September 1st, 2010
Shown here is the next in my palette knife series. It is so heavily textured and deeply scored that it has an almost sculptural quality.
The palette knife seems to free the image to become more abstract. The technique doesn’t lend itself to fine detailing, and so forces me to simplify and use color and texture differently.
The process involved in creating this and the other palette knife pieces that I have done, demands a very rapid and confident application, that calls upon all that one has learned over the years regarding composition and color.
Click on the image to see an enlarged view of the piece and it’s surface details.
Tags: Palette Knife, Water Soluble Oils, Waterfront Images
Posted in Abstract, Impasto, New Work, Palette Knife, Water Soluble Oil Paint, Waterfront Images | No Comments »
August 20th, 2010
This is a large piece that I completed with the iconic New England house facing the water.
It is also an experiment in a newer technique. The under painting was done with a series of very thin washes, and then thin, quick, sketchy strokes were layered over the base drawing. Some areas have very little pigment, and create the sort of wind blown effect that I wished to achieve.
If you click on the image to view the detail in the lower right-hand rocky area, and in the trees, you can see how the different layers interact with each other.
Tags: Main Landscapes, New England Landscape
Posted in Landscape, New Work, Oil Painting, Water Soluble Oil Paint | No Comments »
August 18th, 2010
I have embarked on a new adventure in abstraction. As an art student in the dim dark past, I used the palette knife for almost all of my work in oil. Now I find, once again, that I am energized by the process.
Using the palette knife creates a totally different effect than using a brush. Colors blend differently, and the impasto paint gives an almost sculptural surface to the work. There is a real sense of vitality in the finished pieces.
The piece on the left ”The Flower Market” is the first of the kind that I have been able to post to my web site, as the heavy application takes a long time to dry. I love the excitement that the piece generates and the color integrity that the palette knife allows.
If you click on the image to view it on a larger scale, you can see some of the texture and movement that infuses the piece. You can also see the diagonal grid pattern incised into the surface. The structure of the grid, and its use in the process of abstraction was featured in the June 2010 issue of The Artist Magazine article “Between Chaos & Serenity” about the work of Cathy Woo. The discussion of her method for organizing space using an underlying grid, was a revelation. Obviously her work is very different in feel, but I am psyched about how her ideas have released a new explosion of energy into my own work.
There are several more pieces waiting to be photographed and posted to my web site. I will keep you posted!
Tags: Artist's Magazine, Palette Knife
Posted in Abstract, Impasto, New Work | No Comments »
August 8th, 2010
So this piece is finally complete. It helped that I was able to visit the site again in good weather, and reexamine the color and contrast elements that give identification to the New Hampshire lake areas.
The cottage roof needed to be re-colored and the waterline more defined before I felt that I could sign off on it and add it to New Works on my Web Site. But I am really happy with the feel of the all encompassing trees that characterize this area.
The image is from one of my photographs that I have always loved for the story that must lurk behind the abandoned chairs on the beach. Where is the family? Are they all inside getting lunch ready? Out on the boat? Down for a nap? At a neighbor’s for a drink? Who knows!
Tags: Green Mountain State, Lake Sunapee, New England Landscape, NH
Posted in Landscape, New Work, Oil Painting, Water Soluble Oil Paint | 2 Comments »
July 16th, 2010
Here is another example of hanging artwork in a room that has multiple patterns. This room has one of my Italian landscapes hung over the bed.
This installation works with all the various patterns because they all have shades of green that are present in the work, and the wallpaper has a very pale Venetian ocher color that is also the base color of the painting. In addition, the location is large enough to give adequate distance for viewing the piece. All in all, a very successful placement.
The painting is “View from the Piazza Michaelangelo” showing the view of the Boboli Gardens opposite Florence. I have done multiple studies of this view, and each one has a unique feel to it. Check out others on my web site, www.constancepatterson.com under Oil Paintings.
Click on the image for a larger picture.
Tags: Florence, Italian Landscapes
Posted in Hanging artwork, Interior Design, Landscape, Oil Painting | No Comments »
July 13th, 2010
The latest news is that I was a finalist in The Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition.
Not too shabby, as it is a national competition with gazillions of entries!!! It is so rewarding to have such positive reenforcement at that level.
The piece that was recognized is, “The Pumpkin Patch”. Done last year in oil on gold leaf, it is a view of the pumpkin patch along Nod Road in Simsbury, CT. I have always loved the tree that stands sentinel over the field, and this wide view of the tree in all the glorious array of autumn, is especially effective with the gold leaf giving it a glow through the paint.
The work is in a private collection, but keep checking the website for further gold leaf pieces under ”New Work” or ”Oil on Metal Leaf”
p.s. If you click on the image you will get an enlarged view of the piece.
Tags: Artist's Magazine - Competition, Connecticut Landscape, CT, Simsbury
Posted in Landscape, News, Oil Painting, Oil on Metal Leaf | No Comments »
July 2nd, 2010
I am really psyched about my latest watercolor series. They are the result of a new hand laid paper that I have started to use. The rough surface helps to keep the colors more vivid, and spontaneous.
It is fun to let the imagination run wild … what might happen if the sun, moon and stars all got together for lunch?
Posted in New Work, Watercolor | No Comments »
June 18th, 2010
So I thought that you all would like to see the way one can integrate pattern with art. I love this combination of the chair fabric with an early work that I have hanging in my living room.
There was no attempt to match the fabric on the chair with the artwork, but it works because there is very little of the fabric, and also because the two share colors.
As an aside, the plant hasn’t died yet, and the stool has become the best side table that I’ve ever had.
Tags: Furniture, Rooms
Posted in Hanging artwork, Interior Design | No Comments »
May 29th, 2010
This is the latest of my Diva series, although, as the work developed, she became less Diva and more social victim. I feel that the line might be drawn between our current anorexic idea of beauty, and the Egyptian style of elaboration on the flat figure. It was a challenge to keep the piece free and open and still convey the stiff, posed feel of a fashion shoot.
The watercolor uses flat, decorative shapes to define the figure, and touches of gold to finish.
The piece is titled “She Was a Slave to Fashion” and can be viewed on the web site under new works.
Tags: Divas
Posted in New Work, Watercolor | No Comments »
May 16th, 2010
Thought that you all might like to have a peek at how I hang artwork at home. I often tell people that I have swiss cheese walls, because I rehang artwork so often and don’t mind making holes in the walls as I move things around. But, every so often I go around Spackle the holes, and touch up with a Q-tip … sort of a snow-day type of occupation.
Here, the three pieces are all related by color and size. They feel comfortable together, even though all three are different media.
I needed a tall thin piece to fill in above my old mexican woven chair. (Which by the way is hideously uncomfortable, but visually satisfying.) The three together act as a single entity and fill the space without overwhelming the chair. The result is a nice little vignette.
Posted in Hanging artwork, Interior Design | No Comments »
