Family Dynamics

Family Dynamics, collage/acrylic, 18 x 18, Elizabeth Seaver
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I'll leave it up to you to figure out the title.


The studio move is complete, and I will try to get a good picture of it to show here.  I've worked and taught in it this week, and the space feels right.  I like a good shake up of work space.  It has not happened without its difficulties, but I lived to tell the tale--and that must count for success!

Black Sheep

The new space is a great place to work.  I've been painting and teaching in it all week and am really getting settled in.  Yesterday I taught a class of six in there, and all went very well.  There are a few things left to do--always, right?  Lighting needs a bump up, and I need to get a name plate above the door, among other trifles.

I had a nibble on a piece I've completed since moving in.  See it below.

Black Sheep, mixed media, 8 x 8, Elizabeth W. Seaver
SOLD

Thanks, everyone, for looking and reading.  After having Blogger "blow up" for a few days, it really makes one amazed that it works so smoothly most of the time.

Under Construction and Prom Night

This is a view of my new studio space, under renovation, as of Friday.  I spent the day painting the edge work, and Anna who dropped in from Charlottesville (luckily for me!) did the roller work.

The color I chose is a lovely yellow.  I almost became a blond when a small, plastic tub I was using for brush work fell on my head as I was moving the ladder.  It was a true cartoon/3 Stooges moment.  I was actually glad for company in my humiliation, because Anna grabbed my glasses to wash them off (can't do without my eyes!), Miles took a picture, Rob, my studio mate, said "O My God!", and I walked carefully to the ladies to dunk my head in the sink for a good scrub, laughing the whole way.  The story of my smooth move spread through the building, and I got to tell it all night long!  My legendary lack of grace keeps me humble.

I'll begin to transfer my stuff to my new space today and work on the move for the next couple of days.  It's just around the corner from my current space, so it will be a relatively painless process.

Being artist-in-residence for three years at LibertyTown Arts Workshop has been a joy and a privilege.  Huge thanks to my boss and owner of LTAW, Dan Finnegan, for the opportunity.

* * * * * *

Last night was prom for my son, who graduates in June.  The theme was Masquerade.  Here he is in all his glory.

I love you, man!

New Series

What Lies Beneath, mixed media, 16 x 20

Elizabeth W. Seaver

This is the first painting I began in a new series exploring a mixed media approach to the painting process with a limited palette.  As to the subject matter:  I've been thinking a great deal about the interdependence of all things, living and non-living, all intertwined with the idea of community and how important that is.  Recent earthquakes, marching development, hatred and revenge, and extreme weather have all played a part in the images I have been creating. 

I have completed eight paintings so far.  You can see them all here. 

Blessings on you all.  I hope the day is as beautiful where you are as it is where I am.

Are You My Mother?

Are You My Mother?, 11 x 14, acrylic/collage

 Elizabeth W. Seaver

The title is inspired by one of my favorite childhood books by P.D. Eastman, only my little bird gets it right on the first try.  No need to tour the neighborhood searching for the absent Mommy, just off to find herself a bite to eat.

And while we are on the subject of hatching and eggs and Spring...here are two more new paintings on that theme.

Start Up Company, 4 x 4, acrylic/collage

Lady in Waiting, 8 x 10, collage/acrylic

I'll be moving my studio in the next week with all the attendant hoisting, lifting, packing, painting, nail-hole-filling and cleaning.  I will share photos when the dust has settled!

Bird in the Hand

A Bird in the Hand, acrylic/collage, 18 x 22

Elizabeth W. Seaver

I had to apologize to two of my young students because I didn't use the title they came up with for this painting.  They wanted me to call it Acrobird, which I really did like.  But as I was varnishing the finished piece, that old saying popped into my head.  Allie and Dahlia had never heard a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and thought that was the dumbest title they'd ever heard of.  Grown-ups are so weird, they said.  

 

Well, I had to agree with them on that, and reassure them that I DID like their title.   But when a title falls out of the sky, as it were, who am I to just let it lie there?  Titling a painting is a dirty business.  I mean how fair is it that you've taken all the time and trouble to learn to paint, gather the supplies, come up with the idea, prepare the substrate, paint the picture, repaint the picture, let it dry, varnish and frame it--and THEN have to give it a name?  Bleah.  All this is to say that when a title willingly presents itself to the artist's battered mind, it is a gift, and not to be left unopened and unappreciated.

So, my sincere apologies, girls.  And thanks for the help with the hard stuff.

Osgood

Her Sure Foundation, collage/acrylic, 11 x 14

Elizabeth W. Seaver

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Thoughts from a bird riding a bicycle on a tightrope:

"My mother was right; I should have gone to medical school."