December 2016 Newsletter

News from Barb Mowery Fine Art

I hope you had a very nice Thanksgiving! I have been raking leaves, but I also started planning my upcoming 30 paintings in 30 days project, shipped some paintings to my gallery, and made a Youtube slideshow. Read on…

"No Rustling" - 6 x 6 inches, acrylic on canvas panel, 2016.

30 Paintings in 30 Days Again

Last January I made 30 paintings of trees in 30 days. It gave me such a fantastic creative kick start, that I've decided to do it again in January 2017. This month I will gather all my supplies and put together some self-imposed rules for the project. And by the time you receive my January Newsletter, I will be up to my elbows in paint. And that sounds like a very Happy New Year to me.

Studio Sweep Sale

Last week I shipped 6 small paintings to Bishop’s Stock Gallery in Snow Hill, MD, for the annual Studio Sweep Sale. My artwork, along with the work of many fantastic Delmarva artists, will be offered at deep discounts just in time for the holidays. This is an affordable way to build your collection. The Opening Reception is this Friday, December 2nd, from 5-8pm. The sale runs through the end of January, but the sooner you go, the better the selection.



Into the Way Back Machine

I thought it would be fun to toss all of the artwork from last year's 30 Paintings in 30 Days project into a musical slideshow, and look at them in the order that I painted them. So I did. Enjoy!

Gift Certificates

Is someone on your holiday gift list a fan of my artwork? Your loved can one bring home their favorite with a Gift Certificate.

And if you would like to have my monthly newsletter delivered to you by email, you may subscribe here. Thanks!

30 Paintings in 30 Days wrap up

My month of daily painting is over, and even though it was more like 30 Paintings in 32 Days, I still consider it a total success. I am offering all of these paintings for sale at a special reduced price though midnight on February 10th, so if you are interested in making a purchase, you have another week before they revert to regular pricing.

Here are my takeaways from January.

First, I fully expected that rules boost creativity. This month I limited myself to 8 tubes of paint, although I mainly used my usual 6 (titanium white, phthalocyanine blue, ultramarine blue, primary yellow, process magenta, and dioxazine purple). Since I also decided to paint the same scene each day for a month, so I did not waste time wondering what to paint. And working within these limits, I produced an energetic and varied body of work, far more wide-ranging than if I had attempted the project without a set of rules firmly in place.

Second, I did not anticipate that this project would be about the function of human memory rather than about trees. Midway through the month I realized that I was having trouble remembering what the original scene looked like. My memory of the sunlit pine trees had been replaced by my memory of the prior 2 weeks of paintings. When I looked into a bit of brain science, I found that the more you access something from your memory, the less accurate that memory becomes. The first few days of the project my paintings are most true. But as the month continued I added details and embellished the image. And quite unintentionally, my trees began to dissolve into colorful abstraction. I am fascinated by what happened in January, and it makes me want to start another memory project to see what happens.

If this has piqued your interest in memory and painting from memory, here are a few interesting references:
Your Memory is Like the Telephone Game by Marla Paul, Northwestern University
Radiolab: Memory and Forgetting (Season 3 Episode 4)
Savvy Painter Podcast: Antrese Wood interview with Karen Kaapcke

Information about this project, about Shipping (very important), and about redeeming Gift Certificates is here.

If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Days 28 & 30: Sentinel Thorns & Restraint

"Sentinel Thorns" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel, sold.

"Restraint" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel, sold.

30 Paintings in 30 Days is complete, and I am relieved. Thank you for journeying through this month of daily painting with me! Here is a collage of 24 of my tree paintings:

I will type up my thoughts and reflections on the month some time this week. For the moment, I'm taking a break. For information about this project, please click here. And if you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Days 27 & 29: Cheerup Cheerup & No Rustling

"Cheerup Cheerup" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel, Sold.

"No Rustling" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



You know when you have 4 paintings in progress at the same time...probably not. I finished the paintings for 27 & 29 today, and 28 & 30 are sooooo close to being done. I will post them tomorrow, along with a celebratory collage of the month of daily painting. Hooray!

Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Days 25 & 26: Better Late & Air Changes

"Better Late" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.

"Air Changes" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.

I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say that a stomach flu can really take the wind out of one's sails. I'm getting back on track. There was actually another painting, a real stinker, that was done yesterday. Upon reflection I could not bear to post it and renumbered accordingly. It's January 30th, and I only have 4 more paintings to go for the challenge. I will write up my reflections on the project once I'm done. Congrats to all the other 30 Paintings in 30 Days artists--an amazing 1,300 worldwide--who made it to the finish line this month! 

Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Days 23 & 24: Time to Decamp & Progress of Life

"Time to Decamp" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.

"Progress of Life" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



I am playing catch-up and nursing my sick family. Everyone is down and out except me and the dog. For now. Ug... Here is a little collage of the paintings from days 21-24.

Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 22: Hibernaculum

 

"Hibernaculum" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel. -- SOLD.

Information about this project, about Shipping (very important), and about redeeming Gift Certificates is here.

We here in Maryland are about to get crushed by winter storm Jonas (when did we start naming blizzards?). The prediction for some areas is 30+ inches of snow. Although I am hopeful that Southern Maryland will not get quite so much, I am planning to drive to my "day job" tonight with food, clothes, winter gear, and a sleeping bag, so I can stay at the office all weekend if need be. I will pick up painting where I left off on Monday and paint a several days into February to complete the project.

If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 21: Around Dusk

"Around Dusk" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



Information about this project is here. And I forgot to make this for yesterday since my numbering was out of order for a few days, but here is a collage of the paintings for days 17-20:

If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 19: Vanishing Time

"Vanishing Time" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel, $100.



Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 18: Cracked Map

"Cracked Map" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 20: Two-Note Song

"Two-Note Song" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel, NFS.

Two things:

1) It says Day 20 up top, but today's date is January 18th. Um... No, not a typo. I was working on the painting for Day 18 and got frustrated and a little stuck. So I took a break and started working on the painting for Day 19. Again, I got frustrated and a little stuck. So I took a break and started working on the painting for Day 20. That went much better. I will finish and post the others, out of order.

2) This is my Notan which, I suppose, should have been done as a preliminary step rather than two-thirds of the way through the project. It turned out dynamic and balanced and surprisingly loose. I always love playing with the push-pull of negative-positive space, so this makes me very happy indeed.

Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 17: Why Waste Time on the Sparrow

"Why Waste Time on the Sparrow" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 16: Very Much Like You

"Very Much Like You" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



Today I was thinking of wind direction and lost edges. I forgot to mention where my titles come from. I have a copy of Billy Collins' "Ballistics" on my studio table, and honestly I flipped through jotting down words and phrases that resonated for one reason or another. And I have been cherry-picking from that list through the project. But his poetry is rollicking and wonderful, as evidenced here and here and, well, far too many to link to.

Information about this project is here. And here's a look at the past 4 days in a little collage:

It's confession time. I have been relying on my memory of this one moment of this one place in this one particular lighting situation on one particular afternoon a month or two ago. And the more I paint it, the more my memory is of the paintings rather than of the moment I'm trying to capture. So, as I told my friend Jackie, I thought it might be a good idea to revisit the source for a little refresher. I drove back to the clump of pines at the approximately correct time of day, etc., but no dice. It couldn't be that place because there is no break in the trees across the street. Those pine trees get either full sun or no sun in the afternoon. Must be the next group of trees up the road a little further. No, not those either. Surely the next group. Nope. And on and on this nonsense continues until I had driven 15 miles staring at roadside treetops. What is going on here? Is it the Alzheimer's starting already? Back to the drawing board...

...here are my detailed, high quality *cough* plans for the next half of the challenge. I'm thinking of shifting the perspective, raising and lowering the horizon, reversing my light source, adding some collage elements, or making a Notan. 14 days to go!

If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 15: Windows of the Gallery

"Windows of the Gallery" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel, NFS.

This is the halfway point of 30 Paintings in 30 Days, and I'm still chugging along. Hats off of the 1,400+ other artists around the world who are painting along with me this January! One of the benefits--and challenges--to working quickly is needing to be decisive about stopping. Some of these paintings definitely feel complete. But on others I stop working because I am done (rather than because the painting is done), meaning I have learned all that I needed to from that particular experiment and am ready to set it aside. Does that make sense?  Either way, it's good to practice putting my brush down.

Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 14: Spikier than the Other

"Spikier than the Other" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel, NFS.

Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 13: Slicer of Time

"Slicer of Time" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 12: Fragmented

"Fragmented" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



Information about this project is here. And I made a little collage of the past 4 days of painting.

If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 11: Periphery

"Periphery" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel, NFS.

The title of this piece and my thought process were influenced by my thinking about the Guardian article on the late Sargy Mann and his interview with his son about seeing. Especially his discussion of suppressing one's macular vision in order to see fully with your peripheral vision. I will keep thinking about this and practicing for a while.

Information about this project is here.  If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 10: The Force Awakens

"The Force Awakens" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



I have not seen the new Star Wars movie yet, so no spoilers please. But I made this while we were rewatching the old ones, specifically episode 3 when Anakin and Obi-Wan are fighting on that lava planet. See my lava in the painting? Yes, I'm a nerd.

More information about this project (which has very little to do with the Star Wars franchise) is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.

Day 9: Bonnet

"Bonnet" - 6" x 6", acrylic on canvas panel.



Information about this project is here. If you're a new visitor, I also have a fine art website and a Facebook page.