May 27, 2012 May 27, 2012

Memorial Day weekend in Indianapolis and looking forward to great things today. First the race. The coverage has already started – right now the topic is the dedicated fans that spend the night camping at the gates waiting to claim their favorite spot. Later the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. It is an exhilarating experience but after four or five times attending I decided that was enough. Now I listen on the radio while planting flowers. Our family is getting together later in the day. I have the responsibility for the fried chicken. Ymm-o!

Here is my final work based on the trip to NYC. I did this painting after returning home. It started out as my latest experiment with Yupo but as I worked I began to think about walking the streets and subway stations of New York about the rough surface and the colorful bits of paper, about the wear and tear of daily life and all the traffic. I think that comes across in this little abstract.

Underfoot

This painting was done in watercolor on a quarter sheet of Yupo and has a little of everything in it. Multiple layers of paint, at least three collage layers, some pencil, some colored pencil, some charcoal, all topped off with a touch of dry brushed gesso. I must have my mind on food – sounds like a sundae!

 

April 27, 2012 April 29, 2012

When I started painting seriously in 2007, I used primarily Yupo. I love the exotic, interesting effects it creates. I have been doing a lot of painting in my head lately. I have been trying to figure out if I can adapt the technique I’ve been for use with Yupo. The combination of technique (many layers of paint) and Yupo (no absorbancy) is a real challenge. I know it could be done with acrylic inks but I am not sure about watercolor. I decided to give it a shot on a quarter sheet and to use a square as my focal point rather than my usual circles. Here is the result.

Vintage 1

I called this Vintage 1 because a friend and I have been attending antique auctions recently. I have been thinking about old things… worn, rusted, scuffed…a lot like the way I feel these days. Anyway, I decided to use straight lines and a rounded square shape. The dots are made with bubble wrap and this painting has 2 or 3 layers. My usual paintings take about 5 or 6 layers of paint. I’m not happy that I have found a process but I HAVE taken that first step.

 

October 16, 2011 – Bruce Moore November 7, 2011

Here is another of the wonderful winners of the Watercolor Society of Indiana Show currently hanging at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Olio by Bruce Moore, Watermedia on Yupo, 20" X 28"

Definition of OLIO-  a miscellaneous mixture : hodgepodge, a miscellaneous collection (as of literary or musical selections)

The Founder’s Award ( 3rd Place): Judge’s Comments

This painting has good focus and good contrast.  I like the nice, soft edges.  It is put together beautifully and has a wonderful medallion design, which one doesn’t see very often.”

Artist’s Comments:

My painting, “Olio,” is a Yupo collage painting. Yupo is a synthetic surface comprised of polypropylene. I do most of my abstract or non-representational painting on Yupo. To make the collage pieces I used sharp scissors to cut out pieces of interest from other Yupo paintings I have done. I have hundreds of these cutouts at hand so I can choose the shapes and color combinations I want. I usually apply collage to an underlying painting, or even a completed painting that needs more life to it. The underlying painting as well as the collage pieces have to be completely dry and finished with an acrylic gloss UV protected spray I use on my Yupo paintings. (If not ,the paint will wash right off if touched with water, glue or paint because Yupo is not absorbant.) I place the underlying painting down on my painting table and start picking up pieces and arranging them on the painting. I can spend hours rearranging the pieces, substituting, cutting, and so on. I often walk away so I can return for a fresh viewpoint. I am looking for evocative combinations of color and shape but my primary focus is on composition. With pre-cut forms it is easy to overwhelm the painting with too many juxtaposed forms and colors.  Only when I am fully satisfied do I begin glueing the pieces to the painting. The title I chose for this painting has as much to do with the process of its creation as it does the substance.

I hope you enjoy seeing what my fellow Indiana artists are doing. They are incredible artists and very special people.

March 15, 2011 March 15, 2011

Today, in Indianapolis, is dreary and rainy. The kind of day when you are happy to sit inside with a hot cup of tea and a good book. To bring some smiles, I thought I would share a funny story. In 2007, the year I started painting, I was working a lot with Yupo and primary colors. Sandy Ezell was teaching a class in Experimental Watercolor and she taught us how to lay down a thin pool of water, drop in fairly thick color and then make a print from a second sheet of Yupo. This gave you two mirror images to work with and as most of you know Yupo provides amazing minglings of color and extraordinary effects. I decided after doing a series of seven paintings with primary colors to work with dark earthtones and Payne’s Gray. As soon as I started painting,  a title popped into my head and I couldn’t shake it. I called the painting Dance with the Devil.

Dance with the Devil

Now the funny story goes like this. My grandson Ian would like to be an artist. He has had a painting shown in the Indiana Statehouse with other young artists. He is also a high functioning autistic with Asperger’s Syndrome so he can be a bit obsessive and talk about things “out of the blue”. He was fascinated with this painting. When he began to talk about his grandma and her dance with the devil and how he loved dance with the devil and on and on the school became concerned. The teacher talked to the principal and the principal called my daughter. Everything was straightened out very quickly and the principal had a good laugh. Just goes to show the power of a painting!

March 12, 2011 March 12, 2011

In my mind’s eye I am still visualizing “dark” places.  I thought about Mordor (from Lord of the Rings) and the inferno blazing in that dark place.  I came up with this painting with a glowing fire blazing in the middle … waiting to consume its unwary victims. Thankfully Ken and I are not unwary and are not yet victims of hard-core, depths of despair type depression. I believe being aware and vigilant will help keep us from the worst. As will the support of all our friends! Thank you…

The Dark Place 2

This is on a 4″ X 6″ clayboard panel. I find clayboard to be quite a bit like Yupo…hard surface, some staining, push the paint around, have to watch for hard edges as paint dries. The surfaces is not as absorbant as I expected. Does that change if you sand it a little? I have one more panel and it is a little larger. I may try a landscape which would have more detail and might be better suited for this surface. I don’t know!?!?  A little confused at this point.

August 21, 2010 August 22, 2010

Well here’s the good news and the bad news. First the bad…neither of my submitted watercolors were accepted for the Watercolor Society of Indiana’s Juried Show. This competition had over 175 entries for 52 spots. I am sad but I will keep trying!

Now the good news…seven of my eight submitted works (three watercolors, one acrylic abstract and three drawings) were juried into the professional arts competition at the Indiana State Fair and both of my submitted works were accepted into the National Abstract Show. This show had over 130 entries from 17 states and I am not sure how many were accepted. Last year’s show probably had 35-40 in the show but that is just my estimate. Anyway here are the two entries that were accepted for the abstract show.

Carnival (13" X 22" Image)

Carnival is acrylic on a half sheet of Yupo Paper and White light is acrylic on a full sheet of Yupo and I had it framed so it can be hung either horizontally or vertically. Originally I thought I would hang it horizontally but now I prefer vertically. I (IMO) think both are equally nice. Both paintings are matted and under glass and White Light has a lovely frame that was recommended by my framer who gave me a great deal on it.

White Light

May 4, 2010 May 5, 2010

I have been “enhancing” American Square as I find time. To you it probably looks the same but to me it looks more balanced. I defined the edges and worked on the range of values throughout each color section. Anyway I am happy with the painting and am MUCH happier with this photo.

American Square

I took the photo outside in natural light and it solved many of the problems I’ve been having. Thank you all for your help and advice. Yupo is a very challenging surface to both paint and photograph.

I think am going to start a small floral today. Ken and two of the canine critters had oral surgery yesterday so I am nursing the sickies. I have so many prescriptions to manage that I finally had to write it all down. Isn’t the mind the first thing to go???

April 30, 2010 May 1, 2010

Today is my granson’s wedding so we are floating on Cloud 9!

I had some good news yesterday. When we picked up my paintings that had been accepted for the Paperchase juried show, we found out that I had been awarded third place. I was really please and surprise. It was an honor just to be accepted. The winning painting is one of my all time favorites – White Light. (Gosh, I am going to have to reshot this photo. The lighting is horrible! The painting is actually very light and full of pastel glow. Sounds like a project for tomorrow since I have no time today!)

White Light, Acrylic on Yupo

The timing is appropriate. My sister-in-law looked at this painting and said it made her think of a wedding!

April 25, 2010 April 26, 2010

Last week was again a very busy week and yesterday morning I was going through my internal, whiny dialogue. Then I decided to quit whining and get busy painting. I set up a full sheet of Yupo, got out my acrylics and got started. I have always appreciated color field paintings and wanted to do a painting of a square. As many of you know, I love geometric shapes as subject matter. I chose purple and yellow/gold as my color palette to give the maximum energy and interest. I finished last night and the painting is in the “living with it” phase. The main question I am debating is whether to leave the edges of the square rough or make it more clean and crisp.  Opinions? Here is The Square #1.

The Square #1, Heavy Body Acrylics, 20" X 26" Yupo

Richard Naughton (see his blog on my Blogroll) has proposed a second virtual paint-out with the lighthouse as the subject and the posting to be June 21. Take a look. The last one was really fun. Won’t you join us?

March 15, 2010 March 16, 2010

Really exciting news… I received notification yesterday that three of my paintings have been accepted for Paperchase, a juried show held by Gallery 308 in Muncie, Indiana, home of Ball State University. Ball State has one of the top art programs in the state. This is a big deal for me because, other then the Indiana State Fair, I did not enter any shows or competitions last year. I wanted to focus on improving my basic skills and I spent my time studying color theory (working with books by Betty Edwards and Stephan Quiller) and drawing (classes at the Indianapolis Art Center). I am still a novice when considering color choices but at least now I have an understanding of the basics and THINK about color choices as I paint. My first drawing class last summer reawakened my long forgotten love of drawing.

Along with two 2010 pieces posted earlier on my blog, one of my 2008 collage pieces was accepted.

Collage #4, Watercolor and Paper on Yupo

I completed it after taking a workshop from Peggy Brown, a nationally known artist from Nashville, Indiana. She exhibits abstract watercolor collages and has recently become active nationally in art quilting. (I will add a link to her website to my list.) I have not done another collage since completing this one but I have always really liked it. I should do more, especially now that I have a better handle on composition. So much to do, so much to learn, so little time…better get busy!