Saturday, June 28, 2008

Maude


I don't usually post the commissions I do on my website, just for the privacy of the subject.  But this was such a great story that I asked permission to share it.  Maude was the "pie lady" of New Bern and baked pies for many of the area restaurants many years ago.  She passed away in her 80's this year.  In a lovely gesture, her son's partner commissioned me to paint a 30 x 40 portrait of her when she was a teenager.   The reference photo provided was stunning and a real inspiration...she sounds like she was quite a lady.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Riffs


In jazz, a "riff" is a variation on a theme.  I find that sometimes when I get some good momentum going painting, that I'll go off on a riff with a particular subject.  Its partly because I'll be halfway through a painting and will see that there are several different ways to finish it, and so rather than get "stuck" being unable to decide which, I tell myself, "Ok, I'll do it that other way NEXT time..." and keep going with the flow... often I will make a note in a painting journal to remember the other idea.  Then when the painting is done I'll grab another canvas and start with the same subject again, making variations in another direction.  The possibilities are limitless!  You can get an idea for what I'm talking about with my latest riff.  This was the first version, with this one, I started with a lovely colored texture on the canvas, and then drew directly on the canvas with a Sharpie pen and outlined the face - then went back in with thin layers of paint (glazes) to emphasize the features.  This one is called Raven.  If you look on my website, www.sallyanger.com you can see that I've done several variations on this theme - the latest ones being with really thick acrylic paint in textured layers of rich colors.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Philadelphia Show


Went to Philadelphia earlier this month for the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show (www.rittenhousesquarefineartshow.org).  The incredibly hot weather this year did keep the crowd down a bit, but I still had a great show.  Got lots of positive feedback on this new direction I'm taking with color, and two large paintings that sold were in that style.  This is one of the paintings that sold.

We're bloggin'!


Thought it might be fun to try a blog to share thoughts about the art process as I go along... lately I've really been bumping up the color in my work - it feels more "true" to who I am.  Here's a recent one that I created from an old photo of me when I was nine years old.