ABSTRACT ARCHITECTURAL PAINTING "URBAN ADOBE"

"Urban Adobe",  40" x 30"  acrylic on unstretched canvas, Lori LaBerge  2018

"Urban Adobe" developed from adobe style homes seen on a trip out west. I love the little alleyways between buildings. The earthy colors of places like Taos combined with the pale blues and pinks more reminiscent of California, result in an unexpected color combination. The canvas was left unstretched and hangs like a tapestry.

Sections were taped off to create clean edges. A regular house painting brush was used along with a credit card edge, palette knife and paper towels rubbed into paint.

Underpainting was used to create a base layer of color. This color can be seen through the topcoat. Rather than use one color overall for the underpainting, various colors were used in different areas. Here red sienna and brown are used.

Above shows the final effect after the peach paint was applied over the brown/red paint and tape was removed.

The close-up shows a section of the central building area. The gray and peach areas have the strongest variance in value of colors between undercoating and topcoat emphasizing their importance as part of the focal point. I may look at this crop as a possible painted textile piece to be developed in the future.

TEXTILE "BLUEPRINT" AND A BIT OF FUN

"Blueprint"  14" X 11"  Lori LaBerge  2018

While continuing research and reading on architecture I began to think about planning considerations. How does our lifestyle fit a house plan? What barriers or non-barriers do we want between rooms? What kind of relationship to the outdoors do we want? Does where we live ( we have mudslides in the mountains, my daughter deals with earthquakes in California) entail stronger structural considerations? The list goes on and is allowing me to develop new ideas.

"Blueprint" is based on a "what's inside" idea. The print itself is front and center surrounded by exterior building shapes.

original blueprints

I came across the blueprints of our house while searching through boxes. There are such wonderful memories of the excitement surrounding the building process.

The above were ideas we planned out on the computer while working with our architect and builder. These will be used for future blueprint textile designs. 

I searched out my son's old Lego collection. Why not have some fun? An afternoon was spent sorting some of the blocks by color and shape, then placing them together as I went along. More ideas for future art came about from a fun, relaxing, playful afternoon.

Play with your art. Think like a child. Go leaf, rock or sea shell hunting then place them in unusual arrangements. Use methods that are not your norm. Try collage, pencil rubbings, crayons, wooden blocks, finger paints, felt shapes, etc. Anything goes!

A DAY TO SEE CHIHULY EXHIBIT AT BILTMORE

We spent some time at Biltmore this week for my husband's birthday. While there we took in the Chihuly glass exhibit on the grounds. Dale Chihuly is an icon in the glass and art world. Enjoy the sites below and take in the exhibit showing through October 7 at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina if you get the chance. This exhibit will make anyone's day a bit brighter.

Close-up of Sole D'oro by Dale Chihuly consisting of over 1200 pieces of glass

 Float Boat by Dale Chihuly

 Neodymium Reeds by Dale Chihuly

Fiori Boat by Dale Chihuly

Paintbrush Tower by Dale Chihuly

Cattails and Copper Birch Reeds by Dale Chihuly

I also took in one of the gift shops and look forward to relaxing with some wine, reading and DVD watching tomorrow.

Chihuly's Pendletons, Chihuly's Hotshop, Chihuly on Paper and Chihuly's Cylinders

LINE RELATIONSHIPS IN ART COMPOSITION

"Gallery View 2"  11" X 14"  Lori LaBerge  2018

While I worked with realism in art studio classes in college, I always enjoyed the modern. There is something about breaking things down to basic shapes that fascinates me. I enjoy the relationships, the mystery of finding something new, the experience of figuring out what the artist is trying to get across to the viewer while showing so little. 

"Gallery View  2" has been broken down to shapes from a downtown city scene. It is overall calm with the pink adding a bit of excitement. The pink area also leads one to the focus of the "painting" on the wall. The windows of surrounding buildings are left out, avoiding distractions. There is a feeling of the viewer being on their own, the only one viewing the scene.

The relationships in this work are built through the use of line. There are distinct places throughout where one line passes through multiples points of the work. The red lines below show some of these spots.

The line over to the far left starts at the edge of the dark shape up through the edge of the yellow shape and on to the edge of another dark shape. The horizontal line has the top of the right section of yellow lined up with the top of the light gray shape on the right. Two lines meet at the top of the bright green on the upper right and so on. These relationships hold the piece together as one. 

A study of masterworks will show multiple relationships of line when studied. Another way to study line is through looking at the work of master photographers. Annie Liebovitz places her subjects so various lines meet. (Ex. the profile of one figure may be lined up with the arm of another, making a diagonal line for the viewer to follow). The use of line covers all styles of art.

While not clearly seen from a distance, approaching the work shows how bright yellow was introduced throughout the duller yellow and a green with a glow to it was used to pair with the yellow. This adds a bit of a payoff to the viewer when they look closer. 

Reductionism in Art and Brain Science by Eric R. Kandel

Above is the book on the nightstand this week. The author speaks of breaking work down to its basic elements. It is a study from Turner and his start of moving toward reducing elements, through Mondrian, Rothko and others. The book questions how we view art through the brain process. The more a work is broken down, the less it resembles reality and the more creative we become when attempting to interpret it. How do we comprehend this breakdown? If there is no familiar landscape how does the brain interpret the art? Do we try to make the unfamiliar fit into the familiarity of our own world? A fascinating read.

MIXED MEDIA WORK

"Between the Lines"  7" X 10" (11"x 14" as shown matted) LaBerge  2018

I worked a bit with paint, colored pencils, canvas, thread, upholstery and cotton this week. An architectural painting was done on a 4" x 4" piece of canvas using acrylic and colored pencil.

Upholstery fabric was pieced together and the painted canvas was stitched over with a turquoise thread. 

A striped piece of cotton was then stitched on top of one side of the upholstery fabric.

The edges of the canvas were left raw. This along with the pieced upholstery and stitched cotton reflect the process of constructing buildings. A large amount of work goes into the time between the start of construction and a finished building leading to the title "Between the Lines". The completed work is now ready for framing.

A WEEK OF HOOKED ART AND PAINTING

"Monolith"  11" x 14"  Lori LaBerge  2018

My natural inclination is toward strong colors. In this work I decided to have just the one bold area. The dark blue/gray with black half circle stands out among the pastel shades surrounding it. There is a relaxing softness to the work. The use of irregular lines rather than hard edge adds to the soft feel.

  

 "Monolith" in progress on frame

                                                                   

Color selection

Blues, pinks and greens seem to be my colors this week as they appeared in both painted and hooked works.

"Gallery View"  11 X 14 acrylic on canvas,  Lori LaBerge  2018

I've been spending time walking downtown noticing all the building angles and alleyways. Various shapes were sketched out for use in this and future works and studies. Numerous diagonal lines approach from both the left and the right leading to the focal point of a square filled with color against a bright white. It gives me the feeling of wanting to be in the work itself with the lime green and royal blue adding a bit of excitement.

ON THE ROAD WITH ARCHITECTURE

Entry walkway into Fallingwater

We have been looking up architectural sites to visit on our travels. Having passed by Fallingwater numerous times, we took time to stop and make it a day. This home is well worth the time and the guides are wonderful.

Photos are not allowed inside the house and only at distance points for exterior shots. The home design shows the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright. The attention to detail is simply amazing.

A fireplace with a round container for heating cider, glass which opens on the living area floor with steps leading down to the water (soak your feet or go fishing), windows which span around corners and a desk designed so the long window next to it can be opened. Wright clearly was able to envision exactly what he wanted. A balcony wall off one bedroom was purposely low so one could lie in bed and the view would not be obstructed. Photos of these and more can be found here.

Fallingwater Rising tells the story of Wright's architectural journey with the house. The owners were the Kaufmann's (Kaufmann's store is now known as Macy's).

The Fellowship tells the story of Wright's apprenticeship program where he trained others. If you like real-life drama you can read about the murders which took place at Wright's Taliesin home in "Death in a Prairie House". The book jumps around a bit with confusion in parts but is hard to put down. We'll be visiting Taliesin in Wisconsin this summer. Note there is a Taliesin East  (Wisconsin) and a Taliesin West (Arizona).

Down the road from Fallingwater is Polymath Park. Duncan house by Wright and two homes by his apprentice, Peter Berndston are there. These were homes designed to be affordable to the middle class. They are available for rental for overnight stays. Another Wright house is being moved there and they are in the stages of planning for a winery on site.

Entrance to restaurant and ticket check at Polymath Park

A stained glass work from the gift shop has a new place in our home.