Abstract Acrylics

Lately I've felt in a rut with my art and a little stuck only painting animals and then I realized that I can branch out however I would like to. So I have entered an abstract art phase, where I am free to just follow colors and shapes and experiment.

With these four paintings, I wanted to use a limited color palette: Phthalo Turquoise, Nickel Azo Yellow, Transparent Red Iron Oxide, plus Titanium White.

And I wanted to paint a series of four, working with big brushes and a palette knife.

All similar yet each distinct. I painted over old canvases, which already had texture on them making the paintings even more interesting to me.

Right now I'm working on a new abstract painting that has a lot of texture I created with molding paste and stencils. I'll post it as soon as I finish it.

It's been a while since I posted to Paint Party Friday and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's awesome art. Head on over to check it out!

❧ Silke

Video & Lots of Art

Well, it's been awhile but I'm back with another video and a lot of art! In the video I'll show you a couple of my paintings and also tell you about a class I'm taking and a book I'm reading. So it's not strictly show & tell. If you just want to see my art, I'm showing it all below.

Since my last post, I've finished six little paintings. A chicken,

 a camel (just look at those eye lashes!),

 an otter (I was stunned by the number of whiskers),

 a hedgehog (the cutest!),

a rooster (Happy Chinese New Year),

and a young leopard.

The stag on the other hand is a large painting (24 x 30 inches), which took a while to finish. There's so much to see in all the layers that went into this painting. It looks like worlds within worlds...

In the video I'm talking about a class I'm taking with Jeanne Oliver, called Wild Awakening: Painting Big with Expressive Freedom. It's wonderful!! In one video she suggested we go out in nature to find alternative brushes like branches, leaves and in my case pine needles and cones.

I used them all for mark making and had the best time!

Just look at some of this gorgeous texture!

The result was a stunning and large (12 x 36 inches) emperor penguin!  Just look at that intense expression! They are magnificent creatures!!

I hope you have all been doing well. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've been up to these last few weeks!

I'm linking to Paint Party Friday where inspiration always abounds!

❧ Silke
P.S. The book Jeanne Oliver recommended, that I'm talking about in the video is called "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. 

Bears, Owls and more

Another week has passed and it's time for Paint Party Friday and to show you what I've been creating since last time.

This is a large (for me) canvas that had been sitting for weeks with the outline of the bears, but no progress. I just wasn't inspired, so I waited until it was time.

Annie Hamman's class (see my last post) unlocked something in me and suddenly I wanted to play with this painting again. Play is the operative word.

I played with color, fluid paint, stencils, fingerprints, big brushes, little brushes, stamps and anything else that struck my fancy.

I just kept going, layer after layer until it felt complete. It was so much fun to create!

After the last layer of the bear painting, I had some paint leftover on my palette and just started another canvas.

Again making sure I stay playful with my art using stencils (how did I not have any for all these years?!?),

 a few collage pieces from old books for texture,

 and more stencils and drips.

 I have no idea where this is heading and that's ok. I'll find out soon enough.

And now a few small paintings, I completed. Not as many as I had planned, but we were away last weekend and the bigger paintings took up some of my time.

The little fox above I finished yesterday. The colors are a bit unusual for me, but it came together nicely.

The two beluga whales above remain somewhat etherial and I like it. I've seen them once in an aquarium and what magnificent and graceful creatures they are. I loved how they actually interacted with the people standing in front of them, especially the children.

Ah, and an owl. I love owls! We hear them here almost every morning, but it's rare that we glimpse one. If you are interested in any of my art, the links to my various shops are in the sidebar.

I am linking to Paint Party Friday, a fantastic gallery of beautiful and diverse artwork, lovingly hosted by Kristin and Eva. It's always a pleasure to visit.

Until next week, I wish you creative and peaceful days, joy in your life and fun surprises sprinkled throughout!

❧ Silke

Too many numbers!

My week has been dominated by numbers and words: Taxes!!! Our tax return is done and as an antidote, I have prescribed myself a lot of painting with bright colors!

So, without any more words and definitely without numbers, here is some color for us all to enjoy!!

Slow Down!
acrylics on 9 x 12 inch canvas

Available here.

In the Garden
acrylics on 12 x 12 inch canvas

Available here. 

Happy Easter!!

Linking to the fabulous and always colorful Paint Party Friday!

❧ Silke

Gorilla (New Art)

My last painting that's finished (I have two in progress) turned into this beautiful and intense gorilla. Some of you may have already seen him on Facebook, but I thought I'd show you some progress photos here.

He started out with a layer of light molding paste on canvas. You can see the texture in the photo below. When you spray that with water and then drip high-flow acrylics on it, it brings out really beautiful patterns. Hard to control, but then control is highly overrated...

I added some yellow, which mixed with the teal to make a beautiful green. I also added some phthalo turquoise for a little contrast.

When I turned the canvas to see what I might discover, I immediately "saw" a proud gorilla. Can you see it?

Once I know what I'm painting, the first thing I finish are the eyes. They help me connect to the rest of the painting and to the animal itself. Everything else flows from there. I had never noticed just how soulful and human gorilla eyes are!

Then came the rest of the face and the ear. The nose took the longest. Have you ever looked up close at a gorilla nose? It has so much dimension to it and folds and creases. Quite amazing, really! My challenge was to get it to look "right" without going into really realistic painting, which is not a direction I want to go in.

And there he is. A proud and strong gorilla!

Lean on Me!
acrylics on 9 x 12 inch canvas

***SOLD***

I'm linking this to the super fun and inspiring Paint Party Friday.

We have had some cold and rainy days and even today it's still cloudy and won't warm up for another few days yet. But by next week we are expecting more spring-like weather, which is much more normal for us.

I hope you are all faring well this intense winter, especially you all in the northeast! Stay warm and cozy!!

With lots of love and appreciation for you all,

❧ Silke

New Website!

Dear friends, I have been somewhat absent from my blog because I've been busy painting AND building my very own website! I can't believe it! After thinking about doing this for months, I finally decided to do it! 

I took this picture from my Facebook page. If you want to have a look at my website, click here. And when you are on my website, feel free to sign up for my newsletter. I'll send the first one out sometime soon (as soon as I figure out the ins and outs of newsletters...). 

The ideas are just swirling around in my head and I've been so busy trying to figure out all the tech stuff and at the same time my brushes and paints keep calling to me. I'm amassing quite an nice body of paintings! Each one of them different and each a little part of me.

Birdscape
acrylics on 9 x 12 inch canvas

The painting below is one Daniel and I both painted. I painted a couple of layers, then he did, then me again. It was fun and I want to do more of that when Daniel is on break again!

The Messengers
acrylics on 18 x 24 inch canvas

And here my beautiful colorful sea turtle. She makes me happy. Lots of light molding paste adds great texture!

Into the Light
acrylics on 11 x 14 inch canvas

I have two more paintings to show you but I'll do that in the next post. Life is good right now. Quiet and creative and I'm taking advantage of that.

I hope you are all doing well! And that you are staying warm...

I'm linking this to Paint Party Friday, where I haven't participated in a long time! And where you can always find amazing artists and inspiring art!!

With lots of love and gratitude,

❧ Silke