Tag Archives: abstract

It’s Thanksgiving already?!?!

Where does the time go? It’s a question I ask myself almost daily. There are hundreds of reasons this question enters my mind but without a doubt each day at some point the reason is because I want to know if I will I get a chance to paint or draw today. Sadly, that answer has been no in recent months but maybe that will change.

Per my typical rants, I blame my lack of creative works on a busy life and demanding job. These can be good things at times; however when it comes to fueling those creative fires, it just gets in the way. Now I am a realist, so I understand I cannot quit my job, move to Italy and live in a cluttered little apartment surrounded by canvases and lovely things but there is a dreamer living in here who is constantly trying to access the situation and find a scenario that would work.

Recently I have been lucky enough to travel, quite a bit to be honest and most recently my husband and I went to New Orleans. Seeing new scenery and experiencing new cultures is always inspiring to me. The laid back, relaxed mentality of New Orleans has me reaccessing my current ways, which include constant worrying, over planning, and staying at work way too long. My sister said it well the other day when she sent me a pic of a quote which stated the following. Find three hobbies you love: One to make you money, One to keep you in shape, and one to be creative. I’m trying to keep this in mind.

So today, after work let us out early for the holiday weekend (and I actually left), I had extra time and I decided not to fill it with some unecessary task. Instead, I picked up my paintbrush and started to lay down color. My mind was filled with what felt like a mountain of ideas but I couldn’t organize my thoughts.  I decided to start with the under painting and build on top of that.

As I sat there watching the paint dry I started to drift. My mind has always had a fun way of seeing things in just about every shape and shadow I see. As much as I struggle to put my ideas down on paper my mind is constantly creating, imagining, and pulling from the abstract to build something more… and so it began. A brush stroke here, a dollop of color there and then some scraping to take those actions back.

Below is the first piece I have completed in recent months that has felt complete enough to share. It’s a smaller piece, approx 9″ x 5″ painted with acrylics on Bristol paper. It has moments from past works, organic aquatic imagery intertwined with feathery orbs and floral accents. To be honest it contains most of the bits that make me happy.

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11/23/2016 Calla Grace Fogarty

All I can say is that I hope that this is the beginning of something new and that I can continue to keep my eyes open and senses alive, Absorbing all the wonders of the world around me. You only live once #YOLO and you have to love what you do!

See you you next time,

Calla Grace

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3″ x 3″ – POST #2

 

It’s weird what you end up painting when  you don’t really have direction. Your mind just jumps around between things you know, techniques you are familiar with, imagery that surrounds you and on occasion that brilliant moment of true creativity. The images below are examples of one or more of those ideas listed above. Fury critters wrapped in bold statements and color washes defined by a few hard lines.

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© 2015 Calla Grace Fogarty

 

The Orb – color washes pushed this image into a more defined image. Still abstract and loose the solidity of the orb brings a really nice contract to the background

 

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© 2015 Calla Grace Fogarty

 

Oh Look it’s a Squirrel – No one should ever be surprised when a fury critter makes it into my imagery. I wont lie that hook arm makes me mental but these are just small paintings that are meant for me and who ever stumbles upon them. So in that light I will embrace the hook arm and move on.

Enjoy and see you next time!

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Three Hundred and Sixty-Two!

It’s like a Petri dish. I have been sick for the past few days and as an attempt to ease the sinus pressure I utilized this chamomile mixture that you put into a bowl with boiling water then cover you head with a towel and breathe in. I was sitting there breathing and realized that the flowers, petals and grass that made up the mixture was actually quite interesting. That is what inspired this piece but this is not a replica of what I saw by any means! Enjoy and see you next time!

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Three Hundred and Fifty-Seven!

Easter is right around the corner and with it comes Easter Eggs! The simplicity of this image is nice. The light washes on the egg really work well with the contrast of high impact color in the back ground. The background of this image is one of my favorites. It’s refreshing painting in this fashion and without boundaries or rules. Enjoy and see you next time!

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Three Hundred and Fifty-Two!

Doodles from Indiana. Went to good old Indiana to visit one of my besties and her new little baby aka. Cricket. Was not exactly in my routine but I was required to produce something during my time there since the trip happened so close to the deadline! Needless to say the image is not exactly to my typical standards but what are you gonna do? It’s fun and whimsical and that is enough for me. Enjoy and see you next time!

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Three Hundred and Fifty-One!

This started out as a doodle and progressed into a painting of sorts. These strange honeycomb like objects seemed to just connect to each other to form some abstract shape. I was not going for a beehive or anything even remotely close. I enjoy the heavy line work at the bottom which lightens towards the top. I would like to explore this imagery in a more planned out image as it seemed to get muddy here. Enjoy and see you next time!

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Three Hundred and Forty-Eight!

The other day when I pulled into work I looked across the parking lot and there was this warehouse window that was so interesting to look at. I found myself sitting there just staring at it for quite sometime. The light that was shining through was only illuminating sparatic panes which appeared to be a variation of colors. When I tried to photograph it is looked like a black smudge. This image is based on an moment that now resides in my mind as a memory. I really enjoy this and know this is not the last of this type of image. Enjoy and see you next time.

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Three Hundred and Forty-Five!

It feels like a strange pod of jellyfish. I liked the image here but the color is WAY TO PURE. I really need to do a second attempt with this image and tone it down a bit. The creatures are definitely aquatic but take elements from the Veiled Lady Mushroom which is honestly one of my favorite things to draw. I think they are amazing plant structures. If you are not familiar with them you should probably look it up. Enjoy and see you next time.

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Three Hundred and Forty-Four!

Experimental piece. It honestly had no real goal but as I moved through the image I started to focus on different elements. I always love when images emerge in an abstract and there are quite a few in this one. What do you see? Enjoy and see you next time.

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Three Hundred and Forty -Two!

Time to mass produce. The weekend arrives and I feel like from Friday at 4 pm to Sunday at 10 pm I am just pushing through image after image. I tend to work on multiple at one time which helps because I’m constantly looking at each image from a different perspective. I don’t really have time to get caught up in one element or image. I find that if I have 4 images happening on one piece of plexi they tend to feed off each other whether it be color or subject matter. I saw that happening in the next few pieces. I always love the abstract images because they tend to teach me more about how to work with watercolor. They are much more experimental than the animal based imagery. Enjoy and see you next time.

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