Montreal art contest 2012

I decided to submit these two paintings this year at the annual Montreal art contest...

They represent well my current preoccupation with raw cotton/linen canvas and some of the techniques that I'm developing on that support. Only small size paintings can be submitted at the art contest, a limiting factor for me since I've got even more interesting works in the 36 X 36 format. The painting on the right has received a thumb up from an important New York gallery in my Facebook page, so it will be interesting to see how it will fare. Getting some exposure is my key objective this year. I won two honorable mentions in the past, but with more conventional art.

Note to self: "A noble objective would be to leverage all the techniques that I have learned so far with acrylics in my future works. The challenge would be in the balancing act!"

Samana fauna final... Vying for artistic freedom!

I left this one relatively unfinished...

... letting the raw canvas do the talking rather than paint. My recent use of the crude three-inch roller has paved the way to the use of two-inch and three-inch brushes for paint application. Calligraphic line-making has also made an appearance in my recent paintings (although there is way too much brain involvement for my liking). I want to use lines as pure expression and as a means to restate vanishing or destroyed forms. I'd like to disconnect the brain after the initial sketch, and part from my original subject matter... to end-up with another subject that has a life of its own. Large formats have become essential to my artistic saga! This canvas is only 28 X 22... and is evidently highly experimental... and solely for its entertainment value!

Note to self: "It's when I'm not serious about painting... that I'm really serious!"

Samana fauna - step II... The urge for freedom!

This first color pass with a two-inch brush for the most part is giving me a taste for complete freedom in execution...

The urge to integrate my two recent painting styles is becoming more and more powerful as I'm preparing the grounds for a third final pass...

Note: I raised the woman's head one "floor up" and decreased its size to get rid of the creepy "quasimodo" look

Note to self: "I think it's time to pave the way to a more kinetic approach to paint application!"

Samana fauna - step I... The hell with decorative painting!

I just came back from Samana, and I can't resist making some societal statement about an "odd couple" we crisscrossed over there...

If I go with full colors, may be this piece will be more decorative than white walls!

Note: I'm cutting off the guy's head... because it's the way I see ;-)

Samana 2012!

This was our second time in Samana, Dominican Republic, and its natural beaches were still there to mesmerize us...

 Our visit at the national park of "Los Haitises" was the highlight of the trip, especially the huge caverns with pictographs from pre-Columbian Taino Indians...

Taking a slant on the wild side!

A "crash and burn" vacation in Samana, Dominican Republic...

My intent is to get as much "latino" colors in my head as possible for a week!!!

A few days before vacationing.... a moment of reflection on the floor!

Over the last few months, I've opened up a new window regarding my approach to art...

... that of the image for it's own sake (all paintings except the top left), a dramatic departure from the "paint for the sake of paint" approach (top left painting). Some of these new works compare favourably with my older more visceral ones despite the lack of textural effects with impasto paint.

The use of calligraphic lines and the application of textures with a roller to partially destroy realism is a recent compulsion of mine that I can't seem to shake out! With calligraphic lines, there is the potential to go free style and even disregard the underlying image. Using more colors with these new methods is a challenge for me, as I don't want to lose the power of monochromatic renditions (I'm still in the process of figuring out the best approach with more colors). In terms of technical aspects, raw cotton seems more compatible with the new approach than raw cotton/linen (cotton provides a smoother surface for staining).

Despite the appeal of the new techniques, I'm not willing to discard the more painterly approach. After all, I managed to produce some noticeable visceral works with it last year. It looks like I'm gonna have 2 streams of works for a while.... until I can combine elements of both!

In a nutshell, a few things to mull over during my vacation...

Note to self: "Some key learnings: retaining high contrasts, considering warm greys to enhance adjacent colors, applying more freedom behind calligraphic lines, leveraging new techniques in specific areas only (less is more) and recognizing the strengths inherent to each of the two styles (flat and almost immaterial  images with bold calligraphic lines that seem to anchor them at least temporarily; painterly and textured images seemingly taken by the void)."

Subnote to self: "Calligraphic lines that hold their own without the underlying vanishing image, like the last black ink marks of a Zen master!"