"Roadmap" is 36x36", acrylic on canvas.  It is from the same drip start as "Inspiration of a Venn Diagram" but clearly went in a different direction (pun intended).  I'm happy to finish the year with this painting and wish everyone a wonderful holiday... see you in 2015!

I call this the "Gridlock" series.  Each piece is 22x15," mixed media on paper.  These started out as like so:

There was no particular goal, just keeping the brush moving and having fun.  We often need series for large rooms or long corridors.  

"Inspiration of a Venn Diagram" is acrylic on canvas, 36x36."  I used Photoshop a few times to make design decisions about this piece.  I often do that to save time (and paintings :)).  Below are the different stages of the evolution of the idea.  I have another canvas with the same drip start that I will take in another direction (to be determined!).  Happy friday! 

"Central Texas Reflection," is 48x60," liquid acrylic on canvas.  This large piece was created to hang in the big atrium lobby of the Austin (my hometown) Regional Office.  This is most likely the Guadalupe River but it could be any number of rivers in the hill country.  This painting happened really quickly for me, two sessions or a total of 10 hours.  I like to start with a large brush and cover the entire canvas in the first sitting (an exercise I was forced to do repeatedly in a painting studio in college).  I love this approach because it often results in gestural and lively brushwork and spontaneous areas which I can preserve for the final product.  It also means having to stay back and mind the big picture, overall forms and value patterns, without locking into small details.  There's always time for details later if I find I want them (usually I don't).  Happy Monday everyone! 

"Late Afternoon Clouds" is a triptych I created on request for our new R & D building as a nod to cloud computing.  Each canvas is 36x36", acrylic on canvas.  I asked my colleague to airbrush the sky for me to create that smooth convincing depth and height.  These took about 6 hours and my left shoulder was actually sore from all the quick and dynamic brushwork.  I enjoyed painting these... white is never really white, is it?  Especially in clouds. 

"Quotient I and II" are 12' x 9' each, acrylic on canvas, and were created specifically for two large atrium lobbies in the new R&D building on campus.  The building design is clean and modern; these pieces are meant to compliment the geometry in the architecture of the space.  Each one is constructed of 3 panels (4' x 9' each).  They took a total of 50 hours or 13 sessions to paint.  I worked on them in our shop using a scissor lift (I had to get special training!).  The goal was to create a simple composition with lots of depth and interest in the surface.  The different shapes have a variety of surfaces that can be experienced in person.  Some of them have sand in the paint and look almost like fabric.  Others (the more linear elements) have a gloss finish.  This was fun but I think I'm ready to work on something small.  :)

 

Me sketching in the shapes on day 1...

 

 

Underpaintings completed on day 4...

"Axis Series I & II" are acrylic collage on paper, 22x22" each.  I had the idea when I was trying to fall asleep the other night.  I knew almost exactly what I wanted them to look like so it was a straight-forward process and I thoroughly enjoyed creating them! 

"Intersection Series I, II, III," are acrylic paintings on paper.  The center piece is a full standard sheet, 22x30."  The side pieces are half sheets, 15x22" each.  These are very active, energetic pieces done with a chaos-to-form method I learned from Carole Barnes.  Sometimes we like to place lively work like this in a war room or conference room where design and brainstorming happen. 

"Sunlit Balcony," 40x30", acrylic on canvas... my first painting since before baby #3 (almost a year ago)!  I took this photo in Villefranche Sur-Mer where I did an art workshop in 2002.  I've always wanted to paint it because of the wonderful warm light bouncing around up under the balcony.  It feels good to be painting again!