In the Changing Light
Posts from the ‘fine art’ Category
Apr 27
Dec 30
Dawn Breaking 2022
If we believe the best is yet to come, that all things are possible with God (whichever iteration you choose to believe or not believe in), that we each need to follow our own path, that being nice still matters, that retaining our personal freedom to make our own decisions is valuable, that loving our neighbor as ourself is kindness in action, that peacefully coexisting in an increasingly diverse society is important, that solving differences does not need to lead to violence of any kind, that giving and receiving a sincere hug is a warm gift, then maybe we can –I will– begin the new year with a renewed heart and open mind and be the help someone else needs to find their joy again. I hope you make it a Happy New Year and find your own Peace.
Lesson learned: One timid step leads to another more confident step in the right direction.
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Peaceful Transitions Matter
In this new painting, ‘Village Under the Sun’, the imagery is filled with all kinds of transitions— from line to gradient, warm to cool colors, curves to angles, light to dark values, textured to smooth surface, not to mention the imagined overlapping and off-kilter architecture. And the changing unreal scale of buildings and people. Yet if handled well, all these juxtapostions can live peacefully together. Creating a kind of balance that despite its quirkiness and unusual views, still does create a recognizable world where we live well in the peacefulness of a place we call home. Contact Kennedy Gallery in Portsmouth NH for more information. Visit Ann Trainor Domingue website for more info.
Lesson learned: Living together in peace despite differences matters most. Let’s hope the upcoming election results in a peaceful transition or continuation for America’s sake.
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‘Together In This’ art opening by Ann Trainor Domingue
You are invited to view my newest artworks in a beautiful gallery in Portland, Maine! Portland Art Gallery on Middle Street in Portland Maine will host a two-person show of my work, opening reception on Thursday November 1, 2018, 5-7. My part of the show will feature at least 12 artworks exploring the idea of ‘Together In This’. That we are each finding our way in a dynamic world where finding our truth or center can be difficult. Finding a special person to share it with can be an honest place to start. These works provide imagery of figures in a coastal environment positioned in ways that provoke a sense of connection or disconnect–or better yet, a chance that something good will happen. Hope you will consider joining me at the opening night. Thank you.
Preparing for an art exhibition can be a stressful time. So many details to complete, artworks to create, and promotional efforts to finalize. Both on the gallery side and my side as the artist. We need to work together in order to have a successful show.
In July 2018 I prepped work for my first solo show at the George Marshall Store Gallery in York, Maine. The curator and gallery director Mary Harding had been following my career along for over 10 years. She encouraged my early efforts as I explored exactly what kind of work I could/would/should be doing. In the end the best advice was simply ‘paint what you love’. Defining what that is was more difficult than I thought. So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last few years since leaving full time work as an advertising agency art/creative director. I’ve explored several avenues of subject matter and paint styles searching for an approach that suited my working style, my personal philosophy, my studio space, my family obligations and my goals for my art. Not an easy task to meld this all together into a cohesive whole.
I worked hard over last winter creating artworks that reflected my sense of optimism about people and relationships that matter. A body of work that challenged me to find design that was both simple yet deep in its ability to carry through my concept of togetherness. One more late-winter studio visit by Mary to curate the show was an important aspect to pulling together the right group of work for the show. I achieved a great result as 18 of 22 artworks in my solo show found new homes with art collectors via the George Marshall Store Gallery! I truly appreciate the efforts by Mary Harding and her group of wonderful gallery assistants who put on a wonderful event–complete with music and food. Thank you for making my work look so good. Grateful to you all.
Lesson learned: ‘Paint what you love, honestly and from the heart. Your own heart.’
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Art Opening ‘Shining Through’ by Ann Trainor Domingue, York, Maine
I am very happy to invite you to join me at the opening night of ‘Shining Through’ by Ann Trainor Domingue— my new series of work inspired by my longstanding curiosity and attraction of waterfront life and how I connect visually and spiritually with this beautiful space at the edge of the land and sea.
The opening reception will be held at the beautiful George Marshall Store Gallery located at 10 Lindsay Road, York, Maine on Saturday, July 14th, 5-7, exhibition runs through August 19th.
The gallery building is part of Old York Historical Society that works to preserve and promote the rich history of York. The Gallery is located on the York River with a working dock and shack right behind the gallery on the wharf– a beautiful location in any season.
I hope you will join me as I exhibit many of my newest works all tied to my fascination with waterfront spirit. Please share my invite with those you know who love the all things coastal. Thank you and hope you’ll stop by to say hello–it means a lot to me to have your support.
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The Big Day
The Big Day, acrylic on canvas, 18×18.
This recent painting was inspired partially by the wedding of my granddaughter combined with a sense of how I feel about marrying my husband more than 20 years ago. Just a sweet feeling of the joy of the day and being able to share it with someone I truly love. I’m not one to let my emotions out easily but in this case it has turned into a bit of a series of works that lets me bring some of these memorable moments to life.
My ongoing series of fishermen and women and their families have been a way for me to present sentiments such as togetherness, love, support, family, constancy, persistence, fun, optimism and faith. It is an authentic-to-me way of adding figurative/people into my work which I have been searching for for years.
I allow real life situations to provide a moment–it just nudges me with a notion of ‘hey, that might make a good way to imagine a relationship’ and away I go. Pick up a sketchbook and draft some designs, then on to a quick watercolor sketch of a composition.
Sample rough sketch of idea
Once I decide on a design I move quickly to develop a painting and usually paint it in one sitting–or standing. I like the process of committing to an idea and working it through in a day or so. Then I might rework areas after a good night’s sleep. If I feel something is not quite right I wait a few days, stare at it from my old stuffed rocking chair in the studio. I’ll make the adjustments and then it is done. And I move on to another idea.
Here are two other paintings in the series of relationship paintings:
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- TGIF, acrylic on canvas, 18×18
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- The Chat, acrylic on canvas, 18×18.
The big day continues to be the best day of my life. I hope you’ve experienced one that stays with you forever, too.
Read about the details on these pieces on my website at www.anntrainordomingue.com
Lesson learned: It’s never too late to have a Big Day. In life, in art.
NOTE: OPEN STUDIO 2017, NOVEMBER 4 & 5, 10-4. Details/directions on website.
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Cultural Conversations
Woven Into Life, mixed media acrylic, 12×12
Its amazing how many things in the news, on television, on websites, on social media feeds, in email, on tablets, and on our phones seem so much more important than things that really matter. Like face to face conversations, talking out loud not in the silence of a phone text, listening to the tone of voice in a conversation can be more meaningful than a long winded conversation. And when looking at artwork a quiet thought about what the artist was intending can be an interesting way to spend a moment or two.
In our digital impersonal age I try to remember to be sure to communicate with family, friends, and strangers in the old-fashioned way. With a smile and a hello, it surprises me how many people don’t expect you to say hello today. But they reply in kind and usually continue the conversation even if it is small talk. Small talk can lead to bigger and better things. And interacting with the thought process of an artist can yield something that matters as well.
Lesson learned: I asked a collector what drew him to this piece of art and he responded with something I didn’t intend in this piece. I intended a couple inside their ‘home’ awaiting the birth of their child and how wonderful and amazing it is. He recognized that too but also more importantly was the dark-skinned ethnicity of the male figure exemplifying a broader world view was what touched him. I just never know. I’m sure the impending birth of another grandchild this week has prompted this post.
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Real Work of Art Outdoors
The outdoor art show season is here in New England! Beautiful settings in towns, along the sea and in beautiful parks. But do the attendees appreciate the amount of work it really takes as they wander through the tents? I’ll speak to participants here but attendees will get an idea of the work involved in participating in an outdoor show.
Firstly, decide if these outdoor venues are for you. As an artist, is this how you’d like to spend your time–working in your home studio, or driving to a location maybe hours away, setting up a display in the very early morning, talking and repeating yourself to untold numbers of visitors, or patiently waiting for the occasional visitor to stop by, wondering if the weather will cooperate–sun, rain, wind or other, and of course preparing enough work for your display. Entry fees range from $30.00-over $300.00 per show. Professional tent setups range from 1200. -2000. depending on configuration.
Secondly, decide if your family situation is suited to your traveling and being away every weekend of the summer or at least many weekends. This will obviously impact your relationships with spouse and children. Its best if they are on board with this decision as it will mean a lot of time away and may be stressful on the family.
Thirdly, is your work appealing enough for visitors to purchase on an ‘impulse’ buy? Or do they need more than one interaction with the work and decide not to buy at the show. You can consider doing a series specifically for shows that may be a bit different than your other series or studio work.
Fourth, are you ready to do the work to learn to sell your work?–since it doesn’t sell itself. Learning how to approach visitors during a show is critical. Visitors like to interact with the artists as you build your fan base. A simple–‘hello, what kind of art are you usually interested in’, or ‘what kind of subject matter do you find appealing’? Yes, you will keep the entire price you receive for a painting rather than splitting a gallery fee which can be as high as 50/50. This is a great part of doing direct sales to your customers. Some shows can be very successful financially for artists who have worked at finding just the right ‘work’ that sells.
Lastly, provide visitors with a way to contact you in the future. Give them a chance to think about how much they loved your work. Provide a flier, web address, social media contacts, note card with art sample or other memorable trinket. A one or two-day show can provide a lot of exposure to new audiences for your work. With so many artists it can be hard to stand out in a crowd of good artists.
Lesson learned: Try the show circuit and decide if all aspects of it make you happy. IF not, find another sales option such as galleries for your work.
You can find me and 40 other artists at the Uncommon Art on the Common, Saturday, August 6th 2016 in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Facebook #UncommonArtontheCommon
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Blame It On New England
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Delicately Powerful
Our local florist shop, Apotheca Tea Shoppe and Flowers in Goffstown, New Hampshire, allowed me to browse and spend an afternoon sketching and photographing (actually taking snapshots) of their beautiful displays of flowers. Quite a colorful afternoon it was. I was developing a new series paintings using flowers, florists, gardeners as my inspirations.
In following with my decidedly unconventional approach to design and color, I was looking to work with the color, forms, patterns and textures in an uncommon way. A way that would have viewers say, hmmm, I’ve never seen that before. I was doing as much thinking as photographing and sketching during this process. I don’t begin a process like this with preconceived notions of what I am going to do with the information. What fun would that be? Of course I realize plenty of artists pre-think and I find myself overthinking frequently. But this time I tried NOT to solve the puzzle ahead of time.
I am a bit demanding of my muse–whenever she shows up–I want to have plenty of input for her to work with. A couple of the florists at the shop wound up being part of my inquiry as well although not my intention of using them in this work. But I never know. Even the worst photo can offer the best idea for a painting.
The photos shown above are great as a reference for shapes, colors, flower angles, reflections and refractions of stems through glass. Not perfect lighting conditions for copying exactly what is shown but more than enough information for me to use to incorporate into a fresh design.
The concept of design is first and foremost in my mind when I approach new work. I enjoy the quick process of sketching possibilities for a larger piece. I feel at during this stage I am efficiently running through ideas before I ‘waste’ time working large on a weakly designed idea. Again my background in graphic design and advertising concepts fit seamlessly into my process.
The final artwork shown below was inspired by this process along with twenty others for a recent show titled, ‘Sunstrokes’. Less detail, sketchy in its application of paint. Not looking labored over. Fresh. Direct. Friendly.
Can’t wait to get back to the studio.
(‘Redheads’, 12×12, acrylic on panel, available at Sullivan Framing, Bedford, NH.)
Ann Trainor Domingue art 