Red Flowers

I confess that I have a stack of dud paintings in my studio that's about neck-high.  Sometimes I'll pull one out of the pile and have a go at it with fresh paint and a palette knife.  I tell myself that it's ruined anyway, so what have I got to lose?

Here's a photo of the ho-hum painting that I started with.  I used the painting as my guide, and fractured and piled paint right on top of it.  I prefer the newer improved painting so much more.  I'd love to know if you agree!

"Fractured Still Life With Limes", 6x8"

Another series of my Impressionism Workshops is coming to a close, which means it's time to try our hands at fracturing some paintings!  You can hear a pin drop when everyone is concentrating on this technique.  It isn't easy, but the results can be surprising and fun.

Next week, for our last class, everyone will be bringing in an old painting that just didn't go anywhere.  We will fling some paint at them and see if we can bring them back to life.  I'm looking forward to pulling some duds out of the closet and giving them another go!

"Turnip Tempest", 12x12"

If you've  had a chance to check out my Youtube video, you know how much I love to fracture and destroy my paintings as I create them!  This painting is about as close to complete abstraction as I've ever come.  The world hasn't ended as a result, so I think I'll do some more of these.

"Turnip Tempest" is available through the East End Gallery in Nantucket.

"Reflections in Blue", 20x24"

Once again, I took a perfectly fine and "normal" looking painting and fractured it to make it more interesting (at least to me).  This one is on its way to the East End Gallery in Nantucket.  I hope it's happy there!

Tomorrow, I'll be giving my very first workshop on Color in Huntley, Illinois to the Pencil and Palette Club.  I've been having many requests for this workshop, and will be offering it in the fall at Mainstreet Art Centre.  The first day of the workshop, we'll concentrate on mixing pure, vivid colors, and the second day, we will be working in the "mud".  I'm looking forward to it!

"The Poetry of Abstraction" 18x24"

Sometimes, when a painting is going nowhere, the more I try to make it work, the worse it looks.  At that point, the best thing to do is to admit that it's a loss and hack away at it with abandon.  It's ruined anyway, so why not?

That is exactly what happened with this painting.  The original version is below, and I hated it.  So I put fresh paint over the whole thing, then took a palette knife to it, fractured it, and painted it again.  I think the new version is more interesting to look at, and the color is fresher.  And what the heck, it's something different!

"The Logic of a Summer Garden II" 20x16"

I had so much fun fracturing my last piece, I decided to do it again!  This painting went with us to Saugatuck and is happily hanging at the Button Petter Gallery.  (Can a painting be happy?  Well, I'm happy that it's there!)

"The Logic of a Summer Garden I" 20x16"

This is an example of the "Fracturing" technique that I've been experimenting with lately.  I had my paintings lined up at the studio for framing the other day, and a young boy pointed at this one and said,"It looks shattered!" Made me happy to know that my intention was understood by one so young.

This painting is shown at the Button Petter Gallery in Saugatuck, Michigan.

"Fracturing" with Julie Ford Oliver

My eyes have been opened to a new approach to Impressionist painting.  If you are not familiar with the paintings of Julie Ford Oliver, I hope that you will check out her blog and her ArtByte tutorial on Fracturing.  I downloaded her tutorial this morning, and the resulting painting is above.  Be kind-- it is my first attempt at this technique, but I got very excited about the prospect of breaking through the forms of my painting to achieve a very unique mood!

My usual painting style is shown below.  I've always felt comfortable breaking up my color into various tones in my painting, but I never disturbed the forms themselves before.  I hope that I will be able to make this technique part of my style in the future.

I'd love to know your thoughts on my attempt to fracture my painting!