PAINTED TEXTILE, TRIP TO NASHER MUSEUM OF ART

"A-Frame"   10" X 10"  Lori LaBerge  2017

I opened the paint tubes again this week. To keep with my architectural work I started by painting a triangle and built from there, which led to the feeling of an A-Frame home. The architecture of the hooked background shows through creating structure. There is quite a bit of mystery as one looks inside the blue areas with what appears to be a figure near the center. I enjoy doing these in the moment and finding the mystery later.

We made a trip over to Durham to tour the Nasher Museum of Art. The museum is on the Duke University Campus and always shows work beautifully. Various rooms had paper available for those who would like to create sketches from the works on display. There were classes in progress throughout the museum. Just great to see so many people participating in what the museum offers.

Pete knew exactly what room I was headed for when we arrived. Enjoy the following works from the exhibit "Disorderly Conduct: American Painting and Sculpture 1960-1990".

 "Myrtle Beach"  Dan Christensen


 "Winter Light"  Maud Gatewood

 "Hurricane"  Silvia Heyden

 Close-up of "Hurricane"   Silvia Heyden

 "East End"  Valerie Jaudon

 "After the Dance"  Robert Kushner

"Times Light"  Kenneth Noland

 "Modesty Under Construction"  Thomas Leo Blackwell

 "Green Volkswagen"  Don Eddy

"Bashir (Robert Gowans)"  Barkley Hendricks

BACKGROUND DECISIONS , FREDERICK HAMMERSLEY EXHIBIT

As yet untitled work in progress,  48" X 48"  Lori LaBerge  2017

I have been working on the latest piece in between travels to art museums. Ideas for the background were worked out with the decision to repeat the center square designs, leading to a shadow effect. These areas will be filled with dark grays so they do not stand out.

Closer look at background plan

In a continuation of last week's information on a visit to The Huntington Art Gallery, I reveled in the exhibit of Frederick Hammersley's work. Unfortunately, photos of the work were not allowed.

Hammersley is known for his hard-edge geometric paintings. He was a meticulous recorder of his work which led to the exhibit including sketches and notes he had made. He had painted portraits and began to look at blocks of color, leading to a whole new way of painting his future works.

Notes of his color formulas have been studied by the Getty Conservation Institute where many of Hammersley's information is stored. From studies with colored pencils, to large oil on canvas works, the exhibit was a peek into the artistic process.

"Frederick Hammersley: To Paint without Thinking" by The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA

The book is beautifully laid out including photos of work, notes and sketches

"Frederick Hammersley: Organics and Cut-ups 1963-1965" by L A Louver, Venice, CA

Note:  I purchased this at the Huntington Shop, but have not been able to find it available online.

Hammersley reordered previous works on canvas by cutting them up into squares and placing the squares to form a new composition. He titled his first work of this kind "Cut-Up" and the phrase stuck so that future works of this type were called by this term.

The Frederick Hammersley Foundation has a website dedicated to his work. There are also videos and research information. A good look into how an artist works. A discussion (about an hour long) of the cut-ups exhibit on video is available to watch on L.A. Louver website

LARGE TEXTILE WORK STARTED

Design work in progress,  48" X 48"  Lori LaBerge  2017

The urge to work on a larger piece hit me this week.

It started with four sketches done on our Maine vacation. They were photocopied at a smaller size and moved around on a larger piece of sketch paper until they worked as a grouping. The background was drawn in to create an off-center intersection using a continuation of lines in the four sketches. The piece is a combination of the road designs I've worked on and the new architectural works currently being hooked. 

Untitled design idea,  Lori LaBerge  2017

A photo was taken of the sketch and it was placed into Photoshop to work with colors and further design ideas. The plan is to add rebar to the left side of the hooked work along with a piece of wood to attach it to for hanging. This may end up being too much weight. If so, metal fencing or another material will be used.

Dye supplies were rounded up

Some of the colors ready to go.

Hooking was started in a 6-cut. Work will continue next week.

STUDIO TIME: PAINT AND TEXTILES

"Modern Dwelling"  14" X 11" acrylic on canvas,   Lori LaBerge  2017 

Painting and rug hooking took over the studio this week. Work from both memory and photographs is leading to more geometric drawings making their way into the sketchbook, onto canvas and onto linen.

Section of studio set-up for work.

Painting started out with a sketch on canvas. Emphasis on the curved shape seen on many of the homes along Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles was created through the use of bright white standing out among the other colors.

Texture was added to the canvas before paint was applied. There was a decision on whether or not to use texture in the painted works. I had pondered going with a smoother technique, but through studying the photographs what appeared from a distance to be smooth exteriors on homes was actually quite textural. 

"Residential Curve" in progress  14" X 11" wool on linen,  Lori LaBerge  2017

Another work focusing on the curve of modern homes is partially completed using wool. The yellow area is looking a bit small right now and may need to be enlarged height wise. The combination of painted and rug hooked work is in the experimental stages right now.

NEW ARCHITECTURAL GEOMETRIC ABSTRACT STARTED

Work in progress,  14" X 11"  Lori LaBerge  2017

A title for this work has not been decided on yet. It is based on city buildings. The white half circle developed from the shape on top of one of the doors on a building, though I placed it sideways. The black circle was divided into 2/3 on the right and 1/3 on the left.

The textured gray section has bits of red running through it to play off of the red sections of the work. There is a bright turquoise and a duller turquoise running through it, also. This gives the gray a bluer look overall. It works well with the red and I'll see how it works once the pink is added.

The idea was drawn out in a sketchbook. There are plenty of erasures before I get to something workable. The photo shows where I had originally placed a triangle in the back. If I think a composition is headed in the right direction, even if future changes may be needed, a check mark is placed next to it.

 Color planning on work,  Lori LaBerge  2017

Photoshop was used to work with color planning. A left section of the black was added to the original sketch along with an angle on the bottom gray.  I wanted to repeat the angle from the red for more cohesion. This will be added to the hooking as I work.

The piece reminds me a bit of mid-century modern design with the bold shapes and wild colors. Mid-century modern was set from approximately the 1940's to the 1960's. It focused on graphic design and included furniture and architectural designs. It was a time when pop art and other ideas were developing. 

Enjoy some wild mid-century artwork and color by clicking here. It may bring back some memories if you were born in the 50's or 60's.

RUG HOOKED TEXTILE WORKS IN PROGRESS, CHANGES IN DESIGN PLANS

"U-Turn" in progress, 19" X 29",  Lori LaBerge  2015

Hooking was completed on "U-Turn" this week.  I still need to find metal parts and will have to wait until I return home to complete the piece.  I wanted to make this piece a bit unsettling.  This was accomplished by centering the rust rectangles while placing the u-turn itself off center.  It is related to the unsettled feeling we may have when we reach a point in our life that we need to turn around and start over or try a different route.  

The finishing of the edges has not been decided yet.  I am debating between whipping them or folding the linen toward the back.

While hooking "U-Turn", I found I did not have the right color wool for the top of the work.  I wanted a darker beige.  The wool I brought with me was too light and had a grayish tint that blended too closely with the gray shades below it.  Luckily, while going through old clothes to donate to Good Will I found a plaid blazer.   After cutting the blazer up, the wool was washed, dried and hooked. Perfect shade!

Plan for "Dockside",  Lori LaBerge  2015

One thing I love about creating art is how it can change during the process.  The design above was created a few weeks back.  As I started the hooking process, I decided against the rectangular section.  I had done it before and it was not fitting the feel I wanted for the piece.  I knew this would be a piece with water and I wanted more of a free feeling rather than containment for the water section.

"Dockside" in progress  20 X 20,  Lori LaBerge  2015

I did away with the rectangle and decided to fill one of the shaped areas with multiple shades of blue and green.  I like seeing how things change and grow as artists progress in their work.  Sometimes the reasons are simple (mine was avoiding repetition of a rectangular shape I had used before and creating a flow for a water feel) and other times they are more complex, but change always leads us somewhere new with our work.

Look at your favorite artists work through time, see how it changed during their careers and have a great day.