Tag Archives: artist

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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Two Hundred Eighty-Five!

 

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Another night, another painting. This was never intended to be a completed image. I was trying to make something I could cut up for another piece but  as soon as I started working on this I started to really enjoy to format and image that was developing. Guess I’ll try again tonight for something I can destroy. Anyway, some of the elements in this image are items I am working on in a larger piece so it was really helpful to do this image prior to completing the other.

Hopefully this weekend will be productive. I will be back at my favorite seaside home and the forecast is predicting rainy cloudy weather which for those who do not know is my FAVORITE kind of weather. Probably should have moved to Ireland! Enjoy and see you next time!

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IMG_5579Cropped section left

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Two Hundred Eighty-Four!

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The most recent addition to my hands collection. I really struggled with this image. I couldn’t seem to figure it out and each night I would photograph it and stare at it over the course of the day trying to see what needed to happen next. The original piece I created I ended up cutting up and layering into this piece. It’s obvious on the top section but the lower half of this image is entirely pasted onto the heavier stock. It was even interesting to see how the two different watercolor papers reacted to the paint absorption. Granted I forgot to make note of which papers I used… FAIL. I’ll pay more attention next time. I love how the fence like structure floats around the page. I think I really want to play with this cut paper idea for a bit maybe in the next piece. Enjoy and see you next time.

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Two Hundred Eighty-Three!

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A quick sketch from Friday, prior to starting work I decided to draw to start my day off the way I wish everyday could start. I did end up finishing it at home but it was nice to be able to stop throughout the day and take a peak at the image and add little elements throughout the work day. Enjoy and see you next time!

 

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Two Hundred Seventy-Nine!

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Saturday Morning sketch. Looking forward to doing more of these since they are much less stressful. Enjoy and see you next time!

 

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Two Hundred Seventy-Six!

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I was lucky enough to spend my weekend at my favorite seaside home, not mine but mi madres. There was loads of tea and yummy baked goods, nighttime fires and painting! The above image is a continuation of my other work. Still playing with shadow and a sense of being overwhelmed. This piece was a bit less emotionally chaotic since I was in a rather calm place when painting. Oddly enough I think the anxiety I was experiencing during the other painting made it a stronger piece. Either way the piece taught me more and I consider it complete. There is something I completely love about the greenery in the bottom left corner…. Enjoy and see you next time!

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Facebook page!

So for 2013 I am attempting to get the word out there about both 365days1year.com and my artwork  overall. I already post to my blogs regularly, but for some, facebook is a much more user friendly program. Thank you in advance for your continued support and motivation!

Please click the like below to like my facebook page.

CallaGrace Facebook Page

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Two Hundred Two and Three!

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Two Hundred and Two

An exploration with Chalk Pastels, not my favorite material but the softness is quite nice. I suppose my biggest issue with the material is what to do with the image afterwards. They are so delicate and smudge so easily. I’ll use a fixative on in soon but still it does not ever seem stable enough for me. The image itself I love. I love the high intensity areas and in contrast with the less developed sections.

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Two Hundred and Three!

I still like the first image better as an end result but I love the yellow-orange section of this image as well as the point where it moves from high impact color out to faint pencil lines.

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