Restart.

Occasionally, after I've been working on a painting for a while, I get the urge to just erase everything and start over. I try not to do this too often, as it makes all the work I've already done a complete waste of energy. Sometimes though, it becomes obvious that whatever inspiration I started with has long since passed, and it's not going to do anyone any good to keep trying to save it. Inevitably, the painting becomes a dark, muddy, mass of nothing. So, I like to paint it all white again, which gives me a new start.

This is the set of 4 12x12's that I began a few months ago. I'm already happier with them.

My Inner Mandala

(from dumpr)
[photo used was of Thin Space (2006) under UV light.]

Also: Painting is incredibly difficult with a sore, weak neck. Especially now that I have a schedule, and various things I need to accomplish. It's hard for me to stop, even for 2 days. I keep doing little bits. (It's like heroin.)

I'm thinking of adding some yoga to my painting regime, which will benefit both my physical strength and mental clarity. Creativity can only be enhanced and improved under these conditions.

Karma Juice

I have another gig scheduled! I will be hanging my work at Karma Juice in Dana Point, CA. I must complete these 6 small paintings within the next two weeks to hang there.

Small ones are so much fun! They look great as a set, but can be sold individually as well.

Details regarding the artist reception will follow. How fun! A juice party!

I will be there, sipping an acai smoothie.

Wetcanvas.com

I received some comments on Luminary from the nice people over at Wetcanvas.

Luminary . 4ft x 5ft . 2007

[*Shown in normal light (first), normal and UV light combined (2nd), UV only (3rd), and no light/glow (last). Made with candle wax and acrylic paint.]

This painting is so big, I couldn't transport it in my car if I wanted to. I loved working on it. My color-mixing skills are progressing. It is essentially the same design as "Summer!" from last year, although it's much improved. (Summer! is not for sale.) My goal with this painting was to make color the focus. I really wanted to show "edges" (of color) and feature many intricate layers of paint.

It didn't feel like "summer" this time though, perhaps because it was painted in February. So, I named it something else.

It looks gorgeous with both regular and UV lights on together, making the colors seem to light up from within. I'm thrilled that I was finally able to capture the "glow" in a picture, something I should be able to reproduce with each new painting now. Because of the size of this piece, the gloss effect works beautifully, like large, smooth panes of glass. It's difficult to see in the image, but the edges of the painting (including the sides) are purple, which really makes the oranges and yellows stand out.

This painting was made in part with the help of Arcade Fire's 2004 album, Funeral, which I listened to about 87 times while creating it. Many thanks go out to their wonderfully inspiring tunes.

Unless it sells beforehand, this piece will serve as the first of two 4ft x 5ft paintings which will hang in the gallery in Laguna this July.

http://www.shaylamaddox.com

Almost done!

I love it when a painting is almost done. It's my favorite part of the process. At this point, I'm able to focus on detailing and fixing things, since the bulk of my work is complete. I get to spend a lot of time really close up to the painting, which allows me to actually see what I've done. I feel this great sense of accomplishment. This used to be a blank canvas wrapped in plastic! I have corrected this. The world needs color. (It also needs people to join hands and start a love train, but that's a different story.)

Productivity.

More to paint: I'm going to be doing a series of smaller paintings to hang in a salon in Newport Beach, CA this summer. I'm looking forward to it. It will be a welcome balance to the myriad of large paintings I've been working on lately.

I went to SOKA today. I always leave there happy. I was anxious to go home and paint. This is different than some other days I go home and paint, in which I don't necessarily feel like painting. In those times, I paint anyway, regardless of whether or not I feel like it. Today, I was really looking forward to it.

Teamwork.

Sometimes it helps just to have another set of eyes.

On schedule now. I think.

As of right now, I have 3 separate paintings going. (One of which is a set of four 12" x 12" canvases.) My super-big 4' x 5' painting is making it difficult to add anything else to the mix.

I feel stifled.

So, I have put aside the set of 4 and I'm hanging my smoke painting on the wall until I feel inspired to work on it more. Yes, my smoke painting.

I want to add something new. I also want to finish my current big one because it's so much fun to do.

Forward motion, you know.

Pretty

Strangely, if I get enough sleep, I actually enjoy the mornings. It's sort of pretty out. The light is different. Most importantly, if I can get a first round of painting done before noon, it means that section will dry sooner. That means I can get more painting done each day. A full round of painting & drying takes a bit of time because of my particular technique, so the extra painting rounds I can get each day are crucial to how quickly I complete a painting.

I found this rose on Valentine's Day. It was not like any other rose I saw that day. (And I saw about 10 billion of them.) The image is not altered in the slightest. Phi!

I gave it to Colin.

Casper

Um... You see this, right?

Upcoming Show

I just confirmed a show for this year.

My work will be on display during the month of July at Townley Fine Art in Laguna Beach, California. There will be an artist reception (for me!) on Friday, July 13th from 6-9pm.

You're all invited.

I also have plans brewing for a few other venues as well.

In other news: I'm finishing up 3 paintings right now, and will be posting them soon. I'm also getting a gallery page up so that I may devote more time to blogging about my process, and not use this solely for displaying art. This will, of course, render my other blog totally irrelevant.

Warming . 24"x36" . 2006

*shown in normal light (top), both normal and black light (middle), and just black light (bottom).

It also glows in the dark.

Ultraviolet, which really means "beyond violet," refers to the spectrum of light not normally visible to the human eye. It doesn't mean it's not there. It just means we can't see it. There are many colors that are only visible under UV light, often found in things like minerals, and on the feathers of birds. I don't really feel that I should be bound by such things as "the visable spectrum" either, and I enjoy using ALL the colors when I do art. I feel it has a much broader sense of completeness.

Seeing how different lighting drastically enhances the color of the painting is intrinsic for me in the process of creating it. Since I spend most of the creating-time in normal lighting conditions, I too feel surprised each time I turn the blacklight on. It feels more like it changes with you, living and breathing throughout the day. Even though I can't see it glow in broad daylight, knowing that it will once night falls is interesting to me. It's as though the painting itself has something more to offer you.

I challenged myself with this piece, by attempting a very "red" painting. (My most difficult color.) I was also interested in doing something without as many intersecting lines and circles as I normally tend towards. It really strengthened my color and design skills (I think). I will definitely feel more confident using warm colors in the future, and I think it ultimately improves my work to constantly be doing things I find difficult.

Lots of exciting things are happening. 2007 will be even better than 2006.

I'm just gettin' warmed up.

Da kine . 24x30 . 2006

(shown in both normal and UV light, as well as in sketch form.)

I used a mixture of sand and acrylic to do this. The painting itself is fairly heavy. I wanted to create something that looked like it was made of stone. Glowing bricks.

My Grandpa used to have a rock cutter and after he was done hunting rocks he would cut them in half and polish them up. I was always fascinated that this dull scraggly rock had such beautiful colors and lines inside. Blues to greens to purples to crystals. From dusty and dull to sparkly and smooth in under an hour. Sometimes he would glue little penguins or army men to the rocks (except for the ones that were 55 million years old.) I'm not kidding. They're still all over my Grandma's house.

Cool blues are so soothing to me.

Early . 24x36 . 2006

Finally. This painting has mocked me for months. I don't know if you've ever been mocked by a painting, but let me tell you, they're vicious. I proudly proclaimed this 'finished' months ago, but immediately began reworking it and only now completed everything.

This is about ancient times and civilizations. Specifically, do you know what The Antikythera Mechanism is? (The Antikythera Mechanism) I didn't until this past summer. It's an ancient analog computer that predicted the movement of planets. (!) It got me thinking about a lot of things that people don't seem to consider. Like, for instance, how do we really explain the rise and fall of very advanced peoples thousands of years ago? Do our computers and huge metropolitan cities really make us more advanced? Can we truly comprehend the knowledge held by these civilizations?

The implications are profound. It really forces one to question the reality of one's own beliefs. At the very least, it makes the entire journey of faith and understanding much more complicated. I like the introduction of new questions to my own spiritual journey. In my opinion, it makes God bigger and less defined, which I find reassuring. I like being reminded that we, as human beings, cannot possess the same knowledge as God. We do not know, and we cannot define GOD by our current time, current faiths, or current understanding. If we can assuredly say Who God is, what then, is the purpose of faith?

I don't know. It seems like 'the beginning of time' keeps happening... in cycles almost.