soul journey

pastel 20x20

As I continue working with the many ideas from Josef Albers, it feels like my eyes have been opened to possibilities I never thought possible. I feel more sensitive to the interaction between adjoining colors. Therefore I decided to add a painted frame. It allows me to do more with less. My favorite locations figure strongly in my new studies. Since when they are the muse there is no unnecessary thinking about making a place- it simply is, without effort. All the effort can go into the color vibration and melting.

 Below please see the before painting... simply not exciting.

Homage to the square glow, Josef Albers

Now more about Josef Albers:

Josef Albers investigation into color was done by using minimal means -paint straight from the tube. He applied it meticulously with a palette knife. His focused selection of colors took him through a journey, a serial investigation into rhythm, mood and spatial movement.

albers and me

20x20 pastel

Ok, so now I begin processing the information I learned at Cynthia Dantzic's workshop.

This was how the painting looked first (below.) At the top is the painting in its new form. I added a frame in pastel so that I could play the colors off of each other. I moved back and forth, trying to make a new relationship between the two. It's just the beginning.

PSA, Josef Albers, and master teacher, Cynthia Dantzic

the class

I was fortunate to be part of a wonderful experience at the PSA in NYC, Hands on Albers Color Workshop with Cynthia Dantzic. Ms. Dantzic was a student of Josef Albers, the color genius. She is a gifted teacher, and a wonderful person, who knows her material inside- out. She really challenged the class in every way. I left completely each day, fried and continuously thinking about the new information I experienced.
We learned about push and pull color space, transparencies, vibration, melted edge, and color reversals, to name a few!
As I process the information I will blog more about it. Look for a new post this week.

PS Thank you to Susan M Story for making this workshop happen.

simultaneous contrast- Josef Albers

I found this great vimeo about Josef Alber's work and simultaneous contrast.It starts out a little slow, stick with it because the content is good.

Ode to Richard

about 6x6 pastel and watercolor on Uart paper $100.
Today I decided to go to one of my favorite haunts and test my new understanding on familiar grounds (yet different light-4:45-almost 6:00). Here is my (hopefully understandable) explanation -----Simultaneous contrast.....a color is different depending on which color is adjacent. You can really make that work when it is the same value, different temperature. Thank you Richard McKinley and Josef Albers. Little pieces of dancing colors sitting next to each other. Can you see it in this little jpeg?

January 16, 2008 Great Falls (a piece)

8x10, pastel on board, $100.00 plus tax and ship

My study in split complementary color palettes has brought up the idea of simultaneous contrast. So that was my focus ( rather than a solid split complementary). Simultaneous contrast (in brief) means that no color is in isolation and the way one color appears depends completely upon which color it touches.. It really is fascinating. I think of it as being about relationships. Think Josef Albers and the work he did with color. So with this one a green might be placed next to a red for vibration or a yellow near a purple. It was hard as can be. I labored it until no more pastel could fit on the board. Still it is not a complete success... except I learned!!!!