RAE ELLEN LEE ART: Ravens

Monday, March 9, 2015

SUSPENDED

When you make a mistake in real life, it is sometimes difficult to mop up. And it’s nearly impossible to extricate from some choices one makes. It can take years to set things right.

But . . . with painting, If you don’t like a color you just applied, well, just paint over it with a new color. It’s as if that icky color choice never happened. I love this about painting.

I recently spent entire days painting a large (for me) painting – 18” x 24” I believe it was. The scene was a rock wall which contains a hanging/suspended pothole beneath what we call a “pour-off” -- a late afternoon scene with big shadows. I called it SUSPENDED. This is from a sketch I did on the way to Zebra Slot Canyon here on the Grand Staircase. As I painted and painted, I had to keep painting over areas – mopping up. As an exercise, a learning experience, it was quite grand. However, when I could fix on it no more, I realized the thing did NOT hang together as one whole piece. A more professional statement would be that it “lacked unity.” See what you think:

SUSPENDED
Acrylic Mixed Media at 18" x 24" by Rae Ellen Lee

Almost without hesitation, I got out my utility knife and a scissors and cut up the offending canvas into small pieces -- none larger than 5" x 7". Quality and quantity were increased with a few slices of the knife, a few quick snips with the scissors. Other problems in life should be so quickly resolved. Oh, there were new needs to be met – sizing, adding a raven or a tree or two, finding appropriate frames, etc. Here are 5 pieces I consider finished. I'm "resolving" 2 more (one of them with the feature that looks like a lizard's head). I’m rather pleased with the results. These are highly textured (with layers of tissue) and sport a sheen of metallic gold. They look better in person, but you can get an idea from these images:

"Tree Shadow" **SOLD**
5" x 7" Acrylic Mixed Media
by Rae Ellen Lee

"Look! It's a plane." **SOLD**
4" x 6" Acrylic Mixed Media
by Rae Ellen Lee

Pinion Pine on Red
4" x 6" Acrylic Mixed Media
by Rae Ellen Lee

Canyon Shadows
6" x 6" Acrylic Mixed Media
by Rae Ellen Lee

Canyon Colors **SOLD**
4" x 4" Acrylic Mixed Media
by Rae Ellen Lee

Friday, February 20, 2015

RAVENS ON RABBIT BRUSH

RAVENS ON RABBIT BRUSH. **SOLD**
Acrylic on wood block -- on rabbit brush stems.
Total size 7" x 7"

While the actual painting in this piece, RAVENS ON RABBIT BRUSH, is only 1.5” x 1.5” x .5 the “twig” base is actually rabbit brush stems in winter. These soft green stems are woody in winter and will die and turn gray in future seasons. The reference photo of the two ravens was taken by a new friend, Victor Jacinto Cano, an artist and musician from Bellingham. We have about nine mutual friends on Facebook but had never met, so he stopped recently to visit me while on a road trip around the southwest. He’s traveling with Lola, his adorable little Havanese doggie companion.

I have decided to include this piece in my #70Paintings70Years project.

A few of the #70Paintings70Years pieces I posted previously are in my first art show, with friend Reiser, at the Anasazi State Park in Boulder, Utah. I wasn’t actually ready for a show, but could not pass up this fine opportunity. It runs until April 11, 2015, so if you are passing through the area check out this fine state park. Before or after you watch the video about the Coombs Archeological Site, look at G. K. Reiser’s colorful paintings and whimsical sculptures (occupying most of the wall space) and my paintings (at the back of the room).