I wandered off on my own again and created a collage based on a photo from ‘back in the day’ when two of my little sisters, Susan and Mary, were swimming in the back yard pool (pre Hurricane Camille). I’ve always loved that photo and had earlier done a fairly abstracted version on the iPad. After my collage class, I decided to do a second version using the paired color technique I’d learned from Rotem Amizur.
the original photo.the ‘colorized’ iPad version.the collage version — didn’t get Susan’s head cute enough!!
A hard thing about this method is that Rotem encourages us to use whatever papers we still have on hand, rather than painting new ones that hew more closely to the reference underlying the image we’re trying to create. Here, that hot pink on the two girls is jarring, but . . . whatever.
I’ve been trying to paint more interiors lately, so I decided to try a collage construction based on the view of our living room from the kitchen table. The first cut was pretty dreary, so I layered up the background with a bright pink. Granddaughter Maya was around as I was critiquing the first version and she too agreed I needed a hot pink wall in the background, rather than the lavender I had already used.
Living room in wonky colors and with an imagined painting on the wall beyond the windows.
I took a second zoom workshop with Rotem Amizur which focused on still life collages. This one was less intense than the first and I produced less work, but this time I was working ‘from life’ based on a simple still life arrangement: plastic watering can; two lemons; and a small orchid (that I pumped up in the collages using artistic license.
Rhw set-upDrawing to analyze light/dark paper pairingsThe final collage – take one.
I then made a second collage of the same set-up, using a different selection of paired colored papers to represent lights and darks. Do you have a preference?
Second take, using same arrangement.
Next, for an added challenge, I did a collage of one of my special ceramic pieces, filled with twigs from the beautiful Chinese maple tree in my front yard.
Progress shot — the pins almost function as flowers — was tempted to keep it this way!The final, glued piece.
With more apologies to my Facebook friends who’ve probably seen these before, I want to post some collages I produced during a zoom-based workshop with Rotem Amizur, a fabulous Israeli artist. Key tasks included painting two contrasting layers of acrylic paint on each of a large stack of paper; selecting three or four sets of lighter and darker papers to represent light and shadow in different areas of the reference photo; and then cutting and arranging pieces of those papers to interpret the reference image in a collage. Here are two sets of paper selections I used in a couple of exercises:
Rotem had us select a couple of ‘old master’ paintings to use as our references. I started with a portrait of Matisse, followed by his portrait of his wife. I did one of Matisse and then a number of variations of Mrs. Matisse, some looking at the reference image or an earlier collage and others relying on just my memory of what Mrs. Matisse looked like. It was fun to get wilder and more abstract with each iteration, as we had to come up with a focal theme that didn’t duplicate an earlier collage.
Reference Image for Matisse CollageCollage of Matisse using 3 pairs of papers.Reference Image for Mrs. Matisse1st collage of Mrs. Matisse, following reference rather closely; 3 pairs of papers.2nd collage based on the first collage; 3 pairs.3rd collage, from memory; 3 pairs.4th collage, from memory, with only 3 colors.5th collage, from memory, 3 colors.6th collage, from memory, 3 colors.7th collage, from memory, with 2 colors & a pattern as added design component.8th collage, from memory; 2 colors9th collage, from memory; 2 colors.
And here are a few progress shots, showing the method of pinning the paper pieces, which were glued to each other in the final stage.
This was an exceedingly fun and challenging workshop — so good that I took a second one from Rotem a few months later. See the next post!
This past Spring, the Oasis Gallery invited the Seven Palettes (some of my art buddies and me) to mount a live exhibit at its Washington Metro location in Bethesda. Our exhibit ran from Monday, May 2d to mid-August 2022. Understandably, the show didn’t get much traffic, given Oasis’ use of zoom classes during the Covid hiatus, so I thought I’d post one last look at the paintings I contributed to the show. You can see the work of the other artists at the link above.
Great Falls. Oil on Linen. 20″ x 16″. $600.California Dreaming. Oil on Linen. 16″ x 12″. $360.Washington Candlestick. Oil on Linen. 16″ x 20″. $600.Birds Rest. Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 10″ x 8″. $200.Deer Island Sunset. Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 10″ x 8″. $200.Patient Reader. Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 12″ x 12″. $275.The Boats. Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 12″ x 12″. $275.Multnomah Falls. Oil on Linen. 10″ x 8″. $200.
Here are two of my favorite still life compositions, ‘homework’ painted in oil under the guidance of Ed Praybe. He’s a fabulous painter and equally great teacher. Check out his site.
Dried onion stalks and ceramics. Oil on Arches huile paper. 8 x 16.
MomMom’s Pitcher, Ceci’s Scissors. Oil on Arches huile Paper. 12 x 16.
Painters have a wide variety of ‘tube colors’ to use in trying to achieve their desired hues. I’ve got 30 or 40 tubes of almost every color you can imagine, most of them untouched. For quite awhile, I’ve opted to limit the number of tubes I use, challenging myself to mix a broad variety of colors from a handful of basic hues. Painters call this a ‘limited palette’. It lightens the load of what you have to carry around with you and it helps give a unity of color to your painting. Nice attributes.
There’s no specified set of colors for a limited palette. In the past, I’ve typically used a ‘split primary’ group, which includes two versions of each primary color, plus white and maybe black. Each of the two selected primaries ‘bends’ toward a different adjacent secondary color. For instance, cadmium red tends toward orange (yellow), while alizarin crimson tends toward a purple (blue). Blues may include phtalo or cerulean blue which tend toward green (yellow) and ultramarine blue which leans toward purple (red). Split yellows might include cadmium yellow light, which tends green (yellow), and cadmium yellow, which tends toward orange/red.
If you want to mix a bright saturated orange using such a palette, you’d combine cadmium red and cadmium yellow, rather than alizarin red and/or cadmium yellow light – a combo that produces duller, less saturated oranges. And so on.
Here are a few of my paintings using the split primary palette.
Great Falls, Virginia. Oil on Linen. 20×16.
After the Wedding. Oil on Linen. SOLD
The End. Oil on Arches Huile Paper.
Patient Reader. Oil on Arches Huile Paper.
Two Shells, Three Pearls. Oil on ARches Huile Paper.
More recently, as a result of a zoom class with Bernie Dellario and a number of painting buddies, I’ve been working with an even MORE limited palette — just three primaries + white & a neutral earth red: Hansa yellow; pyrole red; ultramarine blue; transparent red oxide and Titanium white. What a challenge, but I think I’m getting the hang of mixing a broad range of colors from these meager starting points. Here are some recent paintings using this palette.
Breakfront. 6×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper
Goldfish from Above. 6×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
Cuban Flamenco Dancers. 10×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
On the Dock. 10×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
Oakleaf Hydrangea Leaf in Fall. 9×12. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
In the last post, I included a photo I took of Dad during our July 4th party in 2010. I have always treasured that shot. Back in 2014, when I was beginning to experiment with gouache, I decided to hazard a rendering of the fuzzy image. I got it to this stage in my first session and put it aside for further work. I have never had the nerve to do more on it because I was afraid of messing it up or not doing Dad justice. I’m now declaring it ‘officially unfinished’. It’s not gonna be changing. I like it ‘as is’, shortcomings and all.
Dad – July 4, 2010. Gouache on paper. Private Collection.
As much of Biloxi knows, the O’Keefe family always celebrated the 4th (and our dad Jerry’s July 12th birthday) with a frolicking bash on the front lawn of 510 Beach Blvd. We would chow down on burgers, hot dogs, beer & cake and boogie to the sounds of “Butterbean” delivered by Bo & Dee. (That assumes Martha had supplied the right brand and quantity of gin for Dee!)
We always took a crop of photos of Dad, Martha, ourselves and the fireworks that followed, all overlooking our beauties: the beach, Dad’s palms, Biloxi Sound, and Deer Island. Here are a few glimpses of times past (an especially colorful 2010 & our Dad’s last party in 2016, a month before he passed away at age 93).
The man. 2010.
Dad & Alison, whom we also remember with great love. 2010.
Bo & Dee doing their thang. 2016.
Dad making his Independence Day & birthday remarks to the crowd.
The great grands line up for time with the ole man. 2016.
It would be impossible to retrace our workshop footsteps and recount all of our painting triumphs and pratfalls, so I’ll just say: WATER and WILDLIFE! We spent every day painting by beautiful waters ~~ the old Ocean Springs harbor, the gentle marshes of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the sparkling Ocean Springs beaches and the marshy streams meandering down to the shore. Here are a few shots of the waters we enjoyed.
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And as for the wildlife, there was a feast for the eyes ~~ from bombardier pelicans, sunning alligators, eel-gulping herons, osprey, crab and who knows what else. And I guess we have to count as ‘wildlife’ the daring youngsters, male and female, who paddle boarded within feet of the alligator after he decided to take a dip in the harbor.
