Side of the Road

Side of the Road
by
Vincent Van Gogh

Peace.

15 Artists: Another Facebook Meme

Oh, how we love lists! These lists on facebook are like cocktail party getting-to-know-yous. The one that I've seen making the rounds lately is the "15 Albums that have stayed with you," or some such. You are supposed to take no longer than fifteen minutes to compile the list -- so no outside research! Heh. Making such a list does not appeal to me.

However, when I saw someone post a 15 Artists list, I thought it might be fun to try my own. Other folks stuck to painters only. I included photographers and one cartoonist. I came up with this list off the top of my fifteen minute brain, then searched the happy internet for images. I am a wee bit discouraged that my brain could only come up with two women. Anyway, here are some pretty pictures for you to enjoy.

Odd Nerdrum

Duane Michals

Vincent Van Gogh

Pierre Bonnard

Dorothea Lange

Paul Klee

Egon Schiele

Yousuf Karsh

Diane Arbus

Weegee

Andy Warhol

Pablo Picasso

Henri Matisse

Robert Crumb

Philip Guston

Peace.

100 in 100, Day 100

(96)
self portrait, dirty brush wash
painted with left hand
oil on paper, 12x9 inches

(97)
self portrait with head scarf
painted with left hand
oil on paper, 12x9 inches

(98)
self portrait, a smaller cucumber
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

(99)
self portrait, brush cleaner for #98
oil on paper, 12x9 inches

(100)
self portrait with sun hat
oil on paper, 12x9 inches

Whoohoo! I did it! If you'd like to see them all as a gallery, here's my facebook album. Yes, there are really one hundred! I have enjoyed this project. Thank you again to Rowena for being the ringleader. It has been a long time since I've made art a daily practice. It feels good to have my artist self reawaken.

Over the course of these one hundred works, it was much easier for me to create a finished piece using pastels. Painting, especially a painting in a day, or an hour, was tough for me. My brush handling skills are rusty, so things sometimes turned to mud. There have been some drawing and painting disasters here, along with some good works. It was liberating to have committed to the challenge, and just keep moving forward. I learned a lot and had fun.

What's next?

100 in 100, Day 96?

self portrait with cucumber

Yes, I think this is Day 96. I have all kinds of excuses why there was a gap here, near the finish line. The garden harvest is demanding my attention. The girls needed to get ready to go back to school. I'm lazy.

The real reasons are more likely that switching to painting was much harder for me than drawing with pastel, and also that nearing 100 forces me to think about what the heck I'm doing and where I want to go next. So. Of course, I ran away ran away ran away! But I came back! And though I value creating everyday, my realistic goal for this project was to complete 100 works of art in 100 days.

I did number 84 on Tuesday night, and it turned out pretty clunky, so I was discouraged. So I skipped a day, and then, on Thursday, I did numbers 85 through 90. Then today, I did 91 through 95.

4 days left to complete 5 more works to make it to 100 in 100.

(84)
self portrait with clouds
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

(85)
self portrait, red tube
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

(86)
self portrait, nude in the studio
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

(87)
self portrait with pepper and paintbrush
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

(88)
self portrait, modest
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

(89)
self portrait, ultramarine
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

(90)
self portrait, goddess
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

(91)
self portrait in the studio
pastel, 17x14 inches

(92)
self portrait, blue rectangle
pastel, 17x14 inches

(93)
self portrait, standing
pastel, 17x14 inches

(94)
self portrait, holding shoulder
pastel, 17x14 inches

(95)
self portrait with scarf
pastel, 17x14 inches

100 in 100, Day 83

self portrait, pretty in pink
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

100 in 100, Day 82

self portrait as the rain started
oil on paper, 17x14 inches

100 in 100, Day 81

self portrait, humid
oil on paper, 17x14 inches