What a beautiful day! Very, very cold, yes...but not nearly as cold as it's been, so we are happy. I think you can tell from our paintings. Looks like we all had a touch of cabin fever, too. We seem eager to be out and about. Keep going and you'll see what we mean. Ken's continuing Wacker Drive series makes the cold wind canyons glow like jewels. Or like an intricately painted Ukrainian easter egg. And look at the windows top left. The screen shot doesn't do them justice, but they truly shimmer.
Who'd have guessed the painting above starts out with a grid like this?
Mark is also painting architecture, but his house is smaller, cozier, and has a snug cottage feeling. Can't you picture a warm fireplace inside?
As we all know, Mark is a big fan of negative space. Below, Bill's mixed media abstract owes a lot to his use of negative space, especially around the border.
Bill also re-visited his urban landscape (with elevated train) from last week. That's one of the benefits of painting in series. Once you know the subject, you are free to interpret. Here, for instance, the emphasis shifts from the movement of the train to the city itself. Beautiful!
Madeleine's architecture is far from the cold and gritty city. And she matches her style perfectly to the subject. These clean, crisp cottages are the epitome of the word "pristine." Makes you want to start planning a vacation to Costa Rica, doesn't it?
And speaking of series and "epitomes," we feature Ellen's next two paintings. It's love around the world. She's painting the young lovers in various settings. Here the Chicago skyline provides a magnificent backdrop.
And here, we move from the city to nature. The same subjects are in a forest against fall foliage. To be honest, they seem oblivious to the backgrounds, don't they? They only have eyes for each other. Awww... young love!
Greeta is also painting fall, but the setting is Graceland cemetery. Notice how she combines architecture with natural elements like trees and grass? Nice combination!
Another combination of elements, but a different season. Do you recognize the bridge in Monet's garden in Giverny? The impressionistic style suits the subject so well. And who'd have guessed that such a limited palette could be so exuberantly colorful?
Alan is also using a limited palette and combining nature with architecture. Yes, he's using Yupo! Can you believe the deep rich value and texture he's getting with the bark? Set against the soft atmospheric stone, this is going to take Yupo to new heights. Don't be surprised if more of us become converts.
Another tree.... a totally different feel. This exquisite painting features a snow-covered tree in the middle of a downtown street. Zoom in and look at the tree. It feels very Van Gogh, doesn't it? And it's framed perfectly by the lovely soft skyscrapers on the right. We love this painting!
We like our trees, don't we? Here's another one, but this is a summer tree far from the city. The warm sky is the perfect complement to the warmly textured bark. The painting feels like Rousseau and says summer.
We love our pets... as much as we love trees, it seems. Here's a character-filled portrait of Alan's dog Jake. We've had confirmation (from an objective source) that this is a very accurate portrait. And it's on Yupo. Who knew you could work like this on Yupo?
Combining many of our themes of the day, Bill's Costa Rican scene is of cows and cow herons (so called because they hang around with cows in a symbiotic relationship). Look closely for the birds. They don't look like the tall birds we picture as herons.
We end with paintings that make you smile. Ellen revisited an old portrait and added a flurry of brushstrokes to the hair. So apropos for Mardi Gras (even though it was originally for Halloween).
Finally, who doesn't love monkeys? Especially this mother/baby pair. They certainly have personality, even though they are a stone carving. Stop by and visit them next time you're at the Art Institute.... a great destination if you've got cabin fever!
Artist of the day. We had books by and about our own Pat Otto and Kris Dodd. You've seen them before, but it was fun to go back and see Kris' retrospective and Pat's trip to visit her mother and the catalog from her Caged Dresses show. We're hoping there are more books by and about us in the future.... hint, hint, Ken!
Raffle winner! Besides the library table, we had a raffle. Ken won a sketch pad and colored pencils and raffled them off. Ellen was the lucky winner... and we're looking forward to her sketches. Stay tuned, everyone.
A message for all of us who couldn't attend today: Whether it's vacation, illness, recuperation... or just a general reluctance to brave the cold... we missed you! Look forward to seeing everyone next week for the last session of the term.
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