Pushing the Depth in New Painting

The first day of work for a new 48"x 36" oil on canvas painting.

This is almost complete, moving past the details.

Detail from the foreground.

More paintings to do in my continuing interest in the light, color, people and energy at Crown Fountain in Chicago.  I am drawn to the complexity and the challenge of pushing the depth that can be achieved on a flat surface.  The people moving and interacting with one another and the water is a continuing source of interest for me as a painter.  The process is the most important part of my work, the finish product is the result of total focus and always trying new ways of working while learning where my next brush stroke will take me.
This painting will be number 39 in my body of work about water.  I can't wait to get started on my next drawing and painting! 

New Solo Show at the Old Courthous Art Center

I just finished installing my latest exhibit that will show for two months at the Old Courthouse Art Center, 101 N. Johnson St.,  in Woodstock. The artist reception will be held on Friday, August 14 from 6:00- 9:00 p. m. on the same night as the Second Friday Art Walk on the Square in Woodstock.  The Pat Rotello Retrospective and Claymirth opening will be on the same night.  There will be music and art and lots of fun events.  What a great way to enjoy a late summer evening in the Midwest!

Big Commission, 8' x 34' Mural for Beatles Blast

In early June I returned from a fabulous week in Spain with my husband Keith and said goodbye to our friends from Berlin Yvonne and Carlo.  It was my first time in Spain and everything about the country was worth a second visit.  But that's another story with loads of beautiful photos.  For now I want to share with you another adventure, this one of the artistic kind.

 

 A week after returning from Spain I received an e mail from  fellow Lakeside Legacy Arts Park resident artist Sara Barkley.  Sara was passing on a message that the owner of The Cottage Pub in Crystal Lake was looking for someone to paint a mural for his restaurant and install it in two weeks.  I contacted The Cottage and spoke to Paul Leech, the owner.  I met with him the following day, took measurements of the wall, after calculating the materials cost and time it would entail I came up with the price that we agreed upon. 

Here is some of the Backstory that makes this project interesting: 

The mural will be created in  less than 2 weeks in my studio located at the Lakeside Legacy Arts Park.  The owner of The Cottage Paul Leech is from Liverpool and I lived near Liverpool at one time and did post grad independent study at Liverpool University and my husband was a graduate teaching assistant.

The theme for the mural is  Matthew Street in Liverpool, location of the Cavern Club, where the Beatles performed in the early part of their careers.  I’ve been to England a number of times and visit Matthew Street when I am there.  The mural will be complete by Thursday June 18 and the installation at the Cottage will be on June 19. 

 

To better explain the painting process, installation and final event weekend I have put together an album with a few captions.  Needless to say I had a great time with this whole mural project from beginning to end.  The many years of had work in my studio, constantly refining my craft and never shy about taking on new challenges all came to together for the "Mathew Street Install".

 The Northwest Herald  featured the mural and weekend event at The Cottage in the Thursday entertainment section of the paper.

 

The Cottage in Crystal Lake, IL. This is the 8'x 34' wall that I will transform into Mathew St., Liverpool for the Beatles Blast weekend.

I measured the height and length of each wall section making room for the windows. I had to accommodate the step up to the deck and elevate the canvas off of the pavement to ensure a consistent look to the mural.  Each panel was hand cut, assembled and stretched.  Most people were unaware that the brick wall was actually a painting.

This is view 2, from the parking lot of The Cottage.

Time to begin stretching 272 square feet of acrylic primed canvas on heavy duty stretcher bars using copper coated steel tacks.  Before beginning I completely reconfigured one end of my studio to accommodate the many large canvases to be stretched and painted. 

After the under painting on each canvas using graphite pencil I made a grid with corresponding proportions to the grid drawn on the plastic sheet over the photographs used for reference.  The above panels measure 8' high 50" and 36" width and 2" depth.  This is the first day of sketching in charcoal on the panels.  The entire painting is acrylic. 

My daughter Michelle took the picture of me focused on the painting at hand and surrounded by the large canvases waiting to be transformed into bricks, sculptures, windows and signs.

This is my daughter Michelle Enerson, she spent two days working hard to paint some background and many of the bricks that you see on the final painting.  She as such a great assistant and did a super job. 

Here is one corner of my studio lined with brick painted canvases.

Here is the 8'x 50" panel featuring a painting of the sculpture featuring the "fab four" above the doorway of the Beatles gift shop. 

The Beatles sculpture as it appears above the door of the gift shop on Mathew St. in Liverpool.

Above and below you can see the paintings in my studio, they are almost ready for delivery and installation.

Above is the painting of the John Lennon bronze sculpture that is located on Mathew St,  I added the Everton and Liverpool Football Club posters on the window above to feature the local sports celebrated in Liverpool.

This is the photo reference that I used for the above painting of the John Lennon bronze sculpture, as it appears in front of The Cavern Pub in Liverpool

Here you will see Tom and his crew doing and outstanding job at installing the mural.

This is a view from the deck of The Cottage overlooking the mural.

Here is the installed mural with the entire length on view.

The photo above shows a view of Mathew St. in Liverpool.  Below are more views of the mural at The Cottage.

Above and can be seen Me and my daughter Michelle in front of the mural.  Michelle and her husband Matt visited The Cottage on Saturday to view and celebrate and the completed and installed mural. 

Here is American English Beatles tribute band performing on Sunday night at The Cottage for the Beatles British Blast.  It is very rewarding to see your work on view for so many happy people celebrating art,  and music to together.  If you missed seeing the mural this year it will be installed next June for the Beatles British Blast 2016.

Installation of "Fluid Motion: Fresh Visions of Chicago at Play"

Here is one of several views of my show at the Addison Center for the Arts.

This is Jeanine with Harry and Lori, who are wonderful interviewers for the City of Addison Cable TV show.  They interviewed me for my show.  I'll post the video when I get a copy.

Jeanine and Harry after the show was installed.

Jeanine and her daughter daughter Michelle.  I call on Michelle to help me hang shows she has a "good eye" and is very good at helping decide where each painting will look best.

New Solo Show in April at the Addison Center for the Arts

Reception at Bridgeport Art Center

Final Painting for "Portraits of American Veterans Project.

This is my Dad, SgtMaj Dan L. Hill, he is the 24th and final painting for my "Portraits of American Veterans Project".

This is a view of the details for my Dad's painting.  All of his 12 medals from WW II, Korea, and Vietnam plus 16 campaign ribbons are presented in the background.  I painted these and the flag from life.  This is most certainly a labor of love.

Final for the rough of all 24 oil portraits.  Each of them measures 40" x 30" and they do take up a lot of wall space. 

OK, I am finally wrapping up the Portraits of American Veterans Project.  The paintings are now complete and I will delve into my reflections of the process and the stories about all the brave women and men I have had the honor to represent.  Thank you all for your service.