July 17th - Abstract Painting at the Sebastian River Art Club

Today, inspired by a lecture on Abstract Painting at the Sebastian River Art Club, I completed--well almost completed--this fun and fast painting.  I was a-slapping the paint on like it was on fire!  Didn't really know what I was doing, but just kept going, hoping it would turn out ok.  It's got lots of room for improvement, but I'm pretty happy with the technique.


Abstract Seascape on gallery-wrapped canvas, using acrylic paints and plastic grocery bags

 First I troweled acrylic paint in blues, blacks and white on the canvas using a palette knife.  Then very quickly I started ripping plastic bags and sticking them on "willy-nilly" to the wet paint, scrunching them as I went, trying to cover the whole canvas, including the sides.  After covering the sides I began slapping paint on top of the plastic bags, being more careful to create the storm cloud shapes, the water, and the glistening horizon, all the while painting very fast to keep up with the fast-drying acrylic paint.  I struggled a bit with the frayed edges of plastic, and began cutting the excess wherever it appeared.  Next time I will make the plastic gather in such a way that the water has horizontal waves, like the sky.  It was a lot of fun, and completed in less than an hour and a half.  I plan to take this to the next level. 

Judy Burgarella
Blogger

Creating A Rainbarrel

Saturday July 12th I spent part of the day with my bud Rita Ziegler and we helped "budding" artists (who ad actually never painted anything before) paint their designs on rain barrels in the Indian River Mall for a recycling organization.  We didn't know what to expect, but we had a good time and helped a very nice lady, Dianne, complete a nice-looking rainbarrel using the most rudamentary equipment.  We three collaborated on ideas and painted away for a couple of hours.  Below is our masterpiece.


Rainbarrel painted using acrylics



Rita Ziegler (left) and me (Judy Burgarella) with the finished rainbarrel

Giving Birth to a Cowboy!



"Texas Cowboy" 11"x14" Acrylic, UNFINISHED 

 "Texas Cowboy," in progress, started today in the Sebastian River Art Club's "Three-Hour Challenge" painting program.  We try to do a painting, start to finish, in thee hours.  Some take less, some take more.  I started this one just before noon, painted till 3:00, and I'd say have about another hour or so to finish.  It's my first serious portrait in acrylic, and I'm pretty happy with it, although it had a bit of a rough start.  Can't wait to work on it again, but for now I'm off to another non-painting event! 
PS - The Sebastian River Art Club will be having a show in the Art Center in September for these 3-hour paintings, with many unframed and reasonably priced.  More news to come!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger

FIRE!




"FIRE!" acrylic, 9"x12" gallery wrapped

  Just finished this painting of "FIRE!," inspired by a photo of a fire I saw in a book, and by the upcoming Vero Beach Library exhibit, "Heat's On" which will be on display there for the next three months, installation is tomorrow (Tuesday July 9th).  I really needed a push to paint, and this one just fell into place.  It's only a 9" x12", acrylic, but was so much fun to paint.  It's a gallery-wrap, in that I've painted the scene all around the sides.  I've run out of time, but I plan to buy a "floater" frame for it, which is a frame that gives the impression that the painting is "floating" inside the frame, sometimes with the sides of the painting partially showing.  My juices are flowing now, so maybe I'll finish a commission that's way overdue.  Enjoy.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger