Very grateful to Jocelyn Murphy for the article she wrote about the WomanMade:NWA show in yesterday's newspaper. So surprised & excited that my painting was included!
{Studio Journal & Sketchbook}
Showing posts with label Women in Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women in Art. Show all posts
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Friday, April 15, 2016
About: Flower Portrait (Woman)
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| Flower Portrait (Woman), 2016 Acrylic, Gouache and Pencil on Canvas (Horizontal Diptych), 60" H x 72" W www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
Flower Portrait (as a Woman)
Originally for the show, I was going to create a large painting that studied and explored the color pink, as this is a hue that is typically associated with women and being feminine.
But I shifted to thinking about the piece more in terms of the current series I am involved with called Flower Portraits, where I paint large abstracted drawings of flowers.
I decided explore both of those ideas together to represent what is to me a distinctly feminine symbol – a pink flower.
This flower is not a specific bloom, but one that is made-up - a compilation of the lines and shapes of flowers that I keep with me in my mind.
The shades of pink in the painting express the full life cycle of a flower in terms of color.
The colors speak to the grit and perseverance of the journey where a flower seeds, grows, buds, blossoms, then slowly starts to fade, eventually falling back to the ground where it began.
There is beauty throughout the changing stages of being a flower/woman – the colors tell that story as they fluctuate between vibrant and muted; fresh and withered; dewy and ashy; pale and deep.
The underlying surface is rough and gritty, representing where a flower comes from symbolically – dirt or soil.
Above the horizon line, the upper canvas focuses on the time in the life of a blossom when it is in the state of being exquisitely and most abundantly alive – fully beautiful.
The lower horizon tells of the fading, quieting, and greying that happens as the flower’s life cycle is winding down - when it will be brought back into the earth.
On the horizon line itself; the colors cross over into one another – swaying between youthfulness/blossoming and quieting/aging.
The piece was done in two parts because I thought one canvas could not express or hold the full story of the flower and her life cycle.
Even though this is technically a portrait, I wanted the painting to read in a landscape format with a firm horizon line because I consider the landscape to be extraordinary – something that feels monumental and expansive. I represent the “woman as flower” symbol as the same – powerful, beautiful, intricate, complex, with a presence that spills over the edges of this canvas.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Upcoming Art Show - WomanMade:NWA
I have had an opportunity this year to be part of a women's art show called WomanMade:NWA that opens April 18, 2016.
I've been working on two distinct sides - first as the one who proposed, crafted, and helped curate the show, but also on the artist end - participating as a painter and creating a piece that will be shown alongside the other women artists.
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We asked the artists to submit a piece that represented their “signature” creative work. Optionally, it could include or explore a topic, symbol, or idea that comes from a uniquely female perspective.
I chose the latter and created a painting called Flower Portrait (Woman) shown below. More about the painting in the next post.
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| Getting this new painting photographed & ready for the upcoming WomanMade:NWA show that opens in a few weeks. www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
Friday, April 8, 2016
Color Inspiration: Fresh + Faded Roses
Wanted to share a few of the flowers I have been referencing for my new Flower Portrait (Woman) that will be in the WomanMade:NWA show in a few weeks.
I have been photographing the blooms as they age and pulling inspiration from both the fresh and faded colors.
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| Color studies inspired by roses. www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
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| Color Inspiration = Roses www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
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| Color Inspiration = Roses www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
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| Color Inspiration = Roses www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
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| Color Inspiration = Roses www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
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| Color Inspiration = Roses www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
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| Touching up the edges of my Flower Portrait (Woman) painting so they are super-white. BTW, this is upside down! :) www.heidicarlsenrogers.com |
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