About the art: once again beginning with a large acrylic painting on 300 lb Arches watercolor paper (let's murder that piece!) and taping it off into two sections. Drawing directly on top of the acrylic painting with a brush covered in thinned oil paint to get the basic forms. I painted away the existing painting around the figures first, working from the outside in to remove the distraction of the old painting. But those layers underneath add texture and interest to the background - valuable real estate! After a good bit of drying time, working on the inside beginning with the dark sections and preserving some crisp edges to keep the figures themselves a bit mechanical and hard. I created geometric blocks of shadow and light, resisting the urge to mess with them too much. The pies were roughed in with a brush, then finished with a laden palette knife to give the texture of frosting. Finally (and most fun!) the pinks - many thinned layers painted wet into wet, then allowed to run over the edges with linseed oil-thinned light pink. A long long drying time with all that oil, but these ladies say it was worth the wait. The February Reader Giveaway continues! Leave a comment (or more than one) on any blog post this month to be automatically entered to win a free piece of original art. And thanks to all those who have already commented this month! Your enthusiasm and heartfelt feedback is a real treasure to me. Thank you. :)
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So this ballgown bot appeared at an interesting time, demanding I ponder the thoughts of others, demanding I remind myself daily of who I am, not who others say I am or what others say I am allowed to do and to be. Feisty, this one. About the art - beginning with a large acrylic painting on arches 300 lb watercolor paper, taping it off into two vertical sections and drawing directly on top of it with a thick black paint pen. Working from the outside in (many layers to get that dark, dark, dark) and then the inside out (many layers to get the shades of pink and flesh and shadows) always in thinned layers of paint (using linseed oil now instead of walnut oil). Initially working wet into wet to get softness, then a long drying time. Wet on dry for crisp edges, and then wet on the new wet for blurred edges of fabric fading into the dark. Push and pull, harden and soften, with a final layer of dark paint to be sure the face disappears entirely into the background. I cannot see her eyes, and yet I do feel her stare. The February Reader Giveaway begins today! Leave a comment on one (or more) blog posts this month to be automatically entered. The winner will be announced right here on March 3. And thanks so much for reading, sharing, commenting and supporting this space, the art and the artist. You (and you, and YOU!) make all of this mean so very much to me. xo
Pause is the necessary condition of the development of all those higher purposes which make up the rational being. […]. Not until the days of this period of chrysalis life have been painfully accomplished can he emerge a new and glorified creature, who, by spiritual transformation, is invested alike with the dignities and the duties of [being human]. - Robert Ranulph Marett
In our home, there are altars of a sort everywhere. Reminders of where we've been, things we've collected along the way, relics in the form of bones or stones, odd tree branches (some carried a long way through miles of burned forest), fossils and shells. The old keys in the first photo below were from my grandmother's house. A buddha brought back from Thailand. Horns and antlers from my husband's archeology days. There really aren't rules for altars and sacred spaces - you just know what feels good when you place it there. I'd love to hear about your sacred spaces at home - where do you create places to pause? About the art: some time ago the AI bot and I played around with a prompt something like "a woman lounging in the water" in an attempt to generate mermaids (the bot, until recently, could not create mermaids or centaurs no matter how many words you provided). The result at the time wasn't mermaids, but instead a host of old-timey ladies draped over the sides of pools. Inspired by those images, I set out to create this one. The focus here was on the horizontal orientation and the deep, dark background, so that the art merged with the tone of the wood. The requisite 80 million layers were time consuming here - each thin layer needed a full drying time to keep the edges crisp and allow the building of shadow and light. The final step was a coat of varnish to protect the art and allow use of the surface area for placing objects. She is pausing, for sure. Embracing the nap, lolling and lounging. Yes! Congratulations to Terry M! Wonder Mike chose your name as winner of the January Reader Giveaway! Email your address to [email protected] and the studio hound will have your free original art in the post right away. Thanks so much to all who participated, and to all the new subscribers from Bluesky! A new giveaway begins next month. Yahoo!
About the art: this rabbit (the second in a series of lagomorphs) was inspired by the works of Möbius and Diebenkorn. Beginning with a rough sketch in thinned oil paint and slowly adding layers of color. The trick with this one was getting the dark side very, VERY dark so the rabbit would hop out (ha ha) in a dramatic way. Allowing the paint to slide down the Yupo toward the bottom is a nice softening of the hard edges higher up in the piece. This guy is seriously thinking about how he feels before he does anything about it. Good advice, rabbit! The January Reader Giveaway continues! Leave a comment on any blog post this month to be automatically entered. Someone is going to win an original piece of art - free!
You may have been wondering where the abstracts have been lately. They were all tied up in this one BIG piece, which asked for weeks of work and layers (and layers and LAYERS) of paint. A departure from my more usual abstract style, but I am just tickled with it. Perhaps I've been watching too many of Brian Rutenbergs studio videos on YouTube - his works are huge! The satisfaction of laying down thick layers of paint with a massive rubber wedge and brush is pretty big, too. And carving back through thick paint with a chopstick is mmmmmmm good. This piece is part of my annual painting murder season, where a dozen or so paintings are destroyed, gesso'd and/or painted over to clear away the old and make room for the new. For this one, I flipped it and drew the new design right on top of the acrylic underpainting using a UniPosca paint pen, then commenced with the layers of oil paint. A complete transformation, I'd say! A big welcome to the new blog readers and subscribers from Bluesky! Hooray! Your presence here makes this an even better place to be. :)
The January Reader Giveaway continues! Leave a comment on any blog post this month to be automatically entered. Someone is going to win an original piece of art - free! Now that's something to celebrate!
Ross talked to squirrels and rabbits. I do, too (and crows, and hummingbirds). There is good science behind the importance of getting out and experiencing a bit of awe in the world: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/awe-wonder-walk-improve-health_uk_676fd08ce4b02a171f25b1cb. Awe can be inspired by nature, by music and (of course) by art. Which may be a good thing to focus on in 2025. Awe as an antidote to wonkiness in the wide world? Well, it's a start anyway. I'd love to hear where you find awe - leave a comment below! One (or more) lucky commenters this month will win a piece of original art - free! About the art: this rabbit (the first in a series of lagomorphs) was inspired by the works of Möbius and Diebenkorn. Beginning with a rough sketch in thinned oil paint and slowly adding layers of color. Keeping a basic geometry to the background and adding texture with chopsticks, butcher paper and a squeegee. Allowing edges to be soft and hard, and letting the texture on the rabbit build up to pull him forward in the piece. Some very thinned paint for the dripping on his shirt front and a long, long drying time. I can't help but grin when I look at him. :) Congratulations to Trina T.! Wonder Mike chose your name at random as winner of the December Reader Giveaway! Send your mailing address to [email protected] and your prize will be in the post! And thanks to everyone who participated. Your comments are a great gift to me and to other blog readers.
A new contest begins today! Leave a comment on any post in January to be entered.
About the art: continuing my exploration of copper panel as a substrate, and my fascination with helmeted, faceless beings. Once more embracing a more earthy background with a very modern figure in the foreground, keeping the background soft and the edges of the foreground more crisp. These are androgynous beings - inviting us to dismiss gender stereotypes. I'm particularly fond of Amal's beaded neckpiece, Cerys' outrageous shoulders and Bakari's dressy white shirt. This trio has been major good mojo in the studio - more copper coming in 2025. :) It's the last post of the year, and your final opportunity to enter the December Reader Giveaway! Leave a comment on any one (or more) of December's posts to be automatically entered to win a piece of original art - FREE! The winner (or winners) will be announced right here in the blog during the first week of January. Ready? Set? GO!
Popova's words roil and resonate. The imperative in the inevitable makes me want to hurry up and DO DO DO! But I think it is the very opposite that is required of us. A slowing down, a savoring, allowing the moment to saturate and permeate. Which may or may not include allowing the feisty, frigid ocean waves to dunk me now and again when rockhounding at the coast. :). Yep, I'm all in. About the art: this is the first in a series of new pieces on copper panel. You thought I was in love with Yupo? I'm head-over-heels for copper. Its is a bit pricy for a substrate, but the oils just love it, and the warm glow of it comes through like no underpainting I've seen. In my quest for the balance between fantasy and reality, abstraction and realism, humans and robots, I found myself quite enamored with this one. The focus here was in capturing her gaze and the set of her expression, while allowing the rest to become abstracted, allowing the earthy background to contrast with the modern figure. There is a double giveaway going on this month! Woot! Leave a comment on any blog post this month to be automatically entered in the December Reader Giveaway. And follow me on Bluesky (@lolajovan.bsky.social) to be entered in a New Follower/Subscriber Giveaway for yet another piece of original art! And thanks to everyone who subscribes, follows, reads and comments - you make this artist grin from ear to ear!
"Weary of Captivity" - oil on cradled wood panel, 18 x 24 x 1.5 inches. This item is unframed but ready to hang. (click on the image to purchase) LISTEN to the blog by clicking the DOWNLOAD link below
I don't have the answers. Just a growing sense of unease and concern. And a willingness to be there for anyone who needs/wants to commiserate. For the past year, as I process my own experiences I've been increasingly drawn to create ballgown-bots. Largely faceless, masked cyborgian females with fancy garb. At first they were cheeky, haunting, peculiar. But now they have taken on a larger, societal meaning and a mission of their own. Are they faceless because they are afraid and unseen? Or because they are armored and shielded? And so I am wondering - what do they mean to you, dear readers? About the art: this is a paint-over (oil over oil) of an existing piece, which adds a lovely depth of color and texture. On a recent playdate with the AI bot, I wrote "pink backpack" and let it run. There were many, many delightfully cheeky monsters and odd humans with backpacks of all sizes. The whole session left me grinning! One of them was more of a mash-up of victorian schoolgirl and cyberpunk ballgown-bot, which inspired this piece. The goal here was the lovely limited palette and high contrast with loose, painterly brushstrokes. The December Reader Giveaway begins today! Leave a comment on any blog post this month to be automatically entered. One (or more) lucky commenters will receive an original piece of art in the mail - free!
"A Formula For The Future" - oil on canvas, 30 x 10 x .75 inches. This is unframed but ready to hang. (click on the image to purchase) LISTEN to the blog by clicking the DOWNLOAD link above
About the art: this canvas has been murdered many times. Layers and layers of overly precious brush strokes, dabs and do-das. Each time I dragged the squeegee across it and said NO NO NO, that just won't do. And finally, letting the feelings direct the painting, I allowed the darkness to hover, the drama and big strokes to take over, and the tiny bit of light to emerge. And (drum roll please) - the winners of the November Reader Giveaway! Congratulations to Nance F. and Emma F. - Wonder Mike chose your names at random from the pool of this month's commenters. Send your mailing address to thewanderingsoflola!gmail.com and your original artworks will be in the mail to you! Big thanks to everyone who participated. A new contest begins next month!
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