HOW DO YOU MAKE A PAINTING THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO BELIEVE?

No, really, I'd like to know...

Artist of the Week: Emily Kame Kngwarreye

Yam Dreaming-Awelye, 1995, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 36 inches

I just saw some pictures of this artist's work on pinterest and needed to share..
Emily Kame Kngwarreye was an Australian Aboriginal artist 1910-1996.
She had a few different styles of painting but I was particularly drawn to these (no surprise there!)
Some online sources were difficult to decipher so hopefully I've gotten all the info. correct on these images. Enjoy!

Kame Colour, 1995, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 36 inches

Wild Yam Dreaming, 1995, acrylic on canvas, 47 x 35 inches

Yam Awelye- Body Paint, 1996, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 36 inches

Awelye, 1995, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 85 inches

Kame Awelye, 1995, acrylic on canvas, 89.5 x 58.5 inches

Bush Yam Dreaming, 1994, acrylic on canvas, 54 x 104 inches

Kame Colour II, 1995, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 36 inches

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 59 x 48 inches

Anooralya Awelye, 1995, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 36 inches

Untitled, 1996, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 36 inches

Wild Yam II, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 94 inches

Emily Kame Kngwarreye, painting

new painting series

working on a new series since January. I think these four are now finished.
still a working title:
Stories from the green couch

Samantha Palmeri, oil on canvas, 50 x 72 inches

Samantha Palmeri, oil on canvas, 50 x 50 inches

Samantha Palmeri, oil on canvas, 54 x 54 inches

Samantha Palmeri, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 inches

"Any Time Spent In The Studio Is Not A Waste Of Time"

Speaking of rituals, which I seem to do a lot of,
I was wondering what other artists do in the studio...

Yesterday I went to the studio for the first time in a little over a week and it felt like I hadn't been there in a month. I thought I was going to end up sitting on the couch staring into space and conveniently procrastinating the day away, but I totally surprised myself and got to work right away.

here's the painting I worked on, still unfinished. See it finished HERE

It made me realize that there are a lot of ways to procrastinate (no kidding). But a lot of the things I used to think were taking up, a.k.a wasting, too much time are actually necessary parts of the whole process. Yesterday I did what I always do and took the time to empty all the clumped up skins of oil paint at the bottom of my paint jars. I refilled them with new colors, mixed up a fresh jar of medium, threw away old rags, and poured new Gamsol. By moving through my regular routine I was able to naturally move right back into the paintings themselves without too much painful effort. I also sat and looked for a long time which used to feel like serious loitering but is another important and necessary tool.

The truth is that sometimes just standing around doing nothing is helpful, as if simply absorbing it all in is as much of an activity as the painting itself. Regardless, I'm still glad that wasn't the only thing I accomplished yesterday.

I used to have a sign in the studio that said Any Time Spent in the Studio is not a Waste of Time, which by the way I just found out is quoted in a bizarre little book JERRY SALTZ ART CRITIC's Fans, Friends, & The Tribes Suggested ART STUDIO DOOR SIGNS of Real Life or Fantasy.

I still think it's true.. 

So back to all you studio workers, what are your rituals or routines that help you get going??

Tropical Inspiration

After a week's vacation spent at the Gulf I'm convinced I belong in the tropics!

It's no joke that even with the worst cold I've had in 3 years, the salty air and hot sun were able to transform misery into... paradise. Lush greens, turquoise blues, cool floury sand and the fiery heat of the sun all played a part. And those twisting, knowing vines and roots on every pointy cactus and palm frond were enough inspiration for a whole new series of paintings.

So much inspiration and good living makes a week away from the studio just about worth it! Sources say the name Palmeri means pilgrim or palm depending on where you look. I'm going with the palm definition. It reminds me of my house growing up that was filled to the brim with plants: ferns, ficus trees, marginata, philodendron, begonias, and of course the giant palm that prominently appeared in the background of every important family photograph.

Although I'd like to plan ten more trips like this, clearly that's not about to happen. Here's what will be happening though: when we move into our new house, our new sun room will be filled with all things tropical, not least of all a giant palm tree.

Artist of the week: Jeff Perrott

RW1 (CRUX), 2009, oil on canvas, 78 x 56 inches

RW5 (PAPILLON), 2010, oil on birch panel, 32 x 44 inches

RW8 (COIL), 2010, oil and enamel on birch panel, 28 x 22 inches

RW9 (STRUCTURE), 2010, oil and enamel on birch panel, 40 x 30 inches

RW14 (CANDYMAN), 2010, oil and enamel on canvas, 96 x 80 inches

RW64 (YET), 2010-11, oil, enamel, pencil on canvas, 96 x 84 inches

RW67 (SEMI-AUTONOMIC), 2011, oil, enamel, pencil on canvas, 72 x 68 inches

RW78 (LONE-WOLF), 2011, oil, enamel, pencil, gesso on canvas, 58 x 44 inches

RW181 (HOW MUCH RUNWAY HAVE YOU GOT), 2015, oil on canvas, 96 x 80 inches

RW183 (JUNG JUNGLE), 2015, oil on canvas, 42 x 39 inches

Further looking and reading:

Jeff Perrott 
Center Street Studio
Morgan Lehman

RW48 (LOSETHEGURU), 2011, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches

RW13 (FAIR GAME), 2010, oil on canvas, 80 x 96 inches

RW12 (MISTER BROWN), 2010, oil and enamel on linen, 66 x 46 inches

how to get everything you want

what I thought was finished 6 months ago, now decisively, completely finished  
Bird Brain, oil on canvas, 50 x 50 inches

When it comes to looking at other people's artwork or curating or planning a show I think I am a fairly decisive person. I usually know what I'm looking for and know it when I see it, or don't, right away. 

When it comes to almost everything else, and particularly that infinite realm of self-knowledge and critique, I am just the opposite. 

I don't see clearly what everyone else is seeing and I can't make up my mind. I want so many things at once I can't decide which to put forward and which to push back, so much like the foreground/background issues that are currently plaguing me in the studio. 

Thankfully, it's a good thing that unlike in the real world where self restraint and stoicism are necessary servants to an amiable life in society, in the painting world there is much more leniency in the letting-it-all-hang-out, I-want-everything-at-once department. 

However tempted I am to put every single idea, mood, desire, color and line into every single canvas, I try to accept that it's virtually impossible and it will surely defeat my purpose.  

And then just as I've accepted it, out of nowhere a painting will resolve to make this happen.

Not completely of course. No one painting can encompass everything you want. But when you've been working on a specific set of ideas, shapes and colors for a long while and you suddenly see even a few of those elements come together and give you what you want, it is wonderful! 

It is so satisfying it keeps you going, until against all odds, it happens again.

so far untitled, oil on canvas, 54 x 54 inches

still working on this one, 50 x 72 inches

untitled, oil on canvas, 50 x 50 inches

this week's artist round-up

Lately I've been getting rather caught up in color choices. It's like the more colors I use in my paintings the more I am wishing I didn't have to make that many decisions... So it's no surprise that I inadvertently chose some artists this week who've successfully narrowed down their own color choices:
Amy Feldman
Mary Weatherford
Christopher Wool
Jacqueline Humphries

Jacqueline Humphries, 41/14, 2014, oil on linen, 114 x 127 inches

Amy Feldman, Mr. and Mrs., 2012, acrylic on canvas, 75 x 80 inches

Mary Weatherford, Canyon, 2014, flashe and neon on linen, 112 x 99 inches

Christopher Wool, Untitled, 2001, silkscreen ink on linen, 90 x 60 inches

Mary Weatherford, From the mountainto the sea, 2014, flashe and neon on linen, 117 x 234 inches

Amy Feldman, Gut Smut, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 79 x 79 inches

Jacqueline Humphries, Untitled, 2014, oil on linen, 100 x 111 inches

Mary Weatherford, La Nina, 2014, flashe and neon on linen

Christopher Wool, Untitled, 2007, enamel on linen, 120 x 96 inches

Amy Feldman, Mood Mode, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 85 inches

Jacqueline Humphries, Untitled, 2014, oil on linen, 114 x 127 inches

Christopher Wool, Untitled, 2006, enamel on linen, 104 x 78 inches

Amy Feldman, Show and Tell, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 80 inches

Mary Weatherford, Ruby I, 2012, flashe and neon on linen

Although Mary Weatherford's work I think is all about color, I still wanted to include her here.

Further looking and reading:
Mary Weatherford
Christopher Wool
Jacqueline Humphries
Amy Feldman