Checking In

 Wishing you all Happy Holiday Season and a Happy and Healthy New Year! Stay well!

Have really been absent on this blog but have been putting time in my studio creating and doing other creative activities, online lessons, Cold Wax Academy which is a year extensive program and will continue year two. This program, although the emphasis is on ColdWax techniques, has a lot for every artist. I often listen and watch videos from past session concerning every aspect of art. Both Jerry and Rebecca are very thorough in their presentations. Once a month, they share their lessons with the wider community. So if you belong Cold Wax Community on FB you can join in. 

I am presently doing a series(5) for critique, if it is chosen, based broadly on memories of my trip to Morocco. Still struggling!

WIP Morocco Memories

14"x16"

Oils and Cold Wax on Paper

Clown

10.5"x14"

Charcoal on Paper

Bye Bye Workshop

 I really don't know how long I have been going to this workshop, I think for at least 10-12 years. A long time! Now it seems that it just fell apart. My first instructor was Heleni. She had to leave for personal reasons and then came Reuven T. First year went fine, although there were a few drop outs. Second season not so well, third with the pandemic was a disaster. Last part of the year when we did resume, Ariel saved us because Reuven T didn't find it feasible for so few students. Ariel couldn't continue this year, so our "director" found us a new instructor, Eitan Fried  Long story short, did not work out for me, told me outright that he wouldn't be able to help me with critique or direction. Others also felt the same. Group sort of dispersed till we can re-organize hopefully.

Had a few hard days digesting it all but I am sure we will find someone, or I may look for a private mentor.

I commissioned myself to do 2 paintings for my kitchen. I want to some combine still life and abstract. I listened to a zoom presentation by Edmond Praybe on Still Life: More than Nature Morte, at Winslow Art Center, which was the inspiration.

Kitchen WIP

28" x 14"

Oils and CWM

on organic paper

Kitchen WIP

28" x 14"

Oils and CWM

on organic paper

WIP

14" x 14"

Oils and CWM

on organic paper

News From My Studio Happy New Year

 Happy New Year! Wishing you all a healthy and creative new year! I actually love that the fall is the beginning, harvests are over, time for inner reflections for our new personal harvests.

With the holidays over, slight temperature changes, weekly workshops have been renewed. All these have seemed to put new wind in my creative life.

The holidays were really dragging on for the entire month of September. Wonderful family gatherings, good food (too much) but juggling shopping, preparations, and Shabbats in between took so much time from the studio. 

Although Covid is still with us and will be for sometime, somehow we have learned how to live with it and take precautions, masking and social distancing. Most I meet have the green pass, third shot behind them. Do shopping early when there are fewer people. Even went to a play with daughter and family.

Our weekly workshops have begun, a new instructor, Eitan Fried, who in grounded in academia. I hope I will find my place. It was so good to get our of the house and meet my artist friends.

Been working during the summer, took a course with Melinda Cootsona. An excellent teacher and great material. Taking another this November Answers in Abstraction.

Clown

Oils and Cold-Wax on paper

14" x 20"

Mounted on cardboard

Seated Figure

Oils and Cold-Wax

14" x 20"

Mounted on cardboard

Receiving Giving

 "Creating for the sake of creating, and then sharing it for the sake of sharing" Jessica Swift

Jessica was talking about the quote by David Viscott " The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away". I don't really remember how I connected to Jessica, but have been receiving her uplifting quotes for a 100 days, today #101! Every day a gift!

Today I received a bit of creativity from Jen Jovan, a beautiful small painting and card that I won on one of her blogs. A complete surprise and made my day! 

I realized that it has been quite a while since I have shared anything that I have been creating these past few months. Last post was at the end of April. Where have those months gone by? I can list all the things to make excuses but everyone has their own bundles so really no excuse.

I just finished a wonderful ecourse given by Melinda Cootsona combining figurative work with oils and cold wax. Melinda was a guest at Cold Wax Academy this past February. Despite renovations, the entire month, I got some work done. Some I have shared on my Instagram account.

Texture Pattern

Shapes

Line

Value

Color

These were fast studies using the same reference, each for one of the basic elements of design. They are all on paper 8.5"x12.25" and the square is 12"x12"

WIP

14"x14"

Oils and Cold Wax on paper

Hop-Skotch 

14"x14"

Oils and Cold Wax on Paper

WIP

18.5"x26.5"

Canvas mounted on cardboard 

Oils and Cold Wax

 

 

Teasing out a Figure

 

Fall in love with the art of living.

Fall in love with letting things be.

Fall in love with listening.

Be still in the sun,

where the winds ever-gently blow,

knowing it is here,

in moments like this,

you are living,

and you will grow.

Morgan Harper Nichols, from All Along You Were Blooming

First, I have changed my subscription manager to Feedio. See side panel. I hope FeedBurner will continue to send out to my subscribers until Feedio imports them. Who needs all this tech stuff!

I am continuing my series using a collaged substrate I love this process and in in this next one even teased out a figure. Hope to do at least 12-15 pieces! 

Orignal Collaged Substrate

Sunbathing on a Bright Afternoon WIP

14"x20"

Organic paper 350 gm

Oils and Cold Wax

Status Quo

Tatu has gained 2 more layers after a critique and suggestions. Not each layer covers the whole substrate, just another color application or reduction.  Subdued the word, TATU took out some marks and in the end subdued the conflict between the words and black marks on the right-hand side. Killed a section from the under collage that I really liked so that the rest would work together. Giving it a new name and putting it aside. For now finished, but maybe later may still edit. Open options.

Status Quo
14" x 20"
Collage
Oils and Cold Wax

 

TATU

 One of the guest speakers that inspired me a few weeks ago on our live sessions at Cold Wax Academy, Sara Post. She showed a technique that really caught my attention. She works with collage in a novel concept. Not adding collage to a painting in progress but starting with a substrate where collage pieces were glued and using paint in a reductive way. Cool. After doing one, I started 3 more and decided that this will become a series. 

Collage

Cold Wax layers, oil sticks, 

Mark Making

My new Favani organic paper various colors 350gm

Squeegee, brayer, palette-knife +

Limited Palette

TATU

Mainly art papers I made with acrylic with my Gelli Pad. Some on transparent papers and some using newspaper as a substrate. Made a coat of gloss media between the collage pieces before mark-making and added oils with cold wax. This allows me to go back to the first collage layer. 

The word TATU was part of another word that came from a huge newspaper I got from an exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum about Jerusalem Called Status Quo. It has no real meaning on its own, just a mark or shape. Don't know if this is really finished will put aside awhile.

Basic Collage
14" x 20"
Collage
Oils and Cold Wax

Stage 4
14" x 20"
Collage
Oils and Cold Wax

Stage 6
14" x 20"
Collage
Oils and Cold Wax

TATU (WIP)

14" x 20"
Collage
Oils and Cold Wax

So good to get back into blogging. So good to be back with our weekly workshop, with our mentor Ariel Asseo

Surreal

 Sunny Morning

Walk to AM-PM

Sitting in the sun

Shabbat lunch

Stroke

Together 62 years

Surreal

In Memory

Sampler I

 The most important blog post

It is on the most important blog.Yours.

Even if no one but you reads it. The blog you write each day is the blog you need the most. It’s a compass and a mirror, a chance to put a stake in the ground and refine your thoughts.

And the most important post? The one you’ll write tomorrow.   Seth Godin

When I think of the past year, I feel I have to divide it up. Some areas were very fruitful and others with dread, fear, apprehension, loneliness, lethargy, laziness, etc. I could probably come up with more adjectives but not going to waste too much energy. 

One big decision I made this past December was to go back to my oils and cold wax so I will put my acrylics aside for a while.. I really feel that I don't have the basics in this medium and haven't taken advantage of the special qualities that this medium offers. So I jumped into the Cold Wax Academy. A huge learning curve!

Sampler I

20 x 20"

Oils and Cold Wax

Crush Favini Organic Paper 350 gm

(those little black marks are from layer 3)

Beginning Layers with Texture

Topography Layer

Cool Layer

Warm Transparent Layer

Probably 2-3 more layers

Didn't like the Orange Blob

Simplify

Rotated