Thursday, December 19, 2013

More with maps


I continue with my map painting studies.  The second one is painted on two different maps sewn together.  I am really excited for this new direction.

I find a connection between the natural and built infrastructure that maps represent and the biological system of the human body.  Plus the psychological and sociocultural significance of the map has become part of the human psyche.  



"Hearts" has found a home!

"Hearts"
oil on wood, 36"x30"
SOLD

I am thrilled that this piece has found her home.  This painting was one of the first I did for my two-person show with fellow painter John McCarthy entitled "Disguises and Disappearances."  It had come to represent this body of work.  The process from inception of the idea to execution and then completion of it is quite a journey.  Once someone resonates with a piece enough to choose to live with it, I feel that the process is truly completed for me.  And for the new owner, its life has just begun.  It's a wonderful feeling. 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

2-hour head study


ooooo it's fun to get back to my open-studio group.  It had been more than a month since we met.  This was a 2-hour head study with our lovely new model Jennifer.  I used a Zorn-esque palette: cadmium red light, yellow ochre, titanium white and ivory black.  As always, I could have kept going....

Friday, December 6, 2013

"artistic contemplation and the picture gallery are incompatible..."

"The reason why the art museum made its appearance in Asia so belatedly (and, even then, only under European influence and patronage) is that for an Asiatic, and especially the man of the Far East, artistic contemplation and the picture gallery are incompatible.  In China the full enjoyment of works of art necessarily involved ownership, except where religious art was concerned; above all it demanded their isolation.  A painting was not exhibited, but unfurled before an artlover in a fitting state of grace; its function was to deepen and enhance his communion with the universe.  The practice of pitting works of art against each other, an intellectual activity, is at the opposite pole from the mood of relaxation which alone makes contemplation possible.  To the Asiatic's thinking an art collection (except for educational purposes) is as preposterous as would be a concert in which one listened to a programme of ill-assorted pieces following in unbroken succession."  Andre Malraux in Voices of Silence, 1935. 

What a compelling bit of historical information.  It really makes me think about the way we all view artwork today. 


This is a quickie 15 minute class demo on getting a figure started; I started with laying in a loose contour sketch in translucent paint, then laying in my skin in shadow in a cad-red-light/viridian mix, then hair in shadow (yellow ochre/purple made with winsor red/ultramarine blue), then my skin-in-light in a titanium white/cad-rd-light/yellow ochre mix and hair in light(yellow ochre/titanium white), then transitional half-tone in a cad-red-light/viridian/titanium white mix and half-tone for hair (mix of hair in light plus hair in shadow);  THEN with bit of remaining time, started to adjust for differences in the skin in light (by adding a little more pigment to my mother light palette); and adding some deep pigment for reflected light within shadow. 


Thursday, December 5, 2013

Smaller older pieces for someone you love...

I am offering a 15% discount on these for the holiday of your choice :) !
Email me at jbalkan{at}grandecom{dot}net.

I can't stand on my own
oil on wood, 18"x12"
$800.

I can't stand on my own
oil on wood, 18"x12"
$800.


Woman 1
oil on wood, 12"x16"
$600.

Woman 2
oil on wood, 16"x12"
$600.


Woman 2
oil on wood, 16"x12"
$600.


Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Beautiful Bizarre Magazine

Mermaid
oil on wood, 45"x30"
SOLD

I am thrilled that "Mermaid" is featured this month in the Australian art/photography/sculpture publication Beautiful Bizarre Magazine as part of a group exhibition.
You can view their website at http://www.beautifulbizarre.net/



Get your print or digital copy here http://www.beautifulbizarre.net/shop/4578400335

MICROART

Stand up straight
9"x6", oil on board
pre-SOLD

MICROART!

Just add water, 6"x8"
oil on board
pre-SOLD