Studio Progress

Finally had time to paint for two whole days. What a relief. I had missed painting.
I recognize that in my last post I hoped to finish a few pieces and then ... nothing. I have no excuse except to say that I was working, earning money. Painting is no cheap hobby.
I changed the painting from my previous post. I painted out the woman's open, screaming mouth and just left the hand. It's more mysterious this way.

Three works in progress

In the Studio

New paintings are in the works.  I don't usually show my art during this stage.  Things can get pretty ugly before they get pretty.  However, I cannot contain my excitement about this one.  It mixes realism (my old style) with my current abstract palette knife style.  Expect the final results in a few weeks!

Painting in process on February 24th, 2012

Kitties Galore

If you happen to be in Washington DC and need some pet food, check out my friend Anna's awesome pet shop, Metro Mutts (www.metromuttsdc.com). My drawing of Romeo, their resident cat, is now hanging in the front window. If you are interested in commissioning me to draw your furry baby, all you need is a good photo. You can email me your photo. I will make a 8 x 10 inch pencil drawing, frame it, and ship it to you. Turnover time is about a month and the cost is $250, which includes shipping. Send me an email if you have any questions: katecicalese@comcast.net. Metro Mutts is located at 508 H St NE, Washington, DC 20002.

My kitten Miso poses with Romeo's portrait.

Beach House (2011)

Beach House (2011) oil on canvas, 18 x 14 inches

Vienna (2011)

Vienna (2011) oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches

Syracuse (2011)

Syracuse (2011) oil on canvas, 18 x 14 inches

Phillyscape (2011)

Phillyscape (2011) oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches

Ab-Ex with Clyfford Still

The Abstract Expressionists were never a unified voice, and characterizations are invariably fluid, as each artist developed one or more signature styles.  Painters sought to avoid predefined limits and to express the greatest possible range of meaning through their own visual language ... by the mid-1940s Clyfford Still was developing his signature style of colour fields that join in jagged interfaces.

- Image and text from The Art Museum (2011) Phaidon Press, p. 381

Clyfford Still "1957-D No.1" (1957) oil on canvas, 9 ft 5 in x 13 ft 3 in

Ab-Ex with Lee Krasner

This canvas presents a series of tightly packed forms and enclosed shapes, characteristic of the work of Krasner (1908-84).  An invigorating tension exists between the looseness of her expressive brushwork and rhythm, and the underlying sense of order and direction.

- Image and text from The Art Museum (2011) Phaidon Press, p. 381

Lee Krasner -Another Storm (1963) oil on canvas, 7 ft 10 in x 14 ft 8 in

Ab-Ex with Joan Mitchell

The mural-sized paintings of Joan Mitchell (1926-92) echo the scale of other Abstract Expressionists.  Their most distinctive quality is their relationship to landscape, an amalgam [or blend] of Abstract Expressionist concepts and Impressionist and Post-Impressionist ones.  Here, four panels combine to create a flat image that oscillates between four separate views of one large panorama, the effect of which compels us ultimately to dismiss coherent landscape and immerse ourselves in the reality of color.

- Image and text from The Art Museum (2011) Phaidon Press, p. 381

Joan Mitchell - Salut Tom (1979), oil on canvas, about 9 ft by 6 ft 6 in