That First Embrace

If you remember, I'm presently working in a more intuitive fashion with this next series of abstract paintings. Trying different techniques to see what comes out of me. To hold nothing back and relax, as the old saying goes, "Let it all hang out, Baby". This time, saying no to that critical voice before it speaks up and stirs the pot. This experimental process stops me from coming to the blank canvas with a preconceived idea, but rather come in an experimental mode of right brain thinking and be surprised by the results. Naturally, some simple editing near the end is necessary, but not at the beginning of the process or during the middle. Just a little adding of more colors here and there, and then STOP!

I've noticed the process of painting goes a little faster and frees me creatively in great strides more than ever before. I've been technically trained in art, so it's been hard for me to put that left brain training aside and just paint intuitively. 

Honestly, I'm more pleased with my work and hope this trend continues. This painting process, required lots of paint and is very messy, since I'm throwing paint at times. I did this outdoors with a plastic drop cloth on the ground, basically, marbling paint throughout the canvas until I get the desired effects. I wish you could see the details in person, up close. I like it, and I hope you do. I've got another one coming in the same style as this one. In this painting, I see the experience of embrace when a man meets a woman. Reminds me of when I first met my husband, Mike. He got out of the car, right away his hand raised his baseball cap off of his head and he threw his arms wide open towards me for a hug. I knew then, I was "hooked". The rest is history. Now, when I asked my husband what he saw in the painting, he said, "Smurfs in a blender!". Oh well, so much for the romance dept. Maybe, next time. I'm just have to settle for the embrace for now.

That's what's happening in my studio. Feel free to comment, I love hearing from you. And again, this painting and others are listed on eBay for purchase. Thanks for "visiting". Stay tuned for the next painting in this series of intuitive paintings.

Allison

P.S. My brilliant husband also said, I'd probably get more views on eBay if I give the painting his title. You know what, sadly, he's probably right. 

"The Embrace"

36" x 24" 

Acrylic

Click Here To Bid!

Close Up

Click Here To Bid!

Then Came Turquoise

So what's on the easel for today, you ask? Well, I'll be happy to show you. Something fun. I'm presently working on a new intuitive series. Basically, the process of this painting is this, I paint layers of color and I use a scraper (the fun part) and move the paint where I want it to go. Then I see the interesting colors that form and the movement of the paint. At times, I literally squeeze out paint from the tubes onto the canvas to get that punch of color right where I want it. Some areas of paint are scraped away and some are left behind. I go through large amounts of paint, but the look is worth it. This is a very large painting

Hope you like, "Then Came Turquoise". It came to show off.

"Then Came Turquoise"

40" x 30"

Acrylic

Gallery wrapped canvas

 Close Up 

Another Close Up View

Dancers: When There Was Nothing Else She Could Do, She Danced

I decided to try out a wood panel to paint, many artists prefer painting on wood panels. I agree with them in their opinions, there's no bounce or give to the canvas so easier to paint. Definitely a nice glide with each brush stroke. Sweet, actually. Presently, I'm working on more intuitive paintings, rather than having a definite intention with my work. It feels good to work intuitively right now. I'm still working with bold colors, even though I love pastel shades. There's something so clean and fresh about them. But for most of my work, it's about vivid, bold colors. 

While working on this little wood panel, the name "She danced" came to me. The movement of the paint gives the impression of seeing the room spin as one twirls or turns in a dance. Splatters of paint are showered down on this panel like confetti or great delight of the moment she dances and feels total joy. I hope you feel it here, because it was good that she danced. 

Remember this, when there's nothing else you can do, dance.

Title: "She Danced"

Medium: Acrylic on wood panel
Size: 8" x 8" 

"She Danced"

Cost: $29.99 USD

Close Up View

Another Close Up View

What do you think? 

The Tuscan Door

Hello there! I've been back in the art studio painting my little heart out. Actually, reworking a few paintings. Here's one I just finished reworking and I'm happy with the results. I, like many Americans love the rustic charm of Italy. You know, the rough textured rock walls, homes, and store fronts that, if they could talk, could tell intriguing stories hours on end. The window boxes that are overspilling with vivid, beautiful flowers, and the cobblestone streets. Ancient Italian homes with heavy doors painted in bright colors that draw your attention and imagination to wonder what's behind that door. Yes, my imagination goes and can get the best of me. But, it was nice free trip, right? Did I take you there?

So that leads me to this painting, "The Tuscan Door", in a lovely turquoise (one of my favorite colors) with red flowers pouring out from planters, terra cotta pots, and window boxes. Hope you like this one. It's available for purchase, just click the link and you can bid on it at eBay. Perhaps, we'll take another imagination trip to a wonderful destination. This way, you don't have to pack your bags or be strip searched. I'm saving you the hassle of flying!

 "The Tuscan Door"

24" x 24" 

Acrylic

SOLD!

What Are ACEO's, Anyway?

So, what are ACEO's, anyway? 

First of all, ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals.  

The requirement of ACEOs: they must be the size of a baseball card, 2.5" x 3.5".  

Art Trading Cards have become so popular as trading cards and can be found on eBay where the movement really took off. The reason for such popularity is it's become a great way to collect affordable works of art from one's favorite artists to trade, to give as gifts, or sell. Even artists are collecting them from their favorite artists as well. They can be sold as originals or editions, so make sure you know which you are buying or trading. There are also ACEO clubs to share your trading adventure of ACEOs.



Hope you enjoy my newest sunset series.

"Sunset I"

2.5"x 3.5"

ACEO

Acrylic
Sold

"Sunset II"

2.5" x 3.5"

Acrylic

ACEO

SOLD!

"Sunset III"

2.5"x 3.5"

Acrylic

ACEO
Sold

'Sunset IV"

2.5" x 3.5"

Acrylic

ACEO

Sold

"Sunset V"

2.5" x 3.5"

Acrylic

ACEO

SOLD!

Do you collect ACEO's?

Time To Move Out The Old And In With The New!

Hello again!

I've decided it's time to move out some of my older abstract paintings to make room for the new. So, here's a great opportunity to purchase one of my paintings at lower prices. 

Here's the paintings from which you can choose.

"Deconstructed Dreams"

Sold!

 

"Winter Reflections"

Sold!

"Grand Funk"

Sold!

Happy Bidding! 

Allison

Anything Can Be A Canvas

This is one post I'm excited about and I'll share with you why. My parents had an old wooden door on the back of their house to the basement and it had rotted out from water damage. My husband went to the task of removing the door and replacing it with a new one. Once he had finished, he started to carry the door to be placed with the other trash. I stopped him and said, "Let's not throw the door away, let's see if we can re-purpose it!". A new artist friend of mine came to my mind, ....Ah, Joyce Thornburg! She paints on anything, doors included, I thought. I'll give her a call. Sure enough, Joyce was delighted to hear I had a wood door for her to paint on if she wanted to and she did.

Click here for my previous post on Joyce's work: Asheville's River Arts District And It's Talented Artists

Joyce had a recent art exhibit with a 1800's farmhouse door she had painted and it was well received. She calls herself the compulsive painter, she'll paint on anything and it's paying off! You'll see what I mean later on in this post, but for now I thought it would be nice to journey Joyce's process of this recycled door for you.

Here's is Joyce Thornburg with my parent's old wood basement door ready for her to paint.

My husband had to cut off the bottom of the door since it had water damage. Here the door is actually shown upside down.

I recently visited Joyce's studio during the River Arts District Art Studio and Stroll. And I was so happy to see the re-purposed finished beautifully painted door!

Joyce's brightly light sun-infused art studio at the River Arts District in Asheville, NC.

A close up of the painting on the door.

With Joyce's willingness and talent to paint on anything, along with her artistic vision, she has been commissioned by a local green builder to paint a door for his recent custom-built house in thriving West Asheville!

Here's the new commissioned door for a green custom-built home.

The above commissioned door with be installed at this new home. Here's the write-up about the green home for sale.

Way to go, Joyce! From just having fun painting on everything to getting a new start on commissioned doors for custom-built homes right here in our mountain city of Asheville, NC!

To find out more about Asheville's River Arts District, click here; River Arts District

A Look At Fall Leaves in Asheville, NC

Hello again! Hope you've had a great Autumn this year. Since I live here in beautiful Western North Carolina, I thought I'd share with you photos and videos for your enjoyment. One warm Fall day we took our daughter over to the Botanical Gardens at Asheville right next to UNCA to walk in the leaves and through the stream. Did we ever had such a great outing and it's right here in town, yes, I know we are spoiled. If you get the chance while in Asheville, it's worth the visit to the Asheville Botanical Gardens. There is a nice walking path around the gardens, not too long at all. Great areas to stretch out on a blanket or pick your favorite private bench. But the best part, is walking down along the stream and hopping on river rocks! Yes, grab your water shoes and get prepared for loads of fun river rock hopping or just sit and soak up some sunshine.

Here's our photos from our Autumn outing on a warm sunny day. And I've included a few youtube.com videos of the mountains showing off their colors this Fall. Enjoy!

A Fall beautiful day. Colors just beginning to show.

The pathway begins.

Lots of yellows and golds.

Now the pathway winds.

A bench for you!

A lovely wood bridge over the stream.

Time to put on the water shoes.

The gentle stream in all of it's glory.

Close up of the water.

Walking on the river rocks. Oh, did I add my husband loves to take butt shots?

A child's delight.

Sitting on a fallen tree over the water.

 

 What fun, a day at the Asheville Botanical Gardens!

Here's a youtube video of Western North Carolina's Fall Leaf 
Color 2011. Enjoy!

And another video of fall color:

Asheville Early Fall Color, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina Mountains

How Was Your Halloween? Here's Ours.

Greetings from wacky West Asheville!  Do you remember your childhood Halloweens? I got to thinking about my own childhood Halloween experiences, as I was just leaving to take my daughter trick-or-treating.

I grew up West Asheville when it was still a small community, separate from the main city of Asheville. The city street I lived on was a traditional neighborhood with a wide street of different sized bungalow and arts and craft style homes situated close together. Back then, I won't say how far back, we all knew each others' kids and pets. It was the time most families were still one car families, so the streets weren't packed with vehicles like they are now. I walked or rode my bike to the main road at the end of the street to get something needed for my Mom and after school picked up my candy at the dime store. Located off the main street was a bakery, doughnut shop, rock shop, hardware store, library, and etc. The street is still lined today with maple trees that arch over to form a tunnel of great shade in the summer and is a showcase of Autumn beauty when the leaves turn from green to yellows, oranges and reds. And the fun part, as a kid, was walking or riding my bike through all those leaves in the fall.

When Halloween came, my Dad took me out trick-or-treating along our street. Naturally, as a kid, all I cared about was the candy, but it was great to see our neighbors as well as to get to compare costumes with the other kids in the neighborhood.  The elderly people on our street were so delighted to see how I'd grown from year to year. It's been a fond memory of mine as an adult, even remembering the years when it rained on Halloween night and walking through wet leaves to get that treasured candy!

Now, to the present, and young, new families have moved into the neighborhood and on our street, remodeling and updating the old bungalows of the 20's and 30's and creating a whole new vibe on a once dying street. These families go all out for Halloween, decorating like crazy and putting out tons of Halloween lights, graveyards in their front yards, skeletons and various other Halloween decorations to the max! They invite friends over to sit on their porches (yes, we still have porches in the South!), to watch what is about to happen that night.

About 6pm, cars and families, all dressed up in their Halloween costumes (including many parents), flood our street! Literally, thousands come. At times you can't walk on the sidewalks for all the people and you wind up walking the street. It's an event, our West Asheville Halloween night. We still get to see our new neighbors as well as the old and my daughter had the pleasure of seeing some of her classmates, while walking up and down the street. But most of the people are from other parts of the city or from the county areas. But we don't mind one night of crowds.  A police officer was there, watching the crowd and giving out stickers to the kids and the crowd was well behaved. One home gave out popcorn in little bags and showed a movie in their yard. We really enjoyed ourselves and are still amazed about how these homeowners knock themselves out, decking their homes and yards in Halloween decorations.  Here are some of our photos from this annual event.

First of all, my precious 6 yr. old daughter in her fairy costume that she designed herself.

Getting a bag of popcorn and do you see the white chairs set up for movie time?

Here we go, off to the next house!

Walking down the sidewalk, see the leaves and our lovely maples?

A neat jack-o-lantern with a scene of an owl on a bare tree branch in the light of a full moon. Hats off to that pumpkin carver!

Street packed with cars and people!

Look at this decorated yard!

The other side of the same yard!

Another house that goes all out with lights and decorations.

And the other side of their yard.

What were your childhood memories of Halloween? Or your present experiences with your kids or grand kids? Would love to hear them, Allison.

Grand Funk, do you remember?

Another painting completed, would you be interested in seeing this one? "Grand Funk" is full of vibrant color, lines and texture. Don't you just love vivid  rich blues, purples, reds and little touch of warmth add from the yellows to the oranges? I do. This abstract painting has movement with a blue texture grid running through the painting. What does it make you think of, a railroad, perhaps? I gave the pleasure of naming this painting to my husband, Mike. Thus, the name "Grand Funk". Do you remember the The Grand Trunk Western? (And you thought I was referring to the band, right?) A former railroad line, and if he had the opportunity, he'd love to give you all the details. I did enjoy working on this one, I have to say...the vibrancy of the palette...just makes one feel alive.

Moving right along, here's the painting!

"The Grand Funk"

24" x 36"

Acrylic

Sold!

Close Up View

Another Close Up View

Hope you enjoyed seeing my latest addition from the art studio.