Here are a few sketches of faces from some drawing sessions earlier this year... I constantly am trying to improve and capture a moment in time....
And below, here is one that I painted on a small 5"x7" hard canvas... mixed media.
Showing posts with label faces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faces. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Faces, Sketches, and Drawing Practice
Faces, faces everywhere, all so interesting, all carrying a story...
Here are a few sketches of faces from some drawing sessions earlier this year... I constantly am trying to improve and capture a moment in time....
And below, here is one that I painted on a small 5"x7" hard canvas... mixed media.
Here are a few sketches of faces from some drawing sessions earlier this year... I constantly am trying to improve and capture a moment in time....And below, here is one that I painted on a small 5"x7" hard canvas... mixed media.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Paintings, Two Art Shows, and Self Portraits
“Your life is an island separated from all other islands and continents...
I don't ordinarily consider myself a portrait or figure painter... however, recently I took up the challenge of the Art House for artists to do self portraits, and I painted it in my latest experimental medium of acrylics. I used a reference favorite photo of my smiley happy self and painted it in a somewhat realistic style. I look so in-the-pink! But then, I guess sometimes I am...
Delorse Lovelady 2010 Passage Through the Islands 5x7 Acrylic
"...Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores or how many ships arrive upon your shores, you yourself are an island separated by its own pains, secluded in its happiness” Kahlil Gibran
Behind the Painting
Do you ever wonder what might have been in the mind of an artist when looking at a work? Well, I am not so much a literal painter as a metaphorical one. The quote describes a bit of what I was contemplating when I painted the "Passage Through the Islands", a scene from my imagination but not unlike scenery I have viewed in the Northwest... basically that we are all self-contained separate islands floating past each other though still connected in the cosmic soup...
Sundays 11-5pm
Artist's Reception: MARCH 7 from 1-4pm - refreshments served
Edmond's Art Walk: MARCH 18 from 5-8pm
"...Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores or how many ships arrive upon your shores, you yourself are an island separated by its own pains, secluded in its happiness” Kahlil Gibran
Behind the Painting
Do you ever wonder what might have been in the mind of an artist when looking at a work? Well, I am not so much a literal painter as a metaphorical one. The quote describes a bit of what I was contemplating when I painted the "Passage Through the Islands", a scene from my imagination but not unlike scenery I have viewed in the Northwest... basically that we are all self-contained separate islands floating past each other though still connected in the cosmic soup...
Local Miniature/Small Painting Show
HOURS: Mondays-Saturdays 10-6pmYou are invited to the First Annual Miniature/Small Painting Art Show at Gallery North featuring 65 Northwest and other artist's work. I'll have 3 mixed media/acrylic paintings in the show including the one above, "Passage Through the Islands."
Gallery North
508 Main Street
Edmonds, WA 98020
SHOW DATES: March 1 - 30, 2010
SHOW DATES: March 1 - 30, 2010
Sundays 11-5pm
Artist's Reception: MARCH 7 from 1-4pm - refreshments served
Edmond's Art Walk: MARCH 18 from 5-8pm
An Artist's Self Portrait
“A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.” John Singer Sargent
I don't ordinarily consider myself a portrait or figure painter... however, recently I took up the challenge of the Art House for artists to do self portraits, and I painted it in my latest experimental medium of acrylics. I used a reference favorite photo of my smiley happy self and painted it in a somewhat realistic style. I look so in-the-pink! But then, I guess sometimes I am...Delorse Self Portrait 8x10 acrylic
It is definitely challenging to paint portraits, particularly of yourself. You have to really look and take in all the details, the little line here or there, that didn't used to be there. And, after all, we are ever changing, not static beings. There are hundreds of expressions and ways that we all have looked over a lifetime. Which one is the real you? Well, they all are, and we are just perfect in our imperfections at any stage. However, I do like the Sargent quote, because it seems to sum up what most people think when looking at any portrait, that it needs a little something on the mouth, or maybe the nose could be different... So, no that painting is not an exact replica of me, but it wasn't meant to be, and I could never do it anyway. I don't know that anyone could truly capture an exact replica of a person. Painting portraits or self portraits from my view is more about trying to capture just a moment or a sense of that person...
I finished it just barely in time to mail it off to Art House this past Monday on March 1, to be displayed in Brooklyn in April, and be added to a book collection of artist self portraits. If you haven't visited the Art House, it hosts quite an array of artist projects that sound quite fun. You can also post some of your art there.
I finished it just barely in time to mail it off to Art House this past Monday on March 1, to be displayed in Brooklyn in April, and be added to a book collection of artist self portraits. If you haven't visited the Art House, it hosts quite an array of artist projects that sound quite fun. You can also post some of your art there.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Painting Faces and Art Show
Contemplative reverie and emotive blues... these paintings emerged from my hand...
Painting Faces
I find myself drawn towards expressing faces with my art lately, whether sketching or painting. The two above are my latest acrylic paintings. My goal in most of my paintings is to express, capture gestures, feelings, a sense of place, and not photographic realism at all. First came the blue face, then two weeks later the more flesh and lavender toned face. I took them to my critique group on Wed morning and got lots of positive feedback on them. Someone pointed out they looked surrealistic in style, and another said the blue one reminded her of Chagall's flying figures...another that they looked like two sides of a woman and would fit in an upcoming breast cancer exhibit. I'm finding the critique group very helpful in the different viewpoints expressed while we take in each of the paintings created, all unique. And so wonderful and inspiring to see the variety of art from these ten talented women.
I was going to include these two faces in my art show, however, decided I couldn't part with them yet, they are too fresh, and I must keep them around for a while. So I'm wondering, readers, do any of you have difficulty letting go of some of your paintings or art?
ArtSplash Art Show!
So, here's a picture of my art space at Artsplash which is through this weekend. I did the hanging and set up on Wednesday. I still hung one very large heavy watercolor painting, but the rest are all the light weight acrylics I have worked on. Again, I have been painting seascapes and desert scenes, favorite subjects. And birds... Stop in for the reception tonight or anytime before 5pm Sunday when it closes.
Painting FacesI find myself drawn towards expressing faces with my art lately, whether sketching or painting. The two above are my latest acrylic paintings. My goal in most of my paintings is to express, capture gestures, feelings, a sense of place, and not photographic realism at all. First came the blue face, then two weeks later the more flesh and lavender toned face. I took them to my critique group on Wed morning and got lots of positive feedback on them. Someone pointed out they looked surrealistic in style, and another said the blue one reminded her of Chagall's flying figures...another that they looked like two sides of a woman and would fit in an upcoming breast cancer exhibit. I'm finding the critique group very helpful in the different viewpoints expressed while we take in each of the paintings created, all unique. And so wonderful and inspiring to see the variety of art from these ten talented women.
I was going to include these two faces in my art show, however, decided I couldn't part with them yet, they are too fresh, and I must keep them around for a while. So I'm wondering, readers, do any of you have difficulty letting go of some of your paintings or art?
ArtSplash Art Show!
So, here's a picture of my art space at Artsplash which is through this weekend. I did the hanging and set up on Wednesday. I still hung one very large heavy watercolor painting, but the rest are all the light weight acrylics I have worked on. Again, I have been painting seascapes and desert scenes, favorite subjects. And birds... Stop in for the reception tonight or anytime before 5pm Sunday when it closes.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Meditation Monday - Faces Art-A-Day Journal and Sand Dancer
Memorial day...remembering those gone, but living now and loving the ones you're with...
A leisurely Memorial Day here, some gardening going on, a little art-making, family conversations, the cat's snoozing the day away, while our resident woodpecker hammers away remodeling his birdhouse, and we get ready to BBQ our dinner. Random thoughts of those long ago who landed on a beach far far away in Normandy called Omaha, to face life and death challenges, including my father. Reflecting on that, I am lucky to be here and grateful for the sacrifices of that and other generations.
A leisurely Memorial Day here, some gardening going on, a little art-making, family conversations, the cat's snoozing the day away, while our resident woodpecker hammers away remodeling his birdhouse, and we get ready to BBQ our dinner. Random thoughts of those long ago who landed on a beach far far away in Normandy called Omaha, to face life and death challenges, including my father. Reflecting on that, I am lucky to be here and grateful for the sacrifices of that and other generations.Faces in my Art-A-Day Journal
So here are some faces I recently sketched in my Art-A-Day Journal. The one on the left is supposed to be Liz Taylor in her younger days. And below is a sketch from an old postcard of a Klimt painting entitled "Judith 1". I love imperfect faces, the character they display, esp., the woman below. It's a good thing, because as I get older, I find I am getting more "character", more life lines on my face...but then, we all are, so it's ok.
Sand DancerThe video below has a large face drawn in the sand. The fascinating artist featured lives to create and creates for the moment only. He reminds me of those Tibetan monks who spend days creating intricate sand painting mandalas and then when completed, they destroy them. The art, the magic, the karma is in the process of going inside to draw out that inner beauty into a new creation. Having emerged, and been created, and taken in by the viewers, the moment passes quickly, and this art is recycled into the thousands of other grains of sand, waiting to be born again in yet another form.
So here is a wonderful story about Peter Donnelly in New Zealand, who does what he does because "I want my heart", it's his thing, his creativity and there's no director, nor doing it for money. So maybe this is the heart of an artist, you do what you do because it expresses you, what you feel, and you are choosing to do it, and it makes you alive, makes you whole... What do you think? Are you doing your thing? So take 10 minutes and enjoy this You-Tube Video from Wild Scenic Films, directed and produced by Valerie Reid, other credits listed on the video.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sunday Meditations - Hearts and Mothers
That beating heart drumming a continuous rhythm of love and life...
Today I think of my mother in her 80's that I am so grateful for, and all the journeys we've taken together. Mothers make me think of flowers, warm cookies in the oven, helping hands, busy hands, creative hands, and that ever nurturing spirit. 
The photo's are from our Gaia Mother (Earth mother, named after the supreme Greek goddess) -- a bleeding heart from our garden and one of our birch trees that revealed it's heart. So, hail to the mothers, the great Gaia Mother, the female creative energy of our world, and may we all be nurtured as needed, and move toward harmonious balance in the world.
Women in Art
Now sit back and savor this wonderful YouTube video, "Women in Art" by Philip Scott Johnson. It artfully melds one portrait into another spanning 500 years of female portraits in Western Art. The music is Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo-Yo Ma. This video was nominated as Most Creative Video in the 2nd Annual YouTube Awards (2007, I think). I enjoyed viewing this from the perspective of the woman/female creating energy of the world, as well, as studying the portrait details and wide variations of styles and faces portrayed by the artists......
Today I think of my mother in her 80's that I am so grateful for, and all the journeys we've taken together. Mothers make me think of flowers, warm cookies in the oven, helping hands, busy hands, creative hands, and that ever nurturing spirit. 
The photo's are from our Gaia Mother (Earth mother, named after the supreme Greek goddess) -- a bleeding heart from our garden and one of our birch trees that revealed it's heart. So, hail to the mothers, the great Gaia Mother, the female creative energy of our world, and may we all be nurtured as needed, and move toward harmonious balance in the world.Women in Art
Now sit back and savor this wonderful YouTube video, "Women in Art" by Philip Scott Johnson. It artfully melds one portrait into another spanning 500 years of female portraits in Western Art. The music is Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo-Yo Ma. This video was nominated as Most Creative Video in the 2nd Annual YouTube Awards (2007, I think). I enjoyed viewing this from the perspective of the woman/female creating energy of the world, as well, as studying the portrait details and wide variations of styles and faces portrayed by the artists......
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Meditation Sunday - Faces Behind the Mask and Paint
We each present ourselves to the world uniquely in our dress or costume... but beneath lies the dreaming soul, that spark that enlivens our being in the world...
The mask/shield sculpture in this picture I created in 1998 as part of my training in art therapy. I used and shaped leather over a life plaster cast of a person's face and used an overall palette of gold, red and black. Found crow feathers and a smaller sculpture of my beloved cat are incorporated onto a natural wood spiral symbolic of my journey with an attached "medicine bag" of more symbolic objects inside. This has never been shown nor hung in a gallery, instead it hangs in my house so I can see it every day and remember my dreaming self that it represents... I was fully employed at the time in a very legalistic career, while art had always filled my spare time, and I dreamed of becoming an art therapist. I completed a program and became a Certified Expressive Arts Therapist in 2000... because of my belief in the power of art to heal, and that undefinable sacred place that creating something takes me to, "the zone". I continued that career, but I added teaching Creativity and Coaching peers to my repetoire. Now retired from the career, creating art is a full time passion. And the dreamer is still here.
Meditation
Who is your dreaming soul beneath the everyday face that is presented? And notice how does this spark change and evolve over time? Reflecting over all the years, it is the same me beneath everything, still there... but perhaps my "outer face" is more in harmony with my "dreaming self".
Now, here is a fantastic You-Tube Video. Unfortunately, my audio is still not working so I can't vouch for the music as I can't hear it, but "The Omo River People" video presents stunning faces with body paint and adornment, all masterfully photographed by Hans Sylvester. The Omo River is in southern Ethiopia. I love these faces, they are so soulful, and the eyes are truly captivating. Enjoy and contemplate who you are and your place in the world...
The mask/shield sculpture in this picture I created in 1998 as part of my training in art therapy. I used and shaped leather over a life plaster cast of a person's face and used an overall palette of gold, red and black. Found crow feathers and a smaller sculpture of my beloved cat are incorporated onto a natural wood spiral symbolic of my journey with an attached "medicine bag" of more symbolic objects inside. This has never been shown nor hung in a gallery, instead it hangs in my house so I can see it every day and remember my dreaming self that it represents... I was fully employed at the time in a very legalistic career, while art had always filled my spare time, and I dreamed of becoming an art therapist. I completed a program and became a Certified Expressive Arts Therapist in 2000... because of my belief in the power of art to heal, and that undefinable sacred place that creating something takes me to, "the zone". I continued that career, but I added teaching Creativity and Coaching peers to my repetoire. Now retired from the career, creating art is a full time passion. And the dreamer is still here.Meditation
Who is your dreaming soul beneath the everyday face that is presented? And notice how does this spark change and evolve over time? Reflecting over all the years, it is the same me beneath everything, still there... but perhaps my "outer face" is more in harmony with my "dreaming self".
Now, here is a fantastic You-Tube Video. Unfortunately, my audio is still not working so I can't vouch for the music as I can't hear it, but "The Omo River People" video presents stunning faces with body paint and adornment, all masterfully photographed by Hans Sylvester. The Omo River is in southern Ethiopia. I love these faces, they are so soulful, and the eyes are truly captivating. Enjoy and contemplate who you are and your place in the world...
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
After Artfest, Looking for Diamonds, and a Word about Browsers
"Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans." John Lennon
After Artfest
A few words about my Artfest retreat with 3 workshops since I have been so busy upon returning home... As usual, it was refreshing to be surrounded by so much creativity, wonderful artists, the cool crisp sea air and magnificent scenery. Above you see 4 paintings I completed in Misty Mawn's class where we worked on portraits with sepia or earthtones... a very satisfying class and reminds me of how much I love paint and paper. Misty is a very fast and talented painter and excellent teacher with lots of techniques to share. Having done only a few portraits in the past, I am encouraged enough by my results that I intend to do more portraits.
And here are pictures of layouts for my 2 assemblages in Michael DeMeng's "What a Relief" class in which we used old picture frames to build upon, and assorted recycled junque to make them into art pieces. They evolved a bit differently and I'm not finished yet, may post when I complete them. Michael's a wonderful teacher that shares a lot of info on tools and how to get that aged look, and his creations are a wonder to look at... this was my "challenge" class, as I haven't typically considered myself an assemblage artist... but this was much fun.
Sas Colby's class on Transparent Books was a relaxing mix of experimentation with all manner of materials (I used an old plastic see-thru pouch with a grid pattern, x-ray film, transparencies, rice papers, fabrics and other odds and ends... a bit of drawing and binding. Pictures to be posted later.
Looking for Diamonds
After Wed through Sunday filled with art and lots of people interactions, I craved alone time, and on the advice of a local artist, found a wonderful quiet beach at a different location to explore. I was told there would be lots of beach glass. I naively walked along thinking of quarter sized pieces until another beachcomber showed me they were more pea or smaller sized. My treasures from that walk are in the pictures above - wonderful wonderful shapes and colors for my camera here at home. I told my sister (who lives in another state) that I had practiced using my eagle eyes to find those small glass treasures and was practicing for the day that she and I idly dream about a road trip to the diamond fields in Arkansas. No, I'm not kidding, a real state park where anyone can keep what they find and do. I told her last year I dreamed I found a 3 carat yellow diamond. Now I don't really need one, but I suppose it's the thrill of the hunt and finding a treasure whether it's a diamond or a shell or pea sized sea glass. I've always collected those and have little assortments laying here and there. Maybe they are alters to nature and memories.
Now a word about John Lennon's quote, life catching up with you.... I missed posting a Sunday meditation this past Easter week and we've had a rash of "challenges". Mother always said bad luck comes in 3's or more.... We are trying to resolve audio issues, so I'm unable to hear any YouTubes, etc. And we had a big leak in kitchen sink, which turned into problems with removing the faucet and/or the sink... it made my husband get creative about our water supply! That's the garden hose from our new deck... Meanwhile the truck clutch also went out a couple of days ago which will completely eat our tax refund that I found after finishing taxes on the 14th, the downstairs toilet leak was just fixed, and we had an invasion of tiny tiny black ants going crazy over the cat food. We finally got rid of them today but I swear they were coming from another dimension right through the walls.... And to top it off yesterday I came down with a sore throat/flu and will probably miss my artist's reception tomorrow night at the Rose House... oh well, hubbie just made fresh strawberry jam, hot tea tastes good, and I'm going to keep looking for diamonds...
A Word About Browsers
Barely a month ago Yahoo decided to upgrade their mail system and at that moment, my emails ceased to be available for 3 days. We checked firewalls and everything else possible to no avail, so we called a Yahoo technician who had us install a new browser, Mozilla Foxfire. Aside from our own checks and those with the Yahoo technician that revealed no problems, we are fairly certain my mail system wasn't working any more because of the browser. The Internet Explorer browser that we've used forever simply doesn't work with the Yahoo upgrade, while Foxfire worked instantly. Mozilla seems to work faster and some other things that I had to make a work around with Explorer, work fine with Mozilla. And a friend who still works for one of the local Federal agencies says they switched to Mozilla... it is touted as safer. I still have Explorer as a backup in case I need it. The upshot is, I've learned that some browsers apparently don't interface well with certain sites, they have different features that may be related to how secure your system is, and they work at different speeds... and they have different versions. All very confusing. I wish I'd saved an article I read in the Washington Post about this. But, anyway, I'm mentioning this in my post, because perhaps if all else is ok with your system and you have problems getting into a mainstream website, maybe your browser is a problem. Mozilla was free and is well known. Now I use that one, but keep the other, just in case...
After ArtfestA few words about my Artfest retreat with 3 workshops since I have been so busy upon returning home... As usual, it was refreshing to be surrounded by so much creativity, wonderful artists, the cool crisp sea air and magnificent scenery. Above you see 4 paintings I completed in Misty Mawn's class where we worked on portraits with sepia or earthtones... a very satisfying class and reminds me of how much I love paint and paper. Misty is a very fast and talented painter and excellent teacher with lots of techniques to share. Having done only a few portraits in the past, I am encouraged enough by my results that I intend to do more portraits.
And here are pictures of layouts for my 2 assemblages in Michael DeMeng's "What a Relief" class in which we used old picture frames to build upon, and assorted recycled junque to make them into art pieces. They evolved a bit differently and I'm not finished yet, may post when I complete them. Michael's a wonderful teacher that shares a lot of info on tools and how to get that aged look, and his creations are a wonder to look at... this was my "challenge" class, as I haven't typically considered myself an assemblage artist... but this was much fun.Sas Colby's class on Transparent Books was a relaxing mix of experimentation with all manner of materials (I used an old plastic see-thru pouch with a grid pattern, x-ray film, transparencies, rice papers, fabrics and other odds and ends... a bit of drawing and binding. Pictures to be posted later.
Looking for DiamondsAfter Wed through Sunday filled with art and lots of people interactions, I craved alone time, and on the advice of a local artist, found a wonderful quiet beach at a different location to explore. I was told there would be lots of beach glass. I naively walked along thinking of quarter sized pieces until another beachcomber showed me they were more pea or smaller sized. My treasures from that walk are in the pictures above - wonderful wonderful shapes and colors for my camera here at home. I told my sister (who lives in another state) that I had practiced using my eagle eyes to find those small glass treasures and was practicing for the day that she and I idly dream about a road trip to the diamond fields in Arkansas. No, I'm not kidding, a real state park where anyone can keep what they find and do. I told her last year I dreamed I found a 3 carat yellow diamond. Now I don't really need one, but I suppose it's the thrill of the hunt and finding a treasure whether it's a diamond or a shell or pea sized sea glass. I've always collected those and have little assortments laying here and there. Maybe they are alters to nature and memories.
Now a word about John Lennon's quote, life catching up with you.... I missed posting a Sunday meditation this past Easter week and we've had a rash of "challenges". Mother always said bad luck comes in 3's or more.... We are trying to resolve audio issues, so I'm unable to hear any YouTubes, etc. And we had a big leak in kitchen sink, which turned into problems with removing the faucet and/or the sink... it made my husband get creative about our water supply! That's the garden hose from our new deck... Meanwhile the truck clutch also went out a couple of days ago which will completely eat our tax refund that I found after finishing taxes on the 14th, the downstairs toilet leak was just fixed, and we had an invasion of tiny tiny black ants going crazy over the cat food. We finally got rid of them today but I swear they were coming from another dimension right through the walls.... And to top it off yesterday I came down with a sore throat/flu and will probably miss my artist's reception tomorrow night at the Rose House... oh well, hubbie just made fresh strawberry jam, hot tea tastes good, and I'm going to keep looking for diamonds...A Word About Browsers
Barely a month ago Yahoo decided to upgrade their mail system and at that moment, my emails ceased to be available for 3 days. We checked firewalls and everything else possible to no avail, so we called a Yahoo technician who had us install a new browser, Mozilla Foxfire. Aside from our own checks and those with the Yahoo technician that revealed no problems, we are fairly certain my mail system wasn't working any more because of the browser. The Internet Explorer browser that we've used forever simply doesn't work with the Yahoo upgrade, while Foxfire worked instantly. Mozilla seems to work faster and some other things that I had to make a work around with Explorer, work fine with Mozilla. And a friend who still works for one of the local Federal agencies says they switched to Mozilla... it is touted as safer. I still have Explorer as a backup in case I need it. The upshot is, I've learned that some browsers apparently don't interface well with certain sites, they have different features that may be related to how secure your system is, and they work at different speeds... and they have different versions. All very confusing. I wish I'd saved an article I read in the Washington Post about this. But, anyway, I'm mentioning this in my post, because perhaps if all else is ok with your system and you have problems getting into a mainstream website, maybe your browser is a problem. Mozilla was free and is well known. Now I use that one, but keep the other, just in case...
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