The Peoria Art Guild wants to cordially invite each and every one of our 1,000+ FaceBook friends to Barbara Grant’s Reception this Friday (July 9) from 5:30-7:30 at the Peoria Art Guild. Barbara’s series “Quiet Interference” is on display. You must visit this exhibit and see Barbara’s work. The story behind the series is personal and touching!..

Barbara Grant, "Quiet Interference #3" oil on canvas 30"x 40"

Quiet Interference #3.  To view all nine images:  Grantview Studio

Main Street

"Turtle Box"

“Turtle Box” is up on the lamppost on Main Street, Whitewater, Wisconsin.

Cubes of Whitewater “Thinking Outside the Box!” …for the Whitewater Arts Alliance.

The 6th annual public art project sponsored by the  Whitewater Arts Alliance is Thinking Outside the Box.

Each of the last five years a theme has been selected, and local artists and enthusiasts have created lively interpretations on the basic forms.  The creations will be perched on the light poles in downtown Whitewater, Wisconsin throughout the summer.  On Saturday, September 25, the boxes will be auctioned off to the highest bidder at the Cultural Arts Center ’s annual fundraiser.  Previous forms were bicycles (2009), butterflies (2008), birdhouses (2007), chairs (2006) and fish (2005).

This year’s box form created the biggest challenge for me. The first thing I did was remove two sides of the cube, because it just seemed too claustrophobic. Then I cut out two holes for ‘handles’, because it was too difficult to pick up without them. Once I opened it up, I didn’t want to close it in again - I decided to cut two sides from plexiglass to use instead. I wanted to use my Straddle the Turtle theme, and the labyrinth design fit nicely on the square panels. While measuring a grid to center these, I decided I liked the checker-board look.

It turned out to be a nice little game table!

almost finished...

plexiglass panels

in progress...

checkerboard side

turtle in labyrinth

labyrinth turtle

labyrinth & grid

plexiglass side

labyrinth design

removed sides

plain cube

I toned down the turtle shell with a thin, blue glaze and highlighted other areas by scumbling over ridges of dried paint with an opaque light yellow. Feels like it’s finished, but I could come back tomorrow and disagree with myself.

This series of seven “Stormy Weather”oil paintings (all 30 x 40″on stretched canvas) are my visual exploration of how depression can feel, and this one (#7) is the first to include a person. I will be delivering it to Studio 84 in Whitewater, Wisconsin for their “Quiet Desperation” exhibit.

“Stormy Weather 1-6″ are presently on display at The Bradley Gallery in Stoughton, WI.

Stormy Weather #7

Now more rosey than orange...hmmm...

This is the thing about posting the progress of a painting for all to see - my mistakes are so public.  Augh!!!

Nothing that can’t be fixed, though.

Back to the studio…

Still working on this Stormy Weather #7 … fixed that hairdo and worked more on the face, got a bit heavy-handed with some orange and will have to go back in and rework that area with some kind of miracle.

But what I realized, as my drawing of the figure has become distorted with layers of paint, is the head is snuggling into the shoulder like it’s a turtle shell. Love it!

A little heavy on the orange.

Turtle shell that Peggy gave me, shown upside down

Upside down empty turtle shell

More layers of oil paint...

As I work on this Stormy Weather series, thoughts of how it feels to be laden with depression are constantly in the back of my mind. The choice of imagery/symbolism, hot or cool colors, types of brush strokes…it’s all influenced by memories of feeling paralyzed and trapped in that kind of existence.

But in this one - Stormy Weather #7 - I find myself going further to express the vulnerability that comes when protective shells are shed. I didn’t plan to go in this direction with this painting. It came out of the blue while I was working and just happened to glance at the turtle shell (a gift from Peggy) I’d placed on a shelf in my studio a few weeks ago. The composition needed something in the left foreground for balance, so why not a turtle shell?

And why not make it upside down?

This is one of those pieces that won’t come easy. I will have to struggle with layers and changes. The landscape colors aren’t right, the woman’s face has gone through close to 17 reworkings, and her hair…!!!

To be continued…

Cord sewn onto #6.

More cords to sew onto #6.

#1-6 finished; #7 a blank slate

Six of the Stormy Weather paintings are finished. #7 was not going well, so I covered it with paint leftover from the others. Now I have a clean slate to express the underlying meaning of this series. I intend to refer to sketches from my Monday night life-drawing sessions. Painting stormy weather is a handy way to express bipolar disorder, but I think I am ready to use a human form to address it more clearly.

Found cord sewn to Stormy Weather #6

Cord found on Clover Valley Road

The cord that I found last summer while riding my bike, is now sewn to the sky of Stormy Weather #6.