hannahreimartistca: Subject Matter Matters- Or does it?

hannahreimartistca: Subject Matter Matters- Or does it?: "Subject Matter Matters- POPPIES MY WAY I have blogged about flowers before but the subject still annoys me. How to paint them in a non-paint..."

Subject Matter Matters- Or does it?

Encaustic on Board. Sold. Detail below.

Subject Matter Matters- POPPIES MY WAY

I have blogged about flowers before but the subject still annoys me. How to paint them in a non-painterly way. Such a ubiquitous subject matter, flowers. Especially the poppy. The watercolourists suprema. The penultimate flower. Great colour, interesting form. And of course. It's not a rose.

Roses, another sore point for me.

So here we are, choosing to paint flowers again. Poppies that are not easily identifiable at first glance. Encaustic is a wonderful medium for my goal. Wax and paint will move the painting along without giving the whole story away. Happily, I am somewhere between impressionistic and abstract.  If  I would be so bold as to give advice on selecting subject matter for painting I would say, the subject matters and then it doesn't. Are you clear on that? Of course you are.

hannahreimartistca: Two Heads are Better than One

hannahreimartistca: Two Heads are Better than One: "Mixed Media on Paper When I start creating a piece I never see the end in my vision. I am envious of artists who do, or is that at all p..."

hannahreimartistca: Watercolour-The Match between the Motive and the ...

hannahreimartistca: Watercolour-The Match between the Motive and the ...: "A Peaceful Resolution Watercolour vs. Me It's Clean. OK? My real problem with most media I use is that I am not fond of mess. Obviously,..."

Watercolour-The Match between the Motive and the Medium

A Peaceful Resolution
Watercolour vs. Me

It's Clean. OK?

My real problem with most media I use is that I am not fond of mess. Obviously, that is not a good thing for an artist to declare.Every so often, I make a decision to use watercolour in the way I would use acrylic. But the end result is not what  I am pursuing. Watercolour has a mind of its own. And we are not of like minds. I want the colour to move. And it doesn't. Then I want it to be stable. And it's not. It wants to be painterly and lovely and pleasant and form trees and flowers and other fauna. Struggle. Scream, dab, wash, scream again.

No, it will not conform. What a miserable, stubborn... no wonder it's associated with kindergarden. I hate you. But, then. A mark that I actually like. One small, unsuspecting mark. In the full sheet of paper, one insignificant mark which makes me happy. The brush, the paper and the watercolour have come to an agreement to make me crazy and continue to paint. Ah ha! It's a plot. Then the gloves come off and the match continues. Usually I lose. But I am a stubborn s.o.b. too. So here we are. An impasse.

I fold the paper, maybe rip it to relieve some of the stress.

Well, at least the clean-up is easy.

hannahreimartistca: Where is the Symbolism... what? No Symbolism??

hannahreimartistca: Where is the Symbolism... what? No Symbolism??: "Not every piece of art deserves interpretation or analysis. First, it's boring to blah,blah,blah it to death. Secondly, the best work is som..."

Where is the Symbolism... what? No Symbolism??

Not every piece of art deserves interpretation or analysis. First, it's boring to blah,blah,blah it to death. Secondly, the best work is sometimes visceral. It has no intellectual component which you can discern.

So I laugh when some buyer insists on a story. I have none for this piece. It is a sculptural, whimsical non-functioning version of a teapot.(Which by the way, is the most complicated pot a ceramist can construct (or create if you are being snobbish).

So that's it for this piece... it's gone to a lovely home- the most spiritual woman (Pilates Instructor) bought to display  and enjoy. Sorry for the lack of blah, blah, blah today. Hope you enjoyed looking at the piece.

hannahreimartistca: Colour Me Erratic

hannahreimartistca: Colour Me Erratic: "STAIN PAINTING- 'DESIGNING WOMEN' Whenever I choose to create a piece of art, I have to ask myself a number of impossible questions. Like-'..."

Colour Me Erratic

Acrylic on Raw Canvas

STAIN PAINTING- "DESIGNING WOMEN"

Whenever I choose to create a piece of art, I have to ask myself a number of impossible questions. Like-"Should I paint any representational detail?""Can I defy the image?" " Will I bow to the pressure of reality?"

"Will I allow the viewer to see something of the image I am painting?" Inevitably, the questions are answered in my subconscious as I let the brush and the paint overtake my rational mind.So, although I consider myself to be a pure abstractionist, I often succumb to the  need to allow the viewer to "see" with my eyes.

There is always a part of my psyche which leads me down the path of perceptual acceptance. Yes, I will let the viewer in on my little secret.

I have studied the formal principals of art. Foundation- that's the name given to the earliest part of art education. Then the artist has years to unlearn everything. Oh, it's been a struggle not to paint landscapes, portraits and flowers. Those are the paintings which sell easily. I compromise. Somewhat and sometimes.

One day I will resist the urge to show any recognizable image. But for now I walk the tightrope of style. The style which lies between intuition and cognition.

My viewers usually comment on the wide range of styles and media in which I work. Yes, I am erratic, catch me on any particular day and you will see the yin and yang of the artist. I am not all things to all people, just to me.

DESIGNING WOMEN - Please email me for the specs and the price.

hannahreimartistca: When An Open Mind Meets a Free Hand

hannahreimartistca: When An Open Mind Meets a Free Hand: "Mastering The Loose Over the years I have discovered that I am inherently a free spirit. You would never know that if you know me perso..."

When An Open Mind Meets a Free Hand

Mastering The Loose
Over the years I have discovered that I am inherently a free spirit. You would never think that if you know me personally.
I am seemingly conservative, appropriate and obsessive. When I started to study painting and drawing, all these character traits went into hiding. I was the Osama Bin L. of the art world.
Other students exclaimed how fortunate I was to be free and loose with the brush. I didn't want to reproduce anything closely, although I did learn how under the guidance of many competent and  structured  art educators.
But once I realized how unhappy I was to make small marks, shade and light in obscure areas, follow the perspective relentlessly, I rebelled.

I now understand.
I am a rebel. An "Outsider" in artistic terms. And I love it. Thank goodness for my modern and contemporary fellow artists- now I am not shunned by galleries, art collectors and other traditional artists. But even if I am, I don't care. Love the Rebel. Love the Freedom. All serving to be the truth, seek your internal mentor and love who you are.

DETAIL IMAGE

hannahreimartistca: When Form Defies Function- Raku This~

hannahreimartistca: When Form Defies Function- Raku This~: "Craft versus Art The argument that brings ceramists to their knees has long been based on aesthetics. The belief that art must hang on a wal..."

When Form Defies Function- Raku This~

Craft versus Art
The argument that brings ceramists to their knees has long been based on aesthetics. The belief that art must hang on a wall has forever been disputed.
 Pablo Picasso created his art on many mediums, clay being one of his most cherished.

 No one in his right mind would call Picasso a potter. But his pots were pots. And his plates were plates. Are these works considered "Craft"? A resounding "nooooo" echoes though the Art world.

I am not comparing myself to Picasso. I am not that narcissistic (or crazy). But when I create an object that performs no function except to engage the viewer, I consider that work, ART. Raku firing of vessels has long been a driving force in my life. These pieces hold no particular function, they cannot support water, food, flowers, or for that matter, me. This piece  is one of several in a series of thrown and altered boxes. Yet it can do nothing for you. Except make you happy to see its beauty. I call that art.

hannahreimartistca: Ah, beloved little bottle, where are you residing?...

hannahreimartistca: Ah, beloved little bottle, where are you residing?...: "I thought it was time to pay tribute to a beautiful crystalline bottle which I have been missing for a while now. I am a ceramist as w..."

Ah, beloved little bottle, where are you residing?

I thought it was time to pay tribute to a  beautiful crystalline bottle which I have been missing for a while now.
I am a ceramist as well as a painter. Yes, I know that you know that by now. But I like to say it.
This bottle was the result of two years of testing crystalline glazes. I would not want to revisit the catastrophes I endured during that time. Pieces stuck to the shelf, glazes puddled in one glassy mess, the pot bare or even worse, no crystals. So much work, so much loss.

Appropriately, these little gems that survived had a high price tag hanging over their head.

Nothing compared to this result. It was crazy, crazy good. And so it sold to a woman from Germany. I know this because the gallery where it was showing told me so. She also bought the only matching plate. For a good amount of money.

But even so, I long for this piece. Hopefully little bottle and plate are dwelling in a beautiful home in Frankfurt, (or wherever), and safe from the clumsy hands of children or housekeepers who don't know the value of objects of beauty.

That is my farewell diatribe to this piece. Perhaps, I can reproduce a close clone and blog about it in the future. But don't count on it... I know a one of a kind piece when I see it, and so did the collector.

hannahreimartistca: When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint Them

hannahreimartistca: When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint Them: "Ah fruit. The quintessential subject matter for painters. How do you make lemons and pears, the most ubiquitous fruit, interesting and chall..."

When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint Them

Ah fruit. The quintessential subject matter for painters. How do you make lemons and pears, the most ubiquitous fruit, interesting and challenging to the eye.
Here is my version of the fruit bowl, Hannah-style.
What? Are not all pears pink? Look harder!!!'