Abstract painting of forest wood nymphs

wood nymphs
Originally uploaded by Gayle Bell

16" x 20" acrylic painting on canvas

Original painting

Option 1 $225.00

Strappo abstract painting on glass

8" x 10" acrylic painting on glass, strappo technique

I was going to peel the painting off the glass and paste it onto paper, but I kind of liked the look of it on glass--although it was hard to get a good picture of it with the reflections.

New Painting of Foster Cat, Mutter

Mutter at home, 11" x 14" acrylic painting on gallery wrap canvas

This is a painting I did of a young shelter cat named Mutter. He currently resides at Kindness for Cats, a local foster home working with Orange County Animal Services (OCAS) which provides shelter and a nurturing environment for the countless unwanted kitties in need of homes. I fell in love with this little guy while doing his portrait. He seemed so serious, so I put him in a colorful environment that any cat would love, with nice fringy carpets to play with, fish bowls to gaze at and colorful trees to admire. Your home may not be as colorful, but Mutter would love it because it has the most important ingredient--you! His foster mother, Cindy, tells me that he's not as serious as he looks and is a very confident and outgoing little fellow with a wonderful and humorous personality. The adoption fee is only $40 and includes spay/neuter, initial vaccinations including rabies, de-worming, de-fleaing, testing for feline leukemia, and an AVID chip (ID for lost pets). What a bargain for unconditional love. And there are lots of bargains just like him waiting for your love at this foster home.

Giclee print on canvas available.  Will be shipped rolled and ready to be mounted on stretcher bars or cardboard/masonite.

A portrait of Kathy's dog for her Birthday!

Portrait of Dexter, acrylic

Happy Birthday Kathy! This was kind of fun to paint, but I'm going to try Golden's Open Thinner to see if it'll help with blending. I've heard some rave reviews about it and can't wait to see what it can do on my next portrait. There's always something new calling me!

"Confident Color" exercises help

Mixed media, acrylic on paper

I've been doing some color reference cards as suggested in Nita Leland's book "Confident Color." It's strangely satisfying. Normally I fly by the seat of my pants when painting and grab a tube here and a bottle there to mix things up and hopefully come up with something I like. Her process requires some thought and (dare I say it) rationality--something that's been lacking in my technique. It's even giving me some ideas about my whole approach to painting. In art school, we were never taught color theory in a disciplined way, believe it or not. Perhaps it was a symptom of the time but the guidance involved was "just do what feels right." Maybe that's why I'm having so much difficulty figuring out exactly what I'm doing. Right now, in the grand scheme of things, nothing feels right. I have so many ideas when I'm falling asleep or waking up, but they're gone by the time I sit down in front of the computer for my drawn out escapism into the blogs. One good thing about doing the color reference cards is that I have paint left over that I feel compelled to dab onto my myriad unfinished works. I'm way too frugal to let that expensive stuff dry out on my plate. Here's another abstract mixed media piece from my sketch book. Maybe I'll play with it in Photoshop to see if I can do something more to it.

New painting with paint "skins"

8" x 10" acrylic painting on Masonite

I wrote about Micah Mullen recently, an artist who uses paint skins in his work with marvelous effect. Naturally, I had to try my hand at manufacturing my own paint skins instead of relying on chance encounters on my palette. These came out extra thick, so I had to embed them in acrylic gel like mosaic tiles. There is obviously a technique involved in making sure the paint skins are the right thickness. I made these in an old cat food bowl, but I'm going to try a new palette I picked up the other day at Michael's which has several flat, rectangular wells. I've already made one which is hanging up on my bulletin board (I found out the hard way that you have to be careful about where you store them since they seem to stick to certain materials.) Anyway, here's my first painting with "manufactured" paint skins.

New abstract painting

8" x 10" acrylic painting on Masonite

After finally getting the art room into decent shape where I can walk around and find things, I'm now trying to finish some unresolved paintings. I've worked and worked this painting (like most every one I have), but--surprise!--suddenly I began to like it today. I put a coat of white gesso over most of it and cut into it with my favorite brushes--which aren't really brushes but vinyl-tipped painting sticks. It started to get away from me again when I started working on the two eye-like spots, but I forced myself to stop. My OCD tendencies aren't easy to control sometimes.

Painting abstract landscapes with dried paints

"Beidler Forest #5" by Micah Mullen

I found an interesting artist today, Micah Mullen, and spent quite a bit of time on his website admiring his abstracted landscapes. I like his textured patterns and colors which somehow resolve into a surrealist-type landscape. He also has an art lessons section on his site in which he shows some of his techniques with acrylic paints. I especially liked the one about using dried acrylic glazes (or paint skins) for texture in his paintings. I've tried using paint skins myself in some of my paintings, but only leftover paints that had dried on my tray and resulted in some nice combinations I couldn't throw out. I can't see any harm in purposefully mixing up some paint skins for use in painting, especially if there's a possibility it could result in beautiful paintings like Micah produces.

New Cat Painting

"Gradycakes" (as we like to call him)

Today was rainy and cold--maybe cool to upstate people :-)--and not good for much but surfing (way, way too long) and working on painting. I'm still working on painting fur. After my unsatisfying experience painting Marley, I wanted to try and capture Grady's silky coat. He's a short hair cat, but his fur is surprisingly soft and silky. I certainly have enough subjects around here to practice my fur painting techniques on, but I'm far and away more competent in picking up fur on the floor. Tomorrow is always another day.

Time to set Marley free--or go nuts!

Marley, 2009, acrylic painting

It's amazing how obsessive I can become over a painting. I had 90% of this painting done in about two hours on Christmas Eve. It was going to be a surprise for Jerry on Christmas. He liked it the way it was but I felt I had to do something about the color of his fur, the texture of his fur, the background, etc. It went from decent to hell and back over and over again for a month. Finally, I said "enough." To maintain the last shreds of my sanity, I have to move on. God knows, it's not perfect. But the next painting may get a little closer to that elusive goal. (Ha!!)

New sketch--Roses and cat

Roses and Grady, mixed media

I was hoping to finish the portrait I did of Marley for Jerry's Christmas present. It needs a few little tweaks before I'm going to be satisfied with it (naturally), but I just didn't feel like tackling it tonight. It may be of the verge of being ruined if I do too much to it, yet I'm not happy with his mouth and fur yet. So I decided to do a sketch of the flowers Jerry gave me for Christmas. I was hoping for a Picasso-type look, but didn't quite get there (might as well aim high!) I took some creative license and only painted five of the dozen flowers he gave me and it didn't seem complete without Grady in the window looking for birds.

New digitally enhanced abstract artwork

Didn't get much done in the way of art today. Spent too long on the computer catching up on my various art group emails and checking out Facebook. I guess I'm of the age where I'm not sure exactly what Facebook is trying to accomplish, except wasting a lot of time. But, I'll give it a try and see what becomes of it. Some of the ladies in the WWAO art group I belong to use it and even have a WWAO group set up on it, so it must be of some value. Reading through some of their emails makes me realize I'll probably never have the drive to become a "real" artist, earning money through Etsy, websites, social networks, etc. It all seems so exhausting and confusing. It's a mystery to me how artists can muster the energy to create their artwork and then market it. The working artists I'm becoming familiar with on the internet certainly have my admiration.

In order to not waste the whole day, I scanned a graphite/acrylic sketch I had done recently (and kind of liked) and digitally enhanced it on the computer. I'm thinking I'd like to get more involved with graphite and paint, especially after seeing the exhibit in Corpus Christi of graphite works. The exhibit was all graphite works, with no color, but really quite stunning. I especially liked the work of Shimon Okshteyn. I see on his website that he does incorporate graphite within some of his paintings, which weren't on display in the Texas exhibit, and they are impressive.

Up the river without a paddle (and heading for a fall)

Heading for a fall, acrylic painting, 22" x 29"

Today was certainly one for the history books with the DOW dropping 777 points. I just hope it's not deja vu all over again and we're heading for another depression, but it looks grim. I can't help but get the feeling that we're being held hostage by Wall Street and being shaken down for the few remaining dollars we have left. Let's see, the defense industry and big oil has made a killing under the Bush regime, and so has the financial industry for that matter. But it's apparently never enough and they're going to grab as much as they can before the door hits them in the ass with a new administration. I can't say the Dems have handled this very well and I'm disappointed that they were willing to give Bush, once again, just about everything he asked for with a few minor changes. The Republicans are expert at playing them for fools and it happened again with them turning the tables on the Dems and defeating the bailout bill in the House and making it look as if they saved the country from the fiscal irresponsibility of Pelosi and Co. Brilliant move on Rove's part (I'm sure he had a hand in this), and, oh by the way, there's got to be some serious money being made on this meltdown for those in the know. Apparently, this administration will stoop to anything to hold onto power and enrich themselves. I'm fed up with both parties and for the first time in my life I switched parties, from Democrat to Independent. Now, if we only had a viable Independent party, perhaps we could put an end to the rampant corruption that seems to infect both sides. It would have been interesting to see how Ralph Nader would have changed the tenor of the last "debate" (such as it was). He was on Bill Maher last Friday and when he could get a word in edgewise he totally nailed our problems. Something has to change and soon. I hope it's not going to require a Depression to do it.

Mounting Acrylic Paintings on Canvas

A new Yahoo group I joined, Experimental Acrylics, turned me on to a really cool idea for painters who may be stacking up lots of canvases and running out of room for storage (like me.) Bob Burridge does his paintings on paper (much easier to store), and mounts them on canvas whenever he needs them for a show or gallery. Such a simple idea, but the results are great looking (as well as his paintings.) He also has a newsletter which looks like it might be worthwhile for the struggling artist.

New painting

Swimming Against the Current, 22" x 29" acrylic painting on watercolor paper

"In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place" --Gandhi

"What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger"--Nietzsche

Searching for Sanity in a Brave New World, digital art

It certainly is hard to stick to my guns and use this blog only for artistic ideas when the world seems to be descending into chaos. Of course, the continuing meltdown in the U.S. financial system leaves a lot of uncertainty about whether the little bit of money I have in the bank will be there once the crooks get done with this. The idea of one day having to sleep under a bridge doesn't leave a lot of energy for creative pursuits, but I'm going to try anyway (and keep repeating the title of this blog over and over!) This digital art piece kind of sums up my feelings about the current state of affairs. I spent some time yesterday trying to do something with paint skins (leftover residue of acrylic paints on my palette). The piece isn't quite there, but if I can get over my depression about this nightmare our country is in, I'll drag myself into my art room and try to finish it off.

Early Women Artists Breaking Free!

Throw away the keys, 8" x 10", acrylic on canvas

I'm finally starting to like this painting. I've worked and worked on it, from texturing with Gesso to experimenting with Golden Clear Tar Gel to applying layers and layers of glazes. It just didn't seem to speak to me until I put in the grid pattern, which seemed to unify it and, along with the colors, suggest a theme. It, ironically, seems to suggest a message I'm getting from a good book I picked up from the library the other day called "Independent Spirits, Women Painters of the American West, 1890-1945." The artwork is stunning and I have to wonder why I was never exposed to any of these fabulous artists when I was in art school. After seeing some of these women's paintings and reading their stories, I can't help but feel that I was shortchanged in my education. Janson's "History of Art" (which was taught by a female professor) was required reading and didn't mention any women artists at all! I'm sure times have changed for the better since I attended college, but that indoctrination--that only the art of men was to be seriously studied and considered--is hard to shake to this day. The book is an inspirational eye-opener about the strong women who persevered in their art in the early 20th century, many times at great cost, and refused to be chained by societal limitations. I hope one day I can unlock my creative side and not worry about all the what ifs and why fors.

Still Life, 7.5" x 11", charcoal/acrylic on gessoed watercolor paper

I finally got around to doing a drawing like I vowed yesterday. I tried everything under the sun to avoid it, including working out in the sun for over two hours pulling weeds and attempting to tame the jungle in the back yard. After taking a nap, fiddling around with magazines, laundry, books, trying different still life arrangements, I forced myself into a commitment with this set up. It's no Picasso, like I hoped for, but at least I kept my promise! Hoorah! I hope to remember to start carrying my camera around to snap some ideas for later. And, oh yes, I need to carry my sketch book for sure. It's frustrating that there are so many ideas/colors/patterns for paintings floating around in my head when I'm almost asleep, but they somehow evaporate when I'm in front of a canvas.

Seamus, 16" x 12", acrylic on gallery-wrap canvas

Finished the portrait of Seamus. I can't say that I'm 100% satisfied with it, but I wanted to take something into the art meet-up tonight, so this was the closest I could get to a finished piece. I obsessed over it to a ridiculous degree. I might work on the face some more later, though--it seems to be going flat all the time. Perhaps some gel medium might give me some of the texture I'm looking for. Well, anyway, I like the background. We had a pretty good crowd at the meet-up and a lot of people showed their work--everything from abstract to super realistic. They seem to be a nice bunch of people and we had some good discussions about art happenings, techniques and how to actually sell some of our stuff. Bob Boynton is apparently making it and can hardly keep up with the demand for his paintings. It must be nice! He highly recommends ArtistsRegistry.com and YourArt.com for exposure. Next month's assignment is to do a piece on something laying around the house. Hmmmm! That could be anything from my dog to a spatula. I'll have to start focusing.

In between running all over the state to go to new doctors, visit rentals, etc. I played around with another abstract collage in Photoshop. It sure is fun, but I felt that maybe I should try some real paints and ween myself off the computer for a change. I'm trying to finish a portrait of Seamus in acrylics and it's driving me nuts. I just can't seem to get the brush strokes (and color) quite right on his face. I vow tomorrow I'm going to finish it one way or another, even if I have to paint over it--which would really finish it!