Culinary Theme

Apparently, cuisine is on my mind. I have recently done two paintings with chefs. The first is my take on a nursery rhyme - I'm sure you remember four and twenty blackbirds. I made some stencils for this one, which was fun. I have a feeling I'll do another one with the blackbirds. The other is a chef with an eye on a goose or maybe she'll settle for the egg - who knows? The background for this one includes pages from an old book - I actually painted the face on the book page. It worked better than I expected - no warping or bubbles.

My friend Nancy and I have decided to set challenges for each other to get us motivated by designating a theme. Our first one was cutlery. I have seen some antique folk dolls with wooden slats for skirts (or maybe they were the support for a skirt - I don't know). Anyway, I went to the thrift store and bought some cheap knives that I used to allude to the wooden slats. The face I scanned from a wonderful wooden figure I bought in London and the torso and arms are paper. I used a piece of organza which I attached with a button to add the illusion of a skirt. The piece is on a thin piece of wood so I did some drilling to attach the button and the knives. It was a fun project and I really like the result.

I intend to pursue more of these lighthearted subjects. I'm finding they make other people smile, too.

Figures

I've been working on a series of isolated figures with just a few elements that I hope add to the composition and the mystery of the pieces. I have left out all facial features. They are deliberately ambiguous - whatever emotion is conveyed is through the bodies. The first two are called "Monochrome Ochre 2" and "Monochrome Ochre 5." The third painting is part of the same concept but the figure is stronger and may elicit more ideas about what is going on. I am calling it "Diver" for now but that may change. I hope people will respond to the colors and the image in their own way. I'd be grateful for any comments.