Philodendron 3: Faster than gardening; slower than fingerpainting

December 27

December 29

Faster than gardening, slower than finger painting, making watercolors with Painstaking Exuberance shows progress: One step at a time, one shape at a time.

I find myself at the "fool my eye" stage of nano creation, where I look at the painting and begin to say "I am almost finished." Not really. I have to work out exactly how to finish the four big blocks, and then go back and outline each individual shape.

100 Buttons

I remember this stage when I worked on "100 Buttons."  When thought that I was nearly done, I counted the buttons and discovered that there were more than 100 of them, and that I wasn't even half finished. 

Philodendron 3: Painstaking progress on a big nanoscape

December 25

Sometimes I envy my friends who do plein air work, who strive to capture a moment in the outdoors, and complete the work in a short time. When they finish the painting in a day, I think that it must be like the "Whoosh!!!" of riding a roller coaster.

Painstaking Exuberance is the opposite of the Roller-Coaster "Whoosh!" Each piece -- really, each shape -- begins very slowly. Sometimes I fall into a rhythm, and sometimes that rhythm gains some speed. Not roller coaster speed, though. I do smile when I stop and find the first patterns emerging, and later find more intricate patterns and movement in colors and shapes. I am almost always surprised.

December 2

I wish that I could say that there is a plan for every nanoscape. I start with an idea, an inspiration, a jumping off point, or a shape that interests me, but unlike my friends who look at a mountain and paint the mountain, nanoscapes come from somewhere else. 

Philodendron 3: A big nanoscape

Philo #3

Up close

Philodendron 3 will be the first big nanoscape of 2011.  I began the drawing a few weeks ago, and got quite serious during the past four days.  Following the rules of Painstaking Exuberance, I finished the pencil drawing, and have been working the Davy's Gray outlines for 17 hours during the past two days. Although I went to sleep with an aching right hand, I also went to sleep with a big smile. I am a day away from begin to add color, and can't wait.

Rivers #1 - ready for the next step

Except for the two white circles, all of the spaces have their colors, making Rivers #1 ready for the next step in the Painstaking Exuberance of a nanoscapes' creation.

Painting all the lines which distinguish one shape and one line from another is the step that brings a nanoscape to life.

Still Point Gallery: Selections from 2010 Exhibitions

100 Buttons

With 100 Buttons published in the Still Point Gallery: Selections from 2010 Exhibitions, I am now "pictured" in the dictionary under "grinning from ear to ear." I am eternally grateful to Christine Cote, director, curator and creative genius behind Still Point Gallery.

Unlike many nanoscapes which are part of nano families, 100 Buttons is an orphan.  Its inspiration was a black and white line drawing in an ad for a Manolo Blahnik shoe that was loaded with thread-covered buttons.  My Manolo knowledge was limited to having seen the full run of Sex and the City. I've not worn heels since 1982, when I had a slipped disc.

The ad sat on my work table for a while until I said "I can do that." Using my collection of French and American coins, I traced lots of shapes -- more than 100, as I learned later. Working with nanoscapes' Painstaking Exuberance, I painted over the pencil with Winsor Newton Davy's Gray, painted each shape multiple times until I achieved the right color, painted line-by-line the "threads" that covered each of the buttons, painted around each shape, and finally painted around the whole piece.

Somewhere in the middle of this engrossing activity, I counted the remaining buttons, and learned to my surprise that having finished with 45, that there were a lot more to go. This painting is the purest expression of Painstaking Exuberance: line-by-line, shape-by-shape with lots of pigment and not a lot of water.

The 31 Pumpkins of October: a Painstaking Exuberance Project

The 31 Pumpkins of October have returned me to the roots of nanoscapes: tiny spaces, extravagant patterns, and enthusiastic explorations of colors.  Each will be painted on Arches or Canson watercolor post cards, and signed and numbered.

Pumpkin #1

Pumpkin #2

(a tryptych of Pumpkin #2 is available as a matted print from the nanoscapes ETSY shop )

Fractured Glass 3: Painted outlines bring the triangles to life

Painting the outlines of each shape -- Step 4 for every nanoscape, is my last chance to make the shapes  as perfect as possible by making their corners meet and connecting them into their swoops and swirls.  I expect that it will take six days to finish outlining the 726 square inches of Fractured Glass 3. 

 

Here is a closeup that lets you see the difference between lined and unlined triangles.

Long Rings 2010 - Done! With its own slide show

Long Rings 2010 is finished, and it has its very own slide show and close-ups. Relishing the Painstaking Exuberance that goes into every nanoscape, I have explored tiny spaces, created new nano designs, and given new life to designs from the nano archive.  While not quite answering the 2-d or 3-d question ("Is it or isn't it?)", Long Rings 2010 seems to fall neatly into 2-1/2 d, whatever and wherever that is.

Long Rings 2010 - Adding color is the heart of Painstaking Exuberance

Adding color is the heart of Painstaking Exuberance.  If you were to watch me paint shape by shape, brushstroke by brushstroke, bit by bit, painting one color next to another, you might "see" the dictionary definition of plodding ("to work laboriously and monotonously") and mumble something under your breath about watching paint dry.

For me, however, it is the polar opposite. I am fully and cheerfully engaged in finding the right place for the paint at the end of my brush. 

Will Daniel Smith Cobalt Blue Violet be comfortable next to Daniel Smith Viridian or would it work better between Schmincke Chromium Lemon Yellow and Holbein Bright Violet?   Sometimes Winsor Newton Opera Rose is right; other times Daniel Smith Opera Pink is better. This is my non-stop conversation -- mostly silent, sometimes out loud, always with a smile.