As you can see, at my age – 48 – Art is still one big experiment. ~ E. J. Hughes

The above quote is so appropriate for me, it is easily something I would and do say. I love to play with new things, try them all out, and experiment in so many ways. In the past couple of months, I have been experimenting with at least 2 new mediums.

Spurred on by demo videos on the R&F site, I asked for, and was given for my birthday, a whole bunch of the R&F oil paint sticks. They are wonderfully, terribly messy to work with, so naturally, I love them!

I don't have a lot of pieces to show which have been completed with these, as I have found them to take a very long time to dry. I have a number of half done pieces, while I wait for things to be dry, so I can move on to the next part of the paintings. 

Since I normally paint on canvas when I use oil, I usually find that the paint will dry in about 3-7 days. I switched over to Ampersands Gessobord when I went with the R&F paint sticks though, and have found that some take a couple of weeks or more to dry. I am not sure if this is because all oils take longer to dry on the Gessobord, or if it is due to the nature of the paint sticks.

What I do love about them is how immediate they are. They really lend themselves to gesture type marks and movements. Very spontaneous, they feel a lot like play when I work with them, and I find I am less tempted to get into fine detail, so while I can still work figuratively, I paint in a looser manner with them.

In my next blog post, I'll be talking a little about the Encaustic painting that I started in the last couple of months.

In the meantime, have you ever used the R&F paint sticks? If so, have you tried them on regular canvas or board, and what was your experience? 

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a songbird will come. — Chinese proverb

So, what do you do when you have a bunch of leftover paint? I just cannot bring myself to throw it away. I pull out a canvas, or two if it's warranted, and find something else to paint. It's why I always have a bunch of extra canvases on hand. You just never know when there'll be leftovers that need using up. Sometimes, what happens on that canvas is, well, less than spectacular. And, sometimes it has a really nice feeling to it. On occasion, I might even get a spectacular piece.

So, after I finished my round of self portraits, I found myself with two sets of leftovers. The first thing I had was a whole bunch of leftover oil paint. I challenged myself to do a still life, using ONLY the paints on the palette, and further, to use only my palette knife. I am quite pleased with the results. It's loose, but figurative. I managed to stay away form getting too tight with the rendering.

Untitled, 11 x 14, Oil

After that, I still had some leftover paint...it was coming down to the bare bones, but I figured I would have enough to cover a 10 x 10. I like the result of this one as well. There is a certain "je ne sais quois" about it. 

Untitled, 10 x 10, oil

The other leftovers I had, were pistachio shells. I had been munching on them over the course of a week or two while working on those paintings. I was about to throw them away, but the sheer quantity of shells made me think twice. What, I asked myself, can I create with these?

The resulting series of 5 paintings called Pistache Panache was born.

Pistache Panache #1, 6 x 6, acrylic multi-media

Pistache Panache #2, 6 x 6, acrylic multi-media

Pistache Panache #3, 6 x 6, acrylic multi-media

Pistache Panache #4, 6 x 6, acrylic multi-media

Pistache Panache #5, 6 x 6, acrylic multi-media

So, maybe it pays to think green, in more than one way. Not only good for the environment, but also good for my art. How green are you in your art practice? What green things do you do? Write a comment, I'd love to know!

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. ~ Oscar Wilde

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. ~ Oscar Wilde

Ah, but in this case, I am both the artist as well as the sitter. So, as the current beliefs say, these portraits are even more revealing.

I started out with a self portrait I would never have guessed I would have the courage to do. Or at least, the courage to do and show. I was inspired to bare the reconstructed breast, while it is still in its WIP stage (Work In Progress). I feel it is representative of the fact that both the breast, as well as my life, are works in progress. I bared the breast, but kept my face hidden. I was playing with the idea of being both naked to the world, and yet hidden. A friend helped with the title, Life In Progress, because as she put it, "you are not only a breast".

Life In Progress

12 x 18

Pan Pastel on coloured Strathmore 500 series paper

The next painting was based on a photo that had been taken of me while I was laughing someones joke. I liked it, and thought it would lend itself to being done in oils, impasto style. I used more vibrant colours to give it more punch. I wanted it to be looser in style, and thought it might be good to keep my shirt on for at least one of the self portraits.

Untitled

16 x 20

Oil, Impasto on canvas

The third painting was inspired after the second, but I actually started work on it in between working on the other two. Again, playing with the idea of being both naked and hidden. This time, though the painting is not as revealing, you can see I am naked in the moonlight, and yet still hidden by the mask. I do wish that in the photo, I could capture the details of the glitter that I embedded in the gold and purple details of the mask. In person, these details really "pop" as a result of that glitter.

Moonlight Celebration

16 x 20

Oil on canvas

So, what inspired me to start with self portraits? I entered a contest called "The Power of Self" - an artists contest of self-portraiture. You can see my entries here.  Please, while you are there vote for me, by clicking on the stars at the top of the page. A click on the fifth star is the highest rating, on the fist star, it's the lowest rating.

I am looking forward to your votes - and to putting my shirt back on!