In the Changing Light
Posts tagged ‘painting’
Apr 27
The Art of Conversation
‘All Our Tomorrows’ evolved during the late spring early summer 2021 as I was preparing for an upcoming feature show at Portland Art Gallery. I experimented with developing a painting in a different way by cutting tissue paper shapes of some main design elements in a collage-style approach and then layering fast drying acrylic to build color and depth. This work is a continuation of my recent coastal-inspired relationship series.
Now after the confusing and difficult year of 2020, problems have been brought forward into 2021 with even more divisive issues. We all hoped things would settle down for a while. But not so fast.
This painting evolved into this image that amid the chaos of life some sense of connection, love and caring can still be found. Two people. A simple hand held. A most powerful relationship when each finds what is most important in one other. Good things begin this way.
This is an image of hope for the future that people will value each other’s differing opinions instead of forcing the other to submit to an ideology that is not in line with their own understandings, sensibilities and life experiences. What ever happened to having an opinion about a topic and having a conversation with another human being? Wasn’t this how we resolved differences or let ‘bygones be bygones’? Or simply allow another person to maintain their point of view while still being friends? Is this really a lost art? I hope not.
Lesson learned: Kindness matters.
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Jul 22
Village in the Pursuit of Happiness
“… home was not just a cabin in a deep woods that overlooked a placid cove. Home was a state of mind, the peace that came from being who you were and living an honest life.” ― Kristin Hannah, The Great Alone
We all have such different ideas of what home is. The quote above was one I found while doing a bit of searching for a quote by an author that resonated with me and reflected the small family vignette of one of my large paintings I have selected for this post.
This image is part of a 40″x60″ acrylic painting titled ‘Village in the Pursuit of Happiness’. In this ‘village’ series I have incorporated several different visual ideas of what living in a village feels like for me. I am careful to not be too precious with shapes and color and detail rather letting all the vignettes live together peacefully as a painting. View a full image of ‘Village in the Pursuit of Happiness’ with this link.https://anntrainordomingue.com/Art/Detail.php?artid=1211296
Lesson Learned: Home is not only the shelter we live in, but also how we create a life together in the shelter of home.
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If a Painting Could Speak
available now at Powers Gallery, Acton, MA
I’ve often heard people say they love the titles of my work. Thankfully they love the work too, but they also make it a point to mention how much they love the title. It happened so often I needed to understand why it was happening with such frequency. I wish I could remember at what point my titles went beyond describing what was in the painting–to the idea of what it could say if it could speak. As though I am divulging a secret of some kind.
As I recall comments about my titles happened when I gave my fisherman a girl in 2014 or so. I began to think of the people in my work and what situation I had positioned them in. I developed a little story between them and thought it would be interesting to look at the work in light of the title. Sometimes the title would be a bit philosophical, hint at a religious sense, or be playful or hopeful. Or even what the painting might say about itself.
It’s not easy to choose one to six words as a title (my personal preference for word count). It’s similar to designing a brandmark or logo that I have done for many years as a graphic designer. There is something both difficult and satisfying about winnowing down multiple options to just some key shapes and letterforms. I think finding thoughtful words that work as titles is a similar process–before, during or after the painting is completed. For sure though, by the time the painting is wrapped and shipped off to a client or gallery.
Lesson learned: Be creative in everything.
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Nov 23
Grateful for Thanksgiving
Available at Kennedy Gallery in Portsmouth, NH.
We all would love to celebrate Thanksgiving in the way we each have enjoyed over many years. The Covid19 virus has been forcing us all to not only change but completely stop doing so many ordinary things while causing great divides in families, and among friends and coworkers. The local and national political atmosphere is also pressuring regular Americans to submit to behaviors that cause even more stress.
Not only are we dealing with maintaining the health of our families while Covid rages on, we are also concerned for the viability of family-owned and friend-owned local small businesses. And how they will survive during this disruptive pandemic including the period of time after a vaccine has been distributed. So many aspects of living have been infiltrated by Covid19. But sadly many lives have also been infiltrated by pressure to evaluate one another in ugly, personal, political, demeaning points of view. It hurts my heart and soul.
I’ll not be one who maligns or dismisses or denigrates or belittles someone because they believe differently than me. I respect other’s opinions and will expect the same in return. I love the interwoven aspects of my community and I’ll continue to be a respectful part of it no matter which political party is in the White House or state house. The ebb and flow of change is a healthy thing so we each have the opportunity to experience different ways of thinking and living. Honesty and truth at the highest levels need to be held as precious things. Without them, we only have opinions of fallible human beings.
I wish you a grateful Thanksgiving and hope you celebrate in a way that is safe, healthy and hopeful for you and those you love.
Peace and Blessings to you.
Lesson learned: Thanksgiving cannot be cancelled due to a virus.
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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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Aug 29
Peace Still Matters
Amid the chaos in our lives due to the pandemic and all the daily events it has affected, it is still important to find a way to peace. To try to take each day as a gift to be opened and shared especially with someone who is finding it difficult to find peace. This detail of my artwork demonstrates a bit of chaos with spots of warm orange notes or peace. Hope you find yours.
Lesson learned: Just be still for a while.
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Oct 2
Fish Tale Come True
Fishermen are famous for fish stories. But not this one. Bill Sisson, Editor-in-Chief of AnglersJournal at aimmedia.com was true to his word. A stroll in downtown Portsmouth, NH resulted in this collaboration of poetry and art. Poetry by Elizabeth Bishop https://www.poetryfoundation.org/podcasts/75635/at-the-fishhouses (available as a podcast in this link), was in the process of acquiring approvals to be published in an issue of Anglers Journal. My artwork happened to be on display at Kennedy Gallery in Portsmouth when Bill walked by already thinking about imagery to support Elizabeth’s poem, ‘At the Fishhouses’. Serendipity happens. He walked in to the gallery, viewed more of my work and asked for contact info. I was thrilled to receive the phone call and quickly said yes to this collaboration with such a prestigious author. I had not known her or her work but loved it when I read the verse. Almost as though it was meant to be.
My series of artworks featuring fishhouses began with my first painting workshop trip to Monhegan Island with painter Stan Moeller in 2003. The two fishhouses on the beach began a years-long semi-obsession with what they represented for me–two stalwart structures standing strong year-round, constantly being shored-up to withstand whatever came their way. As two people might also do.
Thank you Bill and Anglers Journal for patiently going through the years long process of receiving approvals to publish Elizabeth’s work. And especially for giving me, Ann Trainor Domingue, this unique opportunity to be paired with a giant in the poetry world.
Lesson learned: Do the work, show the work. You just never know.
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Embracing Family, Embracing Series
Every Which Way, 24×36, acrylic
Pattern in Blues, 24×36, acrylic
Time of Day, 24×24, acrylic.
Its taken me some time to really embrace the idea of working in a series. I understand the concept and can readily see it in other artists’ work, but have consistently had difficulties adopting this idea in developing my own work, until now. The examples above show my recent attempts at exploring elements of my work and producing new works that embody aspects related to one another. Sort of like a family of children who look very similar, but are unique in their own way. Here’s where it has been tough for me. My background as an illustrator has given me broad skills to create just about anything. But that is not necessarily helpful in my career as a painter. Here’s what I’ve learned.
My extended family reaches far into the world as we have welcomed the changes life brings, and all is well. Marriages, divorces, friends, godchildren, distant relatives–not unlike many of you I’m sure. As relationships relate to my artwork though it sometimes appears as though I’ve adopted children from another planet, never mind my own world. So I have found it helpful to model my new found attention to working in a series after my family. Now it makes a bit more sense as I develop new art—as I choose which aspects to retain, and which to remember as an important lesson.
Finding the core element of the New England landscape (my lifelong home area) has been key to creating an armature/home where I can then change details while keeping a foundation in place. I’ll proceed into the New Year 2017 with a blueprint–one where I will still be able to enjoy serendipitous happenings as I evaluate new ideas to keep my family of work warm and cozy.
Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. And as always, thank you for your continued support.
Ann
(If interested in any of these artworks, consult my website http://www.anntrainordomingue.com or contact me directly.)
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A Painter’s Holiday
You missed a spot. Not what I want to hear when I thought the job was finished. But as a fine art painter, missing a spot can turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
At times in my thoroughness to completely finish a work I find I want to rework areas no matter if they are small or large. Just want to go in and tweak or wholesale change that line or edge or shift a color and modify a shape. It is a very tricky thing to do near the end of a painting process. So many aspects have already found a balance–not perfection–just a balance of color, shapes, textures, line and form. To ‘fix’ something after the major phase of developing a painting has passed can invite some real questions–can I match that color, what brush did I use to get that texture, why didn’t I see that earlier, why did I think that bold line looked good yesterday and not today? And many more.
If a painting has a problem ‘holiday’ of some sort, I take a holiday too, and wait a few days before ‘fixing/correcting/adjusting/leaving-it-alone’. My mind has so many things whirring around while painting–so many decisions being made at once–that getting back into that mindset I had while doing the original work is almost impossible. If I could it would help me make the right decisions to push this painting toward the finish line.
So taking a break to reevaluate the piece is my answer. Sometimes its as long as a lunch break or as long as a year. My sort of ‘time out’ for a piece as I determine whether it is ready for prime time or not. Or as in a few cases it has been returned to me unsold from a gallery and I have a new chance to work out the holidays or paint it over if I believe it is just not good enough.
Lesson learned: Take your time when deciding how to improve your work. Sometimes a holiday is actually the uniqueness of a piece and doesn’t need fixing at all. Time will tell.
The finished painting is now available at Gallery Antonia in Chatham on Cape Cod. www.galleryantonia.com Working Days End, acrylic on canvas, 36×36.
Ann Trainor Domingue art 