Matisse Landscape a la PiCassieO

This "landscape" is an abstract from a larger print that reminded me so much of Matisse, with the bright colors and simple shapes of his collages. I am having a lot of fun with it - the large work didn't turn out to be one I'd print, but there are some beautiful colors and shapes to zero in on for abstracts. When I added the watercolor filter, the colors were amazing. There were also a bunch of pendant squares hiding here and there - hope to have them in our store before long!

Cassie has been having trouble with her hips lately, which is hindering her work at the window, but she's still keeping the door full of marks. A neighbor kid committed two acts which incite total insanity in my dog - he rang the doorbell, and had TWO dogs with him on the porch! I thought Cassie was going to go straight through the glass. There should be an interesting title to go with the results - need to work on that.

Boots: "Real" Abstraction

I always have a hard time dealing with the term "abstract art", since in my mind it's all abstract. The latest PiCassieO Boots is absolutely representational in that it came from a photo of Cassie's marks on the door and the ancient Singer on the porch beyond which is a rack for my dad's old boots. I knew when I shot the photo that I wanted to use the background in a prominent way because of the strong shadow patterns and lines made by the boots. What at first seems like random strokes and color patches takes recognizable shape if you keep looking. This is a good example of "representational abstraction" - totally based on reality, but distilled to the essence of that reality rather than factual description of it. Just wait until I finish Cassie Does Pollock - then we'll get into "nonrepresentational abstraction" (but there's still room for argument there).

I welcome comments about the art! If you'd like to subscribe to our posts, click under the Email Update heading (Post Button) in the top right of this page.

"Lost: Going Home?"

Yep- I admit it, I'm a huge fan of the TV show "Lost" - going to be totally lost without it. It reminds me a lot of the book Masquerade, which was full of clues and hidden meanings to point readers toward a treasure that was actually buried in England. I doubt there's treasure at the end of "Lost" - probably just more questions - but I love the intrigue. When I finished this latest PiCassieO, the background was looking jungle-like, with all these mysterious yellow marks more or less pointing toward the "opening" at the top left. Lost: Going Home? is my self-generated title.

I did go to the"abstract title generator" and got some pretty far-out stuff (like Falling Impressions of Ephemeral Creation) but none of them seem to fit with my art. Guess my own thoughts about a work fit better, even if it's just Storm Door No. 5,647 With Green Stripe.

I welcome your comments about the art! If you would like to subscribe to the posts, please click the button for updates in the upper right of this page.