Happy Halloween! In the spirit of trick-or-treat, we submit our video above. You may think the ghoulish green light is deliberately done for the holiday, but it's really just normal rainy-day solarium lighting. On the other hand, the paintings themselves are our treat to you (okay, that may be stretching it, but the paintings are really good!).
We do have some themes going, as you'll see, even though Halloween isn't one of them. One more thing—we have to warn you that all of the paintings look better in real life due to the strange color cast in the room today. We're hoping to get back to normal next week.
We begin with a seasonally mysterious painting by Alan (welcome back!). It's painted on Yupo and Alan has managed a depth of color and a richness that's hard to achieve with this surface. We think Alan's found his best paper!
Here, Alan begins to paint an eclipse. Yes, this is on Yupo and yes, it's beautifully colorful. This is also, interestingly enough, the first of our "ray of light" paintings. You'll see it emerge from the shadows soon.
Tony also paints a ray of light emerging from the clouds. This is seen from his balcony in Greece. Notice the distinctive cypress trees?
Always on trend, Tony's second painting leads off our second theme—sacred spaces. Here's a beautifully detailed monastery atop a cliff in Meteora, Greece.
Elaine is also painting sacred spaces, but hers is a church much closer to the ground. It's an interior view of St. Gregory Church in Chicago, looking through soaring stone arches towards a beautiful shrine at the back of the church.
Sara keeps up the theme, but this temple is a redwood forest. We follow the richly textured and colored trunks as they soar towards a beautifully blue sky.
Susan hits two themes in a single painting! Here we see a shaft of light coming through a stained glass window at St. Gregory Church. Her viewpoint is almost exactly opposite Elaine's; we're looking toward the intricately carved pulpit at the front of the church.
If that weren't enough, Susan found three floral still life paintings from last summer. Each of them lacked a background, so she fearlessly added them today. Here she adds a brightly colored, almost psychedelic, background.
Here she chooses a bamboo forest...
Finally, we revisit a painting she just retrieved from a show at Blick Art Supply store downtown. The theme was 12"x12" and Susan added a Hawaiian wedding ceremony in the background of this painting of flowergirls.
Next in the series, Mohammed sketches a woman on a sheet of foamcore. It's only a rough beginning, but we think this will be wonderful. The Muslim woman's face will be the focus of the painting and the surface is even smoother than the mat board above. We're excited to see how this comes out.
Bill's working on a scene that has intrigued him for quite some time. Interestingly, he's touched on several of our themes, with a woman contemplating ancient ruins. Although it's technically lovely, Bill thinks he may revisit this to better illustrate his concept. We can't wait!
Vivian is also painting conceptually, something she excels at. This thought-provoking piece features a limited palette and is a self-portrait from two different viewpoints. Most intriguing!
Madeleine moves the foliage behind some wonderfully 3D stonework. We love the shadows and the mossy green glow on the top of the railing.
With a bit of time to spare, Madeleine began to sketch her next painting. This is Bill with his donkey. Well, not technically his donkey, just a donkey he befriended in Turkey. Like all the sketches today, this is one we're anxious to see develop.
Marva continues her state park series, hitting all the themes of the day. We hope to get a better photo next week so you can see the amazing color of the background, the trees' detail and the mist rising over the water. And, of course, who doesn't love the moose?
Ken has moved to his actual painting from the study last week. This is the corner of a brick building—rather an ordinary subject. Yet the colors, the perspective and the composition take this to a whole new place. Oh, this is the Ten Cat building, by the way. To see it in person, drop by next week for Ken's opening reception. Or drop by anytime in the next month to see his art.
Yes, you see right! These are our beginner plaids. We welcome Rosemary who comes with an existing palette. We see that she's already accomplished at drybrush and look forward to seeing more.
Finally, we end as we began... with a seasonal touch that's much more. Abla sketches a skeleton in the lower corner of her page, but the final painting isn't about skeletons or Halloween. It's a conceptual painting, an allegory about the meaning of life. Seriously! Come back to see more.
Finally, some things you don't want to miss:
Upcoming events and important announcements
Expressions in WatercolorThere's still time to see our exhibition, Expressions in Watercolor, from now until mid-November. Drop by the McKeon Building and visit all the glass cases.
When: October 8–November 15, 2015,
9am–5pm, Monday–Friday
9am–3pm, Saturday
Where: Truman College McKeon Student Services Building
(behind the main building)
1145 W. Wilson Avenue
DePaul Community Chorus Concert.
Where:
DePaul Concert Hall
800 West Belden, Chicago
DePaul Concert Hall
800 West Belden, Chicago
When:
Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 3pm
Where:
Ten Cat Tavern
3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, ILTen Cat Tavern
When:
Exhibition: October 26–December 7, 2015
Reception: November 7, 2015, 3pm
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