – Oil on canvas – by Marilyn Fenn

 

 

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New Painting: Clobbered by Picasso

"Clobbered by Picasso" Oil on canvas 12" x 12" © 2011 Marilyn Fenn
“Clobbered by Picasso” Oil on canvas 12″ x 12″ © 2011 Marilyn Fenn

After copying a Picasso last week, I started seeing so many things differently! Palette, shapes, composition…my copy of his painting in among my own paintings made my work pale in comparison. 🙁

OK, well, no surprise there.

I tried to return to what I had been doing before the Picasso copy and started using colors from his palette to attack this work that was already in progress. Picasso kept interfering as I struggled with thoughts of the strength of his work.

A few days and many changes later, I finally got back into the rhythm of my own vision and ended up here. FWIW.

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New Painting: Beast of Burden

"Beast of Burden" Oil on canvas 6" x 6" © 2011 Marilyn Fenn
“Beast of Burden” Oil on canvas 6″ x 6″ © 2011 Marilyn Fenn

This is kind of a goofy little painting that I was really just noodling around on.  It went through several changes over about a week of occasional noodling, and this is where it ended up.  I gave it that title because it reminds me of the little donkeys I saw in Morocco being led across the desert or in the medinas, stacked practically to the sky with all sorts of household goods, water, cans, people, rugs, etc.  Mighty little fellows!

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New Painting: Quest for Magic

"Quest for Magic" Oil on canvas 12" x 12" 2011 Marilyn Fenn
“Quest for Magic” Oil on canvas 12″ x 12″ 2011 Marilyn Fenn

The greatest work of an artist is the history of a painting.
– Alberti

The title of this painting could embody a state of grace that many people seek throughout their lives. It could symbolize the wishes that most artists aspire to obtain through their creations. Or it could represent my recent series of abstract paintings. In this case, it represents another painting in the series through which I am beginning to achieve a long sought after enchantment with my process and pleasure in the final result.

Every painting, and perhaps especially abstract paintings, start out as a journey with the destination unknown. The thrill of exploration is a great part of the goal. What can I make my colors and brushstrokes do? How do I push the paint around in interesting ways? How can I make an intriguing composition out of nothing but colored oil paint and a few shapes?

These first few works in the series are small and slow, and I’m still finding my footing, but I’m really looking forward to more and larger and more confident works. I’m thrilled to have reached this part of my journey, and excited about the rest of the trip. I hope it is a long one!

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New Painting: Strange Attractors

"Strange Attractors" Oil on canvas 12" x 12" © 2011 Marilyn Fenn
“Strange Attractors” Oil on canvas 12″ x 12″ © 2011 Marilyn Fenn

This is one of my favorite paintings from my latest series of abstracts; this one is from last weekend. These new works are very process-oriented, though of course, I do aim for a final happy outcome. This series is primarily about paint: pushing it over, around, through, beside, until I’m satisfied with the composition, shapes, colors, brushstrokes, and amount of paint. I do love the soft palette I achieved in this painting!

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New Painting: Molecular Vibrations

“Molecular Vibrations” Oil on canvas 12″ x 12″ © 2011 Marilyn Fenn

Of all the paintings I’ve done, this may be my favorite painting so far. I love the colors, the nice thick paint, and the general happiness of this painting. It evolved from the work I did on the last five abstract paintings. I’m really enjoying pushing thicker and slicker paint into, over, around, and through previous brushstrokes, and the wonderful color mixing that happens on the canvas. Working this way is going to be fun!

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New Painting: Trial Separation

"Trial Separation" Oil on canvas 12" x 12" © 2011 Marilyn Fenn
“Trial Separation” Oil on canvas 12″ x 12″ © 2011 Marilyn Fenn

I have a few paintings from a couple years ago that never really worked, so I painted over one of them a couple months ago, but never got it to a finishing point.  Last week, I reworked the painting one more time.  It’s a bit rough and looks slightly different and much better from a distance, so I may either re-work it (again) or paint what I like from it in a larger more intentional work.  However, some of my friends like it just like it is, so I have decided to live with it for a bit first.