New wanderings (isn't this a given, now?)

Two new works on paper, 38" x 50" each

    I finished these two new works on paper a couple of days ago. They're an effort at seeing how some of my newish ideas might work out on a larger scale as paintings. I'm feeling confident about how some of this is turning out. If these were already paintings, I would have made them denser with imagery and pushed some of the formal relationships further. There would be more layers, for sure. As they stand, I'm feeling good about the way things seem to be developing. I particularly like how the one with the overlapping blue fields turned out. I won't be able to reproduce it as a painting, but I'm hoping to retain some aspect of the warm colors filtering through the cooler colors on top, if I choose to make a painting out of this idea. I feel like I'm getting closer to a name for these hard-edged, yet flexible forms I'm using. I'm also doing some related research that I hope will help my tie together some conceptual ideas running around in my head. I'm heading towards a need to revamp my general artist statement and am trying to get enough information to formulate a more solid basis for this new direction. 

    Today started off with an early (for me) morning with jury duty. Of course I had too little sleep last night and have been a walking cloud of drowsiness all day. Anyway, I got to City Hall, went through the jury panel selection part, made it to a court room and was dismissed, thankfully. My jury summons had me reporting to City Hall instead of the Criminal Justice Building which almost always means that you're going to sit on a civil case, if chosen. I got lucky and had a high juror number, so the judge and lawyers in the case found their jurors well before my number would have been called. 

    So, I have my jury duty work "excuse" sheet. Since I work for myself, to whom do yell at for missing work time, even though I have a valid excuse? ;)

    Afterwards, I stopped by Artist & Craftsman Supply to pick up some canvas, gesso and a pack of six 9" x 12 panels. I'm in the middle of working on several small paintings begun earlier this week, but I'm thinking that this afternoon and evening will be a good time to stretch at least a couple of new larger canvases. 

TM

 

Nine drawings

    

Nine Drawings (out of 20), 2021

Each: graphite or conté and oil pastel on paper, 12.5" x 9.5"

One day recently, I went on a drawing spree. I completed twenty drawings during an afternoon while also watching video profiles of various artists. I don't recall all of them, and I'm sure that there were a couple of repeats, but I often enjoy watching videos when not listening to music or podcasts while working in the studio. This particular afternoon, I wasn't in the mood to paint and remembered that I had this pad of nice, smooth white paper made by Fabriano and that I had a bunch of oil pastels that  hadn't been used in years, so that was it, a drawing day it was. I made some drawings back in 2004 or so where I used graphite with colorless and white oil pastels that turned out really well. I wanted to see what could happen using those same materials with my glyph images. 

The types of mark making that can happen when dragging the colorless or white oil pastels across soft graphite or conté was interesting to see. The blurriness and break down of the original drawing does something for me and I can't quite put it into words. I think it may have to do with altering the drawing in such a way that it begins to take on a different shape and appears to be morphing as I'm manipulating the oil pastels. The drawing seems to be in a state of flux, receding and advancing out from the paper all at once. If I cover the drawing with thicker layers or darker colors, the drawing gets buried under a confluence of marks. I'm always debating how much of the original drawing to leave visible. I'll start covering it up from the middle or one side and work my way across it from there. Determining where to stop the over drawing is always the interesting part. I like pushing the marks to the very edges of the glyph grid and figuring out how much of the glyphs to leave and where to cover them up entirely. 

I'm not sure where these will lead next. I've already made some on larger paper (22" x 30") and the results were pretty cool. However, the surface of the larger paper has a mild cold-press feel to it and even though it's a shallow texture, I'm not entirely satisfied with the results. I'm going to look for sheets of smooth paper that's at least 140lbs. A hot press watercolor paper will work, I'm sure. In the meantime, I think there's a lot to experiment with on the smaller sized paper. The 12.5" x 9.5" size feels really good, so I'll probably continue with more of these drawings at this scale. Maybe make enough to fill up a good sized wall. 

TM

 

Untitled-2014

Untitled, 2014, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

Website Updated!

I spent a good chunk of yesterday updating my artist website and even managed to revise my artist statement without giving myself a headache, lol!

There are two new sections on my site: ‘Installation Photos’ and ‘Studio Visit’.

The Installation Photos section contains shots of my work in various exhibition and other spaces. Studio Visit has photos of my studio space and works in progress. It gives visitors to my site a curated glimpse inside the studio and see a little of my process if they don’t visit or aren’t aware of my social media outlets, which is where I post most of those documentation shots.  

Visit TimMcFarlane.com to see what’s new!

Studio 4.01.15

Detail-work in progress on panel

Detail-work on paper

Call, response, dialogue

Most of All

Most of All, 2014, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

And, that's a wrap for 'Works on Paper December' and a wrap for 2014. Thanks for following along and for your support. All the best for a great 2015!

TimMcFarlane.com

Blind Angel

Blind Angel, 2014, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Skip/Cut

Skip/Cut, 2014, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Duro

Duro, 2012, mixed media/collage on paper, 38 x 50 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Untitled (2.27.12)

Untitled (2.27.12), 2012, acrylic on paper, 38 x 50 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Aesthetic Dogma

Aesthetic Dogma, 2011, water-based media on paper, 22 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Shield

Shield, 2014, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Black Rain I and II

 Black Rain I, 2011, acrylic on paper, 22 x 22 inches

Black Rain II, 2011, acrylic on paper, 22 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

cid80642012

cid80642012, 2012, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Decisions(20,511)

Decisions (20,511), 2012, acrylic on paper, 22 x 30 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Intent

Intent, 2014, acrylic on paper, 30 x 24 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Echoes

Echoes, 2014, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

Witness

Witness, 2012, acrylic on paper, 50 x 38 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

TimMcFarlane.com

opr15d

opr15d, 2012, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893

Unmoored

Unmoored, 2014, acrylic on paper, 30 x 22 inches

For the month of December, I'm posting works on paper completed this year and some from previous years. Available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: bmayer@bridgettemayergallery.com or 215.413.8893    

TimMcFarlane.com