Wish Bone

Wish Bone, by Leslie Avon Miller. All the paintings in the Old Bones series are 20 x 20 x 2 inches, on birch panel. I painted the 2 inch side section black, which makes them stand out nicely. I’ll try to get a photo so you can see. Wish Bone is still in process.
After my last post and receiving so many encouraging comments I have been inspired to continue to work on the Old Bones paintings. At first I wondered if I hadn’t just been complaining right out loud on the internet, which didn’t seem like such a good thing. But then I realized that I really had benefited from stating what had been such a challenge about this particular series. The benefit came from hearing the things you all had to say. And that’s because I am an Extrovert. As such I tend to process information based on having thoughts and feelings reflected back to me. For me, it is the process of communicating about my ideas that creates clarity. That’s how I tend to get to “oh, I see!” I need time to talk about it.
Introverts tend to come to understandings by reflecting inside themselves, thinking things over quietly and then coming to “oh, I see!” They need time to think about it. Then they are ready to talk about it.
I am continually fascinated by people and how we work. So I find this kind of stuff really interesting, and now I tend to think about how our personalities influence our art and the process of making art. If you want to know more here are a few links. This article talks about the differing communication styles of Introverts and Extroverts. This link talks about personality traits, and provides a list of questions you can answer for your self to find out your possible personality type.
Thank you all for communicating with me!




This is Old Bones, in the landscape orientation. I had originally thought the light part would be vertical on the left. I am not so sure now.

The White of Old Bones

Intimate Communication Series, collage, 6 inches by 6 inches, by Leslie Avon Miller

So, for about the forth or fifth time, I am working on a White Series. Now let me tell you, this isn’t easy. That’s why I’m still working on it. White is a color, but as colors go, it isn’t very extroverted, like red or even introverted, like blue. It is actually quite neutral. Kind of like the kid in school who was always okay but never excelled at anything; until he went away to college and became an engineer. Or the girl, who hitchhiked to Los Angeles, took off her braces, got beautiful and became an actress. When they show up at the class reunion, people say “wow!” White is like that. Quiet, unassuming and blended into the background. Until it finds the right setting, with the right cast of supporting actors, and then, well, something beautiful happens.

Whites in all shades of warm butter or gray misty fog, or blue toned sandy seaside, the white of winter drifted snows, the color of old bones; those whites can sing in three part harmony. Those whites mixed together are like a surprise gift wrapped in tissue paper. And that’s what I am seeking and striving to create. And I am also looking to get a little funky kind of thing going with a personal language of symbols, marks and layers of texture. I want to create contrast that accentuates what’s happening, but remains true to the beauty of white, like old world marble which is white but all those other colors too.

I have been reading Wolf Kahn again. What rings true for me is Wolf speaking about the artist expressing unique, particular perceptions. He said “the intimacy of his personal relationship to the work at hand has to remain inviolate.” The White Series keeps calling me back again and again, like a spiral. So here I go again. It’s going to be fun, engaging and challenging work. What could be better than that?

Collage! Collage! Collage!

I just love collage! After a day of painting I sometimes sit in the evening and make small collage on my lap. These are between five and six inches square. I gather and sort papers by color and get started. Some of the papers have been used in the studio to remove paint or apply paint in the larger works. I sort, place, consider, move little pieces around and begin adhering the papers. Sometimes I take them back to the studio for an application of paint. That’s how I got the little black marks on some of these. Sometimes I draw on them. I love to do that, but I am a little unsure of myself in that regard. An attitude of play might help me out with that. These collages may eventually be destined for the International Collage Exchange for this coming year, 2009. I like these just the way they are, but maybe I’ll add a bit of pencil work for fun.

Today Mary Ann at Blue Sky Dreaming talked about a statement of intention for her new art direction for 2009. I am inspired by her discussion. Each year I pick an aspect of design to focus on. Textures come easily to me, and are a natural area of strength. I love shapes but I could really be more assertive in this regard. And I have worked on color; particularly the aspect of value and contrast even in my high key work. I have added mark making to my focus. I have room to learn more on all of these areas, but I am enjoying playing with shapes. That little curve at the top of the gray and white stripes is part of an arch from a stencil. I like it a lot. So I will continue to play with adding more assertive shapes. I’m currently working on my communication series which is all about connection. I will continue to do so. Connecting with all of you via my blog and yours has been a lot of fun, and has provided lots of inspiration too.

Solilogy

This is a 9 x 9 section of a 20 x 20 work I am currently working upon, which is part of the Communication series. I have spent several intermittent days building up layers and sanding them back down again. I find I am out of my rhythm with the break for Christmas. I spent the afternoon getting reacquainted with my materials, tools and the current series. Because the new camera isn’t here yet, I put this 16 inch square on the scanner. It’s awkward, but at least you can see something new. Since the scanner is only 9 inches wide, I can only get a bit of the piece. Tomorrow we have another day of family holiday festivities. I hope to be able to work on this piece again on Sunday. This portion has good contrast despite the very limited color pallet. I want to increase the contrast in the rest of the piece.

My friend Jo Reimer has just written a new post on her blog describing when we first met, about 1996 or so. We were in Taos to take a work shop with Sas Colby. It was a Masters class, and I was a beginner. I didn’t let that stop me! I wanted to take a work shop and I wanted to go to New Mexico. So off I went, and met Jo. She kindly helped me all week to figure out what to do, art wise. We also did some sight seeing, taking photos of old doors and adobes. We looked at a lot of art. I would love to get back to Taos. It is a most magical art community and environment. We were at the Mabel Dodge Luan House. We stayed there, ate there and created art there. The keys to our rooms opened the studio door, so we could work anytime of the day or night. Sas read the greatest poetry to us every day, as part of the ambiance. It was heaven.

For anyone who wanted directions to make the little folded art book in my last post , the link is here.

The Latest Communication

I decided to add to this piece. My tendency to minimalism is always with me, so I do try to push further. I think about completion in terms of Haiku, with 17 syllables. If I can find somewhere near 17 shapes, or passages or elements, then I can conclude. I may still come back and work this again, but for now it is done, and I will move on to the next piece. It’s snowing again. I love being snow bound, as it is creating extra art time. When I get 3 to 4 days of studio time in a row, I find my creativity flows, and I am rewarded with new ideas. I feel like experimenting and finding new art discoveries. Something happened on a paper plate (I mix my paint on paper plates) that was so great I am going to tear it apart and use it as a collage piece. What fun!
I don’t have a tree up, or cards written, but I am happy. I stopped and thought about how much time and energy goes into the holiday preparation, the actual celebration and then putting everything away again. I made a choice to do much less this year. This is my gift to myself. We will still have a celebration, presents, little twinkle lights, lovely food, champagne and I won’t be stressed. And I did decorate my blog with pretty falling snow...Why did it take me so long to figure this out?

Communication

I am working, as usual, on a number of pieces all at the same time. I don’t have the patience to wait for things to dry, even acrylics. After working a while on one piece I need to look at something else. The painting needs to rest, and so do I. Today, I have layered paint, collaged, sanded layers, finger painted and used a bamboo skewer as a tool. I usually pick some aspect of design to focus on for a good long period of time. The last two years it was shape and contrast. While still thinking about those elements, I am also adding mark making. The series I am starting now is about communication. I have a strong value with connection to others, and communication is one means of connecting. In this particular piece, I am inspired by the layout of a newspaper page. This piece is probably not done yet. After the painting and I rest, I’ll decide.