Experimenting

Happy Labor Day too all. I must be productive today. Yesterday was a crazy busy work day. So many people walked through our doors in five hours. We counted 500 people in the first hour. I want to say it was because of the holiday weekend but our show is ending in two weeks. So, this may be the last minute rush to see the exhibit.

Any who, I'm thinking this post will be based on the works completed for mixed media in spring 2011. This was my first time taking this class, and it was the best class I ever took! It opened my way of thinking toward painting and how I could use materials in my process. The thing I valued most was experimenting with layers of acrylic mediums, how it reacts against itself when it builds up, and what works best within the layers. But the drying time was most important lesson I learned while working with mediums. I also played with the way I wanted to display the work, because it's just as essential to the piece as the materials you use to express your idea. These works are more experimental but helped with my concept in taking it to the level. I don't have most of these works anymore so most of these pictures are not the best. I'd like you to see where my inspiration came from for my future pieces, though.

Untitled study

Charcoal, paper, matte medium, and paint on cotton pillow case

Approximately 18"x30"

2011

 

In the work below I made sheets of acrylic medium mixed with paint and ink. I cut them down and used them to create the image. I then got too excited and worked on the other side with inks, allowing them to bleed through and enhance the face. I didn't care for the outcome much, but it was worth a try. I felt the process of the piece helped lead to subtle changes in my body of work. If y'all haven't notice yet, I'm very fond of the grid structure. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. I'm a little obsessive when it comes to squares. :)

Untitled(mother)

Acrylic mediums, paint, and ink on bed sheet

24"x 40"

2011

4"x 4" of acrylic sheets

Then they are cut down to 2"x 2"

 

studies of 20

 

Process

These little guys were made to see how I wanted display the work and what was most affective to hold weight of the mediums within the structures.

 

Homage to Agnes Martin

Graphite & acrylic medium on plexiglass suspended from wood frame

40"x 40"

2011

 

This is the first large painting I made to float in a frame.

I used plexiglass and fishing wire to help hold the weight of the medium.

 

Self-Portrait 2010

So glad it's Sunday! It is a short work day and tomorrow is my day off. Hope y'all are enjoying the morning. This next work I'm posting was the final piece for my fall semester of painting 2010. Using acrylic mediums to manipulate other materials over raw canvas was an exciting experiment. It gave me the best results for what I'd been trying to convey for my body of work throughout the semester. This self-portrait is very personal to me. I am using the duck as a reflection of my past. Employing the duck in my work brings a nostalgic atmosphere, but at the same time brings up other memories in my adolescent life that was not so great.

Untitled: Self-portrait

Medium: Acrylic medium, paint, ink, and charcoal on canvas

Size: 48"x48"

2010

Sold

Portraits

Another work day done! We were busy today, so I assume tomorrow will look about the same. I thought I would post before I go see my sister. :) I'm adding two works together because I worked on them simultaneously. I wanted to see how using diluted acrylic paint reacted on a regular surface vs. using torn separated paper. I liked both outcomes. They made really interesting affects on both surfaces. I feel it helps give a sense of the past to the works, which goes back to my intentions of my concept.

The first work is untitled(grandma1), medium is acrylic and paper on canvas, and size is 20"x24." The second is also untitled(grandma2), acrylic on canvas, and the size is 24"x30." They were both completed in 2010.

Artist Statement 2010

Boo to Fridays! I know most y'all love Fridays, but today is my long day and the start of my three days of work in a row(every weekend). :( I guess that is what happens when you work at a museum. Any who, I'm here to make my next post. These next works started to change my idea of how I view portraits and brought on a whole new way of thinking. I really enjoy the concept of portraits, but I am also fascinated with the history of the tangible picture itself. It's this thing you can cherish keeping that specific moment, time, and place with you. The other great thing about a photograph is over time it can fade, curl, and crack. It all relates to your past. So when I was thinking of my thesis for this series, I wanted to try express the past through the use of materials with hints of the image showing. Like a faded memory. Since this is the start of my main body of work through college, I thought I would share one of my first artist statement relating to beginning.

Artist Statement

2010-11

      Evolving from the first work in the series, which is based solely on viewing the image in pixilation form. I found it to be cold and uninvolved with the person in the image. I wanted to give my work more meaning than just making the pixilated picture. So I expressed human characteristic and emotion through a system of pixilation, and color. Each pixel is given a personality by obscuring it through deterioration to evoke a sense of loss. A loss of time through layers of deteriorated levels of paints, mediums and materials. In each image I wanted to be able to give a sense of the persons characteristic without being to literal. Colors convey the characteristic traits of the individual depicted in the image. Allowing the viewer to see the environment of the work and not just the image itself. An expression of human characteristics and emotion within squares invites viewers to look deeper than just squares or the image on a canvas.

The first work is a self-portrait completed in 2010. It is acrylic on canvas and the size is 18"x24." It is the painting I'm referring to in the artist statement.

Candy Drawing

Another post today, since I'm so far behind. This piece was completed around the same time in 2010. It was part of my final drawing series for advanced drawing. It is pastel on vinyl linoleum & I believe the dimensions 3'x4' or close to it. I don't know what I was thinking when I started this guy, but it was definitely a challenge. It will be the only one of its kind lol. Unless I'm feeling crazy. :)) By the way, I will try to post current sketches here and there. Hopefully it will keep me more motivated to create while bringing y'all up to speed with my work.

First Image Post

Finally getting around to posting today. I have been searching through images to get the order of my works in the right time frame, or close to it. The first image I'm going to post is a study from my duck series titled, "In the Act." This study is 12"x12" and completed in 2010. It took me about two weeks to complete. I wanted to work on my transition between colors in the duck's body using light. Hope y'all enjoy and I'll be posting again soon.

Linked

I'm back to make my second post on my new and improved blog. The best part of this post is... today I was able to log in to my old account with my backup email. I have great computer abilities(not so much). Who knew I added a backup email. I hope I'm not the only person who has done this lol. Any who, I can now gain access to my other blog. My idea now is to keep this blog updated, starting with the works I've completed since the last post of my old account(http://celiacortezfw.blogspot.com/). I would like to encourage y'all to take a look at the past works I've posted in my old blog. I hope y'all like the old work. I will also try to post the work I completed after the June 3, 2010 post which now has the title, "Parental Advisory." I was going to delete the old account, but I don't have the heart get rid of it. I feel like it should be viewed like art work. A former professor told me to never throw away work, even if it's bad. I try my best to keep all the things I've made that have not been given away, commissioned, or sold. Also, it takes skills to make a successful blog or even a just a decent one. I'd like to be able to see what I've done and hopefully improve on my past blogging experience.

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