gesso |

Inks, gesso, collage (clear contact paper masking) on w/c paper, 10 X 11″

he’s jammin’
spiraling out behind
glasses where there’s
no need to hide

he’s groovin’ back into those animal places
wild and mindless
where the moves are in the DNA
in the sharp scent on the wind
and the air stripes the senses
with the impact of colors brightly spiced

they feel their way through spaces
through time zones
through time
in the zone

Here’s where imagination comes in big time. I mean you won’t see me doing the high jump and there’s no electric guitar in my future, but I think I know something about “the Zone”. So when those colors started vibrating, I could relate. . . This was another Muse Group demo of the “mask and drip” lesson, which you can read more about and try for yourself in the Oct. Newsletter.

And if you want to try out some “in the Zone” painting like this, you can join me in the next workshop “Painting With Hands” Nov. 17, 18.

Inks and gesso on w/c paper, 10 X 11″

On Saturday I did a painting demo for a full house at Rileystreet Art Supply in San Rafael. There’s always a lot of energy for spontaneous art making in a group of enthusiasts like that. I did three paintings, each with a different approach to playing with inks and gesso.

This is one of my drip creatures. I decided to loosely focus on “cat-ness” to see what would happen. We have a new cat who has adopted us. She follows me around, purring and rubbing up against things, even flopping down in front of me, but bolts whenever I stoop to pet her. Cat trauma. It will take a while. Meanwhile some of the energy which goes in the direction of birds is tied up in feline awareness.

I thought I’d actually done a demo which showed no signs of chicken-ness (my usual subject) when a very tuned in participant pointed to my paper palette and said “look”!

acrylic inks and gesso on palette paper

Everybody thought that was pretty funny. So I took my finger and gave the chicken some legs and feathers, spreading the paint around so it would dry. So help me out, all your chicken raisers, what breed have we here?