Where everything else falls…in the life category.
I have been incorporating more diverse colours in my compositions to experiment with my theme, which is “mood”. It is difficult to explain, but I suppose my artwork right now is an attempt at expressing a feeling by using curated colours and blending techniques to display how the colours interact to create a “vibe”, “feeling” or “mood”.
This latest work (seen below) was my jealous mood.
Thanks for stopping by,
-S
When I completed this piece, I was sure that I had something special. My nebula perfectly captured the direction I had intended: a light blue swirl, beautiful deep burgundy, complimenting violet fields.
The look and feel of space.
Thanks for stopping by,
-S
One of my fixations of late, has been to capture my impressions of Earth from the viewpoint of someone looking down from space. Hours spent looking at Google Maps has helped with this (of course).
Pictured above is my latest piece: an abstract impression of islands floating in a clear and serene blue sea.
Although it is difficult to see in the photo- there is also some slight relief in this piece. You can see slightly raised lines in the shape of a circle. I enjoyed the use and mixture of colour to create this piece; however, if I could try this again, I would have started it on fresh canvas- sans relief lines.
Thanks for stopping by,
-S
I have been working with themes lately. I find that having a theme in mind keeps a person like me much more on track. As a creative-type, my process can be wandering due to my constant desire to explore, learn, and try new things.
This is my latest work, entitled: “Underwater Volcanic Pressure”
I wanted to capture an imagined view of magma trapped between two giant tectonic plates, by blending blues greens and bright orange with yellow.
The size is a bit small at 12 x 24 inches. If I could go back, I would had made this a bit larger, as I really like the way the orange magma turned out, and I would have liked to see it spread out on a wider canvas.
Right now I am enjoying using bright orange to contrast with dark blue in my work, so I am very excited to see how this will evolve in my next few pieces.
Thanks for stopping by,
-S
I have always been in awe of the sun. (Not unlike most other creatures on this earth of course.) One of my favourite comics features a short story about a personified celestial being (the sun) falling in love with a woman from the planet he orbited. You can read more about it here.
I created this acrylic on canvas piece in two parts (diptych). I wanted it to be a three part (triptych), but alas, when creativity strikes you must not wait too long to capture it.
In order to have a 3rd canvas ready at the time of production I would have needed to wait another day to have the frame dry enough to stretch the canvas and prep it with gesso. I was able to spend more time blending the colours with two pieces instead of three. I used a pearlescent powder with to give a shimmering effect for the cloud area around the bright orange sun. The idea here is that the sun is peeking over a deep blue ocean to move across the sky from East to West.
Thanks for stopping by,
-S
The marbled effect of this 12 X 24 piece is for me: almost breath taking.
I say “almost” because I am an outspoken critic of myself, along with the fact that I am in full understanding of the fact that I am very near to achieving the style I am working toward, but have not arrived there yet.
In this piece, I gave used acrylic on canvas, with a strong emphasis on dark vs light (perhaps a thematic feature of most of my work?). Texture and relief are present.
Gold is splashed within the veins of the work, to represent redemption and I even used sparse bits of gold leaf as well.
I have blogged about this topic before, and I will likely reference it again, as I find myself captivated. Hamilton Ontario has a downtown that is very rich in historical context, and this is evident in the edifices and landmarks.
One of the most consistent architectural features seen in Hamilton is the decorative corbel (seen above). They are used to transition an overhanging roof to the side of the building.
This converted residential/ commercial space also features the same style of decorative corbel.
The newly renovated Empire times building on King William at Hughson is another great example of the use of decorative corbels to transition an overhanging roof to the side of the building. This is easily one of my favourite downtown Hamilton designs (until the Templar flats are completed later this year on the west side of this very intersection).
This is a (mid construction) photo of the east side of the Templar Flats construction in downtown Hamilton. I have watched this construction closely over the past few months, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing the finished product. I love the mixture of modern innovation and historically themed design (if that makes any sense). Click here to see an earlier blog post where I discuss this topic.
Thanks for stopping by,
S.
This is one of my latest pieces in acrylic on canvas. I enjoy the use of colours like blue, violet, nude/peach, greys and gold.
The execution of this piece reminds me of an airbrush technique, as we see a very slight blending of the fields into one another. The violet acts as a dark body within which I was able to play some texture and relief into.
I think that my style is evolving; an idea that is evident in this work. I am very excited to see what I come up with next, now that I have nearly completed renovations on my home office.
Thanks for stopping by,
S.
I wanted to feature this piece specifically because it incorporates lots of gold. I like it so much that I gave it a name;(something I have not made a habit of thus far). It is entitled “Heaven’s gate” as this was the first term that came to my mind when it was completed.
I used gold leaf, green and blue acrylic on this 12 x 6 inch canvas. The only qualm I have with this work is that it isn’t as large as it deserves to be (in my opinion). There is some limited relief and texture in this piece, and the blending is quite well executed.
I have not sold this piece yet, but even if it doesn’t sell I am happy to have it hand on my wall for as long as I am able to.
Thanks for stopping by,
-S
When I started my Etsy shop two years ago, there were a lot of things I had to do that were totally outside of my comfort zone. One of those things (a huge and important thing) was to learn how to take good and clear photographs. When selling handmade items, one piece of advice that is repeated as gospel is to take clear images in great lighting; that tell a story about the product; and that show off as many details about texture and colour as can be in a high resolution format.
That is a geeky way of saying that you really gotta learn how to make someone buy your product all through sight! Of course there are other factors that help people decide to buy your handmade item, but that’s a topic in a blog post for another day 😉
First thing: employ the ownership of a 3 light lamp on a sturdy stand. 3 lights are best not because of aesthetic, but because they can be moved and aimed to point at your handmade object in a way that enough light hits it. Think: laser beams!
Below we see a photo stage set with a mannequin. In order to get a smooth and uniform backdrop, I hanged a white poly material from the wall. This backdrop is really best when either totally white (or as close as you can get) because the light shined from your lamp needs to be “bounced back” at the camera to ensure a well illuminated photo.
Easy trick to help remember: Optics= studying how light is captured and refracted to enhance/change images. I’m sure there is a more scholarly explanation that that of course; but that’s a basic grade 8 review 🙂
Once the stage is set and the light hits all of the areas that you want to highlight, take a few test pictures to see whether you should use flash (or not); set a widescreen image; or fiddle around with any camera settings that you like to use.
Final product: a cropped image with the brightness and contrast increased slightly.
For a non-professional photograph, I think it captures all of the elements that I had hoped for. I really like how crisp and clear the photo is- you can see the blue chalk lines on the garment (a temporary marking of course) that I used to line up each pocket.
That’s all for now, thanks for stopping by.
-S
Lillybochic 