Morris Louis Inspired Artwork

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art, Morris Louis, oil painting

 I’ve always loved the D.C. based artist Morris Louis, who was a contemporary of Jackson Pollock’s, and part of what is known as the Color Field School. You can see some of his work at the National Gallery and it’s like standing before pure color. The hues are so bright and at the same time create these layers of blended color that form new hues and shades. 

I was also fascinated by his technique. I knew from observation and my own technical knowledge that he worked on unprimed canvas, which is what allows the colors to seep into the cotton and bleed into the other colors. Usually artists prime their canvases with a gelatin like substance that seals it, then they build up paint on top of this. This allows them to create figures and more realistic forms. And it also means a longer lasting piece of work. But with the modern movements of the 20th century, artists started playing around with the canvas and the line (think Kandinsky, Pollock, Rothko). But, unlike Pollock, Louis’ paint bleeds into the canvas. Just like I was inspired by Louis, he was inspired by Helen Frankenthaler, another contemporary. She introduced him to the world of staining canvas with her painting, Mountains and Sea.

I decided to see if I could make my own Morris Louis inspired forms, to play around and see if his blended hues were recreate-able. I have to admit, this is the first time I played around while making art in such a long time! Usually, I am more focused on a composition or mastering an image I see before me. But this was almost pure play, and I really want to do it some more! I want to find out what other fun I can have messing with canvases and oils.

First, I scoured the internet to see if I could learn about how he painted. Did he use a specific paint thinner, or was it oil? How did he get the paint on the canvas? Obviously he paints at an angle, but what was the actual technique? 

Louis didn’t allow anyone to observe him at work, but I did manage to find an image of some other artists who stain their canvas. One was trying to recreate some of Louis’ later paintings to learn the technique, just as I was. Another, Rodney Graham, is a fascinating musician and visual/performance artist in his own right, but he lead me to this image:

 The Gifted Amateur, November 10th, 1962 (2007)

 I love it for so many, many reasons. First, he’s painting in his silk PJs! I can get behind that. No artiste attitude for him! Secondly, that house! Beautiful, and sort of my dream house. But thirdly, and most importantly for our topic today, he’s showing a way to mimic the way Louis worked. 

Then, I played around with thinners. I tried linseed oil and turpentine, but found turpentine to be the best at capturing this affect. 

So, I bought canvas and stretched it. Mixed pigments and thinned them. At first I poured them from glass jars but found the effect to be sloppy. So, after that, I purchased plastic squeeze bottles and filled them with my oils and turpentine. They allowed for a much more directed style. 

Here are my two works, in order of completion. I’m fairly pleased. At least as much as I could be when I am an amateur (I won’t even say gifted) and this was my first attempt at a new technique. They do look nice on the wall, and lend some much needed color to otherwise dreary, large beige walls. 

 

 

Moving and Memories

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Austin

That picture is of our half-packed apartment. We move on Saturday to another, larger apartment in the same complex. It’s a two bedroom and we can’t wait!

But, even though we are ready for more space, and excited to move, this apartment that we are leaving was our first together. We moved into it shortly after arriving in Austin and made it into our home together. It was the apartment where I got to be a desperately bored housewife, who, despite liking to cook and clean, started having panic attacks about my need to be gainfully employed and not dependent on my husband for money forever. It was the place we brought Penny Pie home to, and the place where we stayed when we couldn’t afford to go out. We added furniture to it as we could, or needed. A table and chairs for our first Thanksgiving. A couch this past winter when I couldn’t stand not cuddling while watching a show any longer. We still haven’t gotten a bed frame and are a little short on chairs, but it’s generally been fine.
This was our starter apartment, the one where we fought out problems, celebrated being together, made plans for our future and saved our pennies. It’s the place where we figured out what it meant to be part of a marriage, or at least, we started that difficult task here. One day we will tell our kids about it, and about how we got a dog for Christmas, instead of any other gifts, and how I made the napkins from remnant fabric, along with the Christmas stockings and shower curtain.
It was our first place to make our own, and we did the best we could, and were happy with it. Because we were. We have been. We are.

But now, I feel ready to create our “grown up” apartment. I am excited to have an office space, one that is out of the bedroom, and to get Ian’s desk out of the living room so he can have half a man cave. I am excited to have more space so that some things can be put away and my closet wont be a crap shoot full of crappy organization. (I get the master bedroom closet and Ian is taking the closet in the second bedroom. Perfect solution.) I want a bedroom that involves a bed I don’t have to roll out of to get up, and one that is meant for relaxation.

We have some money now to play decorator with, and I’ve been mooning over design books, hoping that for once I can make our home a comfortable, pretty place without always having to search for the cheapest alternative. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pretty cheap, but now at least our friends will have enough chairs when they join us for dinner, and our shower curtain won’t be too narrow because I ran out of fabric. I can actually buy the shower curtain!

I am very excited to have my apartment act its age. One of us should.

Antique Mall Redux

These were taken at the Austin Antique Mall where Mom and I spent a gray afternoon. I love this place. There was so much to see and comment on, and photograph. I wanted to be careful so people wouldn’t think I was using the photos for some nefarious purpose. Rather, I just wanted to post them on the blog. 

Handmade Christmas

I know, that title conjures up images of broken toys, limping along on limbs that are uneven lengths, busted seams on sewn items, or macaroni glued to paper plates given to parents trying to hide their smiles in hopes of looking grateful. Or it makes you think of a log cabin where everything is covered in the frilly green and red of some old time-y daydream gone horribly awry, a look only mastered by Martha Stewart’s captive Christmas elves.

I didn’t want to go crazy with the holiday inspired decor this year for a few reasons.
1) We’re poor.
2) We aren’t huge on Christmas to begin with (it being essentially a religious/commercial one and we’re not religious or big on debt), and since no family is nearby it’s going to be a quiet one anyway.
3) We don’t have kids.

But, I did want to do something because we are neither the Grinch nor Scrooge, and I do like the ideas of peace on earth, goodwill toward man. If only it weren’t for one month or day, and actually happened.

Last year, our first year living together, I decorated our table while Ian was at work.
And it looked a little something like this:

 He really liked it, and loved coming home to the surprise. So I kept the tradition going this year. When he got home from work this is what greeted him:

I had sewn the stockings beforehand, and spent about a week of TV nights embroidering our names on them, so that was no surprise, but the decorated mantle was. I finished the stockings up that morning for the big reveal.

I also spent about a month making something (I’m still really new at sewing and make a LOT of mistakes) for my niece, Paige. She’ll be one in February and every girl loves a doll. Here’s a gratuitous photo: 

There she is!

 Ian predicted it would be torn apart limb from limb in a week, but I don’t care. It’s too adorable. 

One doll, three dresses. Her hair is in a bob, like Jackie’s (her mom) and she wears a flower, just like Paige. And I also made a little carrying case that could double as a purse, if her mom feels like using it for herself instead.

IKEA Day

We went to IKEA after lunch with Steve and some new friends at Takoba. The place is pretty, and the patio very nice, but we left with a bad taste in our mouth. Not because of the food, which was alright but not fabulous. They were out of lemons so I couldn’t try the Pisco Sour which was supposed to be really good. And their salsa tasted like raw green peppers. I hate them raw. But that’s not their fault.
Really, the problem was in the service. Our waitress wasn’t rude, exactly, she just wasn’t very good or nice. As a former waitress I know what serving a group of nine is like. It can be a hassle when people join late, or are too busy talking to let you properly take care of the table. I am very cautious around those types of tables because I want to be present enough to do what’s necessary, but allow them to talk and hang out. But here’s the problems with the service we had:

1. When Lena asked for a berry mojito the girl brought out a regular one and only then did they tell her they didn’t have berry mojitos anymore. So they made her a strawberry one. If you stop carrying a drink, you should probably know that and tell your customers.
2. It took forever to get them to take our food order.
3. Unless some people left early to get back to work, no dishes were removed after we finished eating. So we were hanging out and trying to tally up the bill while dodging puddles of salsa and bits of food.
4. They don’t separate checks. Okay, you, the restaurant owner has decided not to allow this. Fine. No problem. But you have to contend with guests who pay part of their meal and then leave while others are there. You might want to consider bringing out a new bill showing what was paid for (including tax and tip if this has been included for a large party).
5. The waitress “conveniently forgot” to tell us that some of our party had paid part of the included gratuity, and the manager tried to argue that what our early departing party members had left wasn’t part of the included gratuity, but rather, “just what they felt like leaving” so that the waitress would get an extra large tip because we would think that the six remaining people had to pay the whole gratuity for all nine of us. That kind of sly dishonest treatment is what will make me never want to go back.

Other than that, we had a good time. Ian and I met some of Lena’s friends and one of the other couples was also new. It was the first time we’ve hung out with other couples and I for one, really enjoyed it. It was awesome to go for a leisurely lunch on a Thursday afternoon with cool people.

Afterwards we headed to IKEA because I’ve been daydreaming about a dining room table. Specifically this one:

Instead, we bought a white rectangle table:

Even though I love the tulip-like one, I actually think this other one fits into our space better. We’ve pushed it against the bookshelf so that we have extra space, but we can pull it out when we have guests. We also bought two folding chairs that are nice enough to use everyday until we find some others we want more permanently. Then, the chairs will be used as extra seating.
And for now here’s the dining room:

 I am so happy to be enjoying meals at a table again. And eating my soft boiled egg with toast.