Community College Juried Exhibition ~ 2014

The Department of Fine Arts at the Community College of Southern Nevada will present the annual Student Art Exhibit on Cheyenne Campus starting December 12th.  This year I took several oil painting classes and was able to combine stitch and painted canvases.  My goals were to learn more about layering color and creating texture.  Developing oil painting techniques added to my skill set as well as challenged new ways to see and apply color.

Here are the four pieces I have entered into this year's exhibition.  I love having a venue to share my work.  College art classes are a great place to gain functional application techniques using different media.  The fun always comes in the experimentation.

The Darkest Hour ~ 31 by 26

This pieced is called "The Darkest Hour", the hour before the dawn when everything is the darkest in that one moment of time.  It is oil paint on canvas.  The first drip of paint was a mistake, but because I liked the look it created more drips were added. The picture under glass is difficult to photograph; you can see all kinds of reflections in the photo ... even without the glass I had a hard time getting a photo that captured the paint textures.  Anyway, it is a very dense piece and a bit different from the type of work I usually do; this one is more dark and moody than most the others that are warm and colorful. 

Las Cruces ~ 16 by 13

Las Cruces ~ Step One

Las Cruces ~ Completed

Las Cruces ~ Detail

"Las Cruces" was constructed using oil paint and small rectangles of fused fabric onto a canvas grid.  Once all the color was down using paint or fabric in rectangle units, the grid was stitched.  Then a second layer of oil was painted this time more loosely without the confines of the grid structure.  I wanted to see how the paint would take to the different fabrics used.  A mesh fabric was placed over the entire canvas and more stitch was added.  The paint flaked when sewn, so adding the mesh on top mitigated the problem. More paint stayed on the canvas and less flecks of paint found their way into the lower carriage of the sewing machine.
I enjoyed experimenting with the processes used to create this piece.  The total design while interesting, is not the best composition. Yet the details speak more loudly and seem to work better on their own than the entire piece works as a whole.  This is all good because I learned so much from the process and can always improve the design in future pieces.  Interesting enough I am not always happy with each and every piece of work I complete.  I believe failed attempts are one of the best ways to learn and grow.  The textures created are amazing and the design can be improved! 

Water Lillies Revisited ~ 24 by 18

Water Lillies Revisited

Water Lilllies ~ Detail #2

Water Lillies ~ Detail #1

"Water Lillies Revisited" was named for a painting done by Claude Monet the founder of the French Impressionist painting.  The piece was created on canvas board using oil paint.  The paint was painted onto the canvas then a squeegee was pulled across the wet paint.  After the first layer was dry more paint was added this time using paint sticks.  All in all a completely fun method of playing with layers of color.

Thirst ~ 36 by 24

Thirst

Thirst Detail

 "Thirst" was created using an old paper back atlas.  Using the atlas for collage paper presented a color challenge because the color pallet was limited to four basic colors all in the same value range. 
Once the paper was down then photo transfers and acrylic paint were applied. Thirst is a social commentary on dwindling water resources which eventually will have economical and political impacts on a global scale.

Well I hope you enjoyed viewing this year's summary of course work.   Now back to incorporating what I have learned into more fiber pieces.  Yea!