Eyesight

Insight, 2009, 9"x12"

When I was 2 years old I got glasses. I was diagnosed with farsightedness and I had (still have) a lazy eye. In my first year of highschool I got contacts. I got kind of slack in caring for my contacts and got tired of wearing them. By college I wasn't wearing anything. My vision was always fine without glasses. I only ever noticed my "lazy" eye getting lazy or tired when I had been doing art for long stretches of time

My daughter now has the same issue as I had and got glasses when she was not quite 3 years old. It's been a bit of a struggle getting her to keep them on because she can see without them and they get in her way! (My mom recalls having the same difficulty when I was young!!) I have just gotten glasses (again) too . I've realized how important it is to have them. In the last 9 months or so I have had more opportunity to work on my art and this, I think, has made me feel more of a strain on my eye. And, with age, my vision is begining to deteriorate some. I've been having trouble focusing my eyes and I'm sure that this has affected how my images look. There is a lot going on in my watercolors. I often use bold lines and mandala-like formats to contain everything. In my latest painting, the shape of an eye seemed to emerge quite naturally. I immediately felt the connection between my strained eye and the image.

And the struggle goes on: I don't feel completely happy with the prescription for my glasses!

Collaborations

Here are a couple altered images by my brother . He is quite a good digital artist and also enjoys experimenting with color. From my last post, he took the third painting from the top to create both of these. I'm hoping he can turn some of my paintings into screen savers!

A Recent History

Underground, 2008, 7" x 10"

Reformations, 2009, 9" x 12"

Untitled, 2008, 6 .5" x 9 .5".

Bubbles and Reeds, 2009, 9" x 12".

Above are some examples of watercolors I've done within the last three months. Please note that their relative sizes to one another are not accurate, mainly because I wanted to make close-up views of some of the smaller pieces.

Although I do paint landscape studies (which I'll show another time) these examples are all abstract . I should say, however, that all my paintings are inspired by natural forms: tree branches, the veins in leaves, water effects, etc.... These forms emerge spontaneously as I paint. I don't plan or draw out my paintings beforehand; they grow and change. When the process of painting is going well for me, I respond to the living energy on the paper. I love it when I feel as if I am interacting with my paintings. It is as much for the process, as for the subject matter, that I think of my work as "organically abstract".

Light Effects, 2009, 9"x12"

This is my first posting of what I hope will be many more. Any early feedback from my close family members will be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping that blogging about my art on a regular basis will help me to think about it more and talk about it more. I'd like my artistic ideas to be living in my head so I can keep the flow going!
The painting I have displayed in my profile is one of my most recent works. As with many of my watercolors I'm taking advantage of the transparent nature of the material. I build mutliple layers, but allow the layers to interact.