A Different Style!

Homage to my Tonalist Roots

I've been working on a painting today that I keep coming back to, each time I'm just sure that if I add this or change that, I can make it better. This piece is a tribute back to my more tonalist days of painting - my study of Inness, Tryon and Francis Murphy. It's a very low key, high contrast piece that the trees have changed shape more times than I change my socks in a week! Ok, I'm exaggerating - BUT, they have changed form a few times. It used to be in my painting world that I lived from deadline to deadline and had to have X number of paintings for each show and I just worked my fingers to the bone getting a nice show together. I'm really slowing down more and I want each and every baby that leaves my hands with me giving it everything I can possibly give to make it the best that I know how to do at the present time. Once in awhile, a painting comes back to me because it hasn't found a home yet and I can see that I have progressed enough to know what to do to make it my best NOW. I will rework a painting until I have learned everything I can or feel proud of it for what it is. And sometimes I also realize a piece has a spirit about it that even if it was done at a time not as evolved as the present, it needs to be left as is. The hard part is knowing the difference. When to leave it alone or when to keep working it. Hmmmm, maybe that is a great analogy to life!

Familiar Territory - Watercolor Sundays!

I'm taking a page out of my past for my painting experience today! When my kids were small and it was virtually impossible to get in much alone time, every Sunday I would spread my watercolor palette and board, brushes, towels and water in a great spot on the floor in front of the television and watch NFL football. Noone in my family was much interested in watching with me, but the kids would bring their friends over, eat munchies and hangout playing games and watching me paint. There was always noise and commotion going on, but somehow I could tune it all out and keep painting, taking breaks long enough to let my glazes dry and catch up on the game. I knew where my kids were, who they were with and what they were doing - all while doing what I loved to do! Well, today has been another day like those with a few exceptions - I can't sit on the floor like I used to (I would never get up again)! The kids are gone, except for a short visit today from my grown up son and his dog. I'm no longer watching the games alone because my husband LOVES football. I still can tune out the noise and commotion and paint, I'm just a little a little slower than I used to be, not quite the multi-tasker I used to be. Here is today's work and hopefully there will be another by midnight!

Small Pieces Available!

I'm down in the studio getting small paintings together for a couple of

holiday shows. Lots of work to do and keep me busy down in the studio!

Some large pieces are coming next.....stay tuned!

Work Delivered!

I just left the Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale and am back on the road to Sedona to the Mountain Trails Gallery for my show tonight and tomorrow. I really feel good about the work I left behind - a lot of my heart and soul and hard work coming from the studio. I've left my "children" behind for them to find their way to their new home. I will come home to an empty studio and start the journey all over again. With each body of work completed, I analyze what elements worked for me, what little obsessions were revealed and where I can make changes to go off in a little different direction for the next body of work. We drove through Southern Utah and Northern Arizona through some unbelievable skyscapes, cloud formations and strong sunlit value patterns. The colors were actually quite subdued against a dramatic sky. I think I will start the next series of work with these images burned in my brain. They will be vistas, not as intimate as my normal work, but I think I can really enjoy the experience of simplification and subtlety. I'll leave you with a little visual imagery (photos) to enjoy!

Newsletters

If you are interested in receiving my bi-monthly or so email newsletter, please go to my website shannakunz.com and complete the "email newsletter" section! Your email address will ALWAYS remain private and you won't be bombarded with newsletters as it takes so much work and computer knowledge for me to make them :) Every two to three months! Thanks for your support!

Shanna

October Newsletter