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Tracy Feldman's Painting Blog

Tomorrows the big day!!!

Water Works/Water Places Exhibit
Thoughts about my upcoming show at Mulberry Art Studios in Lancaster, PA.
Opening reception is Saturday, October 2nd from 5pm - 8pm


I've been off the blog for a while getting ready for the Lancaster ArtWalk.  The Artwalk is usually a great free 2/3 day event where people can see the work of a large variety of artists in a number of different venues in downtown Lancaster, PA .  II'll be having an exhibit called, Water Works/Water Places in the main ballroom of the Mulberry Art Studios.  The opening reception will be on Friday, October 2nd from 5 -8 pm, and then I'll be there again on Saturday (from 10am - 6 pm) and on Sunday (from noon to 5 pm).  I've done this event before, and sometimes things sell, and sometimes they don't.  However, it's a great venue for having people see my work. I always have lots of snacks, so the atmosphere is comfortable, and relaxed -- almost like a party, particularly at the opening reception. I'm only including works in the exhibit that have something to do with water or the sea.  I've been working to create a lot of new work for the exhibit, including a number of pieces that are a change in direction for me.  They're figurative abstracts that are an evolution from a piece I did years ago called Millcreek Meditation (you can see it on my website tracyfeldmanartist.com)   

      I loved Millcreek Meditation when I painted it, and wanted to create a series of figurative abstracts that fractured the visual plane in the same way and that also had figurative elements whose hues varied as they passed over each of the background color fields.  I liked the simplification of images and the idea of having what is on the surface be in a way transparent to it's background.  In real life, we only see what is now and have no idea what influences are present that have affected and shaped what we see.  However, the medium I used was oil pastel on canvas, and I found the flexibility of the canvas caused the oil pastel problems until I did a lot of work on the back to stabilize the canvas.  Thus, I realized that I needed to figure out some way to preserve the feel of Millcreek Meditation and have a work that was more robust without the fix-up work.  I was so intimidated that I didn't do anything for years.  Last year, I read about a technique where rice paper is adhered to a substrate of watercolor paper and then watercolors and fluid acrylics are applied over it. I thought that would give me the mottled effect of the background squares I wanted.  That was good, but the rice paper was too absorbent to get the sharpness of the foreground images I wanted, so I ended up turning it into a pastel instead.  It is called Sea Glories.  It's in my exhibit or you can see it on my website  tracyfeldmanartist.com.  

      Because I was frustrated with not being able to continue the series, I decided to take an abstract painting course to see if I could be inspired.  I was, but not specifically by what I learned there.  The teacher wanted us to create a series, and I now had a deadline to push me.  I decided to work in acrylics, but wasn't sure about technique, and found a great book called,  Thus, I good idea of how my paintings evlove, I'm going to include several images of piece I have in the show called SWIM!!! The one in the show is just called SWIM!!!, but the evolution that the piece went through are called SWIMa and SWIMb.   It's one of 5 figurative abstracts that I'll have in the show.
 

      This show celebrates the water/the sea/and seaside places & people. It contains many new and recent works that capture the feeling that being by, on, or under the water imparts.   The scale of this display space allowed me to produce larger pieces than I’ve typically painted  in the past.  Although all of the show’s pieces are on canvas, four of my most recent pieces use an unusual medium for canvas: watercolor.  I started out as a watercolorist, because I loved the immediacy and luminosity of watercolor, and the challenge of working with this sometimes fickle medium.  Although many people are drawn  to watercolor’s delicate, pale washes, that never attracted me.  Thus I taught myself to use layering  and lifting techniques to intensify darks, contrast, and the vibrancy of colors.  That love of vibrancy drew me into oils and acrylics for the last 10 years.  I like those media -- particularly because they gave me much more freedom than I had in watercolor worked on paper.    Working in oils and acrylics also taught me to have a much looser, quicker sketching and painting style than I had when I worked in watercolor on paper. In a watercolor, once certain colors were down, or a drop of paint landed in an unwanted place, often a whole piece was compromised because it was impossible to lift back to the white of the page. Such problems, and the much greater expense of matting and framing watercolors, kept me from returning to my first love: watercolor. 

      Then last spring the LCAA (Lancaster County Art Association) offered a couple of workshops on watercolor on canvas, and my love affair with watercolor was re-ignited.  Working on canvas forced me to learn a new set of skills, but I loved the vibrancy that the non-absorbent gessoed surface gives the colors.  The fact that I can lift color to correct perspective or change colors/composition gives me a great sense of freedom.  Also, not having to place the works under glass has freed me to work in a much larger format than I would have felt able to do before.  The four watercolors on canvas that I’ve included in this show are Kinsale Reflections, Comrades in Fishing, Catching the Post-Season Sun, and Mardi Gras Children. 

       Something new I’ve also done in this show is to get a number of works professionally framed.  I had been told for years that doing so would make a real difference, and looking at the show, I think you will agree that is true (thanks, Wes Shugley for  the great job you guys did!).
 

      Some new works that strive to capture the peaceful feeling of being by water in our area include Chesapeake Channel Markers and Delmarva Sunset. I am showing my newly reframed Ricketts Glen series (inspired by a trip to the state park of that name) that explores how the speed water travels changes its apparent characteristics and impacts how we perceive the underwater world. In addition to these works, I’ve included a number of other representational waterside works.  One of these is Calpe Seafood Auction. While visiting Spain we were given the privilege of attending a professional auction of the sea life that had been taken from the Mediterranean just moments before.  What really struck me was how no one really took any notice of the fishermen, only of the product they fought so hard to bring in.  I realized that was true for many regular working people, and my piece’s use of size, placement, and color works to capture that fact. Another pieces inspired by a trip to Spain is Mardi Gras Children.  I loved the way these small children in their traditional Basque costumes were so focused on doing well that they didn’t even seem to notice the beautiful San Sebastian harbor  just steps away from their dance. 

       I’ve also included in this show a number of my more abstract pieces that twist reality by playing with color and form.  My intention in these works is to manipulate reality in ways that can help the viewer play with what would happen if we could see the impact of normally unseen influences on the world.  I think of the technique as evolving from both Cubism and Fauvism. Four underwater-inspired figurative abstracts, School, Reef, SWIM!!! and Tidal Zone use a similar technique to capture the undersea world, as does  “Daddy Is that Our Plane?”, a father/child grouping behind an airport fountain..  I hope you enjoy the show.
  

Posted by Tracy Feldman at 10/1/2009 5:47 PM | Add Comment

The Anguish of the Penguins


The Anguish of the Penguins:   
Media: Acrylic on canvas Board 
Size:    4.5 x 6 "


My great nieces, 5 and 6, have taken on the cause of penguins whose habitat is being threatened by global warming.  Last summer, they designed their own cards to sell (to relatives) to raise money for the cause, and their dedication to penguins is still strong enough that the youngest decided to make penguins the theme of her recent birthday party.  As their artist aunt, I was drafted into making a pin-the-bow-tie-on-the-penguin game for the festivities. This little painting is a result of my research and plays into my reality with a twist sensibilities. It depicts a grouping of penguin types who normally would not be hanging out like a little gang.  Only after the painting was complete did I realize that the emperor penguin’s gaping mouth could be seen as cry of despair at their possible fate.
Posted by Tracy Feldman at 2/23/2008 7:59 PM | Add Comment

Afternoon Shadows


Afternoon Shadows:   
Media:  Acrylic on canvas board 
Size:    9 x 12

My great nieces, 5 and 6, have taken on the cause of penguins whose habitat is being threatened by global warming.  I love the way shadows help define shapes and add interesting graphic elements to basic images. 

This building is located on the campus of Franklin and Marshall College, where my husband teaches.  I’ve walked by it many times.  Most times the site is unremarkable, but when the building is bathed in the late day’s warm light, the brick glows and the play of cool shadows across the warm surface routinely takes my breath away.
Posted by Tracy Feldman at 2/23/2008 1:54 PM | Add Comment

Feb 23, 2008 -- Walking With Theo


Walking With Theo:  
Media: Acrylic on canvas Board 
Size:    4.5 x 6 "


This January, while vacationing with my husband’s sister’s family in California, we took a walk in our nephews’ favorite park.  My husband photographed his sister and brother-in-law with their 5-year-old grandson. Their silhouettes against the sparkling water beautifully captured a wonderful moment of connection, and when I saw it, I immediately wanted to paint it.

This is the first work that I produced for my painting-a-day blog.  I assumed (ah… assumptions) that I’d be able to paint this 9 x 12” piece in no time, but I soon realized I was wrong.  Trying to capture the feeling of the moment needed just enough detail to convey the sense of place and time, but not so much that it distracted from the silhouetted figures.  Another challenge I faced was figuring out the way to adjust the composition and to keep the focus on Theo as the  painting’s center of interest. I used two techniques to do that.   The painting's composition leads the eye to Theo because I placed Theo at an intersection point one third of the way up from the bottom and one third of the way from the side of the painting.  I also made sure that Theo’s silhouette drew the most attention by glazing a muted form of cadmium red over his jacket.

Posted by Tracy Feldman at 2/23/2008 11:16 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Tracy Feldmans Blogcast Begins

  This is Tracy Feldman's Blogcast. She will update this Blog often and bring you lovely artwork and inspirational thoughts on Reality With a Twist!
Posted by Tracy Feldman at 2/6/2008 11:00 PM | Add Comment
Tracy Feldman's Painting Blog - Reality With a Twist