KVCC Student Show

Each year Kalamazoo Valley Community College has its annual student art show.  Well, since I'm an official student now I decided to enter.  I was juried in with my piece called Bailey Park.  I completed this painting well before I took the Painting class this semester but rules stated that the piece entered had to have been created within the last two years so it qualified.

I haven't shown it on the blog in a while so here you go...

All the colors in this photo are too "hot".  Adding it to my "Please Get a Good Photo" pile.

This 24" x 48" piece uses many of the techniques that I am hoping to explore on my own and in Art 205.  Basically, I am incorporating highly textured handmade paper into an acrylic painting on canvas.  In this case the houses are handmade paper and the background is plaster and paint.  For a look at how this was done you can begin with this post. 

I just completed my first ever college art class (Art 105).  Good experience, weak instructor.  I debated about continuing with another class.  KVCC has an artist-in-residence from the Netherlands right now and she visited our last class and contributed greatly.  That one experience, that took less than 45 minutes, was enough to sway me.  Yep, I'm registered for Art 205 and it starts this Thursday.

Lorrie

PS.  Our garage sale (mentioned in my last post) was a huge success.  Lots of stuff gone including piles and piles of new toys from Steve's sample room.  Still have a sleeper/sofa left as well as a nice office credenza.  Anyone?

Waiting for the Opportunity - Close Ups

Here are some close ups of Waiting for the Opportunity.  I love how the tight crops turn the piece into an abstract.  I've always been about color and texture.  With these up-close-and-personal shots you really get a look at both.

Water.  I love this.  In fact, my final for my painting class took the water idea a bit further.  I'll show you this painting soon.

If you hadn't seen the completed piece you'd never guess that this is a handmade paper fish!

This looks like a topographical map to me.  Hills, valleys, water, etc.

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This one shows one of the handmade paper fish on the left, the painted canvas in the blue and then the raised plaster "lock". 

And back to my favorite part:  water.

Here's the finished piece again for reference on the close ups.  One of these days I'm going to actually have a good picture taken of my finished work.

We're having a garage sale this weekend.  It takes so much time and preparation.  However, since we do this every year, my husband and I have a pretty good routine down.  Nonetheless, it is exhausting.  See you again from the other side of the (hopefully empty) garage.

Lorrie

Waiting for the Opportunity at the Signature Artist Cooperative Exhibit

In my last post I left you with a cliff hanger. My mixed media piece for the Signature Artist Cooperative exhibition called Earth: Power and Fragility was being created with lots of wonderful blues and browns and then...

it went black.  On purpose.  I get a great patina by using some stuff called bitumen (tar).

It gets rubbed off with mineral spirits.  More paint went on top.  Some oil pastels too.

The finished piece.  Picture shows it a bit more tourquois than it really is.



Me at the show opening on April 9, 2011.  This show is up at the Kalamazoo Nature Center until May 31.  It's a beautiful show space and the work of all the Signature artists is super.    Call the Nature Center for their hours at 269-381-1574.




I like the water a lot on this piece.  In fact, I like it so much that I built upon this idea for my Art 105/Painting final.  Pictures of that soon.

Lorrie