Of course I’m going to create a painting involving meteorites when there’s a meteorite shower in the offing, and of course as a poet I’m going to romanticize it.
Here’s the second painting that was created for the Joshua Tree competition.
I have a tree painted on the back of my garage with leaves made from pieces of soda cans, stapled loosely so that they rustle delightfully in the breeze. Against the trunk is painted ‘The wind of change may not blow you someplace different but it might shape you into something more beautiful’.
I write this on the cusp between the Covid shutdowns and the George Floyd riots. Many businesses have been shuttered so long they may not survive. Some have been so impacted by the new health restrictions imposed on reopening, they have given up. Now we see others burned or looted out of existence and yet others may be unwilling to continue in some neighborhoods.
I have a friend who has been through several careers. She describes the changes as getting to a point where she needed to reinvent herself. This year it seems many will need to reinvent themselves or make adjustments to how they live or work.
One of the adjustments I’ve been considering is to make some work more easily shippable, so it is less prohibitive to sell online. I decided to experiment a little with refractured acrylics on canvas; lighter weight than panels, but also a different medium for the refractured part. The first experiment (above) was relatively successful.
Another couple items that came out of spending time at home was an update to ‘Busting the Bard’. This is now available in paperback and kindle from Amazon. And the fourth poetry and painting book ‘My Next Breath’ is close to being complete. (Click here for links.) It is available as a paperback but my proofreader and the person writing an intro on the back have yet to have time to do this, so there will be an update hopefully by the end of this week and I’ll create the kindle version then. I’ll order hard copies once art fairs restart or other outlets need restocking, but if you’d like to get a signed copy let me know.
I will have work in two online shows:
Jun 6-Jul 12: 6x6x2020 Online fundraiser for Rochester Contemporary Art Center
Jun 2nd-Aug 30th (approx) The Planet of Joy at Lark Gallery Online. This may develop into a physical gallery show next month and I should be on a Q&A Virtual Art Talk on Zoom soon. I’ll send another email when this is set.
Golden Sunset is not only called that because of its color but because I created it during a Golden Paints seminar in which we were given samples of a bunch of different paints and textures and encouraged to play with them in a guided creation that showed different ways to use most of the products.
Inevitably I worked on it further once I got home!
#1439 Golden Sunset. Mixed media on canvas panel. 20×16″ $200.
This painting was partially worked on during a demonstration a couple months ago. I didn’t complete it until a little while later.
#1438 Turquoise jewels. Refractured watercolor on solid panel. 17.5×10″. $175.
The following poem is written for and painted into the painting:
Turquiose Jewels
Dawn leaves me speechless
these gold and turquoise jewels
precious beyond words.
I think this is my first ceiling mural. Kinda odd for a skyscapist but there you go. This is definitely my first shower mural.
It is actually a rectangle, the arched doorway partly obscures the top left corner. And no, I’m not sure what they’re going to put in the unfinished fitting hole.
My 4-panel painting ‘The Four Hours of Equinox‘ is often mistaken for a row of 4 individual paintings, and people want to buy just one. The stars one is the most popular, so I thought I would do a just-stars painting in the same shape.
#1434 Until the sun goes down. Mixed media on shaped solid panel. 24×11″. $250.
The following poem is written for and painted into the painting:
You cannot cry for love that’s lost
Until that love is done.
You cannot wish upon a star
Until the sun goes down.
This is another in the series on reclaimed panels. There will be quite a few of these as my friend and I had a very successful dumpster diving session a couple months back.
#1433 Waving good morning. Mixed media on panel, 18×10. $180.
The following is written for and painted into the painting:
Our sun warms our world
Atmosphere heats and rises
waving good morning.
Skyscapes for the Soul - Jeni Bate 