Paint mania!

work in progress

oil on panel

10"x12"

Whoa, I have been painting like a mad woman since the art fair in October. Some months ago I scrapped all plans to have a plan for the body of work for my first solo show. My strategy is to just paint like hell and see what happens- hang the best of the bunch and paint over the rest. I am painting people from my life- moms from the neighbourhood, old friends, the Air Force Captain I bought my poppy from this year, my husbands natural gas guy etc. I have been trying to get as much accomplished in the first sitting as possible- alla prima style. I've been using long, flat Mongoose brushes that I order from a woman named Rosemary in England (they are actually less expensive than most natural hair brushes in the art store and far better quality) and mixing my paint with linseed oil and painting medium. I like the way the combo leaves the brush strokes visible.

I did the one above yesterday afternoon. The woman in the painting is Tamara Podemski. I met her 14 years ago on the set of Ready or Not- you must remember Busy and Amanda! While I stuck with paint, she went on to win a special jurors prize for acting at the Sundance film festival. She is a powerhouse of a singer, actor and dancer and an honest, fiercely dedicated human being.  Lucky for me she was back in town in happy to sit for me.

I'd better get back to work, I have 22 others in the hopper!