DominoWorks News

Painting Trees Again Darkly

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:39:28 CDT

Moody Tree Painting

It has been more than a year since I had painted one of my twisted trees. I seem to have to be in a certain mood to do it. I have just directed a very black comedy, The Cagebirds with analytical and talented students. Rehearsals were an emotional workout, but, of course, I knew all the time that it was art, the supreme art of pretending with 8th graders.

Even for a director immersed in imagination, real life invades the fantasy. Eight days ago my mother fell and broke her shoulder. Watching a loved one in pain causes lack of sleep and, for me, a canvas with twisted lines and textures. This tree was how I show my mother's searing red pain reaching for the sky.

Dominos in the Knothole Crimson

Dominos in the Knothole Crimson (Sky Detail)

As I look back on it, my Twisted Trees Series is really emotional. I started with a stiff sort of tree with the original Dominos in the Knothole. The emotion is in the swirls of white and deep aqua, but mostly it's the silver. It was in this painting that I discovered silver paint and its effects if you swirl it. My mother says that she sees faces in the tree.

Dominos in the Knothole

I tried again with a gnarly grabber, deepening the colors, and adding even more swirls.

Dominos in the Knothole II

Sinister with Weird Figures

Next I went through adding weird figures to the twisted tree images. Who is that woman in the long black dress flying the kite with her back turned? A kindly old lady? A witch? And why is the little girl drawn to her, despite her mother asking her to come back? The dog doesn't even particularly notice her. Maybe she's not so sinister after all.

Pink kite

Lightening Up

In later works I figured out that I could find humor and even joy in the twisted trees.

Domino Knothole with Marshmallow Clouds

Silver Tree Domino Village

White Tree Swirly Clouds

Full Circle

So I'm back to the dark mood. Maybe as my mother recovers and summer arrives, I look forward to finding delight in the quirky twisted trees once more.

Whimsically yours,

Charlotte

PS Would love to hear your comments below about this blog, my work or anything else you want to share, or contact me if you wish.

An Artist's Companion

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:35:24 CDT

Although sometimes exhausted from supervising the creation of my latest painting,

Zachary is the definitely the most supportive of my painting of all my family members. Yes, my parents are proud of me. My daughters come by from time to time to make suggestions, maybe name a piece. But Zachary follows me into the art room, and does not leave until I do. Any time of day or night, Zachary plops on the bed next to the paint corner, and waits. He sends me those supportive vibes of his. I am at peace when he is there. And our mutual creativity bubbles.

Occasionally, his sister, Britney pops in to check on us,

but her patience with, as she says, "Watching paint dry," is limited. She prefers to protect the house from intruders, squirrels, and loud playing children with assertive warn barking. Her view is that if he has my back in the art room, she can take care of the rest of the house.

After a long hiatus from painting of several months,

Zachary and I completed Silver City Medley this week.

Actually it was Zachary's idea. He wanted a winter wonderland type painting with skyscrapers, featuring anachronistic characters and transportation framed with silver textured paint with touches of humor and pathos. I did the best I could to realize his vision, including a building of silver travel dominos and red cabauchon domino beads, bringing depth to the work. After appraising the piece,

Zachary shared his honest opinion.

It was a hit.

He also liked Diving Fish and Dominos, a piece with a lot of movement, reminding him of his favorite video game.

He's partial to all animal paintings, of course. That's why I was confident he would like the photo of the little French Victorian girl with her poodle, entitled Bygone Days.

He liked the poodle best, just as I assumed, but also the little girl, her hat, and the pink flowers. All this critiquing wore him out then so he took at nap.

However, Britney paid a rare visit to the art room to check out Fancy Schmancy

and declared it very feminine with the silver, jade, turquoise, and pink, and definitely good enough to eat. So I was relieved when the U.P.S. man came by to distract her, giving me time to hang the piece out of chewing range. The delivery man also awoke Zachie, so he felt refreshed and ready to critique some more.

If you have any questions about Dominoworks Art that Zachary and I could answer for you, please comment below.

Whimsically yours,

Charlotte

Painters Block

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:17:52 CDT

You know you are an artist when. . .

1. You can't stop thinking about the art you are working on.

2. You can't stop thinking about the art you want to create.

3. Petty things like life changes, job changes, poor health, or just day-to-day life do not stop you in your quest for creating art.

If you are an artist. . .

You are never too busy. You are never too over committed. You are never too stressed to

CREATE ART! Right?

Isn't it true Vincent painted the day after cutting off his ear?

Didn't Monet paint even after blindness set in?

No matter how many women Picasso had to juggle, didn't he keep painting?

Grandma Moses started in painting at the age of 76 after the death of one of her grown children.

These are tough people. These are my role models.

I feel like a real lightweight.

So why is it that I had 2 months off, it is more than 1/2 gone, and I JUST NOW started up again? I seem to paint in fits and starts. Is that normal in the 21st century -- I mean those with full time jobs--I mean in this economy--I mean with cell phones and facebook and 200 TV channels??? Am I obsessed with my job? (I spent the first 2 weeks of my vacation editing A Christmas Carol for my middle school actors.) Do I spend too much time worrying about

e v e r y t h i n g (my health, my children, my dogs, my parents, my sister, our financial future, the plight of teachers, the plight of the arts in society and education, our government, human rights, etc.) Am I too scattered? Do I need focus?

Well, at least I did start up again. . .

There's a positive point of view.

It's a slight departure for me -- bolder colors, a new direction. Maybe I needed the hiatus. Maybe my subconcious mind was working on this piece for a long time. I just didn't know it.

So if you get in a creative slump, just keep plugging, and the magic will come back. It happened to me!

Whimsically yours,

Charlotte

PS Coming very soon, Sunshiney Metro Domino. Here's a detail:

PPS If you haven't seen it, I recommend Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. The film features Hemingway, Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein, the F.Scott Fitzgeralds, T.S. Eliot, Picasso, Toulouse L.T., Dali, and the City of Paris in all its stunning glory.

Break Painting

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:44:27 CDT

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS OF SPRING BREAK LEFT

These breaks fly by as fast as weekends, maybe quicker. But time off does inspire me to paint. I'm not too tired from work, nor planning for the next week, so I can concentrate on my next work. More than likely, I've had an idea for weeks, just percolating, but not the time to execute the work. I call this break painting. Here's my latest from spring break -- Dancing Domino City -- I was in a playful mood (Is that Papa Smurf or just a regular Smurf. I never was much of a Smurf enthusiast.)

Dancing Domino City (6" x 6" Acrylic, mixed media, domino) Painted with whimsy.

PRESSURE VS TIME OFF

I wonder if I painted for survival, if my painting could be lighthearted. Here are a few paintings I created during Christmas breaks:

Orchid 26

Silver Tree Domino Village

Knothole and Marshmallow Clouds

WEEKENDS DON'T COUNT

Sometimes I feel creative and can work on weekends, and sometimes not. I may have a 6 or more hour rehearsal, or errands I don't have time to run, or family things, or friend dinners, or a LOT of dirty laundry that MUST be done. No, for me, breaks are more productive.

MY LARGEST PAINTING TO DATE --

A whopping 35" x 35" (okay it's not so big for some artists, but about 1/3 or more of what I produce is 6"x 6") was done over last summer break.

Metro Domino Black and White and Red All Over (Acrylic, Mixed Media, Dominos)

Let me know if you are creative over your breaks, what you think of my work, or anything else you want to discuss.

Capriciously yours,

Charlotte

Ashland, Oregon, An Ice Cream Painting Inspiration

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:56:02 CST

Ice Cream Painting

My first two ice cream paintings were inspired by a Saturday afternoon middle school closing show celebration of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Braums. The cones with swirls of peppermint ice cream

Unabashedly peppermint (Acrylic mediums and dominos on canvas, 10” x 10”)

and chocolate peppermint ice cream

Chocolate Peppermint Domino Ice Cream (Acrylic mediums and dominos on canvas, 10” x 10”)

tasted as good as they looked. I thought, while I painted them, that those were the two most beautiful artsy ice creams I had seen. Then I remembered a summer trip with my daughters four years ago to the charming mountain town of Ashland, Oregon.

A Word about Ashland

For many years I had wanted to go to the Shakespeare Festival there. We saw seven plays in seven days. I was in my element. The quality of the acting, innovation of the directing , larger than life sets and accessibility of the venues were not exaggerated in the festival's literature. Some of the productions were better than Broadway. This was a collaboration of acting, directing, and designing for its own sake, not for flash and big Disney bucks ־ very impressive, as was the food.

Not Just Hazelnuts and Pears

Although I am a sucker for hazelnuts and pears, I was impressed with how fresh and local most of the food was in the Ashland restaurants. It was like there was a contest between the restaurants, "Who can be the greenest?" The local goat cheese, area wines, baby veggies, fresh eggs, handcrafted pasta, and crusty bread made Ashland a foodie's paradise.

And Then There Was The Ice Cream

We stayed at the Ashland Springs Hotel, a tall white Victorian looking building, located within walking distance of all the theatres, three Shakespeare bookstores, and (did I mention I liked the food there?) wonderful restaurants. Across the street from the hotel is an ice cream parlor with enticing tables outside.

Unexpectedly Hot

Every blistering afternoon, after hiking, or white water rafting, or wine tasting , or shopping, tourists flock to Zoey's Cafe & All Natural Ice Cream. That week the special flavor was peppermint ice cream studded with flecks of real peppermint leaves. Refreshing and pretty!

Fresh Peppermint Domino Ice Cream
(Acrylic mediums and dominos on canvas, 10”x 10”)

I think since I have three ice cream paintings, I can officially call it a series. Tell me your ice cream story, your Ashland story, your painting story, or just say hello. I love comments. It tells me that someone's out there. Meanwhile I'll keep painting. . .