Jackson Pollock Revelation and My Own Dreamscape Oil Painting Technique

Believe it or not, my oil painting technique is not something that I came up with one day. I went through dozens of canvases until I finally discovered what worked. When I did, I had what I like to call my "Jackson Pollock Revelation". Jackson Pollock was a 20th century American painter noted for his use of fluid paint and often referred to as the "Father of Abstract Expressionism". In a scene from the 2000 movie "Pollock" directed and starring Ed Harris, Pollock's paint accidently drips on the canvas and this inspires him to move in a different direction, thus changing the art world forever.

Though my art looks nothing like Pollock's, he is a major influence upon me. Like Pollock, my style is unique and developed by experimentation. I am using  similar sized images to illustrate:

Jackson Pollock
No. 5, 1948

Ginny Gaura
Alizarinscape

Placing the works side-by-side, I see that although mine has a primary focal point, both have the energetic expression of movement. This allows the viewer's eyes to move across the painting like a free-form dance. Pollock's paintings have incredible depth when viewed in person whereas the depth of "Alizarinscape" is visible even on the computer screen. Pollock is noted for his use of black and white while I rely on intense colors. Both paintings shown have a strong linear aspect.

My process of developing a technique for my Dreamscape series  came about through experimentation with linseed oil and similar mediums. I diluted my paints with the oil to make the paints thinner. Eventually I figured out that laying the oil on the canvas before I started enabled me to come up with a technique similar to wet-into-wet in watercolor, where the artist either brushes or sprays the paper with water prior to painting.

When I changed my process and the paintings began to work almost effortlessly is my Jackson Pollock Revelation. I felt that I finally discovered something that worked for me. It was a feeling of absolute elation! I could really relate to Jackson Pollock and every artist whose soul was leading them to undiscovered country. It is then when the painting seems to create itself, with no resistance involved. The artist and the painting are one, the soul of the artist is infused in the work.

When I begin a Dreamscape painting, the first color is always yellow. I do this because it is the color we associate with the source of life on Earth, the sun. Also, because it is a happy color and makes me feel good. (Like Jackson Pollock, I struggle with manic depression.) I always paint my first stroke in a spiral and then continue in overlapping strokes so that all the blending is done on the canvas.

Jackson Pollock liked to drip and splatter his paint with a stick or pour it from a can. He used synthetic enamel paints which were new at the time and I choose traditional oil paints because of their inherent messiness and the often serendipitous likelihood of adding vibrant colors to my clothes and hair. Seriously, I love the rich smell of linseed oil and the way oil paint handles. I have experimented with this technique using acrylics, but the results are slightly different.

To all owners of original Jackson Pollock paintings: I am always open to trading your Pollock painting for one of my own. As of this writing, the above featured Pollock painting, "No 5, 1948" is listed as the highest price ever sold for a painting, at 140 million dollars in 2006.

To all other art collectors and lovers of art: "Alizarinscape" is a beautiful 24"x48" oil painting and is currently listed at $1600. Quite a value compared to the price of a Pollock painting.

When Life Gives You Pancakes...

You know that saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"? Well my life has been unbelievably topsy-turvy lately, like life is giving me pancakes!

Computer problems, financial troubles, housing concerns. One minute things are going good, then the next moment, everything is upside down. It's pouring pancakes in my little part of the world! So what do I do? I breathe, tell myself that it will all work out and handle whatever matter is right in front of me. That's really all I can do. I can really get bent out of shape but I'd rather save that for yoga.

So I just put some good ol' maple syrup on those pancakes and eat them while they're warm.

How May You Best Serve the World?

I was talking to a friend the other day and she was uncertain as to what she needed to do next. We all find ourselves in that place at least one time in our lives. It might be after graduation, divorce, losing a job or a loved one. Whatever took place, our life is in transition, it's on a kind of temporary time out. This is good, it allows us to recharge, take a look around and see what our driving desire is.

For some, that is easy, they have a passion like art or working with kids or cooking or talking to people. Then there are those individuals who don't have a primary passion, or who find out that what worked in the past, no longer serves them. Maybe these people are content with where they are and no change is needed at the present moment.

The conversation with my friend got me thinking, how do you decide what to do when you just don't know what to do next? One way is by going beyond the ego and asking yourself: How may I best serve the world? When I say the world, I am speaking of your own sphere of influence. It's as big or small as you make it.

So ask yourself: What talent, knowledge or ability do I have that makes me unique? We all have different personalities, abilities and interests. How can you use yours to make another person's life brighter?

GooStudio Zazzle Store is Open for Business

Last winter, I was showing the Zazzle website to my boyfriend, Chris. He's an artist and graphic designer like me and he wanted to try one of my designs on a product. I had just shown him some recent digital work I did and he was impressed. 

I often scan in my watercolor paintings at various stages and then play around with the images in Photoshop. I've been altering my art this way since I started using Photoshop when I was employed as a graphic designer for the Chicago Tribune. Back in the late 80's and early 90's, computers were so slow that when you did something that took a lot of memory, you had to go get a cup of coffee, come back and you still had to wait for the image to process. And today if something takes 10 seconds to load, it's way too long!

So Chris, being the ever-cool skateboard dude, decided to try one of my designs on Zazzle's shoes because he thought that my art would appeal to skateboarders. He picked out a pair of women's Ked slip-ons because be wanted to put a spiral on the top of the shoe. We both played around with the Zazzle online creator and had a lot of fun.

This is the original digital file. I am deliberately posting it in low resolution to deter people from stealing my art. I was going to watermark the image here with my name but it was hard to see the design. It is watermarked on the Zazzle site. Also, my art is copyright protected so please don't use it for anything.

I named this design Fusion, for the shoe, I added the word fuchsia to indicate the main color.

Here are a few images of the Ked's women's Fuschia Fusion shoe from my GooStudio Zazzle store:

 

Here is the link to my GooStudio Zazzle Store. Right now I have this design on mugs, iPhone and iPad cases, a mousepad, bag, tie and small speakers. More products and designs to come! Even skateboards!