May 11, 2019

Happy Mother's Day! We're all about the holiday today—those of us who showed up instead of getting an early start, that is. And our paintings show it. Elle finished her painting of her granddaughter. Adorable, isn't she? Interestingly enough, Elle had more trouble deciding on a background than she did with the rest of the painting. We think she chose wisely—the background sets off the subject without distracting.

With minutes to spare, Elle cranked out another grandchild painting. This quick study makes us smile. His expression is precious and the composition is perfect—circles around circles around circles.

Steve began work on the swim suits and added a layer to the skin. What does this have to do with Mother's Day, you ask?  Don't you think Mom would enjoy a relaxing day in the sun?

If you thought the psychedelic swim trunks were fun, just wait for Ken's latest in the Woman/Mosaic series. He spent most of today working on the glorious mane of hair and pondering his background strategy. We are in love with this.

What's Mother's Day without some flowers? Isa steps up to the plate with two very different takes on flowers. Here, she's placed orchids in front of a subtly beautiful brick wall. She's only used two colors (yellow and purple) to achieve all the colors and textures in the background. Incredible, isn't it?

And from the sophisticated elegance of the painting above, she moves on to this exuberant, vibrant painting. She's calling it Dancing in the Light and we think that says it all. No further comment necessary, is there?

Elaine is painting flowers too. This African violet is very nearly complete.... except for the background. She's planning to add a layer of gold watercolor ground over the rich red. In a painting this small, she thinks it will draw the viewer in and give the plant icon status. Come back to see if she's right.

Yes, food is an integral part of Mother's Day. Susan has finished the woven background for her fish head, baked clams and calamari dinner....

... before painting another dinner feast. This time, it's baked ribs, with fresh veggie roll and avocado sides. Any mom would be happy to eat this well. And notice the springtime tulips in the border?

Time does fly.  We've finished our Spring session and will be taking a break until June 8. See you then. Meanwhile, mark your calendars for these upcoming events.

Upcoming events  

Improv Show. In the mood for some improv fun? Ken and Elaine O. are in an improv group that will be having a show at the Harold Washington Library downtown. It's free and fun, so plan to come if you can.

     Where:
     Harold Washington Library Center
     Video Theater, Lower Level
     Chicago, IL

     When:
     Tuesday, May 21
     1:30 pm.

Art Exhibit. May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and our own Susan Silvano is having an exhibit at one of the Chicago Public Library Branches. The exhibit runs throughout May, so drop by before then.

     Where:
     Martin Luther King Jr. Library
     3436  S. King Drive
     Chicago, IL 60616

     When:
    May 1-31, 2019

Art Exhibit. Save the date for Art in Motion, an exhibition featuring our own Isa. Details will follow, but mark your calendar as follows:

     Where:
     Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

     When:
     Friday, September 6

May 4, 2019

Happy Star Wars Day! Unfortunately, we don't have any Star Wars paintings. But we seem to have turned a corner on spring and we have plenty of lovely flora (and fauna) paintings to share. We begin with Elaine O.'s petunias. She's been exploring different ways of painting them—before she can safely plant the real things—and she's happy with this painting. The colors are actually closer to life in the painting than in this image and the composition includes all the stages of the flower.

Here's a peek into Elaine O.'s sketchbook as she experimented with line and spatter to describe the flower. In this case, the line is fountain pen ink (3 different colors); it's water-soluble and was done after the paint spatter. This also means that any further brushwork will make the ink run.

Isa's also painting flowers, having been inspired by an orchid show. What follows is a spray of orchids against a textured background. We are in awe of Isa's color sensibility. Zoom in and see how beautifully she models the orchids with blue and purple. And enjoy how she's used only two colors to suggest a richly patina-ed backdrop.

Isa's also in love with Cadmium Yellow, as you can see below. Typically, it's an opaque color, but not in Isa's hands as she blends yellow with purple for a glowing, transparent brick background. Come back to see the flowers she adds against the brick.

More flowers from Isa! Here, she's masked out the flowers and started in on the background. Doesn't this feel like Manet's waterlilies?

Richard is continuing his plein air painting of the view from our studio window. He's adding green to the tree on the right side of the painting, while he waits for a slowly budding tree on the left (not yet shown) to burst into bloom and inspire him.

You know we love our sketchbooks—and Richard is no exception. He's begun a daily self-portrait. Like his plein air painting above, he began with black paint and did several days of value studies, before adding color. Here is Richard about a week in, with each day better than the last.

You'll have to look closely at this one to see the bones of Ken's latest painting. He's painting Julia Cameron portraits in mosaic style and, in the process, combining our portrait theme with our interest in flowers. Look at the different shape tiles on the background, face, hair and gown. And doesn't she look like an earth mother with her lovely hair?

Steve laid in his first layer of paint as he revisits an old painting. The previous version was flatter and more abstracted. This version demonstrates Steve's prowess with describing muscle and anatomical shape. Now we have to see what he'll do with the swim trunks—flat green like a landscape? blue like a flowing river? a Hawaiian print? Or maybe different colored trunks for each of the sunbathers? Come back and see what the final decision is.

After a lazy day sunbathing on the beach, our thoughts turn to seafood. And Susan doesn't disappoint as she paints another delicious dinner. We see a milkfish head with lemon and bitter melon, alongside baked clams and calamari rings. All of these are on a plate against a lively woven background. The background isn't finished, but come back and see Susan finish it next week.

 

See you next week... and May the Fourth be with you!

Upcoming events  

Improv Show. In the mood for some improv fun? Ken and Elaine O. are in an improv group that will be having a show at the Harold Washington Library downtown. It's free and fun, so mark your calendar if you can come.

     Where:
     Harold Washington Library Center
     Video Theater, Lower Level
     Chicago, IL

     When:
     Tuesday, May 21
     1:30 pm.

Art Exhibit. May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and our own Susan Silvano is having an exhibit at one of the Chicago Public Library Branches. The exhibit runs throughout May, so drop by if you can.

     Where:
     Martin Luther King Jr. Library
     3436  S. King Drive
     Chicago, IL 60616

     When:
    May 1-31, 2019

 Art Exhibit. Save the date for Art in Motion, an exhibition featuring our own Isa. Details will follow, but mark your calendar as follows:

     Where:
     Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

     When:
     Friday, September 6