A consuming commission

When I last posted here, I alluded to a project that has consumed quite a bit of my  time and creative energy. Given that this blog has suffered a great deal of neglect lately, you can assume that still holds true!  Unfortunately, because this is a commercial project for a product yet to be launched, I can't post any progress shots or share specifics about it right now, except to say that it has been very exacting, time consuming work that leaves little time for fun things like blogging. Compared to how I normally approach a painting, this work is quite a different animal. Designs have to be made according to a certain format, of a certain scale, and there is nothing done "on the fly". Everything has to be very well planned in order to get the placement exactly right. So even though I am using my own creative skills and imagination, I am also working within a lot  of structure and constraint.

While I love working more spontaneously, I think this work has been good training, as it has compelled me to work in this deliberate fashion. It has been a good experience in terms of the structure, forethought, and preparation I have had to do before ever picking up a brush. Given that I can sometimes be a little quick to "jump right in" with my own painting, I hope to carry over some of the things I am learning about process into my other studio work.

Spring is springing here in Richmond (albeit slowly) and it's always so exciting to me to see new life re-emerge after the cold dormancy of winter. I find it very appropriate, personally, as I have felt a bit like a hibernating bear. But that should be changing soon. Already the April calendar is marked up with dates, deadlines and "to do's". In addition to wrapping up this commission, I have two shows that will open (more about that in a future post). Shortly thereafter things should be normalizing, and I can get back to my usual studio work, and the blogging that comes along with it. I am determined to get back into plein air work again too, and am already planning and plotting my course to make that happen. Enjoy the spring, everyone!

Promenade sur la Rue Claude Monet

Well life has taken an interesting turn for me this past month. My lack of posting would suggest that I have been away from the studio, but that is not the case. In fact, I feel as if I have become a permanent studio fixture, getting up at 5 a.m. and painting whenever I can find the hours before and after the hubby goes to work and my daughter goes to sleep. "But where are the paintings, then?", you may ask. Well, the work I'm referring to is more commercial in nature. I can perhaps post more on that in time, but not at the moment. Suffice it to say, that up to now,  I haven't had much time for my own "personal" work this year.

Nevertheless, things are normalizing (for now), and I have been able to return to my easel to finish a painting I started some time around New Year's Day.

"Promenade sur la Rue Claude Monet" Oil on linen, 11x14" ©Jennifer Young

Hollyhocks always make me think of France. I have tried growing them in my own garden but they always seem to get overtaken by rust. Maybe my garden is altogether too crowded or too moist, because in many parts of France they always seem to be growing out of what looks to me to be dry rock! This is a street in Giverny that leads to Claude Monet's famous home and gardens. The street is aptly named Rue Claude Monet, and is itself the subject for many potential paintings.

Happy New Year!

Just a brief post to wish you all a very happy, prosperous, and creative 2013! Santa Claus pretty much hijacked my studio for his own personal workshop over Christmas, but things are normalizing again. My daughter goes off of Christmas break and returns to preschool later this week, so I can get back to painting and promise more art related postings soon. Here's to good things and happy painting in 2013!

Sogno Rosso

We have been back from Thanksgiving travels for a week now, and we all received an awesome airline door prize in the form of the virus-of-the-day.  It's on the way out now, but I guess I should not be surprised to have contracted something, travelling with a toddler (who, especially since she has been in preschool has become the human petri dish!) Well, I guess as they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Any way, I am back to painting now, and I have really missed my studio time.  As I mentioned before, I am sticking to some smaller paintings for a while. The holiday schedule seems to just get fuller and crazier with each passing year. So, for sanity's sake, I think I am finally learning to just be kind to myself at the outset and not even attempt anything overly ambitious during this time.

So December is officially small painting month for me! And here, to prove my point, is a 12x16" painting of the Val d'Orcia, in Tuscany:

The compositional sketch:

"Sogno Rosso" Oil on Canvas, 12"x16" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

The Tuscan landscape just seems to roll on forever. It is a painter's dream. That idea is the inspiration for the title. "Sogno" (= dream), and "Rosso" (= the red field of poppies). I am painting from photos, memory, and imagination. The photos are the touchstone, but through memory I hope to convey my feelings for this place, which, from the very first time I laid eyes on it, has pulled at my heartstrings.

I rarely paint anything exactly as it is, (whether painting from photographs or life) so that's where the "imagination" comes in. I compose, rearrange, and edit until I acheive a composition and a statement that is pleasing to me. I want to stay true to the place, but really, it's just a moment in time, and an impression of the natural world that I'm after.

Though I am temporarily committed to keeping my painting sizes small, I think this composition cries out to be reincarnated as a larger piece at some future point. What do you think?

Benvenuti in Toscana

We are traveling next week in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday, so I am limiting my sizes in the studio to avoid having a half-finished or unresolved painting when we come home. Here is a little 9x12" painting of the Val d'Orcia , set high up on an olive grove. The scene then slopes down to a Tuscan farmhouse and then back up to the hillsides beyond.

"Benvenuti in Toscana" Oil on Canvas, 9x12" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

I plan to do a few smaller works like these over the next while to serve as studies for possibly larger scaled paintings. I liked the idea of undulating rhythm as this painting leads the eye up and down the hillsides. And while I am happy enough with it on a small scale, I'm undecided if I will attempt it in a larger rendition. For now  I think I will move along to one of the other compositional ideas that I have cooking. Hopefully I'll have more along that line by week's end.