My Art Inspiration in Nature - Part 3: Birds

Part 3 of my continuing  musings about things in nature that inspire my artwork. You can re-visit Parts 1 and 2 

Birds, large and small, are fascinating to me. Their abilities to soar overhead never ceased to mesmerized me. I love watching flocks of birds fly, whether they are migrating geese or sparrows flitting from tree to tree.

It is amazing the different color exotic birds have, especially parrots. Is nature that in tune to color, or are the colors of nature what drives our senses and therefore our art?

I love great large birds like cranes, with their long undulating neck that is always curvy and fun to draw.

Flamingos are even better with their soft pink or neon like orange colors. I’ve drawn a few flamingos from pictures I’ve taken and they all found new homes pretty quickly. I’m glad to reach those who share the same interest.

Owls are especially interesting and is often the center of most artwork. There is just something so magical and mysterious about them. Those barn owls are so darn cute. These owl pictures were taken at the Elfia event at Castle Arcen, Netherlands.

Me trying to handle a camera shy barn owl, back when my hair was still mostly black!

New Art Release - “Let It Flow: Breathe In, Breathe Out, Just Breathe”

I finally finished this triptych that I started in 2020. It took a long time but all three pieces came out the way I wanted. 

The videos of their creation is on my Patreon page, Chaotic Abstraction. If you like to support my art creation, you can become a patron at any level.

https://www.patreon.com/chaotic_abstraction

My Art Inspiration in Nature - Part 2: Butterflies and Bees

This is a continuation of my musings about things in nature that inspire my artwork and will be a part of a series. If you haven’t read Part 1 of this series, you can read it here.

For Part 2, I’m looking at various butterflies and bees seen around my garden. On bright sunny days, I often walk outside to my backyard to take a breather, mostly from the administrative side of my art business, and view various creatures visiting my yard. I often come out with my camera in hand, ready to snap pictures. Often, various butterflies of a variety of colors, visit the many Hibiscus trees in my yard. I also have day lilies, tiger lilies, irises, daffodils, snap dragons and daisies.

My favorites are the bumble bees. I mean the big fat black and yellow ones that buzz slowly around the flowers with their legs full of pollens. 

The Red-Spotted Purple butterfly is one of the common butterflies visiting my garden, with its velvety black and blue color, and a touch of red on the tip.

Another common butterfly around here is the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, with its bright yellow wings with touches of light blue and orange. On a bright sunny day it really shines.

The common swallowtail is just neat looking.

I love the bold blacks of the Black Swallowtail butterfly. 

The big fat black and yellow bumble bee is always fun to watch

This one, fluttering near some snap dragons, has definitely made it into one of my artworks. 

I almost want to reach out and pet the little furry creatures!

Together, butterflies and bees definitely do make a buzz!

Stay tuned for more articles in the series.

News for October 2022

October will be very busy for me. Already the first event, the Old Bowie Festival, was canceled due to severe weather conditions from tropical storm Ian. Hopefully the rest of October will be fruitful for me. 

From 7-9 October, I will be at Oglebay Fest in Wheeling, WV. I will be at Booth M19.There are a lot of interesting things going on there, to include music, lots of good food, a county fair, an Octoberfest style celebration, and even fireworks on 8 October at 8:30 pm. Sounds like a lot of fun.

I just recently finished a triptych and the artwork will be in an exhibit at the District Arts contemporary art gallery in Frederick, MD. The exhibit is called “Food for Thought” and you can read more about it here. I finally finished this triptych that I started in 2020. It took a long time but all three pieces came out the way I wanted. The triptych represent that moment when you just need to stop and take a breath, slowly, deeply, Breathe In, Breathe Out, take a moment to Just Breathe and Just Let It Flow. The exhibit will be open from 5 - 30 October. The artist reception for this event is on 8 October, 5-7pm. I will not be there since I will be in Wheeling, WV. 

This first one is “Let It Flow: Breathe In”

The second one is “Let It Flow: Breathe Out”

The last in the series is “Let It Flow: Just Breathe”

At the end of the month, 28 - 30 October, I will be at Baltimore Comic-Con. I will be in the Artist Alley at Table F41. 

If you’re going to attend any of events, stop by and say Hi. 

Animation Training with After Effects, part 2

I mentioned in a previous article that I took a Visual Arts Passage course to learn how to animate using Adobe After Effects. See my first animation here. In another assignment, we use one of our own previous illustration to animate. I choose “Amidst the Tiger Lilies”, imagining the fairy standing very still mesmerizing the viewer while everything around her moves. 

This has been so much fun and I learned so much in the class. I’m excited to select more of my artwork to animate until I’m familiar with After Effects, and sharing them with all of you.

Future original animations will be for Patrons only on my Patreon so sign up to be a patron at any level of contribution.

Animation Video 2

A Festival and an Online Exhibition

The remainder of this month will be the start of a busy time for me. However, I’m very excited about each event coming up very soon. 

First up is an online exhibit on the Cultural Center of Cape Cod website. The Center has in-person exhibits in South Yarmouth, MA, and also sponsored online exhibits as well. I entered the photography exhibit “You and Your Camera” which focus on the photography that “explore the fact that most of us are in possession of a high-quality camera, that we carry with us every day.” I’m so excited about this exhibit. I love taking pictures just as much as I love creating art and making marks on paper.

The photograph I entered was taken on a ferry from mainland Thailand to the Phi Phi Island. On the way there, I was fascinated with how the waves hit against the ferry and crash into the air in bursts of creamy white foam against the deep blue of the ocean. While everyone else looked up and around them, my camera was aiming downward, taking lots of shots of the waves crashing against the ferry. The image was invited to exhibit and I’m thrilled. I’m not a professional photographer but, for me, framing an image to photograph works the same way as coming up with pictures to draw. Most of the time my photographs ended up in my art one way or another. I’m starting a series about my art inspirations. The first of the articles is here.

Currently the online link to the exhibit is not available. I will update this as soon as it is available.

** Update: The You and Your Camera online exhibit is now available at https://www.cultural-center.org/you-and-your-camera-intro

The very first Saturday in October will be the Old Bowie Celebrates Festival in Bowie, Maryland. This is my second year in attendance. This festival is very family friendly with lots of activities for the children, along with music and food, arts and crafts, and of course, my art gallery for all to enjoy. There is also a juried art show. *** Update *** Unfortunately, due to severe weather conditions, this even has been cancelled. Hopefully next year the weather will cooperate.

Animation Training with After Effects, Part 1

I recently signed up for an online course with Visual Arts Passage to learn how to animate using Adobe After Effects, from the point of view of an illustrator. I’ve always wanted to learn After Effects and was always pushing it off because I really just don’t know where to start googling. It seems like there is just an overwhelming amount of information out there and which video would be good to view and who would be good to learn from. So when I saw the class being offered through VAP, taught by Tony Rodriguez, I decided to sign up. So far it has been very informative, enlightening and oh just a whole lot of fun. I will be sharing my results from class here so stay tuned. Here’s my first animation attempt.

Animation Video 1

My Art Inspiration in Nature - Part 1: Clouds

I’ve always love looking at things in nature and anything natural, flowers, trees, fungi, blades of grass, fish, birds, rabbits, deer, ocean waves, clouds, the movement of wind through the trees. And especially the moon and stars in the night sky. A lot of my artwork are based on what’s in my surrounding environment, mostly things that are chaotic in nature, such as clouds or waves. Exploring nature and my surrounding is very much a part of my art process. I take pictures of nature everywhere I go. 

I want to share photos I took that inspire me in a series of articles for a peak at “behind the scenes” in my art process. This first article is all about the clouds. I love looking at clouds, whether it is a nice sunny day or a dark sky full of rage just before a storm hit. I’m always seeing images and things I want to draw. Some of these images have already ended up in some of my artwork, but they never look like the original photos. 

Light brush strokes in the air

I can see creatures walking in a line

An opening in the sky

Turning into a face up high staring down at you

They can be dark and ominous

Much more dark and ominous

Like a surface of an ocean

So much beauty

So much color

Very bold

Or soft and subtle

Art Exhibit at the Overlea ArtsFest

 

I don’t think I’ve published this piece yet. It is called “Follow the Light … Through the Dark”. It is one of my art pieces  that will be exhibiting at the Overlea Arts Fest this year, at the Holt Park and Center for the Arts, 34 Elmont Ave, Baltimore MD, from 12 to 14 August. I also have 2 other pieces in the show, “The Shape of Things To Come” and “I Am Me”. If you’re in the area, come by and see all the beautiful artwork in the setting of this beautiful park in Baltimore, MD.

There will be an art show and sale preview party Friday night from 5 - 8pm, and a short film screening from 8 - 9:30 pm. 

Tiny Ink Doodles in My Legendeer Sketchbook #2

(I made a mistake and actually never publish this back in April.)

The second video featuring more tiny ink doodles on the third page in my Legendeer sketchbook. I’m still enjoying the process. Now I’m starting to think of ideas and sketching them in these ink doodles. Some of these ideas have been in my head for sometime, and have previously been scribbles but never full blown flesh out like they are here.

Ink Doodle video 2

Tiny Ink Doodles in My Legendeer Sketchbook #3

The third video with more ink doodle drawing on the fourth page in my Legendeer sketchbook. I really like the smoothness of the pages of this sketchbook, and the pages are a bit heavier than a cheaper sketchbook. I have not been working in this sketchbook lately. I need to get back into it soon so I can have more pages to show you. 

Ink Doodle video 3

Heroes Con 2022

 

This is my first time exhibiting at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. I was hoping to find a new audience and meet new collectors. I was pleasantly surprised it actually happened. It was not overwhelming but my audience is out there and I’m so happy to make many new connections with those who enjoy viewing the same chaotic and emotional images that I love to create. 

Several of my originals found a new home, to include “As the Pendulum Swings”. This image captures an emotional state I feel I am constantly in, of swinging back and forth from darkness to light, in perpetual motion and never reaching a resting state. I found out that many of my audience connect with this piece.

I had some great conversations with a variety of convention attendees. I talked to an abstract art admirer who commented on how misunderstood and under-appreciated abstract art is as an art form. A common misconception is that abstract art is created without thought and just laid in a random manner on paper or canvas. My process for creating my semi-abstract art may start with chaotic randomness but each mark in my creations are guided by my subconscious thoughts and feelings. This particular admirer noted that their love for abstract art comes from having the freedom to look at a creation and interpret the images for themselves, rather than being confined to just what the artist may have intended to convey. It felt great to talk to someone who admires art and to hear their thoughts. 

A topic I discussed with many visitors to my gallery was my thoughts on capturing light and darkness in some of my lesser abstracted images. One particular visitor commented that many of my images are dark or about darkness. Although my images at a glance may appear to be about just darkness, they are actually equally about the light, about being uplifted, and coming out of the darkness. In my piece titled “Awaiting Dawn”, the darkness is shrinking from the lone figure who is slowly being enveloped in a sunrise as darkness fades. It is a commentary on how we all have moments of darkness, but the sun always rises and the light shines through. In my creation titled “Broken”, there is an image of an angel holding her broken wing. Again at first glance the situation looks hopeless, but if you look closer at the image you will notice there are spirits all around the angel that represent the angel is being uplifted. This is such a personal image for me because there are times in life we feel broken, but we can all be uplifted with hope. 

I met so many fascinating people at the convention it is hard to remember all the great conversations. I enjoy and valued tremendously the positive feeling I get from all my interactions and I appreciate all who collect my art.

Awesome Con 2022

 

During conventions I attended over the years, I always get interesting questions and comments about my art, my art process and my creative inspiration, either in general or for a specific piece of artwork. I want to start sharing these questions, comments, insights, the interactions and stories with my patrons, followers and casual readers, beginning with my most recent event in Washington, D.C..

The recent convention I attended was Awesome Con, a pop-culture comic book convention at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, located in Washington, D.C..

A young artist asked me what art genre do I categorized myself under. I’ve thought about this very topic over the years, since I got back into creating art about eight years ago. I can’t say that I fit under any currently established art genre, that I know and are aware of. Even though I have figures in my art, they’re not completely figurative. I have abstracted elements in my creation but the entire piece is not completely abstract. Surreal? I certainly see myself as a surrealist, but I heard that surrealism covers an era rather than the artistic style. I could be wrong about that. My art, my thought process for the art, is so chaotic and so abstracted that I feel like Chaotic Abstraction should be its own genre and I would fall under that. 

Another young artist purchased the print “Where the Wind Blows” and asked what was my inspiration for creating this particular piece. To me, this piece represent a release of an inner self, so to speak. Release your inner self and let “the wind” takes you where it may, or just flow with the wind and allow it to take you on an adventure, a journey to some far off place that you might not have thought of going. The white ghost-like birds flowing from the figure into the wind and maybe to as far away as the moon.

It’s also very satisfying when someone identify with a piece the same way I identify with a piece. Over the years, many individuals have identified with the piece Broken and relating to how they feel internally. The idea of feeling like you’re so broken and trying to mend yourself at every turn in life is a general feeling that I think most people have. To capture that feeling is very cathartic for me and I’m glad that people can have a sense of peace when they view this artwork. 

My next convention is Heroes Con, in Charlotte, NC. This will be my first time attending Heroes Con and it is also their 40th anniversary. I can’t wait to go. If you’re in the area and are also attending Heroes Con, I am in Booth 769. I would love it if you come by and say Hello.